Siena Anstis

Digital transnational repression and the limits of international human rights law in a ‘post-territorial’ world Traditional models of jurisdiction fail dissidents in an ever more connected world

A few (early) thoughts on digital transnational repression and extraterritorial human rights obligations over at @bindinghook.bsky.social. Thanks for the opportunity to share my research (again!).

Spyware industry pockets EU subsidies while snooping on its citizens The widespread use of commercial spyware for unlawful surveillance across Europe has raised alarm – but the funding of such tools has largely gone under the radar. Follow the Money can reveal how mill...

Spyware industry pockets EU subsidies while snooping on its citizens www.ftm.eu/articles/spy...

Great work by @vaspanagiotopoulos.com showing how EU taxpayer money funds a surveillance industry that sells to authoritarian regimes abroad.

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...

The final part of our AJIL Unbound series on reparations is now available online. Read "What Can International Law Repair?" now! www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Discovery in U.S. Spyware Litigation: A Double-Edged Sword? Despite its inherent risks, civil society and policymakers can learn how to benefit from the discovery process in spyware cases.

www.justsecurity.org/118409/disco...

AlHathloul v. DarkMatter - Opinion and Order on Motion to Dismiss 151_opinion_and_order_2025-08-12.pdf

New positive development in the AlHathloul v. Dark Matter and others case with the court allowing the case to proceed despite lack of jurisdiction arguments made by the defendants: www.eff.org/document/alh...

Legal Frameworks for Addressing Spyware Harms Introducing a new series on accountability for spyware harms convened by the Atlantic Council in partnership with Just Security.

Looking forward to this series on accountability for spyware harms from Just Security: www.justsecurity.org/117335/legal...

Ron Deibert is absolutely the voice that the infosec industry needs to be listening to right now. We are in a moment where fascism is consolidating power and most of the infosec industry is either playing along or is busy bragging about how much AI they've shoved into their products.

Exclusive: Thai gallery removes China-focused artworks after 'pressure' from Beijing In what artists called the latest attempt by Beijing to silence critics overseas, the Bangkok Arts and Cultural Centre changed multiple works by artists in exile in the exhibit on authoritarian governments collaborating across borders.

beijing forces thai art gallery to shutdown an exhibition on transnational repression.

hey siri, what’s the definition of transnational repression?

www.reuters.com/world/china/...

NEW: 🇩🇪#Germany's top court says spyware severely violates fundamental rights.

Bans spyware in cases with <3year sentences.

Imposes tough proportionality tests. Restricts #spyware to serious cases.

Very interesting 1/

www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/SharedDocs/P...

A range of other issues are discussed as well, e.g., use of sanctions, the role of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, etc. Overall, these recommendations reflect what experts have been calling for -- now to see if they are implemented...

It also describes how INTERPOL has been abused and leveraged by perpetrating states and the serious impact this has on e.g., asylum applications, and recommends pressure to reform & mitigation strategies in the interim (e.g., training immigration staff on Red Notices abuse).

The report highlights the need for proactive community outreach and engagement with targeted communities to ensure sufficient support is provided, training for law enforcement on TNR, and the opening of a dedicated national reporting hotline for individuals targeted with TNR.

Recommendations include the adoption of a formal definition of TNR, systematically collecting TNR-related data, and strengthening existing legislation (e.g., domestic criminal law) to ensure it captures TNR.

The UK Joint Committee on Human Rights makes a range of sound recommendations on what the UK needs to do to address TNR -- other countries should consider these closely: committees.parliament.uk/committee/93...

The report also highlights the need for proactive community outreach and engagement with targeted communities to ensure sufficient support is provided, training for law enforcement, and the opening of a dedicated national reporting hotline for individuals targeted with TNR.

Recommendations include the adoption of a formal definition, systematically collecting TNR-related data, and strengthening existing legislation (e.g., domestic criminal law) to ensure it captures TNR.

No Escape: The Weaponization of Gender for the Purposes of Digital Transnational Repression - The Citizen Lab Building upon our prior research and the contributions of other scholars to this field, the aim of this novel study is to understand the security risks and harms caused by digital transnational repres...

And citizenlab.ca/2024/12/the-...

Psychological and Emotional War: Digital Transnational Repression in Canada - The Citizen Lab In this report, we describe how activists and dissidents living in Canada are impacted by digital transnational repression. We conclude that digital transnational repression has a serious impact on th...

This research fits with our conclusions regarding the harms associated with digital transnational repression: citizenlab.ca/2022/03/psyc...

Briefer by Fundación Acceso in Costa Rica on the psychosocial impacts of surveillance and spyware attacks: www.acceso.or.cr/wp-content/u...

Growth of foreign repression on UK soil going unchecked – JCHR report warns - Committees - UK Parliament The Joint Committee on Human Rights has called for stronger action to stop the growth of transnational repression (TNR). In a report published today, it warns that foreign governments are being increa...

New report from the UK Joint Committee on Human Rights on transnational repression in the UK: committees.parliament.uk/committee/93...

Global Voices is one of the places on the internet that still gives me hope. A true oasis.

If you have never heard of them before, go check their posts out.

If you like what they do, please consider donating.

I am honoured and excited to be delivering a keynote @blackhatevents.bsky.social 🇺🇸 2025

Come hear about the history of @citizenlab.ca, our investigations into mercenary spyware and other abuses, and what keeps me up at night!

www.blackhat.com/us-25/briefi...

PhD fellowship in Criminology and/or Sociology of Law, Digitizing Sexual Violence (280415) | University of Oslo Job title: PhD fellowship in Criminology and/or Sociology of Law, Digitizing Sexual Violence (280415), Employer: University of Oslo, Deadline: Sunday, August 31, 2025

And another really interesting position with the Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law on technology and sexual violence: www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...

Two PhD fellow positions in ERC-project “Private Law Firms as Transnational Advocates (PROBONO)"&nbsp; (283702) | University of Oslo Job title: Two PhD fellow positions in ERC-project “Private Law Firms as Transnational Advocates (PROBONO)"&nbsp; (283702), Employer: University of Oslo, Deadline: Monday, September 15, 2025

This looks like a great opportunity to work with @ninareiners.bsky.social 🎓. Being a PhD student at UiO (at least in my experience...so far!) equals an exceptional work/life balance, interesting work, committed colleagues, and snow & lakes nearby -- a pretty unique balance in academia these days.

Scorching and effective summary by @nateschenkkan.bsky.social of how the Trump Administration has undone policy progress made by the prior administration around transnational repression.