In a report entitled Psychological and Emotional War: Digital Transnational Repression in Canada, released on March 1, Citizen Lab explains how “activists and dissidents living in Canada are impacted by digital transnational repression” and concludes that “digital transnational repression has a serious impact on these communities, including their ability to undertake transnational advocacy work related to human rights.”
The report also found “there is little support for victims who experience such targeting and policy efforts by the Canadian government to date have been insufficient.”
Transnational repression, the report explained, is “how authoritarian states ‘reach across national borders to silence dissent among diaspora and exile communities.’ ”
“States that engage in transnational repression use a variety of methods to silence, persecute, control, coerce, or otherwise intimidate their nationals abroad into refraining from transnational political or social activities that may undermine or threaten the state and power dynamics within its borders,” the report added, noting that digital transnational repression can include “online intimidation or surveillance and coercion by proxy, in which a person’s family, loved one, or business partner is threatened, imprisoned, or otherwise targeted.”
The report puts forth several policy recommendations for the federal government to address digital transnational repression in Canada, including: holding “the perpetrators of digital transnational repression to account;” supporting the victims of transnational repression; and “engage with companies implicated in the infrastructure of digital transnational repression.”
Siena Anstis, senior legal counsel at Citizen Lab and author of the report with Noura Al-Jizawi, Sophie Barnett, Sharly Chan, Niamh Leonard, Adam Senft, and Ron Deibert, told The Lawyer’s Daily that one of the most important recommendations “is that the Canadian government actually articulate some kind of policy around digital transnational repression because that really doesn’t exist.”
Siena Anstis, senior legal counsel at Citizen Lab
The report also recommends the government “review foreign state immunity law in Canada and implement the changes necessary to ensure that individuals subjected to digital transnational repression by foreign state actors are able to pursue a legal remedy in Canada.”
Another recommendation suggests an examination of “how existing Canadian criminal law could be used to pursue the perpetrators and facilitators of digital transnational repression in Canada and educate the public and law enforcement on these provisions in the context of digital transnational repression.”
“Further,” the report added, “consider whether a new crime specific to acts of transnational repression might be appropriate. For example, in some jurisdictions, a specific crime of ‘refugee espionage’ has been enacted to address the surveillance and harassment of refugee communities.”
Anstis noted that “greater discussion” amongst the legal profession “regarding what kind of reforms are required in Canada to better facilitate remedies and redress for victims of this type of activity within our own borders” would be helpful.
“I don’t think it’s something that’s talked about that much, but it will require some thought. For example, issues around foreign state immunity, issues around the lack of a registration requirement when foreign actors are operating in Canada, how criminal law applies to this activity. Whether we need something like the refugee espionage provision in Sweden, which better articulates the kind of behaviour that’s happening now and criminalizes it. I think there’s a lot of open questions that could use some thought,” she said.
She also noted that for “immigration and refugee lawyers there may be some interest in understanding what digital transnational repression is, as well as transnational repression more broadly, because they may see this happening to their clients.”
“Having an understanding of what it is, and how to address it, and support their clients could be quite helpful. Especially because this type of activity might interfere with solicitor client privilege communication,” she noted, if “communications are being intercepted…”
According to the report, “between 2014 and 2020 alone, researchers who studied transnational repression identified 608 cases of direct, physical transnational repression.”
“This figure, which is likely incomplete due to the exclusion of cases that have no or insufficient public documentation, includes 31 states — China, Rwanda, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey among them — that have been conducting transnational repression in 79 host countries,” the report explained, noting this “identifies a clear link between authoritarian perpetrators and overseas victims.”
A “major impact of transnational repression” the report identified is “a global chilling of political and social speech and activity (for example, silencing activists who are living abroad through self-censorship and self-restraint to avoid punishment).”
“Canadian Chinese community members, for instance, have reported that they do not ask questions at public events or attend protests or other events in Canada out of fear that Chinese government agents are watching them. Some testified to a Canadian Senate Committee that they were ‘threatened with rape or even death’ if they kept ‘speaking out against [human rights] violations committed by China,’ ” the report added.
Along with self-censorship, the report also noted the psychological harms and “repression of family members and friends in the country of origin” as impacts of digital transnational repression.
Anstis said self-censorship is a “very serious” impact “especially as we see authoritarianism on the rise.”
“Maintaining these places for debate is very important, so to the extent that digital transnational repression is restricting peoples’ ability to engage in debate, restricting that space, that’s a huge impact and a negative one,” she explained, noting that another serious impact is the “sense of fear among communities.”
“A number of people we interviewed became withdrawn and fearful of other community members,” she said, noting that when people move to Canada and they’re “relying on the communities of people who come from the same country of origin,” it’s a challenge if they “become fearful or skeptical or concerned about those relationships.”
“In addition, it causes a lot of psychological trauma and anxiety and distress for people because those relationships are being compromised in a way that they don’t have control over,” she stressed.
Al-Jizawi, a research officer with Citizen Lab and author of the report, emphasized “these threats undermine peoples’ ability to practice their freedom of speech or freedom of assembly on Canadian soil.”
Noura Al-Jizawi, research officer with Citizen Lab
“In addition to the psychological and social impacts,” Al-Jizawi explained, “there is a severe impact” on peoples’ health and their ability to learn.
“Whether it be [learning] their new language, or new skills, or their ability to work properly, it affects all aspects of their lives,” she said, highlighting that affected persons “were dreaming” or “it was the assumption that they arrived in Canada, so they are safe and they can resume their life again.”
Al-Jizawi also noted that “there are potential threats targeting physical harm to people back home because we all know that the legitimacy of the activists in the diaspora rely on a wide network of people back home.”
“So once the activists, in Canada for instance, or abroad, become subject to digital transnational repression that will potentially cause harm and expose their network back home,” she said, noting people don’t feel safe to contact their networks digitally “because they understand that digital communication in their country of origin is under government surveillance.”
Considering the current situation in Ukraine and the number of refugees Canada has welcomed over the past year, Anstis said an increase in prevalence of digital transnational repression in Canada is “very likely.”
“It’s been hard to track numbers around this issue because a lot of [incidents] happen outside the public record,” she noted, however, that Citizen Lab’s report highlights studies “which shows that this is a growing and escalating problem and people who study this, like us, see digital technologies as the main mechanism by which digital transnational repression is going to continue to expand because it’s more easily accessible, it’s cheaper to undertake this kind of oppression for authoritarian states.”
“With increased migration and increased refugee flows, and increased mobility outside countries or origin and people heading to democratic countries where they’re hoping they can speak their mind freely and continue in transnational advocacy efforts, combined with the surveillance market, which is growing and growing and growing, I think we’re definitely seeing an opportunity here for authoritarian states to apply more digital capabilities to engage in this,” she said, noting there’s also a “greater incentive to do so because more of their population is now outside the border in places where they feel comfortable being more vocal.”
Al-Jizawi noted that “that the authoritarian regime of Russia has a very bad reputation in digital transnational repression. Not only targeting the Russian people overseas, but also the diaspora communities where Russia has interest.”
“There is a long history of the Russian regime targeting the Eastern European communities, targeting Canada, and around the globe. So, it’s not only targeting Russian diaspora communities in Canada and globally, but also the entire eastern European communities. Which is something we’re definitely going to be witnessing more and more,” she added.
Anstis emphasized that “through the framework of international human rights law, there is an obligation to protect individuals against human rights abuses and that applies to anyone within Canada’s territorial borders.”
“Canada tends to speak quite publicly about its affirmation and desire to protect human rights, so I think there’s definitely a gap here in terms of how the government has reacted so far,” she added.
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