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Luis Fernando García

@luisfgarcia.bsky.social
724 followers 469 following 46 posts

Fighting digital authoritarianism. Co-Founder and former Executive Director at @r3d.mx

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Luis Fernando García @luisfgarcia.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
In Mexico 🇲🇽, Sheinbaum's government is pushing through Congress sweeping legal reforms that will establish mass identification and surveillance systems of the population. Here is a thread 🧵 summarizing the scope and reach of these reforms:
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Electronic Frontier Foundation @eff.org · 21/06/2025
It’s clear that trans people face unique, advanced, and persistent threats—online and off. Here are some strategies for resisting the tech-enabled violence that trans people face.
eff.org
Strategies for Resisting Tech-Enabled Violence Facing Transgender People
Today's Supreme Court’s ruling in U.S. v. Skrmetti upholding bans on gender-affirming care for youth makes it clear: trans people are under attack. Threats to trans rights and healthcare are coming fr...
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
I was encouraged to see the #G7 Leaders' Statement on Transnational Repression which also calls out mitigating harms around mercenary spyware 👇🇨🇦 www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/stat...
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Kate Robertson @kate-ro.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
NEW today from myself @citizenlab.ca, on the unspoken implications of Canada's Bill C-2 for data-sharing with the United States and other foreign countries: citizenlab.ca/2025/06/a-pr...
citizenlab.ca
Unspoken Implications: A Preliminary Analysis of Bill C-2 and Canada’s Potential Data-Sharing Obligations Towards the United States and Other Countries - The Citizen Lab
On June 3, 2025, the federal government tabled Bill C-2, An Act respecting certain measures relating to the security of the border between Canada and the United States and respecting other related sec...
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Electronic Frontier Foundation @eff.org · 18/06/2025
Calling all journalists covering the US-MX border and immigration: we're teaming up with @freedom.press , @tcij.org g‬, and ACOS Alliance to offer dedicated security workshops in Albuquerque and El Paso in August. Apply here! eff.org/jstapp
eff.org
APPLICATION FORM
In an increasingly uncertain time for journalists' security in the US, this safety training initiative will support local journalists and freelancers who cover migration and events on the US border wi...
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 12/06/2025
In April, President Trump and Salvadoran President Bukele shook hands in the Oval Office to celebrate a deal to ship gang members to the notorious CECOT prison. But a new ProPublica investigation found there’s more to the story. 🧵👇
Photo of President Donald Trump and Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s president, during a meeting in the Oval Office in April 2025. Trump has praised Bukele as “one hell of a president.” Credit: Al Drago/The Washington Post/Getty Images
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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
NEW @citizenlab.ca report confirms the targeting of two more journalist with #Paragon spyware in the context of 🇮🇹 Details here: citizenlab.ca/2025/06/firs... @billmarczak.org @jsrailton.bsky.social
citizenlab.ca
Graphite Caught: First Forensic Confirmation of Paragon’s iOS Mercenary Spyware Finds Journalists Targeted - The Citizen Lab
We conducted a forensic analysis of devices belonging to two journalists who were notified by Apple that they were targeted with advanced spyware.
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The Citizen Lab @citizenlab.ca · 12/06/2025
NEW REPORT: Our forensic analysis confirms ✅ two more European journalists targeted with Paragon's Graphite spyware. Read it here: citizenlab.ca/2025/06/firs...
citizenlab.ca
Graphite Caught: First Forensic Confirmation of Paragon’s iOS Mercenary Spyware Finds Journalists Targeted - The Citizen Lab
On April 29, 2025, a select group of iOS users were notified by Apple that they were targeted with advanced spyware. Among the group were two journalists who consented to the technical analysis of the...
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dell cameron @dell.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
Confidential records obtained by WIRED & @propertyofthepeople.org show the ag industry deploying moles to infiltrate activist meetings, while functionally serving as FBI informants, in a shadow campaign to brand the animal rights movement America's biggest bioterrorism threat. My latest @wired.com:
wired.com
How the Farm Industry Spied on Animal Rights Activists and Pushed the FBI to Treat Them as Terrorists
For years, a powerful ‘Big Ag’ trade group served up information on activists to the FBI. Records reveal a decade-long effort to see the animal rights movement labeled a legitimate terrorism threat.
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John Scott-Railton @jsrailton.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
BREAKING: jury awards massive $167 million in punitive damages against spyware company NSO Group. Precedent-setting win against notorious #Pegasus spyware maker. Very consequential for victims to see this. Congratulations to #WhatsApp on sticking this case through since 2019. Some thoughts 1/
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Luis Fernando García @luisfgarcia.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
In the coming weeks, I will be leaving my position as Executive Director of @r3d.mx . I do so with enormous satisfaction and pride, having dedicated 11 years to collectively building a transcendental organization for the defense of human rights in Mexico and the region.
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Kat Duffy @rightsduff.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
A LOT of folks in the US have moved away from texts, WhatsApp, iMessage, etc. to Signal. That’s a good thing. Also - Signal is a non-profit. If you’re relying on @signal.org to have your back, make sure you have their back too. Go donate and get your friends to do so as well! signal.org/donate/
signal.org
Donate to Signal Private Messenger
Your donation helps pay for the development, servers, and bandwidth of an app used by millions around the world for private and instantaneous communication. Please make a donation today.
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Luis Fernando García @luisfgarcia.bsky.social · 02/02/2025
The U.S. trains them, arms them, pays them as intelligence assets, launders their money, condecorates them, then prosecutes them or, as Trump did, let them go, but always, uses their example to denounce Mexico’s corruption while obscuring its own. www.nytimes.com/2022/12/08/m...
nytimes.com
The Cienfuegos Affair: Inside the Case that Upended the Drug War in Mexico (Published 2022)
A Times Magazine-ProPublica investigation reveals how the U.S. painstakingly built a case against a Mexican general suspected of links to organized crime — and then decided to let him go.
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Karen Hao @karenhao.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
As someone who has reported on AI for 7 years and covered China tech as well, I think the biggest lesson to be drawn from DeepSeek is the huge cracks it illustrates with the current dominant paradigm of AI development. A long thread. 1/
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Luis Fernando García @luisfgarcia.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Europe wants to save democracy from the techno-authoritarians by *checks notes twice because can't believe this level of idiocy* ending anonymity and encryption online to facilitate surveillance.
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John Scott-Railton @jsrailton.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
We need #encryption backdoors to 'enforce' democracy says Europol chief. Says anonymity "not a fundamental right" I disagree. Giving governments total access to private communications lays the technical groundwork for undermining democracy 1/ www.ft.com/content/1e6a...
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Luis Fernando García @luisfgarcia.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Labeling calls for mercy on the most vulnerable people as hate speech is the type of newspeak we can expect from the “censorship in the name of free speech” policies in X, Meta and TikTok moving forward.
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Luis Fernando García @luisfgarcia.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Free speech restored bigly
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404 Media @404media.co · 21/01/2025
Decentralized social media Is the only alternative to the Tech Oligarchy 🔗 www.404media.co/decentralize...
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Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 21/01/2025
Nazis: "that's a nazi salute" Historians: "that's a nazi salute" Average person: "that's a nazi salute" The Media: "Elon Musk makes odd gesture throwing his heart to the crowd."
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Luis Fernando García @luisfgarcia.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
Normalization of fascist symbols goes like this: 1. "It wasn´t a nazi salute" 2. "I'm just doing it to own the libs" 3. "Heil Trump" We might reach number 3 before midnight.
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Luis Fernando García @luisfgarcia.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
If drug cartels are designated as terrorist organizations: Are U.S. gun vendors, businesses, and banks that launder cartel's money and U.S. drug consumers going to be labeled as persons providing material support/resources to FTOs? Will Mexico be designated as a "State sponsor of terrorism"?
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Luis Fernando García @luisfgarcia.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
Banning TikTok wasn’t about protecting privacy. Restoring TikTok wasn’t about free speech. The problem for the U.S. empire wasn’t the tool, it was about who owns it. It was always about having power over a magnificent surveillance and censorship tool. Textbook fascism.
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Luis Fernando García @luisfgarcia.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
Every authoritarian in the world is taking note that you can shut down entire applications by claiming "national security concerns" without even having to entertain any freedom of expression analysis.
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Luis Fernando García @luisfgarcia.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
Nobody spies on internet users but me! and maybe the boy!
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Nora Benavidez @attorneynora.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
The new TikTok ban: This decision will not help protect Americans from having their data collected by untold other platforms & digital services. Manipulation is everywhere. This merely limits avenues of expression & sets up a potential buyer to adapt TikTok in troubling ways as Musk did w/ Twitter.
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David Greene @davidgreene.bsky.social · 24/04/2024
To all reporters covering the TikTok ban: Please ask the US State Department for comment. How does it feel about the US shutting down an online service, action that State has rightfully called out as fundamentally undemocratic when other nations do it.
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Daphne Keller @daphnek.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
The fact-checking change was maybe the 4th or 5th scariest thing about Zuck’s announcement. Or 6th or 7th or 8th. It depends how you count.
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Daphne Keller @daphnek.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
(5) Then there's Latin America. If Z wants more Lat Am countries to start (a) acting like Brazil or (b) proudly and publicly advancing terrible legislation designed to punish him, this is a good way to start that fight. The biggest losers in that scenario will be Latin American Internet users.
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Mike Masnick @masnick.com · 11/01/2025
What a stupid fucking timeline we live in.
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Luis Fernando García @luisfgarcia.bsky.social · 10/01/2025
Meta's platforms simply are not safe spaces for LGBTQ+ people (if they ever were). I don't think it is morally justifiable to continue to use those platforms when so clearly and viciously Meta has declared open season for LGBTQ+ abuse. This is beyond tolerance. Meta is encouraging abuse.
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404 Media @404media.co · 08/01/2025
Facebook is censoring 404 Media stories about Facebook's censorship 🔗 www.404media.co/facebook-is-...
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Evan Greer @evangreer.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
We will never have free speech OR safety for marginalized people on platforms owned and controlled by billionaires & monopolists. My cranky ass opinion is we should spend less time worrying about what Zuck says and more time building a movement to dismantle Big Tech & build the Internet we need
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Luis Fernando García @luisfgarcia.bsky.social · 07/01/2025
Meta's policy changes should be denounced, not only because they are a disgraceful display of obedience to Trump but primarily because of how they will harm LGBT+, PoC, and other populations. But I hope some reflection is given on how defending and pushing for censorship paved the way for this.
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John Scott-Railton @jsrailton.bsky.social · 21/12/2024
BREAKING: court finds NSO Group liable for #Pegasus hacking of #WhatsApp users. Big win for spyware victims. Big loss for NSO. Bad time to be a spyware company. Landmark case. Huge implications. 1/ 🧵
Court order text. Link to followCourt order text. Link to followCourt order text. Link to followCourt order text. Link to follow
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Natalia Krapiva 🕊️👩🏻‍💻 @natynettle.bsky.social · 21/12/2024
The court just handed WhatsApp a major win in the case against NSO Group ⚖️ 🎉 NSO was found liable under federal #CFAA & state law for #Pegasus hacking through WhatsApp's servers. As a lawyer working on surveillance, let me break down the ruling 🧵 1/ storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
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Alex K. @kafsofit.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
The Helpline team has been my safety net. I am proud of the work we do to support others (and each other) against the prevalent web of tech-enabled abuse and oppression. @fightforthefuture.org’s @evangreer.bsky.social stood up for all of us. We show up in solidarity. Our union is our strength 👁️👇
accessnow.org
Why we won’t stop defending LGBTQ+ digital rights - Access Now
Access Now’s Digital Security Helpline reaffirms its commitment to supporting activists on the frontlines defending LGBTQ+ rights.
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Luis Fernando García @luisfgarcia.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
FYI @daphnek.bsky.social
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Luis Fernando García @luisfgarcia.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
Mexico's Supreme Court with another judgment rejecting the "right to be forgotten" doctrine and intermediary liability. It also established an interesting precedent on jurisdiction and applicability of Mexican data protection laws to foreign platforms. r3d.mx/2024/12/04/s...
r3d.mx
Segunda Sala de la SCJN reafirma el principio de no responsabilidad de intermediarios en favor de la libertad de expresión | R3D: Red en Defensa de los Derechos Digitales
La Segunda Sala de la SCJN resolvió que la empresa Google debía ser considerada como responsable por los contenidos generados por terceros, que posteriormente eran indexados en su motor de búsqueda.
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Meredith Whittaker @meredithmeredith.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
📢NEW: 'Open' AI systems aren't open. The vague term, combined w frothy AI hype is (mis)shaping policy & practice, assuming 'open source' AI democratizes access & addresses power concentration. It doesn't. @smw.bsky.social, @davidthewid.bsky.social & I correct the record👇 nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Why ‘open’ AI systems are actually closed, and why this matters - Nature
A review of the literature on artificial intelligence systems to examine openness reveals that open AI systems are actually closed, as they are highly dependent on the resources of a few large corpora...
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Evan Greer @evangreer.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
amid totally predictable cyber-attack, U.S. government tells Americans to use encrypted messaging apps that U.S. government has been demonizing and trying to outlaw for years www.nbcnews.com/tech/securit...
nbcnews.com
U.S. officials urge Americans to use encrypted apps amid cyberattack that exposed live phone calls
Officials from the FBI and CISA said it was impossible to predict when the telecommunications companies would be fully safe from interlopers.
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John Scott-Railton @jsrailton.bsky.social · 30/11/2024
NEW: phone tapping to identify sources violated Hungarian journalist's rights. European Court of Human Rights rules 🇭🇺 #Hungary: ☑️ Infringed Right to Privacy & Freedom of Expression. ☑️Lacked proper surveillance oversight & legal remedies. 🇭🇺Gov ordered to pay compensation, legal costs.👇
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Luis Fernando García @luisfgarcia.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
This severely damages the credibility of US efforts to curtail mercenary spyware. Worse, it is likely the Trump admin will exploit this to lift sanctions and bans, and to justify supporting digital authoritarianism by his right-wing allies around the world.
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Mike Masnick @masnick.com · 21/11/2024
This is a really good response to a lot of the questions about both present and future Bluesky that people keep asking me. I'm going to write something soon about some of this too, but this is great for folks who keep raising the "but won't it turn evil" question...
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