Director of The Citizen Lab, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto
Ronald J. Deibert is a professor of political science at the University of Toronto and the founder and director of The Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto.
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Thanks everyone who has picked up a copy of Chasing Shadows and helped make it a national bestseller in Canada! UPCOMING APPEARANCES Wednesday March 5th: International Spy Museum, Washington DC (with Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post). Details: https://www.spymuseum.org/calendar/chasing-shadows-with-ronald-deibert-and-ellen-nakashima/2025-03-05/ Monday…
What obligations do countries have to protect those living in their borders from the growing scourge of digital transnational repression? That’s the question Citizen Lab senior legal advisor Siena Anstis and I explain in our new essay for the Knight First Amendment Institute, entitled: “Silenced by Surveillance: The Impacts of Digital Transnational Repression on Journalists,…
Well it has been a long time coming but I am super excited to share with you that my new book, Chasing Shadows, is on sale today! The book is a true David vs Goliath story (or, perhaps more accurately, David vs many Goliaths). It was a real labour of love to recount the story of the Citizen…
Private detective who led a hacking operation against climate activists, short sellers and others sentenced Several years ago, we investigated a sprawling hack-for-hire operation targeting a cross section of civil society, lawyers, journalists, activists, & short sellers. That investigation resulted in the 2020 Citizen Lab report, Dark Basin: Uncovering a Massive Hack-For-Hire Operation. Now, a key…
I am disappointed that TikTok executives continue citing the Citizen Lab’s research in their statements to governments as somehow exculpatory. I’ve called them out on this in the past, and it’s unfortunate that I have to do it again. Two years ago we analyzed the TikTok app. Our analysis was restricted to the application, and…
I am very pleased to bring to your attention a new article I have published in the January/February 2023 issue of Foreign Affairs magazine, entitled “The Autocrat in your iPhone: How Mercenary Spyware Threatens Democracy.” I had three objectives in writing this article: To publish an authoritative article on mercenary spyware. While there is a lot of news…
Director, The Citizen Lab, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto