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 »

In this interview with TVO The Agenda’s Steve Paikin, Citizen Lab director Ron Deibert discusses his recent trip to the White House, the impact that the Trump administration’s policies will have on cyber security worldwide, and why Canadians should be concerned by a potential bilateral surveillance agreement with the U.S. 

In this Q&A by The Record from Recorded Future News, Citizen Lab director Ron Deibert speaks with cyber security reporter Suzanne Smalley about the technical aspects of the Citizen Lab’s research methods, why there is almost certainly spyware being used that hasn’t yet been discovered, and how spyware companies continue to evolve to evade detection…. Read more »

In an opinion piece for The Globe and Mail, The Citizen Lab’s Emile Dirks, Siena Anstis, Noura Aljizawi, and Ron Deibert, argue that while the final report of the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions (the Hogue Commission) found no evidence of Canadian MPs collaborating with foreign states to… Read more »