Citizen Lab staff and research in the news.
In an interview with the MIT Technology Review, Citizen Lab director Ron Deibert discusses the Lab’s impact, and his views on the deteriorating political situation in the United States. He notes the changing political atmosphere for academics and human rights defenders. “I do not believe that an institution like the Citizen Lab could exist right… Read more »
Citizen Lab senior fellow Cynthia Khoo speaks with Resh Budhu, host of the Courage My Friends podcast, about the problems with Canada’s ‘national sprint’ on artificial intelligence. She notes, “It’s kind of a slap in the face to everyone who has either been harmed by these kinds of reckless approaches to technology, or who has… Read more »
Citizen Lab senior researcher Alberto Fittarelli speaks with Negar Mortazavi, host of The Iran Podcast, about Israel-linked influence operations pushing for regime change in Iran. Fittarelli explains how an artificial network of users on X amplified calls for unrest, sometimes with the aid of AI-generated images and videos. The perpetrators of the operation were “trying… Read more »
In many countries, laws against cybercrime are being weaponized to repress journalism. Speaking to the Columbia Journalism Review, Citizen Lab doctoral fellow Gabrielle Lim warns that democratic countries passing similar laws could provide cover to repressive authoritarian regimes. “Unfortunately, most of the laws being passed will have little effect in actually curbing misinformation, but instead… Read more »
In an interview with What Bitcoin Did, Citizen Lab senior researcher John Scott-Railton discusses the proliferation of spyware and the repercussions of its use on victims. He explains how mass surveillance “ultimately leads to self-censorship,” with significant implications for our freedom. Watch here.
A new U.K. age-verification law aimed to protect children can push people to seedier parts of the web. Citizen Lab senior researcher John Scott-Railton spoke with the Washington Post about the “law of unintended consequences” faced by regulators. The law “suppresses traffic to compliant platforms while driving users to sites without age verification,” says Scott-Railton…. Read more »
Citizen Lab senior researcher John Scott-Railton confirms that FlexiSPY spyware was installed on two Kenyan filmmakers’ phones while the devices were in police custody.
Ahead of his keynote at Black Hat USA, Citizen Lab director Ron Deibert spoke with TechCrunch reporter Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai about what he describes as a “descent into a kind of fusion of tech and fascism.”
What’s stopping diaspora members from speaking up against the government in their home country? In an interview with the Stockholm Center for Freedom (SCF), Citizen Lab senior researcher Marcus Michaelsen discusses digital transnational repression (DTR) and its impacts on diasporas worldwide. Read the interview.
In an interview for CBC Ideas, Citizen Lab founder Ron Deibert talks with host Nahlah Ayed about mercenary spyware, sharing that “the latest versions can be implanted on anyone’s device anywhere in the world and as we speak, there is literally no defence against it.” They also discuss his new book, Chasing Shadows, in which… Read more »
