What used to be bugs and informants is now #spyware. Bringing together victims of #Stasi surveillance and #spyware to discuss: How can we protect #freedom in the digital age? 🗓️ November 12, 18:30 #BerlinFreedomWeek Register here 👇 www.berlin-freedom-week.com/en/event/sta...

Was früher Wanzen & Spitzel waren, ist heute #Spyware. Wie schützt man #Freiheit im digitalen Zeitalter? 🗓️ 12.11., 18:30 Uhr #BerlinFreedomWeek Infos & Anmeldung 👇 www.berlin-freedom-week.com/event/von-st...

Today’s WhatsApp v NSO injunction is a BIG DEAL & may essentially kill Pegasus spyware *as we know it.* To comply, NSO would have to ensure that their spyware cannot access WhatsApp messages or break WhatsApp’s encryption. This means that NSO can no longer offer “unlimited” access to victims’ 📱s

Article ALERT: doi.org/10.1080/1058... Towards the Comparative Study of Domestic Influence Operations: Cyber Troops and Elite Competition in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand – Political Communication How do domestic online influence operations vary across countries, and why?🧵

The deportation of pro-democracy dissidents to their home countries is a major reversal of years of U.S. policymaking on a topic that had bipartisan support.

As the US shifts from fighting transnational repression to facilitating it, Europe needs to step up: condemn Trumps actions and provide shelter for dissidents fleeing authoritarianism. Great piece by @nateschenkkan.bsky.social

NEW: Since October 2023, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit has released dozens of 3D animations illustrating alleged Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iranian sites The style is now unmistakable: satellite zoom-ins, black & white wireframes, and red-textured houses - a new visual language of war

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:

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.

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 🧵

3 years on, there is still complete impunity for crimes committed during & since the Woman, Life, Freedom protests in #Iran. Victims & their families deserve justice. @hrw.org 👉 www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...

Author copies for Dictating the Agenda: The Authoritarian Resurgence in World Politics by me & @cooleyoneurasia.bsky.social arrived today! If you re-post this by Sept 30 we'll put you in a drawing & send the winner a free signed copy anywhere they happen to be on the planet.

Powerful interests are trying to change the internet. It's worse than you know. Your safety and freedoms are on the line. Thank you for your attention to this matter. www.youtube.com/watch?v=iz_8...

Leaked dataset casts light on Chinese company Geedge Networks business around the world, incl #Myanmar. Our report exposes 13 telecom biz in Myanmar that are integral to the functioning of Geedge’s sophisticated surveillance & censorship tech on behalf of the junta. Read more👇🏽 #GreatFirewallExport

Dictating the Agenda: The Authoritarian Resurgence in World Politics by me & @cooleyoneurasia.bsky.social is now published by OUP in the USA (rest of world soon) If you are interested in why you see so many dictatorships & illiberal leaders influencing world politics then this is the book for you.

It is a heartbreaking day for many, many people who worked in the broader foreign assistance, foreign policy, and journalism worlds. USAID, RFE/RL, Radio Free Asia—all illegally closed. Hundreds of State Dept employees being laid off right now. Hundreds more grants being terminated.

#TransnationalRepression does not stop at European borders. That’s why we have to come up with unified response -something we are working on with a TNR report in #DROI and later #AFET

Proud to present our study on transnational repression at the European Parliament's Subcommittee on Human Rights this morning along with my wonderful colleagues @mmichae1sen.bsky.social and @saipirafurstenberg.bsky.social. Recording here: multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/en/webstream...

Important work by @mmichae1sen.bsky.social on #TNR This is not theory, my case is one of many and despite complaints, my case acknowledged by Germany&UN. Still unprotected. This study shows why that must change!! what EU states must do to fix it! 👇 www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en...

"Transnational repression of human rights defenders: The impacts on civic space and the responsibility of host states" - Study on transnational repression with @mmichae1sen.bsky.social and @saipirafurstenberg.bsky.social now online.

Excellent piece by Narges Bajoghli on the dangerous fallacy of regime change in Iran time.com/7295877/issu...

G7 Leaders adopt statement on transnational repression, recognising it as a threat to national security, state sovereignty and the human rights of targets. Now words must be followed by action.

NEW @citizenlab.ca report confirms the targeting of two more journalist with #Paragon spyware in the context of 🇮🇹 Details here: citizenlab.ca/2025/06/firs... @billmarczak.org @jsrailton.bsky.social

🌱 Spyware Accountability Initiative has an open call for proposals addressing the harms of the global #spyware industry on civil society, through regulation, #litigation, research and investigation and other means. Deadline: June 13, 2025.

Canada 🇨🇦's Liberal govt has proposed a new "Border Security Bill," in large part in response to pressures from 🇺🇸 I raised concerns about that back in March 2025 👇 macleans.ca/politics/the...

When you equip half the world's dictators with Pegasus spyware. And get constantly caught. And sanctioned. Do you look in the mirror? If you are NSO Group you do. And you like what you see. So you decide to add little dystopian flair. NSO's new branding: "NSO Group: Safer Society"

Do you know what the date is today? Today is the anniversary of the Tiananmen square massacre. Dictators hope that if they make us afraid to speak the truth for long enough... we'll forget it. This is how history is erased. A Day to Remember, 2005, by Liu Wei Full: vimeo.com/44078865

🇨🇳 China's reaching across borders, including in Canada, spying on and harassing dissidents, ethnic groups, and politicians while threatening family members back in mainland China. Hard to say for sure, but it feels to us like it's ramping up... www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

📣 New open-access publication As authoritarian actors have increasingly turned to Big Tech platforms to repress dissidents, pro-democracy activism has experienced notable changes. Our latest research examines an under-analysed yet important phenomenon of pro-democracy platform advocacy 🧵1/6

citizenlab.ca uncovered a spear-phishing campaign targeting Uyghur exiles with malware for remote surveillance. This shows a pattern where state-aligned actors, especially those linked to the Chinese government, use tools meant to empower marginalized groups for repression.

The UK Parliament Joint Committee on Human Rights has posted a number of written submissions filed with the Committee which has been examining transnational repression in the UK: committees.parliament.uk/work/8867/tr.... Worth reviewing if you're interested in the topic!

DOGE bro Kyle Schutt's computer infected by malware, credentials found in stealer logs micahflee.com/doge-bro-kyl...

📣 DIGITAL DEFENCE RESOURCES As part of the EU-funded “Pro-democracy platform advocacy" project, our resources suggest solutions for specific harassment problems, based on our academic research. The resources are available in English, Burmese, Khmer and Thai. Check them out: www.digidef.info 1/2

Meiya Pico, a Chinese state-owned digital forensics firm, will the Tibet Police College in Lhasa with an offensive cyber operations training and digital forensic lab. With a domestic control and a transnational repression, Beijing monitors and intimidate Tibetan communities.

Cyberattack against Uyghur rights activists shows hallmarks of Chinese repression tactics, researchers say www.icij.org/investigatio...

New report out @citizenlab.ca A spearphishing campaign against senior @uyghurcongress.bsky.social members as part of ongoing digital transnational repression against the Uyghur diaspora. citizenlab.ca/2025/04/uygh... 1/3

Fear is dictatorship glue. You can't imprison everyone with a dissenting thought. Or inconvenient factual observation. But fear teaches self censorship. It's a scalable system of control. The autocrat's challenge is to keep the fear going. 1/

"Were any of the Houthi Signal group members compromised at the time they discussed the Yemen attack plans? Frankly, it would be shocking if they were not." My latest in @foreignaffairs.com on "The Real Lessons of SignalGate" www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

Signal is secure and private. Understanding the larger issues raised by SignalGatee requires interrogating the surveillance business model. Brilliant work, getting right to the marrow of the issue, from @rondeibert.bsky.social !

The attacks of the Iranian regime on European soil are not isolated incidents - they are of a systematic nature. The regime’s transnational repression targets its critics and Jews across #Europe - undermining European #security too. We need to add the #IRGC to the EU terror list (1/2)

friendly reminder: if it's your first time experiencing authoritarianism, or if you are a fellow veteran, come hang out tomorrow with this all-star panel (and then there is me) hosted by @globalvoices.org

Join us on April 16 as we talk about all things authoritarianism globalvoices.org/2025/04/11/l... via @globalvoices.org

Kseniia Petrova, a Harvard scientist who fled Russia after protesting its invasion of Ukraine, has been captive to the hard-line immigration policies of the Trump administration for nearly eight weeks. She fears arrest if she is deported.

"I feared living my entire life in exile. I walk the streets feeling a sense of connection, belonging, happiness and relief. I am here. I am finally in Homs." Ammar Azzouz in Democracy in Exile on returning to Syria after 14 years. @dawnmenaorg.bsky.social dawnmena.org/returning-to...

New peer-reviewed article by the Citizen Lab’s @mmichae1sen.bsky.social & @sanstis.bsky.social discusses the gendered forms of digital threats faced by women human rights defenders and journalists in exile and in the diaspora. Read it here ⬇️ www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

ICYMI--Recording of our @citizenlab.ca webinar on gender-based transnational repression, with comments and insights from @hneumannmep.bsky.social @sanstis.bsky.social @noura.bsky.social @arzugeybulla.bsky.social @emiledirks.bsky.social & Maryam Mirza www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxP8...

Join us today at 15.00CET for a deep dive into gender-based digital transnational repression: