I interviewed an expert on what's happening with connectivity in Iran: The longest blackout in Iran's history. Thousands dead. Documentation of war crimes dependent on Starlink. A regime that uses AI's ubiquity to undermine the credibility of evidence. www.theverge.com/policy/87184...

I wrote about Iran's protests for @theatlantic.com: how AI manipulation and the suspicion of it is being weaponised to dismiss real footage of protests. This piece draws on work from my stellar team at WITNESS and years of studying information controls in Iran and beyond.

Being an Iranian and following how an inspiring and brave movement to dismantle the tyranny that’s ruling Iran has deteriorated into possibly the worst massacre of protesters in documented history has been one of the heaviest things I've lived through --personally, professionally…hard articulate.

Cool spot line in @nytimes.com on WITNESS’ work helping frontline documenters capture video that is harder to discredit and supporting real-time authentication with journalists and fact-checkers in the age of AI. Read here: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/m...

AI regulation should build trust, not control. India can lead by adopting rights-based, interoperable AI transparency standards. Grateful to @internetfreedom.bsky.social whose work on India’s digital-rights landscape helped shape our intervention. www.witness.org/witness-call...

WITNESS submitted inputs to two recent EU Commission calls for input (a) Art. 50 of the EU AI Act and (b) the upcoming Digital Omnibus. Our recommendations regarding art. 50 outline how transparency can work in practice while safeguarding rights: lnkd.in/dDmjnaMq

The new Computer Says Maybe episode with @samgregory.bsky.social and @alixdunn.com dives into AI video, trust and human rights. Happy to see WITNESS’ work featured and made so accessible. www.themaybe.org/podcast/stra...

This week Open AI walked back a call for the govt to backstop financing for its trillion dollar investments in data centers. This was only the tip of the iceberg; a slow bailout for AI firms is already underway. Read more from @ambakak.bsky.social and I in @wsj.com: www.wsj.com/opinion/you-...

🚨 Do not hand your unlocked phone to law enforcement 🚨 Normalising the surrender of unlocked devices — esp at borders — is a dangerous precedent Apple is fore-fronting. Pushing an unlocked phone as standard-issue ID &commercialising #surveillance under the guise of “convenience” #privacy #digitalID

“Every participant who was detained by authorities & had biometrics enabled, said they were violently forced to unlock their phone. […]” The research is clear: those with biometrics lost the power to resist device searches. Only using passcodes had some ability to refuse, delay, or obscure access.

"How we choose to act now will determine whether our shared basis for reality — what we see and hear — remains trustworthy." Generative video's threat to visual truth and what we can do about it, and why concerted action matters now, in @transformernews.ai www.transformernews.ai/p/sora-is-he...

I had one of those difficult conversations on Venezuela with my dear @ayoub.bsky.social in @thefirethesetimes.com. I deeply appreciated having a welcoming space for such a complicated conversation and being able to keep calling attention to what is going on. thefirethesetimes.com/2025/06/10/a...

With the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize to María Corina Machado, we're diving once again into endless debates about her political position - with media calling her "far-right" or "radical right."

📣 Germany's close to reversing its opposition to mass surveillance & private message scanning, & backing the Chat Control bill. This could end private comms-& Signal-in the EU. Time's short and they're counting on obscurity: please let German politicians know how horrifying their reversal would be.

1/Citizen Lab’s new report on PRISONBREAK is a must-read. It exposes an AI-enabled influence operation targeting Iran with deceptive media, from the infamous Evin Prison gates video to deepfake music.

Also, @haaretzcom.bsky.social @themarkup.org has an exclusive companion report here, authored by Gur Megido and Omer Benjakob 👇 www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

1/ NEW REPORT: “We Say You Want a Revolution” - An AI-Enabled Influence Operation Aimed at Overthrowing the Iranian Regime. We call it PRISONBREAK. Keep reading to find out why. THREAD 🧵

Millions in crisis rely on ubiquitous tools that betray them: from social media to Starlink. The deeper shock is when secure tools also exclude them through everyday hurdles like phone verification. In order to have real alternatives, we must reclaim hyper-accessibility. 🔐

During the Iran-Israel war, civilians in Iran had little access to trustworthy information. AI deepfakes circulated online exacerbated this situation. What are the implications? @mahsaalimardani.bsky.social and @samgregory.bsky.social explained:

🆕| There is a growing gap between the sophistication of AI deception and analysts’ ability to detect it, heralding a frightening new phase in global conflict. @mahsaalimardani.bsky.social & @samgregory.bsky.social's latest for @carnegieendowment.org⤵️

I can't emphasize enough how crucial accurate information is when you live anywhere in the margins. This is true in wartime Iran, & it's true under militarized policing and white supremacist kyriarchy in the U.S. Thank you @mahsaalimardani.bsky.social for all of your lifesaving work.

Read this piece where we explore the serious implications of synthetic media in conflict -especially when it begins to further destabilise an already fragile information ecosystem like Iran’s, amid wartime conditions where access to truth can mean the difference between life and death.

The Iran-Israel war signals a major gap between the sophistication of AI deception and analysts’ ability to detect it. @mahsaalimardani.bsky.social & @samgregory.bsky.social explain how the info war is changing and its consequences @carnegieendowment.org ⬇️ carnegieendowment.org/research/202...

Glad to collaborate with @mahsaalimardani.bsky.social on this exploration of AI war propaganda in the Israel-Iran war and the gaps growing in our capability to detect and respond carnegieendowment.org/research/202...

I spoke with people in Gaza who've been accused of being scammers or even AI.

NO. AI. FOR. WAR. CRIMES!!!

Baratunde is spot on. He highlights three things from the episode we did: (1) Reality is not sustainable if it always has to be proven. (2) A solution that doesn’t work for everyone is not a solution. (3) We need a food safety system for information newsletter.lifewithmachines.media/p/reality-on...

Turkish authorities have escalated their crackdown on free expression & social media companies are complying with arbitrary requests. On May 8 X blocked access to the account of jailed Istanbul Mayor İmamoğlu Social media companies should resist Turkish state censorship www.hrw.org/news/2025/05...

So much to unpack here, where does one start? www.axios.com/2025/05/07/o...

🚨Cool job alert🚨 There is an exciting opportunity at WITNESS to join as the Program Manager for the Middle East and North Africa program! Deadline is May 4th! witness.bamboohr.com/careers/62

Our latest: Anyone who has ever been a part of a decentered group and dealt directly with criminalization understands these tactics. It is important that we do not overstate these powers in our collective imagination. Instead, we can study their mechanics. 🔐

As immigration controls are violently targeting pro #Palestine students & other migrants, their low-tech tactics remain the most dangerous & authoritarian, Afsaneh Rigot writes.“The oppressed know the oppressor better than it knows itself.” We can outsmart them. the-decenter.ghost.io/dehumanized-...

WITNESS analysis of the EU AI Act's draft GPAI Code of Practice (CoP) flags urgent concerns. One point -we need stronger Output Transparency requirements to ensure information integrity. 1/3

On Trans Day of Visibility — and every day — we stand in solidarity with the leadership of trans communities around the world. Their genius has given birth to many important harm reduction methods in tech.

ICE has arrested Iranian national Alireza Doroudi, a doctoral candidate studying mechanical engineering at the University of Alabama. He was arrested at home at 5 a.m. Tuesday. As with some of the others who've been disappeared, unclear why he was detained. www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

Our official statement from Albert Sellars LLP on President Trump's recent executive order.

BREAKING: People are being suspended on X in Turkey for posting videos of these protests against Erdoğan’s corrupt and repressive regime. Keep sharing everywhere.

Excellent entry-point for those study tech harms to understand potential harms from the growth of content authenticity and provenance standards in their particular contexts -from information environments like China, Iran or the US. By @jacobocas.bsky.social blog.witness.org/2025/03/tomo...

For the past month I have transitioned into a new role as Associate Director of Technology, Threats and Opportunities at WITNESS. I'm joining one of the most cutting-edge and talented technology and human rights teams around -a privilege I don't take lightly! www.witness.org/portfolio_pa...

Some hope for justice accountability during a profoundly dark time.

The notion that a human rights-centered approach hinders progress is a dangerous fallacy. For too long, “innovation” has been used as an excuse to sideline trust, safety, and user rights, writes shirin anlen.

Current situation in Sudan continues to be catastrophic. The #queer community in #Sudan face multi-layer harms. A dedication from one of the Sudanese researchers from our 2024 report found here: www.article19.org/queer-resist...

Close out this inaugural week in the US with our newsletter "It can be hard to imagine what can be done in the face of this tsunami. But we must remember that tech harms are not new — even the current ones — they are just more overt and likely to expand. Read in full here: lnkd.in/eNT3uKQ8

“We find that fact-checks are successful in debunking misperceptions. Moreover, this debunking effect is consistent across countries” Posting this key finding from our recent 16 country study. For no particular reason today. doi.org/10.1080/1520...

This week Saudi Arabia hosts the IGF while dozens of people remain imprisoned for peaceful online speech. Many are charged under the country’s abusive counterterrorism law, and the authorities conduct invasive surveillance of civil society members. www.hrw.org/news/2024/12...

OpenAI’s #Sora and #Ai tech like it represent a step change in generative video. For @techpolicypress.bsky.social I highlight key risks and fundamental inequitable gaps in access to detection tools. But ... there is time to address this and other threats www.techpolicy.press/openais-sora...