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Azadeh Akbari

@azadehakbari.bsky.social
9K followers 1.1K following 242 posts

Prof. Critical Data & Technology Studies @ Goethe University Frankfurt / digital authoritarianism, surveillance, smart cities/ Co-Director @Survstudiesnet.bsky.social / Founder @surveillancemw.bsky.social *personal account*

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Reposted by Azadeh Akbari
keep your electric eye on me @ubisurv.net · 22/09/2026
@azadehakbari.bsky.social & I have a chapter out on " #SmartCities as Control Cities ", in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Society. We thought this would be Open Access, but it's not. 🤐 If you want to a copy, please ask me... academic.oup.com/edited-volum...
academic.oup.com
Smart Cities as Control Cities
Summary. The rise of smart cities has been marked not only by rapid technological innovation but also by a deepening entanglement with systems of surveilla
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Reposted by Azadeh Akbari
Digital Geographies Research Group @dgrgrgs.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
🎙️ We’re delighted to welcome Professor Azadeh Akbari as one of our fantastic panellists for this year’s DGRG Annual Lecture at RGS-IBG AC26! See you in the Ondaajte Theatre on Thursday 3rd, 16:35–18:15 to hear more about @azadehakbari.bsky.social's work 🌍
The image shows a speaker profile for Prof Azadeh Akbari. On the right is a picture of the Prof, smiling at the camera. She wears an orange scarf and stands against a colourful background. On the left is a blue and pink urban image. The title reads "Digital Geographies Research Group Annual Lecture RGS-IBG AC26". This is followed by the Prof's profile, explaining that she is a Prof of Critical Data and Technology Studies at Goethe University Frankfurt. She is part of the Center for Critical Computational Studies and part of the Geography faculty. She researchs topics including the geopolitics of digital transformation and data justice. She directs the Surveillance Studies Network and has founded and directed the Surveillance in the Majority World Network. She was Assistant Professor at the University of Twente previously, and often featuring in the media on issues of surveillance At the bottom, is a final sentence "Join us in the Ondaajte Theatre on Thursday 3rd September, 16:35-18:15"
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Azadeh Akbari @azadehakbari.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
I’ll be talking about my latest paper “uneven datafication” today in Hamburg. Please join in person or online if you feel like talking theory ☺️ www.inf.uni-hamburg.de/home/news/cu...
inf.uni-hamburg.de
Öffentlicher Vortrag: Uneven Datafication: Political Economy of Digital Colonial Capitalism
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Azadeh Akbari @azadehakbari.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
I‘m not a native speaker but wasn’t it mutilation?
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Azadeh Akbari @azadehakbari.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
The summer has arrived… writing a response to all the generous and thoughtful comments on „uneven datafication“
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Reposted by Azadeh Akbari
Azadeh Akbari @azadehakbari.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
🧵My paper on "Uneven Datafication" just came out! It draws on literature on coloniality, uneven development and dependency. Uneven datafication operates through three interrelated dynamics: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Screenshot of the paper's title and abstract called uneven datafication, for the journal Dialogues in Digital Society
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Azadeh Akbari @azadehakbari.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
If you needed one more reason why Zambia cancelled @rightscon.org:
open.substack.com
How China Built its Technosphere in Zambia
China: Technosphere provides a biweekly deep-dive into China’s technological control at home and influence abroad.
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Reposted by Azadeh Akbari
Vas Panagiotopoulos @vaspanagiotopoulos.com · 12/05/2026
NEW: A @hrw.org report published today finds that despite a regulatory framework designed to prevent abuses, 🇪🇺EU is currently doing **too little** to prevent sales & transfers of #surveillance technology by its members to governments with a track record of serious human rights violations. 🧵
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michael caster @mcaster.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
'Autocrats Are Collaborating on Next-Generation Internet Controls' I wrote about #China, #Iran, networked authoritarianism, & future frontiers of digital repression for the NED Forum, drawing on the recent @article19.bsky.social Tightening the Net report thinkdemocracy.substack.com/p/autocrats-...
thinkdemocracy.substack.com
Autocrats Are Collaborating on Next-Generation Internet Controls. Michael Caster Unpacks the Implications.
Satellite-based connectivity, open-source AI models, and other innovative technologies are transforming how people around the world share their views and access information.
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Reposted by Azadeh Akbari
Data controversies, James Stewart @datacontroversies.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
Looks like a great development of Castells and of the Data Poor thesis
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Reposted by Azadeh Akbari
keep your electric eye on me @ubisurv.net · 07/05/2026
This is a really important (and big!) paper on the political geography of #data, which brings colonialism, dependency theory and unequal exchange back into the conversation about #datafication and #datajustice.
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Azadeh Akbari @azadehakbari.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
🧵My paper on "Uneven Datafication" just came out! It draws on literature on coloniality, uneven development and dependency. Uneven datafication operates through three interrelated dynamics: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Screenshot of the paper's title and abstract called uneven datafication, for the journal Dialogues in Digital Society
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Reposted by Azadeh Akbari
Alondra Nelson @alondra.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
Tensions arise with US deal that demands access to Zambian critical minerals and data in exchange for healthcare investment. Humanitarian aid as trade war.
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Azadeh Akbari @azadehakbari.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
Happy May Day! It’s my favourite holiday of the year. The only day that people like my parents are celebrated: no saints, no prophets, no kings. Just working class people and their supposedly anecdotal unimportant lives!
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Azadeh Akbari @azadehakbari.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
🧵1- It has been 57 days since the internet went down in Iran. For many, the only remaining option has been Starlink. In 2023, Iran invoked “digital sovereignty” at the International Telecommunication Union to push for disabling Starlink connections. Yet the number of terminals continued to grow.
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Reposted by Azadeh Akbari
Rosamunde Van Brakel @rosamundevb.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
Very excited to give a talk together w @nan-knust.bsky.social Knust on 22 April at 4.30 pm on "The use of predictive policing to control fisheries crime" which is part of a great series of talks organised @azadehakbari.bsky.social Join us in Frankfurt or online! www.c3s-frankfurt.de/what-we-do/e...
c3s-frankfurt.de
The use of predictive policing to control fisheries crime - Center for critical computational studies
Talk series: Critical Data & Surveillance Studies Rosamunde Van Brakel & Nandor Knust
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Stefan Ouma @econgeo.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
New paper in @proghumgeog.bsky.social. Some great colleagues' work is sampled @jennifer-clapp.bsky.social @landstuff.bsky.social @brettchristophers.bsky.social @azadehakbari.bsky.social @jamiepeck.bsky.social @reijer.bsky.social journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... #geosky #ipesky
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Azadeh Akbari @azadehakbari.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Iranians are literally making human chains around bridges and power plants. This is what uncivilised people like Trump don’t understand. As much as we hate the Islamic Republic, we LOVE our country. دریغ است ایران که ویران شود…
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Azadeh Akbari @azadehakbari.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
This mad king wants to ruin our civilisation. He never cared about democracy. Never in the entire history of Iran, Americans have ever cared a sec about democracy. If anything , they have denied us our agency and undermined our collective efforts and sacrifices to become democratic.
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Jake Godin @godin.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
Particularly alarming that this includes Lebanon & Gaza. I had just shared imagery from March 18 showing the demolition of villages along the southern border of Lebanon by the IDF and now not even that imagery is available: bsky.app/profile/godi... Mass demolitions haven't stopped in Gaza, either.
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mahsa alimardani @mahsaalimardani.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
This week the UN ITU's Radio Regulations Board is meeting on IRI’s demand to disable Starlink in Iran. This will set an important precedent for one of the key ways people are circumventing Internet shutdowns. Read the full breakdown by @farzdusa.bsky.social: iranianwomen4internet.org/blog.html
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Reposted by Azadeh Akbari
Lisa Oswald @lfoswaldo.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
I'm hiring a postdoc! @goetheuni.bsky.social Focus: CSS, political behavior, political communication & transforming information environments. 📍 Frankfurt | ⏳ 3 years | 📅 Deadline: 14 April 2026 Full job ad here: www.uni-frankfurt.de/48794987/Zen... (search for “political behavior” to find it)
uni-frankfurt.de
Goethe-Universität — Zentrale Einrichtungen
Die Goethe-Universität ist eine forschungsstarke Hochschule in der europäischen Finanzmetropole Frankfurt. Lebendig, urban und weltoffen besitzt sie als Stiftungsuniversität ein einzigartiges Maß an E...
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Azadeh Akbari @azadehakbari.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
Running a podcast doesn’t give you authority to talk about things you have no idea about them. Your dogmatic white male privileged interpretation of digital sovereignty leaves no space for nuances of connectivity in authoritarian regimes.
parismarx.com
Paris Marx
Paris Marx is a Canadian tech critic, author, and host of Tech Won’t Save Us.
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mahsa alimardani @mahsaalimardani.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
Funny, Iran's own spokesperson and Foreign Minister didn't use the cyberwarfare justification. They clearly said internet goes to those who can amplify the regime's voice. That's not a defensive posture. That's content policy.
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Cullen Hendrix @cullenhendrix.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
As the Hormuz crisis becomes a food security crisis, the @wfp.org is going into 2026 in a massive funding hole due to aid retrenchment by the US and many European donors facing the prospect of rearmament. The geopolitics driving the crisis are also leaving the cupboard bare for crisis response.
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Χοδαδαδίος Ρεζαχανίδης, PhD, KRT, Duc de Téhéran @sasanianshah.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
I just remember when the roof of Notre-Dame de Paris was on fire and how every Western leader became a cultural expert and lamented the damage and how everyone donated money to rebuild it. I am having a hard time finding a single article in any European or American publication about this.
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Azadeh Akbari @azadehakbari.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
This is "our" Manifesto for a Free Internet. We are Iranian Women's Coalition for Internet Freedom. Happy International Women's Day! initiated by @azadehakbari.bsky.social @farzdusa.bsky.social @mahsaalimardani.bsky.social @royapak.bsky.social & Afsaneh Rigot
docs.google.com
Manifesto for a Free Internet
Manifesto for a Free Internet Iranian Women’s Coalition for Internet Freedom Today, people inside Iran are living through a near-total Internet and communications blackout imposed by the Islamic Repub...
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Azadeh Akbari @azadehakbari.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
Well, congratulations to the US: after changing Taliban with Taliban, and Maduro with his VP, now they have changed Khamenei with Khamenei. Next time maybe improve your cover story for destruction of countries and killing people.
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Rest of World @restofworld.org · 05/03/2026
As AI becomes critical to national economies, cloud infrastructure becomes a wartime target. Drone strikes on Amazon sites in the Gulf may force the industry to rethink where it builds restofworld.org/2026/iran-amazon-da…
restofworld.org
Iranian drone strikes at Amazon sites raise alarms over protecting data centers
Tech industry’s past focus on cyberattacks and natural disasters overshadowed threats of physical attacks.
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Azadeh Akbari @azadehakbari.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
I was asked by @techpolicypress.bsky.social‬ what I am watching for as a tech scholar in the ongoing war. Here is my take:
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Surveillance in the Majority World Network @surveillancemw.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
Surveillance in the Majority World Newsletter for February 2026 is out! surveillance-majority-world.net/2026/02/09/s...
surveillance-majority-world.net
Surveillance in the Majority World Newsletter | February 2026
We share research/stories/podcasts that caught our attention.
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Azadeh Akbari @azadehakbari.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
When the internet is shut down in Iran, gunfire begins. Since Jan 8, all connections are cut and families, journalists & activists are unreachable. Protesters are being killed in silence. Internet access is a human right. Please sign and share our letter to the ITU: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
docs.google.com
Iran: When the internet is shut down, gunfire begins
To the International Telecommunication Union and the international Internet community, When the internet is shut down, gunfire begins. People of Iran are once again on the streets, risking their li...
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Azadeh Akbari @azadehakbari.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
Iranian protestors taking down the "regime's eyes"
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Azadeh Akbari @azadehakbari.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
Iranian protestors taking down the "regime's eyes"
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Surveillance in the Majority World Network @surveillancemw.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
📣 Surveillance in the Majority World Newsletter for January 2026 is out! surveillance-majority-world.net/2026/01/07/s...
surveillance-majority-world.net
Surveillance in the Majority World Newsletter | January 2026
We share research/stories/podcasts that caught our attention.
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Reposted by Azadeh Akbari
netzpolitik.org @netzpolitik.org · 27/12/2025
🚨Uns fehlen noch 90.000 Euro 🚨 Unterstütze uns mit einer Spende, damit wir uns 2026 mit unverminderter Kraft gegen die autoritäre Wende stemmen können! netzpolitik.org/digitalfights
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Azadeh Akbari @azadehakbari.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
My take on Big Tech authoritarianism: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com
Big Tech authoritarianism: Political synergies of an emerging power - Azadeh Akbari, 2025
The political, economic, and social power of many Big Tech firms, along with their vast userbases, has often been compared to nation-states. While existing anal...
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Surveillance in the Majority World Network @surveillancemw.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
Surveillance in the Majority World Network's November newsletter is out! surveillance-majority-world.net/2025/11/25/s...
surveillance-majority-world.net
Surveillance in the Majority World Newsletter | November 2025
We share research/stories/podcasts that caught our attention.
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Thomas Dekeyser @thomas-dekeyser.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
💥 New publication out on the alignment of AI & authoritarianism 💥 We argue that AI is not simply extending, but actively modulating, key dynamics of authoritarianism, and present a flexible analytical framework to account for these changes. rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
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Azadeh Akbari @azadehakbari.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
My feed these days: "We reject the use of generative artificial intelligence for reflexive qualitative research" paper next to "Open Conference of AI Agents for Qualitative Research 2026" -The 1st open conference where AI serves as both primary authors and reviewers of research papers- 🤨
papers.ssrn.com
<span>We reject the use of generative artificial intelligence for reflexive qualitative research</span>
We write as 416 experienced qualitative researchers from 38 countries, to reject the use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) applications for Big Q Qu
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Azadeh Akbari @azadehakbari.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
Academics are capable of asking some of the dumbest most insensitive questions, a lay person can never dream of.
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keep your electric eye on me @ubisurv.net · 28/10/2025
Call for Abstracts / Panels PLANETARY SURVEILLANCE #SSN2026 – the 11th Biennial Surveillance Studies Network Conference 9-12 June 2026 Université Catholique de Lille, France Details: surveillance-studies.net/conference/ Submissions (open soon): ssn2026.sciencesconf.org
surveillance-studies.net
Conference – Surveillance Studies Network
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Azadeh Akbari @azadehakbari.bsky.social · 22/10/2025
Come work with me at the wonderful Center for Critical Computational Studies at Goethe University Frankfurt! You will define your own PhD project within the field of critical data and surveillance studies, with a focus on countries of the Majority World. azadeh-akbari.com/come-work-wi...
azadeh-akbari.com
Come work with me: PhD Position
In the Working group Critical Data & Surveillance Studies at the Center for Critical Computational Studies (C³S) at Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main, which focuses on geographical, political, and/o...
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Azadeh Akbari @azadehakbari.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
I was just reading a @theguardian.com column on fashion trends and “core”- and came across dark academia trend! 😳 who would have thought miserable looks can be fashionable? onpointfresh.com/dark-academi...
onpointfresh.com
The Dark Academia Aesthetic – Outfits, Clothing and Brands - OnPointFresh
The Dark Academia Aesthetic is a mysterious, alluring style that has been around for centuries, but has recently been popularized by mass media. Its name may
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Azadeh Akbari @azadehakbari.bsky.social · 21/09/2025
On a Sunday note: here is my ultimate central Ottawa Foodie Guide! As an EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie global fellow at the UOttawa, I spent a lot of time throughout 2024&5 in this city. This guide aims to liberate you from the shackles of Tim Horton & other chains with sad food.
azadeh-akbari.com
The ultimate central Ottawa Foodie Guide
My EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie global fellowship was hosted by the University of Ottawa, and I spent a lot of time throughout 2024 and 2025 in this city. My driver’s license was stolen one day before my...
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Azadeh Akbari @azadehakbari.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
These are important reports + the news about China piloting village surveillance in Solomon Islands; China is exporting comprehensive surveillance packages now with marketing slogans of stability and security. They had done this before with all 'safe' city programs. www.reuters.com/world/china/...
reuters.com
China pilots village surveillance in Solomon Islands, seeks stability
China has exported its village surveillance model to the Solomon Islands in the Pacific, where Chinese police are piloting fingerprint and data collection to curb social unrest, officials and locals confirmed to Reuters.
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Azadeh Akbari @azadehakbari.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
Read my latest commentary on Big Tech Authoritarianism, which discusses how Big Tech actively constructs authoritarian spaces – both within their organisational structures and across broader socio-political contexts. doi.org/10.1177/2976...
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Surveillance in the Majority World Network @surveillancemw.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
📣Surveillance in the Majority world Network's newsletter is out!
surveillance-majority-world.net
Surveillance in the Majority World Newsletter | July 2025
We share research/stories/podcasts that caught our attention.
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Surveillance in the Majority World Network @surveillancemw.bsky.social · 22/06/2025
📣 Surveillance in the Majority World Newsletter for June 2025 is out!
surveillance-majority-world.net
Surveillance in the Majority World Newsletter | June 2025
We share research/stories/podcasts that caught our attention.
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Digital Geographies Research Group @dgrgrgs.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
First speaker is @azadehakbari.bsky.social discussing Authoritarian Smart Cities focusing on the politics of smart cities via digital development dilemma and authoritarianism. Tech is evolving but securitisation continues & we must consider discourse, practices, infrastructures #DGRGSymposium2025
A zoom screenshot: to the right an image of Azadeh who is wearing a white top and to the left is a screenshot of the presentation slide about authoritarian smart city
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