Not yet reviewed by a lawyer. Sourced information, to be confirmed.

Signal groups: running the groups¶

Terms used here: the groups (public, airlock, trusted), the roles (HR, keyholder…) and the vocabulary.

Closing a group¶

Signal cannot delete a group for everyone: closing it means removing members one by one, then leaving it, after comparing its list with the new group's if there is one (see case B). Then record the ID as closed in the register.

Close it	Why
The airlock group, after its meeting (unless kept as a backup)	It was used once; its list of members is known to unvalidated people. They only saw the time, the place and activist names in it: removing them is enough going forward, but what is already on their phone stays there
Unidentified leak (case B)	The leak may still be inside: move out, then close the old one
The temporary group, at the end of its day or mobilisation	It is no longer needed
The group is no longer used (campaign over, team dissolved, merged)	A dormant group stays on every phone, with its history and members: exposed if a phone is seized, for nothing
The group is too big	Split it into new groups, then close the old one (or keep it as one of them)

Don't close it for a known leak that has been removed (case A), a member arrested (precautionary removal), a name that has got around (renaming is enough) or a conflict (that is moderation's job).

Role labels¶

Signal lets each member show a label next to their name. Each person can only set one for themselves, and it only applies in the group where it was created: it has to be set again in each group. Labels are end-to-end encrypted, and keyholders can restrict them to keyholders (Group settings › Permissions).¹

A label only shows a protest role (medic, legal…), never an organising role (secretary, HR, keyholder, recruiter): those point to key people and are of no use to other members.

Keep a shared list in the charter, so everyone uses the same words, for example:

Label	Role
`Medic`	First aid
`Legal`	Observing, lawyer contacts, following up arrests
`Build`	Banners, placards, equipment
`Logistics`	Transport, food, storage
`Comms`	Visuals, announcements, social media

Anyone can show "Medic" or "Legal" if everyone is allowed to set a label: it is an indication, not proof. In the public group and the airlock group, restrict labels to admins; elsewhere, check in person (see the medic or legal role), as you would for an armband.
Protest roles are shared out among the members already there, according to their skills, and labels follow: a label shows the role held right now, not a status. When a role passes to someone else, the previous holder removes their label and the new one sets theirs.
A label is visible on a seized phone: in large groups, only protest roles that are useful to others, never an organising role (HR, secretary, keyholder), and no label that reveals a level ("orga", "core").

Without labels, roles can be known in other ways: the "Admin" tag already marks the keyholders; being in the Medic sub-group means being a medic; the secretary introduces the roles at the meeting, and a quick round at the start of an action ("who's medic, who's legal today?") is enough. Avoid the profile "About" field: it shows in all your conversations.

Coordinating¶

Ask by naming someone: the more people there are, the less each person responds, because everyone assumes someone else will. This is the bystander effect,² and it also happens in online chats, except when you name the person you are asking.³
On an action day, the people coordinating meet in person, or in a temporary group.
Nobody is in every sub-group to link them: one person present everywhere would expose the whole family through a single seized phone. Exchanges between teams go through the trusted group, and between families through liaisons.
No "orga" group bringing together all HR, keyholders and secretaries, and no meeting where all of them are present at once: a single seized phone, or a single raid, would hand them all over. On 21 June 1943, in Caluire, the arrest of Jean Moulin and the Resistance leaders he had gathered showed this risk.⁴ Key roles coordinate in person, or in small groups of 2 or 3 people, by topic.

Linking several families¶

Rather than one large trusted group, several families of about 25 people coordinate through liaison agents. These sizes and this method are rules of thumb, not established rules.

Each family appoints two liaisons, known to its HR: if one is absent or arrested, the link holds. They change regularly, so that no one person stays the weak point.
Liaisons meet in a liaison group, with its own random ID (MVT-VIL-8R3-Liaison), never that of one of the families. No one is in the trusted group of two families.
Preferably, a liaison is neither HR nor a keyholder, so as not to gather the people who hold the lists (see above).
They pass on only the essentials: a place, a time, a decision. Never a list of members, nor anyone's identity.
On a seized phone, one sees the liaison's family and the liaison group, not the other family.
For an emergency that concerns everyone, use the public group, which holds nothing sensitive: liaison is slower.

The temporary group¶

To organise quickly, for an action day or for the length of a mobilisation, with people you have just met: a disposable group, used on the assumption that the police may be in it. It sits next to the funnel, not inside it: it doesn't lead to the trusted group.

For a day: created on the spot by anyone; people present are added by username, in person, with no group link or QR code. Disappearing messages of a few hours.
For a mobilisation (a few days to two weeks): people join after meeting a secretary (account QR code scanned, settings done), without a voucher; disappearing messages of one day.
In both cases: a neutral name, no movement or city (J-7Q, for example); the timer set before inviting anyone.⁵
Practical matters only: "medic needed outside the station", "falling back to X street", "need water". No names, no photos of faces, nothing illegal.
No link with the trusted groups: nobody is added from them, they are not mentioned.
Closed at the end of the day or mobilisation: the admin removes everyone and leaves; everyone deletes the chat.⁶ The people seen in action there then have their vouchers for the trusted group.
After an airlock, to meet in person at an action organised by others: you can reuse the airlock itself, cleaned and renamed, but only to arrange to meet (see watching them act). To organise, use the temporary group.
No network: Briar or Meshtastic (communicating at a protest), or no phone at all: pairs and a meeting point agreed beforehand.

Minors in the groups¶

High-school students and adults can organise together, with extra rules:

Never push a minor into illegal action (school blockade, damage): directly inciting a minor to commit an offence is punishable by 5 years in prison, and 7 years near a school or for a minor under 15.⁷
Separate groups for high-school students where possible, with high-school keyholders.
No private adult–minor conversations unless necessary; everything goes through the group.
No photos of minors.
In police custody, minors are often pressed to give names: the less they know, the better protected they are (high-school students guide).

Previous : Creating and configuring groups · Next : Compromised group

Sources¶

Each note links to the source of the information. Most sources are in French. Laws change: check the date of the source and, if in doubt, ask a lawyer.

Signal — Label yourself (group member labels) · AI-sourced on Oct 29, 2026 · awaiting human check ↩
Darley & Latané (1968) — Bystander intervention in emergencies: diffusion of responsibility · AI-sourced on Oct 29, 2026 · awaiting human check ↩
Markey (2000) — Bystander intervention in computer-mediated communication, Computers in Human Behavior · AI-sourced on Oct 29, 2026 · awaiting human check ↩
Ordre de la Libération — Jean Moulin (Caluire arrest, 21 June 1943, in French) · AI-sourced on Oct 30, 2026 · awaiting human check ↩
Signal — Set and manage disappearing messages · AI-sourced on Oct 29, 2026 · awaiting human check ↩
Signal — Delete messages, alerts or chats · AI-sourced on Oct 29, 2026 · awaiting human check ↩
French Criminal Code, art. 227-21 (inciting a minor to commit an offence) · AI-sourced on Oct 29, 2026 · awaiting human check ↩