The Citizen Lab

@citizenlab · on X ↗
389 posts archived · 0 deleted · tracked since Oct 22, 2026 · checked 44m ago · Download · RSS
Archiving older tweets: back to Sep 2022 so far

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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politicstruthdemocracy

Why it's watchedhuman rights online activists

The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
Director @RonDeibert gave a keynote address at SecTor 2026, warning that spyware and surveillance have been “super-charged” thanks to AI. Read about his talk in @DarkReading. t.co/oCRdIhv44b
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Snapshot 1 of @citizenlab's post from 2026-10-21
The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
1/“The assumption by government officials that technology companies can find “safe ways” to weaken critical cybersecurity protections badly misreads the current threat landscape,” writes the Citizen Lab’s @KateRobertson_ in her new piece on Bill C-22 for @GlobeandMail. t.co/gUOTroagAb
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Adam Juchniewicz | Bitcoin Lawyer @xbitcoinlawyer · ↗
@citizenlab @KateRobertson_ @globeandmail A government can promise to use an access power carefully. It can't promise the weakness will only be used by people with a warrant. That's the part the legislation doesn't get to vote away.
The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
Thread 🧵 1/ NEW REPORT: Billions of advertising auctions determine in real time which ads we see on websites and in apps every day. Our latest research shows how the same data fueling this advertising ecosystem is being used to profile millions of users and silently infect targets with zero-click mercenary spyware, a novel attack technique we call "Adfection.” Read the report: t.co/EL39T3OoeC
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Jan Ravensbergen @JanRavensbergen · ↗
@shoshanazuboff For your ( we hope well under way ‼️) follow-up book on Surveillance Capitalism The epic — not in a good way — operational pivot that was unleashed during the Covid era cries out for your expert eye & analysis… and two books from you — one Pre, the other Post — would elegantly and with your unerring ability to pinpoint immortally bookend truth about the transformations wrought on our body politic by means of this amazing and horrifying era @uTobian [ totally up your alley bro ❣️ ] @mcrispinmiller @jeffreytucker @JanJekielek @BretWeinstein @jstylman @Snowden For those who missed it: printsnap below is from the 2019 (must-read) Zuboff 💥blockbuster💥: The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power
Image in @JanRavensbergen's reply: @shoshanazuboff For your ( we hope well under way ‼️) follow-up book on Surveillance Capitalism …
The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
📢 We’re hiring! Interested in the intersection of law, technology, and human rights? Are you a law student or a graduate student with a law degree? We’re looking for a research assistant to join the Citizen Lab’s spyware and digital targeted threats team to help maintain our spyware litigation database. Learn more and apply by Dec 1: t.co/5aQiz6GbDO
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GENUG @_GENUG_ · ↗
@citizenlab KRIMINELLE NUTZEN SEIT VIELEN JAHREN PEGASUS IN BERLIN UND DÜRFEN NICHT VERHAFTET WERDEN UND ABSOLUT JEDER WEIß BESCHEID UND SCHWEIGT @BMI_Bund
The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
Senior researcher @jsrailton spoke with @WIRED about comments from the CEO of spyware company Paragon Solutions revealing that it has no way to know if customers misuse its software, or of meaningfully preventing misuse. Scott-Railton notes that this is “exactly the opposite of the picture that Paragon has painted for itself for years.” Read here: t.co/xBNxu4ntUd
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
Psiphon, a software company spun out of the Citizen Lab that helps internet users living under oppressive regimes evade censorship, says it will leave Canada if Bill C-22 passes in its current form. t.co/K9kYYG188l
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
Citizen Lab director @RonDeibert is quoted in @guardian's article about Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s increasing influence on AI dominance. “For the last 20 years, democracy has been in decline,” says Deibert. “That happens to coincide with an enormous expansion of digital surveillance capabilities for both commercial and national security purposes. The epicentre of a lot of this is the UAE. And where do all roads lead in the UAE? They lead to Sheikh Tahnoon.” t.co/GQGxoLRUpK
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Morgan Read @morganread544 · ↗
@citizenlab @RonDeibert @guardian who was that fucking bozo fuckin fucking during the terminal CHRIST harvey
The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
Oct 8: Join senior researcher Maia Scott at #Disinfo2026. She will be chairing a presentation on elections under attack in France. Learn more: t.co/ZWTmaqFwko
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Awesome Canada @CanGovTools · ↗
@citizenlab Will Maia's Oct 8 presentation on elections under attack in France be posted publicly after the conference?
The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
Join senior researcher @WolfieChristl at @republica in Vienna on October 2nd to learn how government agencies are accessing behavioural data from online advertising for surveillance purposes. Register here: t.co/QxVtJ1hbre t.co/kRnI3efIYg
Image in @citizenlab's post: Join senior researcher @WolfieChristl at @republica in Vienna on October 2nd to learn how governmen…
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
1/ Two UN reports citing Citizen Lab submissions have been published this month. The first, from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, describes digital risks to human rights defenders. Read it here: t.co/olFSCnwgLb
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
The Citizen Lab submitted a response to a request for information from the Research Directorate at the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada on the issue of the connection between state surveillance and repression in China and the Chinese government’s monitoring activity abroad. Read it here: t.co/3NKEUkCu58
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
Join Citizen Lab director @RonDeibert in Toronto for his keynote speech at SecTor on October 7. He will be speaking about the Citizen Lab’s decades of work acting as “counterintelligence for civil society.” Register: t.co/n9JtG3nmZN t.co/0N5gsSrcT5
Image in @citizenlab's post: Join Citizen Lab director @RonDeibert in Toronto for his keynote speech at SecTor on October 7. H…
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
1/ Citizen Lab researchers are presenting at the @rightscon Continues Summit, a 24-hour online event on September 22-23! Senior researcher @jsrailton will be discussing the commercial spyware industry on September 22 at 4:15 pm CEST.
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
Thread 🧵 1/ 🚨 NEW RESEARCH: We identified a training program provided to government employees in Angola by the Israeli influence-for-hire company BlackCore. Full report: t.co/ABjWCO1jrr
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
Join senior fellow @Cyn_K tomorrow, September 15th at 7PM ET, for Civic Tech Toronto Meetup #560. She will present a recent joint brief by @citizenlab and @cancivlib that analyzes the privacy and human rights implications of Bill C-22. Register here: t.co/c29VALv6m6 t.co/fBGE6rPo8r
Image in @citizenlab's post: Join senior fellow @Cyn_K tomorrow, September 15th at 7PM ET, for Civic Tech Toronto Meetup #560. …
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
1/ A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers have called for three Indian companies that have hacked and stolen data from Americans to be added to the economic sanctions “entity list.” Read the TechCrunch coverage here: t.co/LLXOuqJViD
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
Citizen Lab researchers Noura Aljizawi, Shaila Baran, @mmichae1sen and Siena Anstis have a new paper in a special issue of @journalsafetech. Through the experiences of 25 exiled queer women activists from the Global Majority, they uncover a critical “protection gap” in mainstream digital security approaches. Read it here: t.co/TxLfXgjObZ
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
📣 Senior researcher Noura Aljizawi will present on taking a “queering cybersecurity” approach to digital transnational repression with the Journal of Online Trust and Safety tomorrow (September 8) at 11am ET. Join: t.co/UhSsYNsMHb 🔐 595654
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
Citizen Lab researchers Siena Anstis, @natynettle, and Kate Pundyk write in @lawfare about the U.K. Supreme Court’s ruling that Bahrain could not claim state immunity in a case involving the use of spyware against Bahraini dissidents living in the U.K. Read: t.co/s7w1jJ7vTg
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
1/ NEW: an investigation by our collaborator @shareconference reveals widespread spyware targeting Serbia's pro-democracy student movement. The Citizen Lab can confirm that an iPhone belonging to a student was infected with Pegasus spyware in a zero-click attack over iMessage. This is the most recent public Pegasus case, and it comes amidst a critical series of elections in Serbia 1/ Read more: t.co/5MyBdPHQij
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
🔈 Join senior researcher @irenepoet at Data for Policy 2026 on September 8-10. She will be presenting on how AI systems have facilitated the consolidation of state authority differently in India and Vietnam. Register: t.co/Xua6XHsyvh t.co/i8zzrPr4Kx
Image in @citizenlab's post: 🔈 Join senior researcher @irenepoet at Data for Policy 2026 on September 8-10. She will be presenti…
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
Senior researcher @jsrailton spoke to @techcrunch about the “unprecedented” number of Apple users who recently received notifications alerting them to suspected spyware attacks against their devices. Read: t.co/EvAH1SjqBc
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
📢 @OpenTechFund's 2026 Information Controls Research Program, supporting researchers tackling internet #censorship & #surveillance, is accepting applications. As one of the host organizations, we welcome proposals. Learn more and apply by September 7, 2026: t.co/QOAYPxfdrR
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
Coordinated false reporting is a censorship threat to civil society, and it’s nearly invisible. Senior researcher Alberto Fittarelli speaks to @OCCRP about this increasingly common tactic. Read: t.co/OATZ1FBfPy
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
Citizen Lab researchers Siena Anstis,@mmichae1sen, and Kate Pundyk write about immigration policy and transnational repression for @FPCThinkTank. "Host states cannot claim to counter repression across borders while ignoring the role their immigration policies play in enabling it.” Read: t.co/2pAE0mIctQ
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
Senior research associate @katerobertson_ speaks about Canada’s surprising decision to sign the UN Cybercrime Convention on @LawBytesPod, arguing that it has significant implications for human rights and internet freedom. Listen: t.co/bJNEvHnHxA
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
A recent investigation by @OCCRP found that the co-founder of NSO Group travelled to Panama in 2013 on an Israeli diplomatic passport. Senior researcher @jsrailton notes that it “raises questions about NSO’s connections to the [Israeli] state.” Read: t.co/gLZdvmxHcl
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
Senior fellow Gary Miller spoke with @capecelluar about the exploitation of mobile network vulnerabilities to track US personnel during the Iran war. Watch here: t.co/Ri34KbW8UW
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
Senior research fellow Gary Miller spoke to @FT about attempts to exploit mobile network vulnerabilities to track US personnel during the Iran war. Read: t.co/pOqj8CfISc
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab · ↗ 🔏
Join the Citizen Lab in Calgary at the 26th Privacy Enhancing Technologies Symposium (PETS). Senior researchers @jsrailton and Rebekah Brown will be speaking, and Citizen Lab researchers are presenting their analysis of censorship on Amazon. Register: t.co/OZr4UxL9GK
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