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The Citizen Lab -- Open main menu Skip to main content Close main menu Research Targeted Threats Free Expression Online Transparency and Accountability App Privacy and Controls Global Research Network Tools & Resources Publications News In the Media Events Opportunities Citizen Lab Newsletter Archives About About the Citizen Lab Media Resources People Teaching Donate Censored Contagion II A Timeline of Information Control on Chinese Social Media During COVID-19 August 25, 2020 Free Expression Online As a follow-up to our March 2020 report, we conducted daily tests on WeChat and collected 2,174 censored keywords between January to May 2020. This data provides a view into how narratives and messaging on the pandemic are controlled and molded on social media in China. Featured Publications August 3, 2020 Targeted Threats Nothing Sacred: Religious and Secular Voices for Reform in Togo Targeted with NSO Spyware Amidst calls for reform in Togo, NSO Group’s spyware was used to target voices for change including a bishop, priest, and opposition politicians. June 9, 2020 Targeted Threats Dark Basin: Uncovering a Massive Hack-For-Hire Operation Over the course of our multi-year investigation, we found that Dark Basin likely conducted commercial espionage on behalf of their clients against opponents involved in high profile public events, criminal cases, financial transactions, news stories, and advocacy. This report highlights several clusters of targets. In future reports, we will provide more details about specific clusters of targets and Dark Basin’s activities. May 7, 2020 Free Expression Online We Chat, They Watch: How International Users Unwittingly Build up WeChat’s Chinese Censorship Apparatus WeChat communications conducted entirely among non-China-registered accounts are subject to pervasive content surveillance that was previously thought to be exclusively reserved for China-registered accounts. Lifting the lid off the Internet. The Citizen Lab is an interdisciplinary laboratory based at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto, focusing on research and development at the intersection of information and communication technologies, human rights, and global security. Learn more . Get the latest Citizen Lab news right in your inbox. Subscribe below. Leave this field empty if you're human: Privacy Policy Features & News Threats Facing Women Activists in Colombia and Costa Rica August 26, 2020 Global Research Network Findings from this study underscore that online and offline threats should not be viewed as separate phenomena, but rather as overlapping and mutually reinforcing. Ron Deibert to Deliver 2020 Massey Lectures July 7, 2020 News Titled Reset: Reclaiming the Internet for Civil Society, the five lectures will be delivered online, streamed on CBC Radio’s IDEAS, and published as a book by House of Anansi Press in September. Citizen Lab Fellowship: Surveillance, Digital Security, and Race [CLOSED] June 26, 2020 News The Citizen Lab is pleased to announce a fellowship program on issues related to surveillance, digital security, and race. Keep the Open Technology Fund Open June 19, 2020 News The encroachments to OTF highlight why independent and transparent funding sources for research and development on Internet freedom are so important. Providing this type of support within a large government organisation can be difficult. OTF was an example of how to do that right. Losing that example will be a loss not only to the practitioners and researchers that have grown through the support of OTF but the wider community of marginalized people they support. Citizen Lab and Amnesty International Uncover Spyware Operation Against Indian Human Rights Defenders June 15, 2020 News Targets were sent emails disguised as important communications, such as official summonses, bearing links to malicious software disguised as important documents. If opened, targets’ computers would have been infected with NetWire, a piece of commodity malware. WeChat Surveillance Explained May 7, 2020 Free Expression Online On May 7 2020, the Citizen Lab published a report that documents how WeChat (the most popular social app in China) conducts surveillance of images and files shared on the platform and uses the monitored content to train censorship algorithms. This document provides a summary of the research findings and questions and answers from the research team. Featured Video CBC: WhatsApp Attributes Hack of 1,400 Users to NSO Group Technology Citizen Lab senior researcher John Scott-Railton discusses why WhatsApp is suing NSO Group after discovering their spyware was used to target 1,400 users—100 of whom were members of civil society—and why this is a significant bellwether. Research Targeted Threats Free Expression Online Transparency and Accountability App Privacy and Controls Global Research Network Tools & Resources All Publications News In the Media Events Opportunities Newsletter Archives About About the Citizen Lab People Media Resources Teaching Donate Connect Newsletter Leave this field empty if you're human: Privacy Policy Unless otherwise noted this site and its contents are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Canada license....