The expanding war in Iran brought to the fore questions about the role of technology in armed conflict, including the controversial use of new artificial intelligence technologies. Tech Policy Press invited perspectives from experts on what they are watching for as the situation unfolds.
"Anthropic is doing the right thing... The uses it is drawing lines around (mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons) are foreseeable and dangerous. Just as important, its willingness to hold that line in the face of coercive pressure sets an example for the rest of the industry."
It should be a five alarm for all Americans that the Pentagon is going to the mat to force an AI company to let the Defense Department use its powerful technology to surveil Americans. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/24/u...
⚠️ Escalated Digital Warfare in Gaza
Originally published in @techpolicypress.bsky.social, II members unpack how Netanyahu's UNGA address—broadcast into Gaza via loudspeakers & cellphones—reveals the risks surrounding telecom control, free expression & civilian comms in crisis.
🔗 bit.ly/405ullr
text of crime of aggression
rome statute of the international criminal court, article 8bis: crime of aggression
Platform policies and human rights frameworks must move beyond incident-based analysis towards systemic approaches that recognize how risks from online harms grow over time and through platform design, Meri Baghdasaryan writes:
Great to have Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, on Bluesky.
It’s a vibrant community, and a promising model for decentralized social media policies that transparently address toxicity and strengthen information integrity.
@safety.bsky.app @aaron.bsky.team
Baige cover, a phone icon with war planes and a text with red background says: War profiteers: Online ads and the machinery of propaganda for war Access Now logo
In this report, we examine how digital advertising is used to push war-related messaging and what international human rights law says about it.
The report also exposes major gaps in platform policies that leave people at risk.
Read the full report: accessnow.org/online-ads-w...
"The simplest thing to do would be the right thing": www.nytimes.com/2025/12/01/o...
Attacks on VPNs are attacks on digital privacy and digital freedom. And that battle is being fought by people who clearly have no idea how any of this technology actually works. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...
Commented on this @nbcnews story on the chaos of the recent X location product rollout. As tempting as it is to dunk on the "United States" accounts posting from unexpected places, I would caution folks not to jump to conclusions. www.nbcnews.com/tech/elon-mu...
🗓️ Wednesday, December 3
🕙 10:00 CET
📍 World Forum, The Hague
Attending next week's ICC Assembly of States Parties session?
Join us for a civil society workshop that will explore the crimes against humanity treaty effort and gender justice.
Register: bit.ly/cahtreatyatASP
"Hathaway said the protection of civilians under international humanitarian law was being 'eroded to the point of threatening to lose all meaning'" and calls for a coalition of states to stop the international legal order falling apart. Worth a read:
How should platforms moderate content in armed conflict? Our latest decisions show Meta’s rules can create imbalances in the information people see from warring sides. The Board overturns Meta's removal of two posts.
www.oversightboard.com/news/add-too...
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's UNGA threat to use both loudspeaker operations and forced cellphone messaging to reach Palestinians in Gaza presents novel risks and profound dangers, Shannon Raj Singh and others write.
Everyone needs to understand that the defunding of public broadcasting this week is part of a broader effort to dismantle the free press and control the means of reality production itself.
www.thedissident.news/the-oligarch...
Over the last few months, we've seen the rise of a new tool for misinformation: AI-generated satellite imagery.
This one, for instance, claims to show damaged Russian aircraft after Ukrainian drone attacks.
But it's AI-generated, as evidenced by physical anomalies and asymmetrical features.
Here's a useful term to capture today’s global atmosphere: hypernormalization, a Soviet-era concept that describes a reality where everything feels broken yet oddly normal. www.theguardian.com/wellness/ng-...
One of my closest friends was diagnosed last year - she’s feeling loads better after starting medication.
Total we launch 2 additional reports from the Iran Digital Archive Coalition that underscore the int'l crimes we've been documenting through open source investigations + the importance of the #IranFFMI's continuing work #HRCLab humanrights.berkeley.edu/projects/inv...
🇲🇩 AI bots, fake local engagement & synchronized posting? A new investigation from @victoriaolari.bsky.social exposes a #Telegram network manipulating #Moldova's political discourse. Likely Russian in origin, it uses automation & “soft engagement” to build influence
bit.ly/4inUpiR
I'm here in Taipei for RightsCon this week - it's hard to imagine a more urgent time for conversations around tech and human rights.
I'll be speaking in the following sessions, hosted by @article19law.bsky.social, @pressfreedom.bsky.social, & @accessnow.org
Join us & say hello! #RightsCon25
Important new report from HRC research fellow @shannonrsingh.bsky.social on "how tools deployed or developed by social media companies might reduce the risk of mass violence and contribute constructively to atrocity prevention efforts"
Thanks to @justsecurity.org and the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict for including this piece in their excellent symposium, "Thinking Beyond Risks: Tech and Atrocity Prevention." When attempting to leverage tech for accountability, the focus is too often on new and shiny tools.
Thanks to the many experts and practitioners that shared their expertise & insights with me to inform this report, as well as activists with lived experiences with the risks & opportunities of social media in at-risk communities.
Please read, share, and let me know if you’d like to discuss!
The objective is to expand the understanding of both policymakers & social media teams about available tools in the digital toolbox that can support AP efforts, to help us design atrocity prevention strategies that meet the challenges of the moment.
This report aims to fill that gap, expanding the atrocity prevention toolbox to include digital tools & interventions. It offers a landscape assessment of available tools, maps them against AP strategies, & articulates a possible theory of change for each, as well as associated risks & limitations.
Digital spaces today are at the front lines of where atrocity risks materialize & unfold. But while there's increasing awareness of how social media can fuel mass violence, there's far less awareness of how social media tools can support atrocity prevention.
📣 It’s out! I’m thrilled to announce the publication of Leveraging Social Media for Genocide & Mass Atrocity Prevention, a report I authored with the Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide. @ushmm.bsky.social
vault.ushmm.org/adaptivemedi...
