EFF is focused on your data privacy. That means opposing law enforcement’s all-too-easy access to commercial data brokers and the illegal sharing of your info held by the government. takebackctrl.org/reclaim-you...

Former immigration minister says Canada’s reputation on welcoming refugees is at risk www.ctvnews.ca/politics/art...

this is a big and extremely dangerous deal. pegasus has been a tool of repression around the world. is this the pivot to attacking american journalists, lawyers, civil society activists?

Researchers at the Citizen Lab and director @rondeibert.bsky.social sign open letter to the Canadian Minister of AI and Minister of Industry rejecting the “National Sprint” on AI strategy. Read it here: bccla.org/policy-submi...

Social media footage and satellite imagery show killings as Rapid Support Forces took over Al Fashir (El Fasher). Bellingcat geolocated one incident on the city’s outskirts and showed it to the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/11...

Along with numerous orgs and individuals, I have signed on to an Open Letter to the 🇨🇦 Minister of AI raising serious concerns about the government's approach to AI strategy. Details are here 👇 bccla.org/policy-submi...

New from 404 Media: you can't refuse to be scanned by ICE's new facial recognition app, according to internal DHS document I obtained. Photos captured by the app are stored for 15 years, including U.S. citizens. We've seen officers scanning faces w/ phones on streets www.404media.co/you-cant-ref...

Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces issued a statement after photos of Syrian diplomats’ late-September visit were leaked online. The images spread quickly, exposing individuals’ private data and raising serious privacy concerns. isf.gov.lb/ar/news/%D9%...

We at EFF hate it when a certain kind of contract—you know the ones, where you hit accept after scrolling for ages just so you can use the app—is used to constrain users’ rights. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

AI is learning disinfo. A fake quote about Hamas spread on X… and now Google’s Gemini is repeating it as fact. From rumour → news → “AI truth.” Read how it happened How Google’s Gemini AI is Learning Pro-Israel Disinformation From Social Media open.substack.com/pub/marcowen... #Dysinfluence

"The Vanishing Act: How Assad’s Top Henchmen Fled Syria, and Justice. As Syria’s regime collapsed, the world’s eyes were on Bashar al-Assad’s getaway flight. Behind him, officials key to his brutal rule made a mass exodus, virtually undetected." #Syria #Justice www.nytimes.com/2025/10/16/w...

Important piece by @nateschenkkan.bsky.social on how the US deportations of Russian and Iranian dissidents mark a shift from combating to enabling transnational repression. #TransnationalRepression #TNR

NEW: breach of Discord age verification data. Including some users passports & DLs Age verification is a badly implemented data grab wrapped in a moral panic. Mark my words, as age verification mandates expand, we'll end up more surveilled and less secure. 1/

New investigation. "Nobody Talks Like This: Meet 50 AI-Powered Propaganda Accounts in Sudan's Social Media War" How 50 AI-generated accounts are flooding Twitter with pro-UAE and anti-Muslim (Brotherhood) propaganda on Sudan's civil war marcowenjones.substack.com/p/nobody-tal... #disinformation

UPDATE: ICEBlock developer Joshua Aaron asked Apple to reinstate the app after the company removed it from the app store under pressure from AG Bondi... www.cnbc.com/2025/10/03/a...

I wanted to share some of the sources and inspirations for my new @jodemocracy.bsky.social essay this week on transnational repression. Like with anything, there are citations but then there's also stuff that doesn't make it into the piece www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/the...

so the US government just forced a tech company to delete an app it doesn’t like, which is totally normal stuff www.404media.co/iceblock-own...

Read @nateschenkkan.bsky.social excellent essay on The Golden Age of Transnational Repression.

You will never be forgotten. #TNR #JamalKhashoggi

Microsoft blocks Israel’s use of its technology in mass surveillance of Palestinians. The Tech firm ends military unit’s access to AI and data services after Guardian reveals secret spy project. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

"Facebook video of CN Tower on fire should have AI-generated content label, experts say. No fire happened and video is a deepfake, CN Tower says." www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Why Feminists Must Defend Encryption internet.exchangepoint.tech/why-feminist...

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.

This covers well the damage of what’s happening, and I’ll add: people outside this ecosystem underestimate how much information it produces that others rely on for their knowledge of world affairs

The Office of Refugee Resettlement, which is statutorily responsible for looking after the best interests of unaccompanied migrant children, has been giving immigration judges lists of kids who are “amenable” to voluntary departure, even though they aren’t

"A tsunami of AI-enabled disinformation is already upon us, polluting the public sphere and seeping back into the language models that AI systems feed upon. What to do?" My latest oped in @theglobeandmail.com 👇 www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

GitHub is enabling broader access for developers in Syria following new government trade rules github.blog/company/gith...

1/ Read my latest in @techpolicypress.bsky.social Syria’s Recovery Depends on Rebuilding Its Digital Infrastructure. www.techpolicy.press/syrias-recov...

This is huge for Syria. Google has removed Syria from its OFAC-sanctioned list as of August 13, 2025. This is a long overdue, and I hope more tech companies follow suit in restoring access to digital services and opportunities for Syrians. support.google.com/adspolicy/an...

“Perhaps the hardest thing to change now will be breaking the instinct to ‘Google it,’” writes Dia Kayyali, in response to the degradation of the online information landscape. “We need to start asking where we can turn for communication that’s mediated as little as possible by technology.”

NEW: I spoke to @rondeibert.bsky.social ahead of his keynote at Black Hat today. Ron travelled to Vegas to warn the cybersec industry that perhaps it’s time to get political. “They should be aware of what’s going on and hopefully they can not contribute to it, if not help reverse it,” he said.

Read "Targeted Across Borders: Digital Transnational Repression, Gender Dimensions, and the Role of Host States" by Noura Al-Jizawi, Siena Anstis, and Gözde Böcü From the new issue of Georgetown Journal of International Affairs Available via @projectmuse.bsky.social muse.jhu.edu/article/965783

Glad to share this new article on digital transnational repression, its impacts on women and queer individuals, and the responses of host states. #DTR muse.jhu.edu/article/965783 Project MUSE - Targeted Across Borders: Digital Transnational Repression, Gender Dimensions, and the Role of Host States

Canada 🇨🇦 makes many pledges re: regulating spyware, protecting victims of transnational repression, and protecting human rights. But words must be followed by actions. My latest @theglobeandmail.com on the G7 Leaders' Statement on Transnational Repression www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/3d51c5f...

In Mexico 🇲🇽, Sheinbaum's government is pushing through Congress sweeping legal reforms that will establish mass identification and surveillance systems of the population. Here is a thread 🧵 summarizing the scope and reach of these reforms:

Weekend read from @mshannahmurphy.bsky.social with comment and insight from @sivav.bsky.social, @anchorchange.com, @davidevanharris.com, and 40+ more interviews on Zuckerberg's "evolution" to "MAGA Mark."

Iran is limiting internet connectivity for citizens amid Israeli airstrikes—pushing people towards domestic apps, which may not be secure, and limiting their ability to access vital information. www.wired.com/story/iran-i...

I was encouraged to see the #G7 Leaders' Statement on Transnational Repression which also calls out mitigating harms around mercenary spyware 👇🇨🇦 www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/stat...

"It's never the crime, it's the cover-up"—but sometimes it's both. Many reasons Bill C-2 should be DOA, but a key one is how GoC is using it to sneak problematic 'cybercrime' treaty provisions into our laws, before even publicly deciding if we should be part of those treaties in the first place.

For Syrian users, the lifting of tech sanctions is more than a bureaucratic change—it’s a door, long closed, beginning to open www.eff.org/deeplinks/20...

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...

Love That the Prison Cannot Hold: Laila Soueif and the Abolitionist Fight for Life. #FreeAlaa feminism-mena.fes.de/e/love-that-...

Dr. Laila Soueif was admitted to the hospital last night as her health deteriorated. A courageous and iconic hero, she began a hunger strike to protest the unlawful imprisonment of her son, Alaa Abdel Fattah. #FreeAlaa #SaveLaila mada38.appspot.com/www.madamasr...

In the @freedomhouse.bsky.social recent report on TNR in Canada, "The Canadian government was initially slow to focus on transnational repression, but recent work to engage targeted communities and elevate the issue at multilateral forums are promising developments." freedomhouse.org/article/tnr-...

Egyptian journalist Rasha Qandeel charged with spreading ‘false news’ after political reports. cpj-org.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/cpj.org/...

From Incels to Mercenaries: When Online Hate Becomes Real-World Violence www.techpolicy.press/from-incels-...

Check it out. I just published TeleMessage Explorer: a new open source research tool micahflee.com/telemessage-...

It’s always a pleasure to talk to Matt Galloway on The Current. We discussed what will Trump’s pledge to lift sanctions mean for Syria? how Syrians’ lives were impacted by the sanctions, & what does it mean for the country in this critical transitional period. www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...