The Citizen Lab

The newly announced NSO human rights policy makes lots of promises, but not about halting the sale of abusive spyware to oppressive regimes. Thread below 👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾

What are contemporary and emerging challenges at the intersection of digital technologies and human rights? Join @RonDeibert next week to find out. t.co/GhOiUCW1sX t.co/bez1yZaM4n

To help better understand how dual-use devices function—particularly in the context of human rights defenders and civil society organizations—Citizen Lab researchers have assembled a high-level introduction to key technologies and legal frameworks. t.co/PFB8aX96dP

From the passing of Hu Yaobang to present day efforts to commemorate June 4, images of the Tiananmen Square Massacre are regularly censored on social media in China. #June4CensoredHistories #TiananmenSquare @Weiboscope @JMSCHKU t.co/VMbFTPmIMT t.co/HMHBgOUelw

Why the sudden about-face on encryption? Look to Trump’s recently appointed attorney general and the concerted effort of our Five Eyes allies. t.co/gC5zAcZyf1

Adopting AI technologies in immigration systems without building in human rights principles will only put marginalized and under-resourced communities at higher risk. t.co/cm4ml4mmrW t.co/yet9nW8m13

"Far from humouring the irresponsible choices of our allies, our government should be championing secure communications and committed to making Canada a haven for innovation and democracy." @caparsons @tamir_i t.co/gC5zAcZyf1

Join @RonDeibert, @KAlexaKoenig and @ShanthiKalathil as they discuss contemporary and emerging challenges in digital technologies and human rights. Registration details: t.co/GhOiUCW1sX t.co/f9IZpjb38U

With powerful spyware, such regimes can, with greater facility and on a larger scale, target human rights defenders, political dissidents, and refugees far outside their borders. t.co/mvpDnO5cx6

In the days leading up to the 30th anniversary of June 4, YY, a popular live streaming platform in mainland China, updated its keyword blacklists with content focused on Democracy Movement related memorials and activism in Hong Kong. t.co/g2suZjuhQd

Canada’s Minister of Public Safety (@RalphGoodale) and his Five Eyes colleagues have argued that backdoor access to encrypted products would keep Canadians safe. In reality, it would put us all at risk. t.co/DDsKH8Z664

“Our research shows there is a crisis in civil society because of the abuse of commercial spyware”- @RonDeibert t.co/YyxNP2lnGH

If you study #disinformation, you should bookmark the annotated bibliography assembled by @gabriellelim: it gives readers a foundational understanding of the immense amount of work that has been done on digital disinformation and where future research may be heading. t.co/KnwbsH2Oiw

“Authorities still have to be able to enunciate they have a reason to intrude upon someone’s privacy... And so having an automated system that’s perpetually scanning the entirety of everything would probably run afoul of that.” @caparsons t.co/F61EwH4Pye

If you're planning on watching this Sunday's rebroadcast of the @60Minutes segment about NSO Group (featuring @RonDeibert and @billmarczak), here's a round-up of some relevant research:

Senior research associate @caparsons says data could be used to improve broader facial recognition systems, potentially being deployed to track protesters or political dissidents t.co/3FNFIBKUOg

While appearing on @60Minutes last spring, NSO Group's CEO had ample opportunity to disprove our evidence-based claims of abuse of his company's spyware. Instead, he offered this insight: "Don't believe newspapers." Watch the episode again this Sunday. t.co/0qGzsR5Sm5

Encryption policy thread👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾

Excited to have @joana_varon and @ptaguilera lead this workshop! 🙌🏾

The murder of Jamal Khashoggi is directly linked to spyware meant to target criminals, demonstrating an abuse of power in a market without consequence. And in the absence of any meaningful action, this won't be the last lethal use of such technology. t.co/l0dLTyE6HX

ICYMI: "You don’t necessarily try to change other people's opinions. You try to change their perception of other people's opinions."- @abulkhaezuran t.co/QGbipD1KJ3

"It is long past time for us all to recognize that the continued failure to address this growing emergency implicates the very core of liberal democracy."- @sienaanstis @RonDeibert @jsrailton t.co/l0dLTyE6HX

延续之前针对微信朋友圈图片过滤技术的研究，我们分析了微信如何在聊天功能中实现实时图片过滤 t.co/dvk8K9a3p4

Too busy to read the entirety of our latest analysis of @WeChatApp image filtering? Just want the highlights? We've got you covered: t.co/PPXcVa95sK

NEW REPORT: (Can’t) Picture This 2: An Analysis of WeChat's Realtime Image Filtering in Chats t.co/2s8yQJkw5P

"Many June 4 related posts on Weibo that are censored include information on the event supported by validated sources, including journalistic coverage, video footage, photographs, books, archives, and documents." @globalvoices @Weiboscope @JMSCHKU t.co/J4z2S2Bl2q

Using AI in immigration decisions has real world impacts. How can your immigration application be affected? #BotsAtTheGate t.co/4r5kNjz2aj