Escape from Shanghai: my harrowing flight from the world's strictest lockdown Hidden in the back of a car under a pile of boxes, how one man escaped Shanghai's Covid surveillance system after three weeks of hunger and fear first person Anonymous and Isobel Cockerell
Fleeing Russian bombs while battling Facebook. A Meta problem Ukrainian journalists did not need Facebook says it’s fighting disinformation and blocking Russian propaganda. But independent newsrooms in eastern Ukraine say they’re being restricted under the same rules. feature Natalia Antelava
Outside the US, Elon Musk’s vision of a rules-free Twitter is expected to unlock violence and civil strife Musk’s free speech absolutism could stoke conflict in countries like India and Ethiopia feature Ellery Roberts Biddle
Watch your back — and your coffee mug. Innocent-seeming objects are tracking us everywhere From Bluetooth headphones to smart coffee mugs to GPS trackers inside fake pill bottles, here are some unexpected ways we’re being monitored roundup Mariam Kiparoidze
How Silicon Valley is helping Putin and other tyrants win the information war As state-backed accounts fight for our attention, Facebook pages of independent media outlets are disappearing feature Natalia Antelava
Belarusians are using Telegram – and their own printers – to deliver the news Volunteers are working to spread real news, under a government dedicated to keeping it hidden feature Katie Marie Davies
Russians face grim options on social media Censorship on VKontakte leaves Russians with few ways of accessing information counter to the Kremlin’s narratives feature Masho Lomashvili and Caitlin Thompson
Biolabs, QAnon, and Putin: visualizing digital authoritarianism's next move Marc Owen Jones navigates the murky waters of deceptive influence campaigns q&a Isobel Cockerell
Immersive simulation attempts to pierce apathy over the Uyghur genocide Istanbul’s Uyghur Genocide Museum guides visitors through a series of simulation rooms based on camp survivor testimony photo essay Emin Ozmen / Magnum Photos and Katia Patin
Western companies face withering criticism on how they exit authoritarian states The Norwegian telecoms company Telenor has been trying to get out of Myanmar. A fast sale could leave millions of people exposed to military surveillance explainer Caitlin Thompson
Belarusian hackers on what it means to be a 'Cyberpartisan' The group is behind the opening salvo of politically motivated ransomware attacks q&a Glenn Kates
Kazakhstan shut down its internet. These programmers opened a backdoor The internet blackout fueled fear, panic and even deaths. Thousands of people in Kazakhstan were able to get online thanks to a crusading band of expat technologists. feature Katia Patin
Millennial authoritarianism rises in Brazil as Bolsonaro takes on TikTok With his poll numbers falling, President Jair Bolsonaro tries to overhaul the social media strategy that brought him to power feature Fernanda Seavon
Five Coda stories you definitely should not miss Here are some of the stories we did this year that deserve your attention if you'd like to understand the world of authoritarian technology and disinformation roundup Mariam Kiparoidze
