I had missed RightsCon for a few years and was genuinely looking forward to being in a room with this community again. The world is bleak. We find light in each other. Watching a government try to snuff that out is a serious blow, and it should be treated as one.

Just a terrible blow that the tech & human rights community def did not need right now. Thinking of everyone whose plans and hard earned travel budgets have been disrupted by this.

More than 200 human rights and environmental organizations, issued a joint statement in response to President Trump’s threat “a whole civilization will die tonight” regarding Iran. To wipe out ‘a whole civilization’ may amount to a threat of genocide www.amnestyusa.org/press-releas...

Kind of thing that should be read aloud in front of a tribunal.

It's Trans Day of Visibility, so we've made our special series about being trans on the internet completely free to read for everyone, forever. www.theverge.com/cs/features/... Here are a few stories from the collection:

#PDAF2026 begins tomorrow! 🚀 Secure your spot: events.ringcentral.com/events/pdaf-... 📅 March 30-31, 2026 (Monday-Tuesday) 🌐 Online sessions and workshops 🎧 Participants can choose to listen to the original audio or to simultaneous interpretation in Arabic or English.

Today, Meta's Oversight Board warned that the company's planned global expansion of Community Notes “poses significant human rights risks." www.niemanlab.org/2026/03/meta...

The expanding war in Iran brought to the fore questions about the role of technology in armed conflict, including the controversial use of new artificial intelligence technologies. Tech Policy Press invited perspectives from experts on what they are watching for as the situation unfolds.

"Anthropic is doing the right thing... The uses it is drawing lines around (mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons) are foreseeable and dangerous. Just as important, its willingness to hold that line in the face of coercive pressure sets an example for the rest of the industry."

It should be a five alarm for all Americans that the Pentagon is going to the mat to force an AI company to let the Defense Department use its powerful technology to surveil Americans. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/24/u...

⚠️ Escalated Digital Warfare in Gaza Originally published in @techpolicypress.bsky.social, II members unpack how Netanyahu's UNGA address—broadcast into Gaza via loudspeakers & cellphones—reveals the risks surrounding telecom control, free expression & civilian comms in crisis. 🔗 bit.ly/405ullr

rome statute of the international criminal court, article 8bis: crime of aggression

Platform policies and human rights frameworks must move beyond incident-based analysis towards systemic approaches that recognize how risks from online harms grow over time and through platform design, Meri Baghdasaryan writes:

Great to have Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, on Bluesky. It’s a vibrant community, and a promising model for decentralized social media policies that transparently address toxicity and strengthen information integrity. @safety.bsky.app @aaron.bsky.team

In this report, we examine how digital advertising is used to push war-related messaging and what international human rights law says about it. The report also exposes major gaps in platform policies that leave people at risk. Read the full report: accessnow.org/online-ads-w...

"The simplest thing to do would be the right thing": www.nytimes.com/2025/12/01/o...

Attacks on VPNs are attacks on digital privacy and digital freedom. And that battle is being fought by people who clearly have no idea how any of this technology actually works. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

Commented on this @nbcnews story on the chaos of the recent X location product rollout. As tempting as it is to dunk on the "United States" accounts posting from unexpected places, I would caution folks not to jump to conclusions. www.nbcnews.com/tech/elon-mu...

🗓️ Wednesday, December 3 🕙 10:00 CET 📍 World Forum, The Hague Attending next week's ICC Assembly of States Parties session? Join us for a civil society workshop that will explore the crimes against humanity treaty effort and gender justice. Register: bit.ly/cahtreatyatASP

"Hathaway said the protection of civilians under international humanitarian law was being 'eroded to the point of threatening to lose all meaning'" and calls for a coalition of states to stop the international legal order falling apart. Worth a read:

How should platforms moderate content in armed conflict? Our latest decisions show Meta’s rules can create imbalances in the information people see from warring sides. The Board overturns Meta's removal of two posts. www.oversightboard.com/news/add-too...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's UNGA threat to use both loudspeaker operations and forced cellphone messaging to reach Palestinians in Gaza presents novel risks and profound dangers, Shannon Raj Singh and others write.

Everyone needs to understand that the defunding of public broadcasting this week is part of a broader effort to dismantle the free press and control the means of reality production itself. www.thedissident.news/the-oligarch...

Over the last few months, we've seen the rise of a new tool for misinformation: AI-generated satellite imagery. This one, for instance, claims to show damaged Russian aircraft after Ukrainian drone attacks. But it's AI-generated, as evidenced by physical anomalies and asymmetrical features.

Here's a useful term to capture today’s global atmosphere: hypernormalization, a Soviet-era concept that describes a reality where everything feels broken yet oddly normal. www.theguardian.com/wellness/ng-...

Total we launch 2 additional reports from the Iran Digital Archive Coalition that underscore the int'l crimes we've been documenting through open source investigations + the importance of the #IranFFMI's continuing work #HRCLab humanrights.berkeley.edu/projects/inv...

🇲🇩 AI bots, fake local engagement & synchronized posting? A new investigation from @victoriaolari.bsky.social exposes a #Telegram network manipulating #Moldova's political discourse. Likely Russian in origin, it uses automation & “soft engagement” to build influence bit.ly/4inUpiR

I'm here in Taipei for RightsCon this week - it's hard to imagine a more urgent time for conversations around tech and human rights. I'll be speaking in the following sessions, hosted by @article19law.bsky.social, @pressfreedom.bsky.social, & @accessnow.org Join us & say hello! #RightsCon25

Important new report from HRC research fellow @shannonrsingh.bsky.social on "how tools deployed or developed by social media companies might reduce the risk of mass violence and contribute constructively to atrocity prevention efforts"

Thanks to @justsecurity.org and the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict for including this piece in their excellent symposium, "Thinking Beyond Risks: Tech and Atrocity Prevention." When attempting to leverage tech for accountability, the focus is too often on new and shiny tools.

📣 It’s out! I’m thrilled to announce the publication of Leveraging Social Media for Genocide & Mass Atrocity Prevention, a report I authored with the Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide. @ushmm.bsky.social vault.ushmm.org/adaptivemedi...

New report detailing Russia's systematic program of coerced adoption and fostering of Ukraine's children. This is likely to lead to new war crimes & crimes against humanity charges against Putin, Lvova-Belova & others. Madeline Babin, Isabel Gensler & I explain: www.justsecurity.org/105372/hrl-r...

📕 Interesting and useful guide from the @icrc1.bsky.social regarding Private Businesses and Armed Conflict, covering the applicability of international humanitarian law to companies present in conflicts or operating around them, and the ensuing legal consequences. shop.icrc.org/private-busi...

A bright spot in an otherwise dark time for international law: the Sixth Committee adopts resolution moving the draft treaty on Crimes Against Humanity to negotiations. Thanks so much @akilarad.bsky.social @leilasadat1.bsky.social @globaljusticec.bsky.social for your tireless advocacy! ⚖️

In my latest with @justsecurity.org, I explore the potential of social media to contribute to atrocity prevention, drawing on my new report with the Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide (out soon!) Thanks for including me in this fascinating symposium on #tech & #atrocityprevention!

Afghan & Iranian women have used the term "gender apartheid" for years to describe the systematic gender segregation & subjugation they live under. A global effort to codify the crime may advance this Friday if the crimes against humanity draft treaty moves to negotiations. Full campaign timeline👇🏼

Starter pack for those working on misinfo, disinfo, information integrity, digital authoritarianism, propaganda etc. Definitely a work in progress, reply if you want to be added! go.bsky.app/V4Po9wB

I updated this list. In case useful. It doesn’t include everyone I follow. Or who I reskeet (is that a thing now?) And sure I’ve missed loads. But reflects how happy I am that lots of you are here. So much easier. go.bsky.app/8W7MRZb

📣 If you’re looking to rebuild your digital community of those working in (or adjacent to!) international criminal law, check out this helpful starter pack by @santiagovargasn.bsky.social:

🧵Attacks on civil society are an early warning for coming human rights violations. We should be paying attention to this bill. HR 9495, presented under the guise of counterterrorism, closely mirrors bills from other countries that were later used to suppress NGOs deemed "undesirable." 1/15

Great public service here by @aratojulian.bsky.social for those of us getting going under another sky....

So happy to be here! Bluer skies indeed ✨