In October 2025, Citizen Lab researchers and director Ron Deibert signed an open letter to the Canadian Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation and the Minister of Industry rejecting the “National Sprint” on AI strategy and announcing a then-forthcoming independent “People’s Consultation on AI.” The independent consultation is now accepting submissions until March 15, […]
Citizen Lab senior research associate Emile Dirks will be attending a meeting on transnational repression (TNR) at the EU Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs on January 28, during which Nate Schenkkan (lead author, independent researcher), Zselyke Csaky (senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform), Alexander Dukalskis (Assistant Professor at University College Dublin at […]
In an op-ed for the Toronto Star, Jason Stanley and Ron Deibert write that Mark Carney must emphasize the importance of democratic values on the world stage. “Canada is a healthy, pluralistic, and multicultural democracy,” making it “more essential now than ever that our prime minister stands up for the values our tolerant, multiracial society […]
Citizen Lab director Ron Deibert spoke with the Walrus about Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation Evan Solomon’s 30-day “national sprint” to inform Canada’s approach to AI development. Deibert opted not to participate in the government process. “I don’t want to lend credibility to such flawed processes by participating,” he said, citing a need […]
Swantje Lange
Swantje Lange is a PhD candidate in computer science with the Cybersecurity: Mobile & Wireless research group at Hasso Plattner Institute. She researches the security of cellular networks, focusing on privacy violations and vulnerabilities in currently deployed and future systems. Her goal is to raise awareness of current issues among users, regulators, and developers of […]
Through a multi-year investigation, we find that the Jordanian security apparatus has deployed forensic extraction products manufactured by Cellebrite against civil society devices. We release these findings alongside reporting from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) which includes interviews with a few of the victims.
Chasing Shadows, the best-selling book by Citizen Lab director Ron Deibert, is now out in paperback form on the one-year anniversary of its launch. This edition includes a new afterword describing “the disturbing descent into techno-fascism” that Deibert witnessed during his travels to the US in spring 2025, and includes an endorsement by Canadian novelist […]
Senior researcher Noura Aljizawi speaks with Nalah Ayed from CBC Ideas about her personal experience of returning to Syria to grieve for the first time in 13 years following the fall of the al-Assad regime. Aljizawi recalls how grieving publicly was not allowed in the wake of the 2011 revolution, despite the importance of collective […]
A recent story by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism reveals that a communications firm in London paid an editor to launder Wikipedia pages for high-profile clients. Senior researcher Alberto Fittarelli speaks with the Bureau, explaining that “influence operators are attracted to Wikipedia because it is a means of shaping perceptions in large populations.” Blatant changes […]
On January 14, Citizen Lab senior researcher Marcus Michaelsen testified on transnational repression in a hearing of the Human Rights Committee in the German parliament (Bundestag). In a submission to the committee, Michaelsen highlights how transnational repression increasingly affects people in exile and diaspora communities in democratic countries like Germany, undermining their human rights and […]