michael caster

Leaked files show a Chinese company is exporting the Great Firewall’s censorship technology Geedge Networks is providing censorship capabilities to foreign governments, including those in Myanmar, Pakistan, Ethiopia and Kazakhstan

The export of China's Great Firewall model is on the rise.

Cyber sovereignty has has 'gained traction in autocratic states,’ says ARTICLE 19's @mcaster.bsky.social – ‘and we’re unfortunately seeing similar language in democratic countries too.’

www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...

The Growth of Chinese Digital Norms Podcast Episode · The Fletcher Forum Podcast · 09/08/2025 · 45m

What does China’s influence in digital governance and cybersecurity say about its wider global ambitions?

ARTICLE 19’s Michael Caster outlines the threats to democracy and human rights – and what the international community can do to protect free speech.

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

#UK: RSF and press freedom NGOs, including Article 19, urge State Secretary Lisa Nandy to pause and investigate the planned #Telegraph sale to an investor with reported close ties to the Chinese regime, warning robust safeguards are vital to protect editorial independence.

UK: Investigate potential Chinese influence in Telegraph acquisition - ARTICLE 19 Free expression and human rights groups raise concerns about the planned acquisition of the Telegraph and potential Chinese influence.

We join @article19.bsky.social, @rsf.org and others in an open letter to Lisa Nandy raising urgent concerns over the potential acquisition of the Telegraph Media Group by RedBird Capital, in light of ties to #China: www.article19.org/resources/op...

YouTube video by 鬼島之音 Ghost Island Media Digital Silk Road: how China's reshaping the global digital norm

I caught up with @mcaster.bsky.social and I-Chen Liu of @article19.bsky.social on their 2025 report on China's Digital Digital Silk Road: "Cybersecurity with Chinese Characteristics". We talked about UN, ASEAN, the upcoming Hanoi Convention. Have a watch: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t5a...

New report details Beijing’s targeting of protestors abroad - ICIJ ARTICLE 19, a freedom of expression advocacy organization, documented heightened transnational repression during state visits, echoing the findings of ICIJ’s China Targets investigation.

A new report by @article19.bsky.social traces how China’s targeting of protesters has evolved since the Tiananmen Square massacre into part of a sophisticated transnational repression campaign using harassment, violence and surveillance. #ChinaTargets

Read more:

Please join us on June 4TH for an @article19.bsky.social webinar & report launch: From #Tiananmen to transnational repression - #China's assault on the right to protest. I'm excited to be joined by experts @zhoufengsuo.bsky.social @zumretayarkin.bsky.social & @aimenlau.bsky.social QR 4 registration!

China: X must immediately end shadow ban of prominent human rights account - ARTICLE 19 ARTICLE 19 calls on X to immediately end the shadow ban of ‘Teacher Li is not Your Teacher’ account.

This is not the first time #TeacherLi has been subjected to a 'search suggestion ban' during a high-profile protest anniversary. The same thing happened last year during the anniversary of the White Paper Protest. www.article19.org/resources/ch...

On the eve of the #Tiananmen anniversary, @whyyoutouzhele
X account - renowned for protest related content - is again shadow banned, amid some 800 inauthentic Teacher Li accounts. Fake accounts game the algorithm to silence expression. It is part of Beijing's arsenal of influence.

🔥FLAME OF FREEDOM: @zhoufengsuo.bsky.social recalls meeting a #HongKonger in #Beijing in 1989, the spirit of resistance that united them, and how it lives on through Chow Hang-tung and others who refuse to forget the #TiananmenSquareMassacre.

Read the blog: thecfhk.org/the-spirit-o...

Please join us on June 4TH for an @article19.bsky.social webinar & report launch: From #Tiananmen to transnational repression - #China's assault on the right to protest. I'm excited to be joined by experts @zhoufengsuo.bsky.social @zumretayarkin.bsky.social & @aimenlau.bsky.social QR 4 registration!

I will be speaking on June 4th, 2025 about transnational repression against PRC dissidents alongside some stellar panelists for @article19.bsky.social, please join us if you can!

@mcaster.bsky.social

rom Tiananmen to transnational repression - China's assault on the right to protest Details Join our expert panel to mark the 36th anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre and the launch of ARTICLE 19's new report Zhou Fengsuo Executive Director, Human Rights in China; President, Humanitarian China; former Tiananmen protester Ai-Men Lau Former Doublethink Lab Social Engagement Team Lead and adviser to HK Alliance Canada Hong Kong Zumretay Arkin Vice President, World Uyghur Congress Michael Caster Head of Global China Programme, ARTICLE 19 Wed, 04 Jun 12:00 - 14:00 BST Online

New event!
📆4th June
🕛Midday UK time

@article19.bsky.social launch new report "From Tiananmen to transnational repression China's assault on the right to protest" w/ @aimenlau.bsky.social @zumretayarkin.bsky.social @mcaster.bsky.social
@zhoufengsuo.bsky.social

Hong Kong police arrest father and brother of wanted activist Anna Kwok Hong Kong national security police have arrested the father and brother of wanted activist Anna Kwok for allegedly dealing with her finances, local media reported on Friday, in the first use of the city's security law on family members.

The arrest of Anna Kwok’s family is a shocking escalation in Hong Kong's transnational repression and use of the draconian national security law – for the first time weaponised against the families of wanted activists.

They must be released immediately!

www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...

"As China strikes cooperation agreements with countries along the Digital Silk Road relating to AI enabled tools and technologies while concurrently promoting its own “best practice”, we are likely to see greater adoption of China-style AI enabled techno-authoritarianism." Michael Caster, Head of Global China Programme, ARTICLE 19

#China 🇨🇳 @globalvoices.org interviews @mcaster.bsky.social of ARTICLE 19 about the importance of looking into the digital security norms increasingly imposed by China in the larger Asia-Pacific region.

buff.ly/kENeHEA @article19.bsky.social

Opinion | Trump Is Silencing Radio Free Asia. Now China Doesn’t Have To. The U.S. government’s dismantling of Radio Free Asia means giving Beijing’s propaganda free rein.

”The sacrifices that RFA reporters make knowing they’re the last line of defense for their countrymen are often unimaginable…Now these brave journalists…may be silenced by the very nation whose belief in press freedom inspired them in the first place.” www.nytimes.com/2025/05/02/o...

Hong Kong police arrest father and brother of wanted activist Anna Kwok Hong Kong national security police have arrested the father and brother of wanted activist Anna Kwok for allegedly dealing with her finances, local media reported on Friday, in the first use of the city's security law on family members.

This is beyond outrageous! #HongKong authorities have sunk to a new despicable low in their escalating transnational repression in arresting the father and brother of human rights defender in exile Anna Kwok, executive director of Hong Kong Democracy Council. www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...

China’s Anti-Sanctions Rules Raise Human Rights Risks for Global Tech Firms | TechPolicy.Press The new rules, which have already taken effect, outline 22 provisions that risk supercharging risks to foreign tech companies, writes Michael Caster.

China’s new anti-sanctions give authorities even more power to punish tech companies, risking censorship, surveillance, and human rights.

Read @mcaster.bsky.social’s analysis via @techpolicypress.bsky.social: www.techpolicy.press/chinas-anti-...

China: Southeast Asia visit raises alarm over digital repression - ARTICLE 19 As Xi Jinping visits countries in Southeast Asia, ARTICLE 19 warns about the risk of growing digital repression in the region.

#China 🌏 @mcaster.bsky.social of @article19.bsky.social writes about Xi Jinping's visit to #Cambodia, #Malaysia, & #Vietnam and their implications on digital infrastructure, governance, and free speech in the region.

China’s Anti-Sanctions Rules Raise Human Rights Risks for Global Tech Firms | TechPolicy.Press The new rules, which have already taken effect, outline 22 provisions that risk supercharging risks to foreign tech companies, writes Michael Caster.

An informative read from @mcaster.bsky.social @article19law.bsky.social on the growing risks to tech companies (some already complicit in #humanrights violations) in #China stemming from the anti-foreign sanctions regime—and the deepening risks to #freespeech. techpolicy.press/chinas-anti-...

New event: Join @engagemedia.org for Cybersecurity with Chinese Characteristics: Digital Governance in the Indo-Pacific and the Taiwanese Alternative

📆May 5 | 2PM BKK time

🗣️With @mcaster.bsky.social, Lulu Kang, and OPEN Culture Foundation Board Member Liu I-Chen.
engagemedia.org/2025/drapac-...

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.

US State Dept country "human rights reports" to drop virtually all reporting on rights violations. This is not only an abdication of responsibility to hold foreign perpetrators accountable but also a harbinger of the likely increase in domestic rights assault in US. www.npr.org/2025/04/18/n...

China: Southeast Asia visit raises alarm over digital repression - ARTICLE 19 As Xi Jinping visits countries in Southeast Asia, ARTICLE 19 warns about the risk of growing digital repression in the region.

@mcaster.bsky.social warns that Xi Jinping’s Southeast Asia tour could deepen digital repression. China’s push for tech cooperation with Vietnam, Cambodia, and Malaysia risks exporting surveillance and censorship models. www.article19.org/resources/ch...

I am deeply grateful and honored to have such powerful support from 40+ organisations from around the world stand in solidarity as I face legal harassment in relation to my recent protest art 'Here and Now' in Hong Kong.

www.indexoncensorship.org/2025/04/the-...

We join 40+ organisations standing in solidarity with artist, political cartoonist and activist @badiucao.bsky.social, who faces ongoing harassment for his work. Art Innovation Gallery must immediately drop their legal threats against him:
www.indexoncensorship.org/2025/04/the-...

Hong Kong: Solidarity with artist Badiucao as he faces legal harassment - ARTICLE 19 Chinese-Australian artist and activist Badiucao faces legal harassment for criticising the human rights crisis in Hong Kong.

#HongKong: @article19.bsky.social joins @indexoncensorship.org and 38 other organizations in expressing solidarity with artist @badiucao.bsky.social as he faces legal harassment www.article19.org/resources/ho...

Hong Kong: Drop national security charges for social media posts - ARTICLE 19 Hong Kong authorities must release pro-democracy activist Chow Kim-ho and stop using national security laws to stifle online expression.

#HongKong: Drop national security charges for social media posts - @article19.bsky.social calls for immediate and unconditional release of Chow Kim-ho www.article19.org/resources/ho...

China/Vietnam: Suspicious Death of Tibetan High Lama The Vietnamese government should investigate the death under suspicious circumstances of a senior Tibetan lama, Humkar Dorje Rinpoche, in Ho Chi Minh City on March 29, 2025.

#China/#Vietnam: Suspicious Death of Tibetan High Lama - Alleged Chinese Role in Arrest of Humkar Dorje Rinpoche Following Flight from #Tibet www.hrw.org/news/2025/04...

🇨🇳 Over the past decade, China has massively expanded its digital infrastructure investment worldwide.

🎙️ On the latest episode of the China Global podcast, @bglaser.bsky.social welcomes @mcaster.bsky.social to discuss Chinese digital governance in the Indo-Pacific.

🎧 Listen Now: bit.ly/3YdcNTD

Column | Trump’s tariffs may be a blow to Europe and a gift to China The impetus of what President Donald Trump has called “Liberation Day” is clear. He wants to impose sizable tariffs on many imports. That plays into China’s hand.

My latest
Trump’s tariff threats on "Liberation Day" will likely comprise another blow to Europe and a gift to China wapo.st/3FPm2Dj