The Citizen Lab

@citizenlab · on X ↗
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Academic research unit at @UofT investigating novel threats to democracy, human rights, and global security in the digital ecosystem.

📍 Toronto, Canada

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Why it's watchedhuman rights online activists

The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
“These apps, like Facebook, already hold a boatload of permissions to access the phone’s camera, microphone, GPS, SMS messages, contacts, and call logs,” @billmarczak said, adding that they “have a large attack surface since they run a full browser.” t.co/jh6Ma8Deq6
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
NEW REPORT: Missing Link: Tibetan Groups Targeted with 1-Click Mobile Exploits t.co/MspfkrYuvc
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
“Absent of any clear way of seeing whether something is manipulated or not, people tend to go back to their home-spun values and it’s harder for them to be responsive to new information.”- @abulkhaezuran t.co/fanrJJhzVv
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
If you can't make it to DC today, follow the Human Rights and Digital Technologies Symposium webcast (featuring @RonDeibert at 1:45 pm EST) t.co/nJM3fZPYmo
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · quote ↗ 🔏
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 👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
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
Image in @citizenlab's post: What are contemporary and emerging challenges at the intersection of digital technologies and human…
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
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
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
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
Image in @citizenlab's post: From the passing of Hu Yaobang to present day efforts to commemorate June 4, images of the Tiananme…Image in @citizenlab's post: From the passing of Hu Yaobang to present day efforts to commemorate June 4, images of the Tiananme…Image in @citizenlab's post: From the passing of Hu Yaobang to present day efforts to commemorate June 4, images of the Tiananme…Image in @citizenlab's post: From the passing of Hu Yaobang to present day efforts to commemorate June 4, images of the Tiananme…
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
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
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
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
Image in @citizenlab's post: Adopting AI technologies in immigration systems without building in human rights principles will on…
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
"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
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
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
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
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
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
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
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
“Our research shows there is a crisis in civil society because of the abuse of commercial spyware”- @RonDeibert t.co/YyxNP2lnGH
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
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
Image in @citizenlab's post: If you study #disinformation, you should bookmark the annotated bibliography assembled by @gabriell…
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
“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
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
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:
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
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
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
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
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · quote ↗ 🔏
Encryption policy thread👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · quote ↗ 🔏
Excited to have @joana_varon and @ptaguilera lead this workshop! 🙌🏾
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
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
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
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
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
"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
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
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
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