Marcus Michaelsen
@mmichae1sen
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Researching human rights, digital tech, authoritarian politics, Iran & Middle East @citizenlab. Previously @LSTSblog @Politics_UvA @mmichae1sen.bsky.social
Europe
Joined January 2020
When authoritarian governments weaponize gender to target women human rights defenders in exile: our new report builds on 80+ interviews to unpack the methods and impacts of gender-based digital transnational repression.
📢 NEW REPORT: No Escape: The Weaponization of Gender for the Purposes of Digital Transnational Repression. We investigate the rising trend of gender-based digital transnational repression by drawing on the lived experiences of 85 women human rights defenders living in exile
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“Oh my god… I have no words.” Listen to the emotional moment this year’s laureate Maria Corina Machado finds out she has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Kristian Berg Harpviken, Director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, shared the news with her directly before it was
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NEW @citizenlab report: We uncovered a network of more than 50 inauthentic X profiles conducting an AI-enabled IO whose aim was to foment revolt in Iran We assess the Israeli gov, or a private contractor under its direction, is likely responsible https://t.co/9eYISB4LsO
citizenlab.ca
We investigate a coordinated network of inauthentic X accounts that is spreading AI-generated content to induce revolt in Iran. The network has been active since 2023, but increased activity during...
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🎥 WATCH: EXCLUSIVE WITH NARGES MOHAMMADI ''Iranian women have appeared in society with such strength that they have become a model for the world.'' 16 September 2025 will mark the third anniversary of the death of Mahsa (Jina) Amini, and the revolutionary '' Woman, Life,
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It’s a privilege to contribute with a short video message to this session on #TransnationalRepression from Iran, together with experts and courageous human rights defenders.
📍GENEVA Join Front Line Defenders and others this afternoon, 16 September, as part of the 60th Human Rights Council: A @UN_HRC side event on transnational repression featuring coalition members, human rights experts, and survivor testimony. ➡️ 16 September ➡️ 14:00 - 15:00 ➡️
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Friend, Does scrolling leave you hollowed? Is anger frictionless...but thinking hard? You're in an algorithmic undertow. Your mental clarity is the target. The more you put yourself in, the harder it pulls. So, take a beat and step out Connect with your own thoughts. It's
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Pakistan is running a huge unlawful surveillance and censorship system. It is built with foreign tech and carried out without warrants and safeguards, this is enabling human rights abuses on a massive scale. #BreakTheFirewall
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This new article by the Citizen Lab's Gabby Lim (et al) in @techpolicypress examines the growth of economic power in the hands of private firms “incentivized to serve the surveillance state and further a new kind of space military-industrial complex.” Read it here:
techpolicy.press
As private firms dominate space, satellites serve both aid and surveillance—raising urgent questions about power, privacy, and democratic control.
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NEW: "Tehran isn't a dot." Israel’s bombings have shaken Tehran, upended its balance and killed hundreds of civilians. The sociologist Asef Bayat reflects on his hometown and its people’s quiet determination to carry on, for @newlinesmag
newlinesmag.com
While Israel’s bombings have shaken the Iranian capital and killed hundreds of civilians, its people have displayed care, resilience and quiet determination to carry on
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NEW: A ChinaFile investigation into China's powerful, but leaky, internet censorship system at https://t.co/IkULg4demC 1/21
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After the attacks: Domestic crackdown and continued transnational repression from a paranoid regime.
Iranian security officials have contacted the families of BBC Persian journalists, labeling the journalists as "enemies of God"(mohareb), a charge that can carry the death penalty under Islamic law, & claiming that taking the families hostage would be justifiable in times of war.
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Important and timely work by @mmichae1sen, Saipira Furstenberg & Siena Anstis: The new @EP_ThinkTank study on #TransnationalRepression in Europe offers clear evidence — and policy solutions. For many of us, this is not theory. It’s lived reality. 👇 https://t.co/yc67ohe6sH
europarl.europa.eu
Transnational repression of human rights defenders: The impacts on civic space and the responsibility of host states
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Narges Mohammadi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and the country’s most prominent human rights activist... warned against the attacks...telling the BBC...that “Democracy cannot come through violence and war.” https://t.co/al94sGKio4
@DannyPostel @barbaraslavin1 @NickKristof
nytimes.com
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has picked replacements in case military commanders die in Israeli strikes. He has also named possible replacements for himself.
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NEW REPORT: Russia's state-backed hackers have a new trick. In collab w/ @Google Threat Intelligence Group, we investigated an attack against prominent Russian expert @KeirGiles & uncovered an elaborate attack targeting App-Specific Passwords (ASPs). https://t.co/7AM0CuIJMS
citizenlab.ca
Keir Giles, a prominent expert on Russia, was targeted with a new form of social-engineering attack that leverages App-Specific Passwords. Google links the operation to UNC6293, a Russian state-bac...
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I left home. This house is used to being left behind—sometimes for prison, sometimes for migration, and now, for escaping war. How heartbreaking it is that my home watches its residents leave, again and again. I used to think the most painful moment for this house was when Ali
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Major media investigation finds thousands of Uyghurs forced to work in 75 factories across 11 Chinese regions, with links to major western companies. I supported this joint investigation into state-imposed forced labor transfers by @nytimes @derspiegel @TBIJ. THREAD: 👇
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Two days ago at @republica, I spoke alongside Dr. Noura Chalati from @ReporterOG and @DavidJRMissal from @tibetinitiative. we were united in demanding stronger responses to transnational repression. #transnationalrepression #republica25
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Today is a good day to remember #Jamal_Khashoggi, the #Saudi dissident and journalist who was brutally assassinated at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. Progress isn't about 'buildings' or mega-deals, it's about human rights and human dignity.
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The CCP is weaponizing Uyghur-language software to spread spyware—turning tools for cultural survival into instruments of surveillance. This is how digital authoritarianism targets our people in exile and at home.
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Cyberattack against Uyghur rights activists shows hallmarks of Chinese repression tactics, researchers say https://t.co/QE5Vb7ffAd by @icijorg
icij.org
Citizen Lab found the advocates, including some featured in ICIJ’s China Targets investigation, were targeted with malicious software disguised as a Uyghur-language tool.
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New report from @citizenlab: Weaponized Words: Uyghur Language Software Hijacked to Deliver Malware While it may be easy for some audiences to dismiss low-sophistication malware, don't dismiss the impact these campaigns have on targeted populations, especially those in-exile.
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