Pentagon piloting swarms of surveillance balloons; Thiel upset with Google; and China’s social credit system The U.S. is testing a balloon mass-surveillance system. If it works, it may be deployed across the country newsletter Eduard Saakashvili
Surveillance Western Academia Helps Build China’s Automated Racism Researchers in China are developing new and more invasive techniques to surveil Uyghurs. Some of their work is being supported by academia in the West feature Charles Rollet
Surveillance The war for truth in Myanmar’s cyberspace A decade ago in Myanmar, a SIM card could cost as much as $2,000. Facebook now has 18 million local users and is a parallel space for the conflict in Rakhine State dispatch Kayleigh Long
Surveillance Silicon Valley’s scramble for China Western technology companies have played a pivotal role in building China’s authoritarian smart cities dispatch Nafeez Ahmed
Surveillance China’s Digital Wall Around Tibet For decades, Tibetans crossed the Himalayas to seek refuge in Nepal. Now, a digital wall has cut them off from the world dispatch Nithin Coca
Legal Tools Kenya’s Controversial Biometric Project Is Shrouded in Secrecy A $60 million government initiative to collect the data of millions in an effort to enhance services has been marked by criticism about its inefficiency and allegations of misconduct dispatch Keren Weitzberg
Surveillance Fleeing Saudi sisters issue plea for help and a message for Apple and Google After escaping a lifetime of abuse at the hands of their families, the two women have called for the removal of a controversial Western-backed app which restricts the lives of many Saudi women dispatch Katia Patin
Legal Tools Egypt’s new 'Facebook law' targets freedom of speech Under an increasingly authoritarian government in Egypt, the country’s journalists and activists face threats from a new law governing the use of social media feature Laura Cappon
South Park Trolls; YouTube's "Trump sends note to Ginsburg;" And QAnon, Pizzagate & Whatsapp Murder Inge Snip
Surveillance The Fight for Transparency in Ghana After two decades of delays, Ghana’s new Right to Information bill was passed last week. It was supposed to open the country’s institutions and empower investigative reporters in the fight against corruption, but it may have the opposite effect dispatch Kofi Yeboah
Social Media Cambodia’s Internet crackdown reaches its activist monks For years, a group of Cambodian monks has used platforms like Facebook to expose daily injustices. An online crackdown is now putting them at risk feature Trudy Harris
Legal Tools The global rise of Internet sovereignty China and Russia want the global internet to look more like theirs. Some argue they are beginning to succeed essay Eduard Saakashvili
Legal Tools Tourism from China provokes an Internet crackdown in Thailand Tourism from China has become a key sector of Thailand’s economy. But China’s dominance also means Thai authorities have cracked down on any negative publicity which might aggravate Beijing feature Nithin Coca
