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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 […]

In a piece for the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, Emile Dirks and Diana Fu argue that the U.S.’s pull back from its liberal-minded engagements in China “poses an imminent challenge to Canada: how to curb Beijing’s foreign interference without the support of a network of organizations backed by its powerful ally to the south.” […]

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 […]

In March 2024, Emile Dirks, research associate at The Citizen Lab, along with Ausma Bernot (Griffith University), and Yves Moreau (University of Leuven) prepared a written submission in response to the United Nations’ Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights call for input on the application of digital technologies in the administration of justice. 

In response to a call for input issued by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on counter-terrorism and human rights, Emile Dirks, research associate at The Citizen Lab, prepared a written submission underlining the legal and human rights implications of the collection and usage of biometric recognition data by the People’s Republic of China.