Noura Aljizawi

this is a big and extremely dangerous deal. pegasus has been a tool of repression around the world.

is this the pivot to attacking american journalists, lawyers, civil society activists?

OPEN LETTER to the Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation from civil society organizations and individuals opposing "National Sprint" consultation on AI strategy - BC Civil Liberti... The Honourable Mélanie JolyMinister of IndustryHouse of CommonsOttawa, OntarioK1A 0A6 The Honourable Evan SolomonMinister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital InnovationHouse of CommonsOttawa, Ontar...

Researchers at the Citizen Lab and director @rondeibert.bsky.social sign open letter to the Canadian Minister of AI and Minister of Industry rejecting the “National Sprint” on AI strategy.

Read it here: bccla.org/policy-submi...

Geolocating Darfur Killings of Those Escaping Al Fashir - bellingcat Warning: Contains written descriptions of extreme violence including murder. All graphic footage has been omitted. A Bellingcat investigation has identified and verified the exact location of a mass k...

Social media footage and satellite imagery show killings as Rapid Support Forces took over Al Fashir (El Fasher). Bellingcat geolocated one incident on the city’s outskirts and showed it to the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/11...

OPEN LETTER to the Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation from civil society organizations and individuals opposing "National Sprint" consultation on AI strategy - BC Civil Liberti... The Honourable Mélanie JolyMinister of IndustryHouse of CommonsOttawa, OntarioK1A 0A6 The Honourable Evan SolomonMinister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital InnovationHouse of CommonsOttawa, Ontar...

Along with numerous orgs and individuals, I have signed on to an Open Letter to the 🇨🇦 Minister of AI raising serious concerns about the government's approach to AI strategy.

Details are here 👇

bccla.org/policy-submi...

You Can't Refuse To Be Scanned by ICE's Facial Recognition App, DHS Document Says Photos captured by Mobile Fortify will be stored for 15 years, regardless of immigration or citizenship status, the document says.

New from 404 Media: you can't refuse to be scanned by ICE's new facial recognition app, according to internal DHS document I obtained. Photos captured by the app are stored for 15 years, including U.S. citizens. We've seen officers scanning faces w/ phones on streets

www.404media.co/you-cant-ref...

Privacy is not a luxury and should never be treated as a separate category of security. Privacy is a national security.

Without strong policies, privacy breaches will absolutely occur.
To prevent or mitigate the risk, governments need to apply some rules, including 1)Controlled use of work only devices. 2)Encryption and secure storage. 3)Rules on sharing and retention. 4)Accountability for digital conduct.

This isn’t just about one leak; it’s about digital governance. Are employees allowed to use personal devices for official work? Are there clear rules on circulating photos or documents that contain personally identifiable information; who get access & through which channels? How long they keep them?

قوى الأمن توضح ما تم تناقله على مواقع التواصل الإجتماعي حول تسريب صور لجوازات سفر وفد دبلوماسي من الجمهورية العربية السورية صــدر عـن المديـــريـّـــة العامّــــة لقــــوى الأمــــن الداخلـــــي ـ شعبة العـــلاقـات العامّــــة البـــلاغ التّــالـــــــــــي: تناقلت في الآونة الأخيرة مواقع التّواصل الاجتماعي خبرًا يتعلّق

Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces issued a statement after photos of Syrian diplomats’ late-September visit were leaked online. The images spread quickly, exposing individuals’ private data and raising serious privacy concerns.

isf.gov.lb/ar/news/%D9%...

Fair Use Protects Everyone—Even the Disney Corporation Jimmy Kimmel has been in the news a lot recently, which means the ongoing lawsuit against him by perennial late night punching bag/convicted fraudster/former congressman George Santos flew under the

We at EFF hate it when a certain kind of contract—you know the ones, where you hit accept after scrolling for ages just so you can use the app—is used to constrain users’ rights. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

How Google's Gemini AI is Learning Pro-Israel Disinformation From Social Media A fake quote attributed to Hamas official Khalil Al Hayya is being regurgitated by Gemini AI

AI is learning disinfo. A fake quote about Hamas spread on X… and now Google’s Gemini is repeating it as fact.
From rumour → news → “AI truth.”

Read how it happened

How Google’s Gemini AI is Learning Pro-Israel Disinformation From Social Media

open.substack.com/pub/marcowen...

#Dysinfluence

The Vanishing Act: How Assad’s Top Henchmen Fled Syria, and Justice

"The Vanishing Act: How Assad’s Top Henchmen Fled Syria, and Justice.
As Syria’s regime collapsed, the world’s eyes were on Bashar al-Assad’s getaway flight. Behind him, officials key to his brutal rule made a mass exodus, virtually undetected." #Syria #Justice
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/16/w...

Important piece by @nateschenkkan.bsky.social on how the US deportations of Russian and Iranian dissidents mark a shift from combating to enabling transnational repression. #TransnationalRepression #TNR

NEW: breach of Discord age verification data.

Including some users passports & DLs

Age verification is a badly implemented data grab wrapped in a moral panic.

Mark my words, as age verification mandates expand, we'll end up more surveilled and less secure. 1/

New investigation. "Nobody Talks Like This: Meet 50 AI-Powered Propaganda Accounts in Sudan's Social Media War"

How 50 AI-generated accounts are flooding Twitter with pro-UAE and anti-Muslim (Brotherhood) propaganda on Sudan's civil war

marcowenjones.substack.com/p/nobody-tal... #disinformation

Creator of ICE agent tracking app asks Apple to rescind ban from online store Joshua Aaron has said he created ICEBlock after seeing the Trump administration's deportation efforts, which he said evoked events in Nazi Germany.

UPDATE: ICEBlock developer Joshua Aaron asked Apple to reinstate the app after the company removed it from the app store under pressure from AG Bondi... www.cnbc.com/2025/10/03/a...

The Golden Age of Transnational Repression | Journal of Democracy Authoritarian regimes are targeting exiles and diaspora communities in more places than ever before. Activists, journalists, and regular people living abroad must watch their backs…

I wanted to share some of the sources and inspirations for my new @jodemocracy.bsky.social essay this week on transnational repression. Like with anything, there are citations but then there's also stuff that doesn't make it into the piece

www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/the...

ICEBlock Owner After Apple Removes App: ‘We Are Determined to Fight This’ Apple removed ICEBlock reportedly after direct pressure from Department of Justice officials. “I am incredibly disappointed by Apple's actions today. Capitulating to an authoritarian regime is never t...

so the US government just forced a tech company to delete an app it doesn’t like, which is totally normal stuff

www.404media.co/iceblock-own...

Read @nateschenkkan.bsky.social excellent essay on The Golden Age of Transnational Repression.

You will never be forgotten.
#TNR #JamalKhashoggi

Microsoft blocks Israel’s use of its technology in mass surveillance of Palestinians Exclusive: Tech firm ends military unit’s access to AI and data services after Guardian reveals secret spy project

Microsoft blocks Israel’s use of its technology in mass surveillance of Palestinians. The Tech firm ends military unit’s access to AI and data services after Guardian reveals secret spy project.

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

A video of the CN Tower on fire went viral on Facebook. The problem? It's fake | CBC News A fake video of the CN Tower on fire went viral on Facebook this week and experts say it's another example of why social media platforms need to clearly mark AI-generated content.

"Facebook video of CN Tower on fire should have AI-generated content label, experts say. No fire happened and video is a deepfake, CN Tower says." www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Why Feminists Must Defend Encryption The debate over encryption is often reduced to a false choice between online safety and privacy, but the reality is far more complex.

Why Feminists Must Defend Encryption
internet.exchangepoint.tech/why-feminist...

Congratulations! I look forward to reading it 😊

Author copies for

Dictating the Agenda: The Authoritarian Resurgence in World Politics

by me & @cooleyoneurasia.bsky.social arrived today!

If you re-post this by Sept 30 we'll put you in a drawing & send the winner a free signed copy anywhere they happen to be on the planet.

This covers well the damage of what’s happening, and I’ll add: people outside this ecosystem underestimate how much information it produces that others rely on for their knowledge of world affairs

their client's imminent removal cannot be reconciled with the TVPRA's access to counsel requirements. 8 U.S.C. § 1232(c)(5); see also ECF No. 20-1 at 16-17.1º Third, Defendants' actions in apparently suspending Plaintiffs' and putative class members' immigration cases in the middle of proceedings also violate the TVPRA and the INA, as well as the HSA. Recently, for example, ORR sent immigration judges a list of six putative class members allegedly "amenable" to voluntary departure even though they have not requested it. See Ex. P, Donovan-Kaloust Decl. 1 5. Two putative class members attended immigration court hearings on August 29, 2025, where a judge stated they were on a list to take voluntary departure. Reply Ex. M, M.A.L.R. Decl. 1 4; Ex. L, C.M.L. Decl. 9 4; Although both declined and stated that they wanted to pursue relief from removal, Defendants nonetheless awoke them at night on August 31, 2025, preparing to expel them to Guatemala. See id. Congress has made clear that ORR does not have authority to determine whether an unaccompanied child receives an immigration benefit, including voluntary departure, 6 U.S.C. § 279(c),"' and that unaccompanied minors have a right to seek voluntary departure in accordance with the INA, 8 U.S.C. § 1229c; 8 U.S.C. § 1232(a)(5)(D)(ii). These procedures purportedly implemented by Defendants violate the TVPRA, the INA, and HSA. They would-and very nearly did-result in erroneous expulsions of Plaintiffs and putative class members.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement, which is statutorily responsible for looking after the best interests of unaccompanied migrant children, has been giving immigration judges lists of kids who are “amenable” to voluntary departure, even though they aren’t

Opinion: Canada’s new Minister of AI must not be naive to its harms AI is not just being deployed to expand human understanding, but to systematically subvert it as well

"A tsunami of AI-enabled disinformation is already upon us, polluting the public sphere and seeping back into the language models that AI systems feed upon. What to do?"

My latest oped in @theglobeandmail.com 👇

www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

GitHub is enabling broader access for developers in Syria following new government trade rules With the relaxation of sanctions and export controls on Syria, GitHub will once again be broadly available to Syrian developers.

GitHub is enabling broader access for developers in Syria following new government trade rules github.blog/company/gith...