iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

We also warned of the rapid spread of artificial intelligence (AI) will likely make digital transnational repression worse, and Anthropic’s September threat intelligence report is only one examples. www.anthropic.com/threat-intel...

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We highlight the methods of the state-sponsored online transnational surveillance and the harms on targets, their families and fellow activists.

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Honored to work with my @citizenlab.ca colleagues on this response to the Research Directorate at the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada on the monitoring and targeting of Chinese citizens and diaspora members in Canada by the Chinese authorities and their proxies. citizenlab.ca/wp-content/u...

Screenshot of the first page of the submission, including the title and authors

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Noura Aljizawi @noura.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

While across several sectors, workers have been treated as a liability and dehumanized, and subjected to be replaced by robots or AI.. this win is a glimpse of hope.

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I’m thrilled to have our paper published in this fantastic JOTS’s special issue on Digital Intersectionality and Marginalization in the Majority World. Read more about our paper on “Queering Cybersecurity in the Age of Digital Transnational Repression” in this thread🧵 bsky.app/profile/nour...

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Noura Aljizawi @noura.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

We extend our sincere gratitude to the participants who shared their knowledge, lived experiences & perspectives through interviews for this report. We recognize the care, trust & emotional labour involved in sharing these experiences & we honour their agency & leadership in shaping this research.

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12/Targets’ resilience should be supported through tailored, structural practices recognizing complex threats & vulnerabilities, moving from rapid disaster response toward empowerment and enhancing resilience. One of our research participants says it best: “Solidarity is more than a hashtag.”

Quote from one of the participants about how she sees solidarity as an action, beyond hashtags.

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11/We argue that Host States and platforms stop treating these attacks as fragmented, one-off incidents. We need dedicated, multilingual reporting channels that understand the intersectional nature of these state-sponsored campaigns.

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10/To address the fact that "secure device" does not equal "safe person," we call for a “Queering Cybersecurity” framework: Shift from “asset-centric” technical defence to a “human-centric” and intersectional approach & safety is a collective institutional responsibility, not an individual burden.

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9/Platforms are not innocent. Engagement-based ranking amplifies hate, fueling GDTR. Current reporting mechanisms fail to capture the coordinated, state-sponsored nature of these attacks, placing the burden of safety on the target.

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8/We also found a disturbing pattern of institutional neglect. Organizations often benefit from the labour of these activists, yet fail to provide necessary support (legal, psychological, professional, reputational) when they are targeted, as in Gülnar's experience.

Quote from Gülnar describing her experience with institutional abandonment.

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7/Diving in the experiences of participants, we found that there is a misalignment between the threats and defences. Tala told us that the several cybersecurity trainings she attended focused on protecting devices but overlooked online gender violence.

Quote from Tala describing the limits of cybersecurity training

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6/Working for years on Digital Transnational Repression, we identify three levels of DTR threats: 1. Identity-based: defamation, doxxing, deepfakes, outing, smear campaigns, etc. 2. Device-level: spyware, malware, phishing, DDoS, etc. 3. Network-level: telecommunications exploitation (SS7)

A diagram visualized the "three levels of digital repression chain" authors identify through their work on Digital transnational repression.

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5/For queer women in exile, DTR isn't just about compromised devices/accounts. It’s the weaponization of characteristics of their identities in orchestrating doxxing, outing& invasive identity-based attacks, impacting their activism, relationships, mental health, legal status, career & reputation.

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4/Why focusing on queer women? And how is it different from the experiences of male activists? While threats overlap, gender and sexuality are weaponized as key factors in both shaping the attacks & impacts on exiled queer women dissidents. These nuances are invisible without an intersectional lens

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3/Drawing on deep-dive interviews and questionnaire data with 25 exiled queer women activists from 9 countries, we map the realities of their experiences facing Gender-Based Digital Transnational Repression (GDTR).

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2/This critical protection gap is the focus of our new paper "Security Without Safety: Queering Cybersecurity in the Age of Digital Transnational Repression," published in the Journal of Online Trust & Safety’s special issue on "Digital Intersectionality and Marginalisation in the Majority World."

Screenshot of the paper titled: "Security Without Safety: Queering Cybersecurity in the Age of Digital Transnational Repression" in the Journal of Online Trust and Safety's special issue on Digital Intersectionality and Marginalization in the Majority World

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Noura Aljizawi @noura.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

1/ Exile as "Safe haven" has become an illusion for women & queer activists. Crossing borders is no longer a guarantee of safety when repressive states use digital technology & weaponize intersectional identities to silence them & sabotage lives & rights in exile. Yet, they face such threats alone🧵

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I hope so, will share the link here if the webinar is recorded.

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Noura Aljizawi @noura.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Join us tomorrow as we celebrate the launch of the Journal of Online Trust & Safety’s special issue on "Digital Intersectionality and Marginalisation in the Majority World." I’m thrilled to be presenting our paper “Queering Cybersecurity” alongside several brilliant authors. Hope to see you there!

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Noura Aljizawi @noura.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

I can’t agree more with every word Hussam said. This open scar can never heal and one day of remembrance is not enough. Families want their loved ones, they want the truth, they want answers, they want justice, they want to trust that it will never happen again & no another loved one will disappear.

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Reposted by Noura Aljizawi

Joseph Cox @josephcox.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

New: ICE plans to spend millions of dollars on Boston Dynamics dog robots. ICE says this is to improve "officer safety." The robots can open doors, pick up objects, have 360 cameras, infrared vision, etc. Boston Dynamics didn't respond to question on its stance on ICE www.404media.co/ice-plans-to...

404media.co

ICE Plans to Spends Millions on Boston Dynamics Dog Robots

ICE wants the robot dogs to improve “officer safety.”

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Reposted by Noura Aljizawi

Justin Hendrix @justinhendrix.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

The word “Cambridge" appears 45 times in the $17 billion Meta child-harms settlement, notes Jason Kint. Buried inside: a $459,293,017.80 payment resolving Cambridge Analytica claims across at least 46 states and two territories.

techpolicy.press

The $459 Million Cambridge Analytica Reckoning Buried in Meta's Teen Safety Settlement

Tucked inside the landmark settlement is another settlement, writes Jason Kint.

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Reposted by Noura Aljizawi

Tech Policy Press @techpolicypress.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

How do surveillance, censorship, and technologies of control get weaponized—and how do we push back? Justin Hendrix talks with Jonathon W. Penney, author of "Chilling Effects: Repression, Conformity, and Power in the Digital Age," about his roadmap for reform.

techpolicy.press

A Roadmap for Confronting the Chilling Effects of Censorship, Surveillance and New Technology

A conversation with Jonathon W. Penney, author of Chilling Effects: Repression, Conformity, and Power in the Digital Age.

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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

Canadian 🇨🇦 forensic company Magnet suing a former employee for disclosing an Apple zero-day the company was hoarding & exploiting to crack iPhones "the public disclosure...alerted Apple to the flaw and allowed it to be..fixed, reducing its value..." www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

bloomberg.com

IPhone Hacking Firm Sues Ex-Worker Over Alleged Theft of Secrets

Magnet Forensics Inc., a Canadian cybersecurity firm, accused a former contractor of sharing trade secrets about a previously unknown flaw used to hack iPhones with a rival firm.

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Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Canada's 🇨🇦 proposed lawful access law (Bill C22) is so bad it even has US Senators (like @wyden.senate.gov) worried it will create national security spying risks for Americans 🇺🇸! www.wyden.senate.gov/imo/media/do...

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PEN International @peninternational.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Days after writing this letter from prison, Egyptian poet Galal El-Behairy began a hunger strike after being denied books, writing materials and clothing. We call for his rights to be restored immediately. Read the full letter: www.pen-international.org/cases/galal-...

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Vas Panagiotopoulos @vaspanagiotopoulos.com · 07/07/2026

Spyware victim @nasoskoukakis.bsky.social asks the former Chair of the PEGA Committee to explain why he voted against holding a plenary debate after a member of his own committee was targeted with Pegasus while it was investigating #spyware abuses. x.com/nasoskook/st...

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Vas Panagiotopoulos @vaspanagiotopoulos.com · 07/07/2026

Former 🇬🇷PM Antonis Samaras has filed a motion with the country's Supreme Court prosecutor requesting a full investigation into how he was targeted with Predator #spyware. www.tovima.com/politics/for...

tovima.com

Former PM Antonis Samaras Files Motion Over Predator Spyware Case - tovima.com

Samaras says he has repeatedly asked the government for answers, with no response to date

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Both he and the second man, named as Moussab Abou R., were found guilty of sexual coercion, aggravated coercion and inflicting serious bodily harm. They have each been sentenced to eight years in prison.

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Some of their victims, former detainees in Raqqa, travelled from around Europe and Syria to testify at the trial. The court heard how that they were stripped naked and beaten, given electric shocks or doused in hot and cold water.

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