Threatscape - Mapping global risks in a changing world

In this episode, we talk to Rachel Gilmore about Canadian politics and disinformation, both foreign and domestic. Rachel Gilmore is an award-winning journalist with extensive experience reporting on federal politics, disinformation, and extremism. She uses her experience and platforms to explains and debunk online disinformation. We talk about the state of journalism and how traditional media could reach online audiences. We also cover the misogynistic threats and comments against Rachel and the sustained online abuse she receives. You can find Rachel's work on YouTube and Tik Tok, and subscribe to her Podcast and Substack, Bubble Pop with Rachel Gilmore. This episode is part of a special project supported by the Department of Canadian Heritage. Titled Digital Defenders Initiative, the aim of the project is to uncover transnational repression and foreign manipulation campaigns in Canada, and their impact on the diaspora.

In this podcast episode, we speak to Katherine Leung, Policy Advisor for Hong Kong Watch. The Hong Kong national security police recently issued a new wave of arrest warrants against six overseas Hong Kong rights defenders in the UK and Canada. We speak to Katherine about growing transnational repression against Hong Kongers in Canada and how that impacts the ability of community members to fully participate in Canadian democracy. Katherine also speaks about Canada's Foreign Interference Commission and where it may fall short. This episode is part of a special project supported by the Department of Canadian Heritage. Titled Digital Defenders Initiative, the aim of the project is to uncover transnational repression and foreign manipulation campaigns in Canada, and their impact on the diaspora.

In this episode of Human Rights Talks, we talk to Samuel Woolley, the Dietrich Endowed Chair in Disinformation Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. Samuel talks about the role of encrypted messaging apps in spreading mis-and disinformation, how it impacts diaspora communities in particular and democracy more generally, and how some organizations are fighting back. Samuel Woolley is a writer and researcher specializing in the study of automation/artificial intelligence, emergent technology, politics, persuasion and social media. He is currently the Dietrich Endowed Chair in Disinformation Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. Previously he founded the Propaganda Research Lab, Center for Media Engagement at The University of Texas at Austin. He also founded and directed the Digital Intelligence Lab at the Institute for the Future, a 50-year-old think tank based in the heart of Silicon Valley. He also cofounded and directed the research team at the Computational Propaganda Project at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford. He has written on political manipulation of technology for a variety of publications including Wired, The Atlantic, Motherboard VICE, TechCrunch, The Guardian, Quartz and Slate. His work has been presented to members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the US Congress, the UK Parliament and to numerous private entities and civil society organizations.

In this episode of Human Rights Talks, Shelly Ghai Bajaj (University of Waterloo) talks about the use of chat apps by diaspora communities in Canada. Shelly explores the flow, spread, and transfer of mis/disinformation on private chat and closed direct messaging apps among ethnocultural diasporic communities. Whether its about public health or politics, transnational disinformation creates multiple challenges for communities and for democracy. Shelly Ghai Bajaj (Ph.D., University of Toronto, 2022) is a Postdoctoral Fellow working with Dr. Bessma Momani on projects relating to identity, democracy, disinformation, and social media. She studies comparative politics of both developing and advanced industrial democracies and is interested in the politics of identity and ethnonationalist mobilization, political parties and party strategy, the use of social media by political actors, and South Asian politics

In the lead up to the Montreal International Security Summit on China and the Indo-Pacific, which will take place on 16-17 October, MIGS hosted a X Spaces discussion with Maria Shagina (Diamond-Brown Senior Research Fellow, IISS) and Dr Justyna Szczudlik (Head of Asia Pacific Programme, PISM). This is a podcast episode version of the discussion.

In the lead up to the Montreal International Security Summit, which will take place on 16-17 October, MIGS is hosting a series of X Spaces discussions on China and the Indo-Pacific. We spoke to EU MEP Reinhard Bütikofer (the Greens) and Canadian MP John McKay (Liberal Party) about the APT31, a China-nexus cyber espionage group behind a large-scale cyber espionage campaign against parliamentarians and activists.

In the lead up to the Montreal International Security Summit, which will take place on 16-17 October, MIGS is hosting a series of X Spaces discussions on China and the Indo-Pacific. On 24 April, MIGS hosted Chinese-Canadian journalist and human rights activist Sheng Xue and Canadian journalist Sam Cooper to discuss China's foreign interference campaigns in Canada. The discussion was moderated by Kyle Matthews, MIGS' Executive Director. With the support of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Canada.