Threatscape - Mapping global risks in a changing world

During a Twitter Space, MIGS spoke with filmmaker Jawad Mir about his movie “Citizen of Moria”, which documents the plight of filmmaker Ahmad Brahimi. When his life comes under threat by the Taliban in Afghanistan, he leaves his family behind for survival and ends up in Europe’s worst Refugee Detention Camp, Moria. Ahmad documents the difficult living conditions endured by the refugees and his att...

Dr. Aylin Matlé on what the invasion of Ukraine means for Germany and NATO. Dr. Matlé has been a research fellow in the German Council on Foreign Relations' Security and Defense Program since March 2022. Previously, she worked as deputy head of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung’s Israel office in Jerusalem. Prior to that, she was a research associate for the chair of international relations and Europea...

As part of MIGS’s Global Parliamentary Alliance Against Atrocity Crimes, Project coordinator Marie Lamensch spoke with Oleksandra Matviichuk, the head of the Center for Civil Liberties. Oleksandra talks about the organization’s efforts to collect evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and why she hopes that their efforts will have an impact on the global justice system. The Center for...

A Twitter Spaces conversation on the implications of Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter for the spread of disinformation, hate speech and other online harms. Speakers: - Dr. Emma L. Briant, British scholar and academic researcher on media, contemporary propaganda, surveillance and information warfare, and Visiting Research Associate in Human Rights, Bard College. - David Troy, researcher, technolo...

Where is the line between digital utopia and digital police state? In "Surveillance State: Inside China’s Quest to Launch a New Era of Social Control", award-winning Wall Street Journal journalists Josh Chin and Liza Lin document with startling detail how the CCP is creating a political model that shapes the will of the people not through the ballot box but through the sophisticated harnessing of...

This discussion is a recording of our Twitter Spaces with Nick Waters (Open Source Analyst, Bellingcat), Hannah Bagdasar (Investigator, Bellingcat), and Dearbhla Minogue (Legal Officer with the Global Legal Action Network). This is part of our Global Parliamentary Alliance Against Atrocity Crimes, a project supported by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Canada.

This is a recording of MIGS Twitter Spaces discussion titled “Structural causes of atrocities in Ethiopia: Spotlight on the Amharas” , which featured Hone Mandefro (Director of Advocacy, Amhara Association of America) and Adem Abebe (Advisor in Peace Building, Constitution Building, Democracy, Elections and Governance). The chat was moderated by Kyle Matthews, MIGS' Executive Director.

In this episode, Ukrainian journalist Iryna Matviyishyn talks to us about hardships faced by civilians living in Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine, Russia filtration system, forced assimilation, and what the West should do to help Ukrainians. Iryna also talks about what is means to be a journalist in Ukraine today and how she tries to bring stories to Western audiences. This interview is par...

Authoritarian governments leverage digital technologies to repress the rights and freedoms of their citizens at home, silence dissent among diasporas and other individuals beyond their borders, and to interfere in democratic governments, processes and institutions abroad.  As part of MIGS Digital Authoritarianism project supported by U.S. Embassy in Ottawa, we hosted a Twitter Spaces with Jessica...

In this episode, we speak to Lesia Vasylenko, an Ukrainian Parliamentarian and human right lawyer. Vasylenko is also a member of the Ukrainian permanent delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. She tells us what it means to be a legislator during a war and why we must hold Russia accountable for crimes committed in Ukraine. This interview is part of our Global Parliamenta...

In this episode, we speak to Belkis Wille, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, about ongoing war crimes and human rights violations committed by Russian forces in Ukraine. Belkis and her colleagues have interviewed hundreds of Ukrainians who have lost family members in attacks on cities across Ukraine. We also speak about filtration camps, forced disappearances, and Russia's efforts to alte...

On today's episode, Access Now's Felicia Anthonio talks to MIGS about internet shutdown and the organization's #KeepItOn Campaign, a #KeepItOn coalition made up of over 210 organizations across the world. In 2021 alone, Access Now and the coalition documented 182 internet shutdowns across 34 countries. Read their report here . This conversation is part of our initiative on Digital Authoritarianism...

Caitlin Thompson, a reporter at Coda Story, joins us to talk about digital authoritarianism and the different methods used by regimes around the globe to silence dissent and surveil citizens. She also warns us that democratic governments must remain vigilant not to use similar techniques. You can subscribe to Caitlin's newsletter here https://www.codastory.com/coda-newsletters/ This conversation i...

As the war in Ukraine rages on, MIGS organized a Twitter Spaces with Canadian Senator Marilou McPhedran. On 28 April, the Senate unanimously passed a motion recognizing that the Russian Federation is committing acts of genocide against the Ukrainian people.  This discussion marked the launch of our new project, the Global Parliamentary Alliance Against Atrocity Crimes, supported by the Konrad Aden...

In this episode of Human Rights Talks, Peter Guest talks about internet shutdowns and how authoritarian regimes use the off switch to silence dissent. What are the human and financial costs of shutdowns ? What are the tactics used ? Listen to our conversation. Peter Guest is the enterprise editor for Rest of World. He has worked for the Nikkei Asian Review in Tokyo, where he was the cover story ed...

The Canadian Taskforce to Combat Online Antisemitism is a MIGS project aimed at analyzing current trends in online antisemitism, holocaust denial and distortion, and looking at ways we can build better Canadian resiliency to it while addressing what tech companies and other actors can do to tackle this issue.  As part of this project, MIGS spoke to Katharina von Schnurbein, European Commission Coo...

In this episode of Human Rights Talks, Kevin Sheives and Rachelle Faust (International Forum for Democratic Studies) join us to discuss the concept of sharp power and how it differs from soft and hard power. They also talk to us about the International Forum's Sharp Power Research Portal, which features examples and analyses of the scale and impact of authoritarian sharp power around the world. Th...

The Canadian Taskforce to Combat Online Antisemitism is a MIGS project aimed at analyzing current trends in online antisemitism, holocaust denial and distortion, and looking at ways we can build better Canadian resiliency to it while addressing what tech companies and other actors can do to tackle this issue. As part of the project, we are launching a series of podcast episodes. In this episode, M...

The Canadian Taskforce to Combat Online Antisemitism is a MIGS project aimed at analyzing current trends in online antisemitism, holocaust denial and distortion, and looking at ways we can build better Canadian resiliency to it while addressing what tech companies and other actors can do to tackle this issue. As part of the project, we are launching a series of podcast episodes. In this episode, M...

This episode is a recording of an event organized as part of the digital authoritarianism series supported by the US Embassy to Canada. This discussion features U.S. Consul General Ana Escrogima, David Kaye (clinical professor of law, University of California, and former UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression), Chris Walker (VP for S...

The Canadian Taskforce to Combat Online Antisemitism is a MIGS project aimed at analyzing current trends in online antisemitism, holocaust denial and distortion, and looking at ways we can build better Canadian resiliency to it while addressing what tech companies and other actors can do to tackle this issue. As part of the project, we are launching a series of podcast episodes. In this episode, M...

In this episode on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Nadia Trudel interviews Dr. Kathrin Meyer, Secretary General of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). The IHRA unites governments and experts to strengthen, advance, and promote Holocaust education, remembrance, and research worldwide. Tools and Resources: IHRA Toolkit Against Holocaust Distortion   Protect the Facts Ca...

The Canadian Taskforce to Combat Online Antisemitism is a MIGS project aimed at analyzing current trends in online antisemitism, holocaust denial and distortion, and looking at ways we can build better Canadian resiliency to it while addressing what tech companies and other actors can do to tackle this issue. As part of the project, we are launching a series of podcast episodes. In this episode, M...

The Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies, the Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights hosted a special event to mark the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and Prevention of this Crime. The event was the official Canadia...

As the illiberal use of technologies threatens to reshape the balance of power, MIGS is organizing a speaker series on digital authoritarianism. American and Canadian practitioners, researchers, and members of the private sector and civil society shine light on the strategies used by authoritarian states and discuss the pressing need for alliances between Canada, the U.S., and like-minded democrat...