About us: The Citizen Lab is a public-interest research group based at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto, focused on investigating novel threats to democracy, human rights, and global security in the digital ecosystem. Under the supervision of the senior legal advisor, the research officer will assist with building… Read more »

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 »

The Citizen Lab’s Gabrielle Lim, Noura Aljizawi, Shaila Baran, and Nicola Lawford recently published an article in Internet Policy Review on the methodology of digital rights governance research. Through a  scoping review of 141 articles, the authors assess the relationship between interdisciplinary scholarship and single-, multi-, and mixed methods research. They find that interdisciplinary work… Read more »

Panel discussion at FT Live’s Global Boardroom, featuring Ron Deibert in conversation with Meredith Whittaker, president of Signal, and Anne Neuberger, former deputy national security advisor for the United States.

Join us for a timely conversation on how digital repression and surveillance are reshaping women’s participation in peacebuilding and the Women, Peace and Security agenda.

Citizen Lab researchers and director Ron Deibert have signed an open letter to the Canadian Minister of AI and Minister of Industry rejecting the “National Sprint” on AI strategy. The letter calls upon the ministers to extend the consultation deadline, rewrite the public survey, and create a more representative AI task force. Signatories of the… Read more »

Citizen Lab director Ron Deibert is the recipient of the 2025 Sterling Prize in Support of Controversy by Simon Fraser University (SFU). The award recognizes his ongoing work at the intersection of global security, digital technologies, and human rights.   SFU professor David Zandvliet says, “As chair of the Sterling Prize committee, I find his… 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 »

Citizen Lab senior researcher John Scott-Railton is presenting in the panel titled “From Stasi to Spyware: Old Tactics, New Technology” at Berlin Freedom Week on November 12, 2025.