At the Oslo conference, the threat to freedom from CBDCs was put under the microscope.

Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are a source of deep concern among the public. This became clear last week at the Oslo Freedom Forum. The risk that governments will abuse their power is a concern for many people, but especially for those fighting for freedom under authoritarian regimes.

If you don’t know, the Oslo Freedom Forum is an annual gathering hosted by the Human Rights Foundation in Oslo, Norway. Now is the time for human rights activists to share their experiences under authoritarian regimes and a call to action to create a brighter future.

I spent the first two days teaching people about what’s happening in the world of CBDC with the help of a knitter created by the Human Rights Foundation.

I have heard the same response over and over again from activists, government officials, and citizens. They would say, “I had no idea our country was doing this.” It’s also disappointing to see how much the public has been left out of the loop.

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In the context of the Oslo Freedom Forum, it is easy to see why people are interested in these developments. From Russia to Nicaragua, governments have repeatedly turned to the financial system as a means to control the opposition. Consider the experiences of Carlos Chamorro, Jimmy Lai, and Alexei Navalny.

A year ago, the Nicaraguan government declared Carlos Chamorro stateless and a traitor to the country. His pension, his home and all his assets were seized. What was his crime? Chamorro spoke out against Daniel Ortega’s dictatorship and created a media organization that could be trusted to expose the regime.

In Hong Kong, Jimmy Lai is currently serving a life sentence on similar charges. Like Chamorro, Lai was not afraid to criticize those in power and founded a newspaper to help spread calls for democracy. In response to Lai and other pro-democracy protests, the Hong Kong government froze financial accounts and seized assets to silence opponents.

Finally, in Russia, Alexei Navalny lost his life this year while imprisoned in a Russian labor camp. Navalny founded an anti-corruption foundation and routinely criticized the Vladimir Putin regime. Anna Chekhovich, chief financial officer of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, explained that the company’s accounts were frozen before any indictments were filed. Worse, the government tracked both individual employees and those associated with them.

Once this context is established, it’s easy to see why so many people are so concerned. Governments around the world use the financial system as a means of control, and the rise of CBDCs presents an opportunity to significantly expand their existing powers.

When it was time to take the stage on the third day, I was able to elaborate on these concerns and sit down and discuss them with the respective authors, Charlene Fadirepo and Roger Huang. Bitcoin leap forward and Will Mao Hold Bitcoin?

As Fadirepo and Huang describe CBDC rollouts in Nigeria and China, a trend of government inefficiency quickly emerged. Fadirepo noted how Nigeria’s CBDC was “clunky” when it was launched and had a less than stellar reputation among the public. The official app had so many issues that it was temporarily removed from the store. Huang also added, “We asked the central bank to effectively become a technology company, and we actually saw a massive failure in China.”

But government inefficiency may be the bright side of this story.

Huang warned there was a risk that the government would try to make up for its lack of capacity through force. He explained, “The legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party comes from its ability to rule the Chinese people.” However, reports have emerged that even Chinese government officials do not support the program. Faced with embarrassment, the Chinese government may take more drastic measures in the future.

In Nigeria, more drastic measures have already been implemented as the government grapples with cash shortages. As CBDC adoption reached 0.5%, the government created a cash shortage that drove some Nigerians towards CBDCs. At the time, Nigeria’s Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele heralded the move as a success. But as Fadirepo said, “It was the last straw (for many Nigerians).”

Related: ‘Open source’ CBDC won’t protect you from governments

But this story is just the beginning. If the rise of CBDCs continues, there are even more risks, especially for those fighting for human rights.

Liu Xiaobo, Nobel Peace Prize winner, once recalled: “If our rice bowl was still in the hands of the Communist Party… People like us should have kept our mouths shut.” In other words, as Huang explained on the panel, “If they control my income, there’s no way I can object.” “A world where central banks and governments are allowed to control people’s income and destroy people’s money is a world where the control that Liu Xiaobo feared takes place,” Huang added.

As Seth for Privacy similarly noted during the discussion, “The biggest takeaway from the conversation about CBDCs here (at the Oslo Freedom Forum) is that protests, activism and dissent are much more likely if governments take complete and trivial control of their citizens’ money.” The point is that it gets difficult. .”

The Oslo Freedom Forum is a humbling experience. In a place where Paul Rusesabagina says he is nothing more than an ordinary man despite saving more than 1,000 lives and surviving a kidnapping in Rwanda, it’s reasonable to question whether you can have any impact. But pushing back can be as simple as speaking up.

The majority of people have no idea what “CBDC” means, let alone the risks they face. So one of the most important things you can do today in a counter-attack mission is to make sure that people actually know that there is something to counter.

This article is written for general information purposes and should not be considered legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts and opinions expressed herein are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.