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Cameran Ashraf, Ph.D.

@camerana.bsky.social
251 followers 530 following 13 posts

#HumanRights @wikimediafoundation.org / Human rights & cyberconflict @ CEU / Co-founder of @accessnow.org / Founder AzadiArchive "Joy is not made to be a crumb" -Mary Oliver www.cashraf.com

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Cameran Ashraf, Ph.D. @camerana.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
This @nytimes.com article covers Wikipedia’s challenges. The Human Rights team I lead is highlighted for supporting volunteers Proud of @wikimediafoundation.org & my team for fighting for an internet where everyone can share in the sum of all human knowledge www.nytimes.com/2026/07/05/b...
nytimes.com
Wikipedia Is Battling for the Soul of the Internet
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Reposted by Cameran Ashraf, Ph.D.
Wikipedia @wikipedia.org · 10/11/2025
The future of knowledge is yours to protect. #Wikipedia25 Donate now ➡️ donate.wikipedia25.org
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Cameran Ashraf, Ph.D. @camerana.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
Very pleased to have helped develop this new paper: Privacy in public: a new whitepaper on privacy in #Wikipedia research diff.wikimedia.org/2025/11/02/p... #HumanRights #Privacy
diff.wikimedia.org
Privacy in public: a new whitepaper on privacy in Wikipedia research
Wikipedia is a global knowledge resource visited more than 15 billion times every month by humans and machines. However, the usage of Wikipedia does not stop here. Wikipedia is a vital resource for…
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Cameran Ashraf, Ph.D. @camerana.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
Visit Wikipedia - read, contribute to articles, and donate - free knowledge and the ability to have non-paywalled information available online is at stake! www.engadget.com/ai/wikimedia...
engadget.com
Wikimedia says AI bots and summaries are hurting Wikipedia's traffic
The Wikimedia foundation says an AI-fueled drop in traffic could threaten the internets largest repository of trusted information.
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Cameran Ashraf, Ph.D. @camerana.bsky.social · 11/10/2025
New report out: Think Again: Freedom of Thought in the Age of Artificial Intelligence Very pleased to have played a small part in this publication! #HumanRights
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Reposted by Cameran Ashraf, Ph.D.
CPDPconferences @cpdpconferences.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
"Keeping Secrets While Exposing the Truth? Balancing Data Protection in Digital Human Rights Archiving" Organised by Center for European Policy Studies with @camerana.bsky.social More information: cpdp.be/31038 #CPDP.ai #CPDP2025 #TheWorldisWatching #CPDP #Workshop
"Keeping Secrets While Exposing the Truth? Balancing Data Protection in Digital Human Rights Archiving"

Human rights investigators are increasingly using open-source, user-generated content scraped from online platforms as crucial digital evidence for human rights advocacy, accountability and analysis (witness accounts, footage of protests and state violence, etc.). This workshop will explore the intersection between the good-faith documentation of sensitive data on human rights violations and data protection and privacy standards.

We aim to collaboratively answer the following questions:
1) What data protection standards should apply to gathering and processing such content and how? 
2) How can data protection and privacy regulation negatively impact or impede digital evidence gathering and processing? 
3) How can sensitive content be archived in challenging political contexts with restricted right to privacy and sophisticated surveillance?

The workshop will provide the audience with a short brief on the topic, followed by an interactive exercise simulating both sides of the argument and a guided discussion to share and summarize findings.
 
Organised by Center for European Policy Studies with Cameran Ashraf
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Cameran Ashraf, Ph.D. @camerana.bsky.social · 26/04/2025
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
washingtonpost.com
U.S. attorney for D.C. accuses Wikipedia of ‘propaganda,’ threatens nonprofit status
Ed Martin sent a letter to the Wikimedia Foundation accusing it of spreading propaganda
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Cameran Ashraf, Ph.D. @camerana.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
The State Department is changing its mind about what it calls human rights www.npr.org/2025/04/18/n...
npr.org
The State Department is changing its mind about what it calls human rights
The agency's annual human rights reports are being purged of references to prison conditions, political corruption and other abuses.
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Reposted by Cameran Ashraf, Ph.D.
lokman tsui @lokman.org · 04/03/2025
Hong Kong has been doing a deepdive into authoritarianism for 5 years now. What's happening in the US feels similar. A lot I want to share, but here's a start: By @ramshajahangir.bsky.social with @nighatdad.bsky.social @camerana.bsky.social @mishi.bsky.social www.techpolicy.press/what-happens...
techpolicy.press
What Happens When Democracy Falters? Lessons from The Global Majority | TechPolicy.Press
A confluence of troubling trends is reshaping the landscape of global human rights and democratic governance in the Global Majority, writes Ramsha Jahangir.
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Cameran Ashraf, Ph.D. @camerana.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
A Powerful Conservative Think Tank Is Targeting One of the Last Good Things on the Internet (hint: it's Wikipedia) slate.com/technology/2...
slate.com
A Powerful Conservative Think Tank Is Targeting One of the Last Good Things on the Internet
The Heritage Foundation plans to “identify and target” Wikipedia editors it accuses of antisemitism.
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Reposted by Cameran Ashraf, Ph.D.
Foreign Affairs @foreignaffairs.com · 09/12/2024
The effects of the Bashar al-Assad regime’s demise will extend far beyond Syria’s borders, write @natashahall.bsky.social and @joosthiltermann.bsky.social. “The end of Assad seems certain to transform the Middle East’s balance of power.”
foreignaffairs.com
The Day After Assad
The Syrian dictator’s stunning fall will scramble the balance of power in the Middle East.
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Cameran Ashraf, Ph.D. @camerana.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
Makes you wonder what Khamenei and Iran's elite have in their palaces www.theguardian.com/world/2024/d...
theguardian.com
Luxury cars and high-end labels: shocked Syrians roam Assad family residences
Footage shows people looting expensive items after ‘butcher of Damascus’ fled to Moscow with family
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Cameran Ashraf, Ph.D. @camerana.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
What incredible women! www.ft.com/content/fdbc...
ft.com
Three Iranian women fighting for artistic freedom
Shirin Neshat, Nazy Nazhand and Sheree Hovsepian’s friendship is seeded in their heritage — and has bloomed through their work
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Reposted by Cameran Ashraf, Ph.D.
John Herrman @jwherrman.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
There are moral and ideological cases for leaving X, of course, but you don't even need them: the old platform is just *gone* and has been for a long time nymag.com/intelligence...
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Cameran Ashraf, Ph.D. @camerana.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
#ArtificialIntelligence #AI foreignpolicy.com/2024/12/04/t...
foreignpolicy.com
Trump Must Rebalance America’s AI Strategy
The Biden administration’s approach was risky and needs to be corrected.
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Reposted by Cameran Ashraf, Ph.D.
The Internet Ethics program--Markkula Center for Applied Ethics @iethics.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
"... an attacker might interrupt a #ChatGPT session using a... prompt injection of [a filtered name].... The filter also means... it's likely that ChatGPT won't be able to answer questions about this article when browsing the web, such as through ChatGPT with #Search" arstechnica.com/information-...
arstechnica.com
Certain names make ChatGPT grind to a halt, and we know why
Filter resulting from subject of settled defamation lawsuit could cause trouble down the road.
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Reposted by Cameran Ashraf, Ph.D.
The Citizen Lab @citizenlab.ca · 02/12/2024
NEW REPORT: We investigate the rising trend of gender-based digital transnational repression by drawing on the lived experiences of 85 women human rights defenders living in exile across the globe. Read the full report: citizenlab.ca/2024/12/the-...
citizenlab.ca
No Escape: The Weaponization of Gender for the Purposes of Digital Transnational Repression - The Citizen Lab
Building upon our prior research and the contributions of other scholars to this field, the aim of this novel study is to understand the security risks and harms caused by digital transnational repres...
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Reposted by Cameran Ashraf, Ph.D.
OSINTdefender @handle.invalid · 01/12/2024
Iran’s Foreign Minister Araghchi is now in Ankara to talk Syria with his Turkish counterpart. Via Iranian state media.
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Cameran Ashraf, Ph.D. @camerana.bsky.social · 30/11/2024
Lots of rumors of coup in Damascus, #Assad fleeing to Moscow - alongside semi-verified rapid opposition advances - next 24-48 hours will be key as the situation is changing rapidly in #Syria
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Cameran Ashraf, Ph.D. @camerana.bsky.social · 29/11/2024
Great take - www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
washingtonpost.com
Opinion | I’m done with Democratic purity tests
Seth Moulton challenges Democrats to ignore elites and speak freely.
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Cameran Ashraf, Ph.D. @camerana.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
Dozens of Central Asian targets hit in recent Russia-linked cyber-espionage campaign therecord.media/central-asia... Central Asia is a strategic #cyber "weak underbelly" for Russia - this campaign targeting #humanrights orgs corresponds with offline infiltration and surveillance of the same orgs
therecord.media
Dozens of Central Asian targets hit in recent Russia-linked cyber-espionage campaign
A group labeled TAG-110 by researchers at the Insikt Group used custom malware to spy on organizations primarily in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan since July.
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