The State of Authoritarian Tech | Steven Feldstein

Listen to this episode from Bankless on Spotify. Authoritarian regimes are upgrading their playbook — from surveillance cameras and spyware to algorithmic censorship and AI-driven policing. Steven Feldstein, senior fellow at Carnegie and author of The Rise of Digital Repression, joins Bankless to map the expanding world of repression technology. We cover everything from Nepal's protest movement to China's sophisticated censorship stack, the global spyware industry, and the unsettling rise of predictive policing and AI in warfare. Along the way, Feldstein explains how financial repression and social credit systems extend state power into the economic sphere — and where crypto fits into the story of resistance. --- TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 1:54 The Toolkit of Digital Repression 4:22 Nepal Protests & Freedom Tech 10:48 China's Integrated Control Playbook 17:03 Who Builds And Sells Repression 26:06 Vendors, Dual-Use, Governance Risks 33:20 Democracies Use These Tools Too 42:15 AI Supercharges Repression 49:12 Crushing Mobilization & 3.5% Rule 56:10 Blunt Backfires, Iran Copies China 1:04:58 How Repression Tech Spreads 1:08:01 Financial Repression, Crypto Workarounds 1:13:21 How To Resist, Practically 1:18:17 Closing Thoughts --- RESOURCES Steven Feldstein https://x.com/stevejfeldstein The Rise of Digital Repression: How Technology is Reshaping Power, Politics, and Resistance https://stevejfeldstein.com/ --- Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures