iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Roya Pakzad @royapak.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

If you are at @facct.bsky.social today, consider joining our tutorial session. 💻 This is a hands-on session, so please bring your internet-connected device.

Contextual Evaluation of LLM Guardrails Across Languages. at ACM FAccT conference, on June 25th at 5pm. By Roya Pakzad and Daniel Nissani.

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Justin Hendrix @justinhendrix.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

Three pieces on @techpolicypress.bsky.social today on AI and language diversity: 1/ More collaboration and resourcing is needed to ensure evaluations of AI models meaningfully advance multilingual systems, write Aliya Bhatia, Marlena Wisniak, Jhalak M. Kakkar and Dhanaraj Thakur.

techpolicy.press

A Multilingual Paradigm for AI Created by All, for All

Takeaways from a convening held at the India AI Impact Summit by public interest researchers and advocates focused on advancing multilingual systems.

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Leandro Ucciferri @leandro.im · 17/03/2026

I wouldn't give the regime the benefit of the doubt. The track record of network shutdowns and communications disruptions in Iran span more than two decades. Please read the "Manifesto for a Free Internet" by the Iranian Women’s Coalition for Internet Freedom docs.google.com/document/d/1...

docs.google.com

Manifesto for a Free Internet

Manifesto for a Free InternetIranian 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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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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jess reia • 何杰茜 @jhereia.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

Join us on 3/26 @ 10am EDT for the Gender & Tech Talk Series' 9th session, "Immigration & Techno-Authoritarianism" featuring @royapak.bsky.social & Ana B. Nougrères. Moderated by & co-organized with @yasmincurzi.com. Free & open to all dtdlab.virginia.edu/event/gender... @uvadatascience.bsky.social

Colorful poster for the 9th session of the Gender & Tech Online Talk Series featuring speakers Ana Brian Nougères (UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Privacy) and Roya Pakzad (Taraaz), moderated by Yasmin Curzi. It will take place on March 26th at 10 am EST.

The event is co-organized by Yasmin Curzi and Jess Reia, and sponsored by the Digital Technology for Democracy Lab.

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Eryk Salvaggio @eryk.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

Fantastic personal account from @royapak.bsky.social on how Khamenei’s surveillance tech deployed against Iranian women is precisely what killed him: “Iran is a lesson that the fragility of oppressive systems eventually comes back for the oppressor itself.” open.substack.com/pub/royapakz...

open.substack.com

You're Welcome, Mr. Supreme Leader

On the irony of cameras built to police Iranians becoming the regime’s Achilles’ heel

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jess reia • 何杰茜 @jhereia.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

A reminder to join us this Friday, 12pm to hear from @rebeccawilliams.info @technolua.bsky.social @tamigraph.bsky.social @thakurdhanaraj.bsky.social @royapak.bsky.social B.Wylie & J.Bolthouse @ UVA & online. Free & open to the public: dtdlab.virginia.edu/event/digita... @uvadatascience.bsky.social

A poster for the Digital Democracy from Below taking place on February 20, 2026, 12:00pm-1:30pm EST. Free and open to the public. Speakers are: Julie Bolthouse, Luã Cruz, Bianca Wylie, Tamara Kneese, Dhanaraj Thakur, Roya Pakzad and Rebecca Williams. Co-organized by Jess Reia, Jonathan van Geuns and Nicole West Bassoff. Sponsored by the Digital Technology for Democracy Lab at UVA.

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mozilla.ai @mozilla.ai · 03/02/2026

What if “safe” AI isn’t safe in every language? @royapak.bsky.social and Daniel Nissani explore how AI safety guardrails behave outside English, and why language can affect fact-checking and risk detection in humanitarian settings. See how the evaluation was done: link.mozilla.ai/multilingual...

link.mozilla.ai

Evaluating Multilingual Guardrails in Humanitarian AI

A technical evaluation of multilingual, context-aware AI guardrails, analyzing how English and Farsi responses are scored under identical policies. The findings surface scoring gaps, reasoning…

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jess reia • 何杰茜 @jhereia.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

As we navigate the undermining of democratic processes & witness how tech facilitates/resists authoritarianism, join us on Feb 20@12pm to hear from @technolua.bsky.social @tamigraph.bsky.social @thakurdhanaraj.bsky.social @royapak.bsky.social B.Wylie, J.Bolthouse dtdlab.virginia.edu/event/digita...

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David Sullivan @davidsullivan.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

ICYMI, highly recommend this human rights impact assessment of @wikimediafoundation.org AI/ML work by @royapak.bsky.social (w/ @farzdusa.bsky.social and david liu)

upload.wikimedia.org

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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

I wrote about her and some of her company’s work in this chapter called “The Baby and the Black Box”: marhicks.com/writing/Hick...

Steve Shirley, Ann Moffatt, and co-worker Dee Shermer renting time on a mainframe, 1960s.
Photo courtesy of Ann Moffatt.
Black and white photo of three women behind a machine console.

Ann Moffatt writes software for the Concorde at her kitchen table as her baby daughter looks on. Moffatt's memoir, The IT Girl, details the story behind the photograph.
Photo courtesy of Ann Moffatt.

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Roya Pakzad @royapak.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

New report: Key Considerations for AI Procurement in the Public Sector Covers: Third-party dependencies • Large vs small vendors • AI demos/pilots • Master Service agreements • Performance-based contracts • Union engagement • Function creep • Model contracts taraazresearch.org/ai-procurement

taraazresearch.org

AI Procurement — Taraaz

New Report by Taraaz and CRCR: Key Considerations for Responsible AI Procurement in the Public Sector

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Roya Pakzad @royapak.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

I'm at #TrustCon. Half the sessions are on tech companies' responsibilities on child safety (not Palestinian children though) and the well-being of trust and safety professionals, yet the conference design completely ignores the realities of working parents, especially for mothers. My experience 👇

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Center for Democracy & Technology @cdt.org · 09/07/2025

Over 18 months, CDT studied content moderation in four low-resource languages—Maghrebi Arabic, Kiswahili, Tamil, and Quechua—across South Asia, North/East Africa, and South America. cdt.org/insights/con...

Graphic for a CDT Research report, entitled “Content Moderation in the Global South: A Comparative Study of Four Low-Resource Languages.” An illustration of four different hands, all being touched by / wrapped around a bright blue connective internet cord.

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Roya Pakzad @royapak.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

Happy to be a part of this cohort! My fellowship project, "Equitable AI Benchmarking for Linguistic Diversity," helps civil society to engage in AI evaluation, focusing on multilingual inconsistencies with human rights impacts.

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Petra Molnar @petramolnar.com · 28/11/2024

🚨 Great new project by Algorithm Watch lead by @fabiochiusi.bsky.social pulling together research, policy briefs, and coalition building on #bordertech in the EU - including a great list tracking private companies and research projects! algorithmwatch.org/en/automatio...

algorithmwatch.org

Automation on the Move - AlgorithmWatch

Systems based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automated decision-making (ADM) are increasingly being experimented with and used on migrants, refugees, and travelers. Too often, this is done withou...

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Roya Pakzad @royapak.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

My latest newsletter is about parenthood and GenAI. Read about: multilingual inconsistency in LLM generated responses, breastfeeding as a taboo in image generation tools, voice-cloned lullabies, embedded ads in LLM-based parenting advice, and more. open.substack.com/pub/royapakz...

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