Targeted Threats
Investigations into the prevalence and impact of digital espionage operations against civil society groups. For our research on Digital Transnational Repression, visit this page to explore our reports, media mentions, and resources.
Featured in Targeted Threats
Digital Transnational Repression Explained
Citizen Lab produced an animated explainer video on digital transnational repression in Canada that also highlight some of the stories of the interviewees while also protecting their identities.
Latest Research
Silenced by Surveillance: The Impacts of Digital Transnational Repression on Journalists, Human Rights Defenders, and Dissidents in Exile
The Citizen Lab’s Siena Anstis and Ron Deibert examine the phenomenon of digital transnational repression in “Silenced by Surveillance: The Impacts of Digital Transnational Repression on Journalists, Human Rights Defenders, and Dissidents in Exile”, published by Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. Read the essay here.
Book release: “Transnational Repression and International Law” co-authored by Siena Anstis
A new book co-authored by Siena Anstis, senior legal advisor at The Citizen Lab, is now available for purchase. Transnational Repression and International Law explores the rise of state-sponsored extraterritorial killings and the implications for international law. Order your copy here.
Online Presentation of No Escape – Tackling Gender-Based Digital Transnational Repression: March 24, 10 am ET
Join us on March 24, 2025, for a virtual presentation and Q&A on the gendered dimension of digital transnational repression. The Citizen Lab’s Siena Anstis, Noura Aljizawi, and Marcus Michaelsen will share key findings from their December 2024 report, “No Escape: The Weaponization of Gender for the Purposes of Digital Transnational Repression,” followed by a… Read more »
Senior researcher Noura Aljizawi delivers testimony before the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development
Noura Aljizawi, senior researcher at The Citizen Lab, delivered testimony before the House of Commons Subcommittee on International Human Rights (SDIR) of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development on November 26, 2024, addressing the issue of transnational repression in developing democracies.
Senior fellow Lex Gill delivers testimony to the Foreign Interference Commission
Lex Gill, senior fellow at The Citizen Lab, delivered impactful comments to the Foreign Interference Commission at the public consultation hearing for the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions this October. She argues that concerns regarding foreign interference cannot be used to justify rights-infringing powers for Canada’s national security… Read more »