De|Center
@thedecenter.bsky.social
New home of #DesignFromTheMargins methodology. We transform tech & advocate for #TechAccountability to advance justice & human rights. New to socials, not the work. Website: www.de-center.net Newsletter: https://the-decenter.ghost.io
Google Earth launched an AI tool last week, letting users fabricate scenes of destruction in Iran and Gaza, and pulled it the next day. It's just the latest tool to compound the AI fog of war, argue Afsaneh Rigot and @mahsaalimardani.bsky.social in a new op-ed for @carnegieendowment.org A thread:
Generative AI and Atrocity Denial in War
In the fog of modern war, generative AI offers every side a simple transaction: Trade documented reality for permanent doubt.
carnegieendowment.org
1/New with Afsaneh Rigot of @thedecenter.bsky.social with work from @witnessorg.bsky.social for @carnegieendowment.org: "Generative AI and Atrocity Denial in War." How AI has turned doubt itself into a weapon, from Iran to Gaza to Sudan. Thread: carnegieendowment.org/research/202...
Generative AI and Atrocity Denial in War
In the fog of modern war, generative AI offers every side a simple transaction: Trade documented reality for permanent doubt.
carnegieendowment.org
We are signatories to this important and timely statement. Pls read and share. These measures are arbitrary, discriminatory, and a direct violation of free expression and access to information. @alqst.bsky.social
ALQST for Human Rights@alqst.bsky.social · 3mo agoMeta has blocked 100+ Facebook and Instagram accounts, including ours, from reaching audiences in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Done at the request of Saudi and Emirati authorities under draconian cybercrime laws, this is a direct attack on free expression. www.alqst.org/en/post/meta...
Major tech companies including Meta’s Facebook and Instagram platforms have blocked 100+ human rights accounts following orders by Saudi authorities. Read the Guardian's coverage here, featuring comments from ALQST's board member @maryamaldossari.bsky.social. www.theguardian.com/media/2026/m...
Instagram, X and others blocking Saudi dissidents’ accounts
US social media firms acting on orders from Middle East kingdom accused of being ‘instruments of repression’
theguardian.com
This was the most devastating part of the Rights Con debacle. The loss in not having the opportunity to attend, learn and further our movement through what was going to be one of the most thoughtful and productive convenings broke my heart. Please donate to @thedecenter.bsky.social if you can.
De|Center@thedecenter.bsky.social · 3mo agoOur Design from the Margins workshop was cancelled after the Zambian government shutdown RightsCon. We moved fast because the safety of our community came first. It always will. Our loss was huge, but the work continues. See our full statement. the-decenter.ghost.io/update-the-f...
I am the humanitarian guy at @accessnow.org and I call on those who can to please consider supporting @thedecenter.bsky.social and other CSOs The damage doesn't stop at @rightscon.org : the event is a catalyst bringing together a whole ecosystem, and the harm against our partners is just harrowing
De|Center@thedecenter.bsky.social · 3mo agoOur Design from the Margins workshop was cancelled after the Zambian government shutdown RightsCon. We moved fast because the safety of our community came first. It always will. Our loss was huge, but the work continues. See our full statement. the-decenter.ghost.io/update-the-f...
Our Design from the Margins workshop was cancelled after the Zambian government shutdown RightsCon. We moved fast because the safety of our community came first. It always will. Our loss was huge, but the work continues. See our full statement. the-decenter.ghost.io/update-the-f...
Update: The Forced Cancellation of the Design from the Margins Workshop in Lusaka
💡The cancellation of RightsCon – which was to bring 5,000 people together – mere days before it was set to begin, is itself a serious concern for the digital rights community. As we could not determin...
the-decenter.ghost.io
More than 70 organizations, including the ACLU, EPIC, and Fight for the Future, say the AI smart glasses feature would endanger abuse victims, immigrants, and LGBTQ+ people. www.wired.com/story/meta-r...
Meta Is Warned That Facial Recognition Glasses Will Arm Sexual Predators
More than 70 organizations, including the ACLU, EPIC, and Fight for the Future, say the AI smart glasses feature would endanger abuse victims, immigrants, and LGBTQ+ people.
wired.com
Important findings by @smex.org ⬇️
SMEX@smex.org · 4mo agoA high-profile Lebanese journalist was targeted with advanced phone hacking in May 2025. The investigation identifies the involvement of BITTER, a known threat actor prominent in South Asia whose operations may now extend into West Asia and North Africa. Full findings: smex.org/smex-may2025/
I wrote about how Hungary's election creates breathing room for the LGBTQ community but not liberation. The next few years will require substantial work to undo the harms of 16 years of Orbán's systematic targeting of the LGBTQ community. www.thedissident.news/what-hungary...
What Hungary’s Election Actually Means for LGBTQ People
Breathing Room is not Liberation On Sunday, Hungarian voters turned out in record numbers, the highest since free elections began in 1990, and handed Péter Magyar’s Tisza Party 138 of 199 parliamenta...
thedissident.news
FRONTLINE and ProPublica investigate the violence, protests and arrests stemming from the federal immigration sweeps across the country. "Caught in the Crackdown" premieres tonight on PBS and online.
Ahmed Eldin must be released immediately. He has been detained under laws in Kuwait that criminalize online & offline speech. Across the region, authorities have used such laws to target online posts since the war, including increased targeting of journalism. Increasing repression & disinformation.
Committee to Protect Journalists@pressfreedom.bsky.social · 4mo agoCPJ calls on Kuwaiti authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Kuwaiti-American journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, detained under new security and fake news laws. Read more: cpj.org/2026/04/cpj-... #FreeAhmed #FreeAhmedEldin
With many newspapers closed & no clear path for local public libraries to preserve digital-only reporting, the work of safeguarding journalism’s record increasingly falls to @archive.org - and their ability to preserve knowledge for the public good is under attack www.wired.com/story/the-in...
The Internet's Most Powerful Archiving Tool Is in Peril
As major news outlets cut off the Wayback Machine, journalists and advocacy groups are rallying to protect the Internet Archive’s vast collection of web pages.
wired.com
“Those who stared too long into the Lego abyss came out sounding completely deranged.” @sarahjeong.bsky.social continues to be one of my favourite writers and honoured my scraps of thought were featured in this alongside @azadehakbari.bsky.social and @thedecenter.bsky.social’s Afsaneh Rigot.
How Iran out-shitposted the White House
Tehran’s meme warfare became an uncanny mirror of American governance
theverge.com
Our urgent statement on escalating rhetoric & attacks on essential systems in Iran. Under international law, both what is said and what is done carry legal consequences. Accountability must be applied consistently & forcefully — or it ceases to function the-decenter.ghost.io/urgent-state... #iran
Urgent Statement: Threats of war crimes and genocide in Iran must face accountability
The US’ rhetoric threatening essential systems in Iran raises acute legal concerns. Under international law, both what is said and what is done carry legal consequences. From the US to inside Iran to ...
the-decenter.ghost.io
Today, over 100 international law experts warn that U.S. strikes on Iran violate the U.N. Charter and may constitute as war crimes. “Recent statements from senior U.S. government officials describ[e] the rules governing military engagement as “stupid” and prioritizing “lethality” over “legality”.”
Just Security@justsecurity.org · 4mo agoOver 100 International Law Experts Warn: U.S. Strikes on Iran Violate UN Charter and May Be War Crimes www.justsecurity.org/135423/profe...
US and Israeli officials are escalating threats against Iran, including infrastructure such as electricity and power. That means cutting off the very systems people depend on to access the internet and communications, and to live.
Our hearts are with the people of Tehran, Beirut, and Gaza as they survive unprecedented violence at scale. US and Israeli warfare, powered by AI-assisted mass targeting systems, has further turned urban centers into testing grounds for algorithmic carnage. We’re seeing the results.
My piece in @theatlantic.com on what AI is doing to the information environment during the war in Iran. 175 children buried in Minab. Every fact about their deaths has been documented, verified, and geolocated. None of it has been enough to prevent the doubt from spreading faster than the evidence.
The Fog of AI
The spread of fake imagery of the Iran war is helping make the question Is this real? all but unanswerable.
theatlantic.com
The Atlantic@theatlantic.com · 5mo agoThe spread of fake imagery of the Iran war is helping make the question “Is this real?” all but unanswerable, Mahsa Alimardani argues:
**Can you help us do a little bsky survey by reposting this** ➡️ What checklists/guides would you like to see ActivistChecklist.org create next? Comment below! 👇 Could be anything in the realms of activist digital security, physical safety, operational security, vetting, specific tools, etc.
For months we’ve watched ICE weaponize AI surveillance tools to intimidate & abduct people from communities across the country - the suppliers of these same tools are fueling U.S. attacks on Venezuela & Iran via Palantir’s Project Maven & Anthropic’s Claude AI. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/03/w...
A Fight About the Future of War
nytimes.com
This is "our" Manifesto for a Free Internet. We are Iranian Women's Coalition for Internet Freedom. Happy International Women's Day! initiated by @azadehakbari.bsky.social @farzdusa.bsky.social @mahsaalimardani.bsky.social @royapak.bsky.social & Afsaneh Rigot
Manifesto for a Free Internet
Manifesto for a Free Internet Iranian Women’s Coalition for Internet Freedom Today, people inside Iran are living through a near-total Internet and communications blackout imposed by the Islamic Repub...
docs.google.com
Our hearts are with the people of Tehran, Beirut, and Gaza as they survive unprecedented violence at scale. US and Israeli warfare, powered by AI-assisted mass targeting systems, has further turned urban centers into testing grounds for algorithmic carnage. We’re seeing the results.
⚡️ “Small Children Who Knew Nothing of Politics or Wars” A scene of devastation in Minab, Iran, as parents waited to know the fate of their young daughters after the bombing of a girls' elementary school killed over 100. Report: Mahmoud Aslan for Drop Site News www.dropsitenews.com/p/iran-minab...
“Small Children Who Knew Nothing of Politics or Wars”
A scene of devastation in Minab, Iran, as parents waited to know the fate of their young daughters after the bombing of a girls' elementary school killed over 100.
dropsitenews.com
A happy 1 year anniversary to one of our favourite orgs, serving the Southwest Asia and North Africa queer communities on vital digital rights and safety needs.
LooM SWANA@loom4swana.bsky.social · 5mo agoA look back since we started 🌈
45% of LGBTQI+ people in MENA have been arrested for who they are—over 1 in 5 multiple times. This is from ARTICLE 19’s 2024 report, the largest study of its kind (5,205 participants across 8 countries). Read more 👉 www.article19.org/wp-content/u...
A great interview with @mahsaalimardani.bsky.social to re-share on the impact of comms blackouts in Iran. Regimes today weaponize the "Liar's Dividend" + AI to dismiss real images as fake and to create false narratives. Distorting truth & eroding trust in human rights documentation worldwide.
sarah jeong@sarahjeong.bsky.social · 6mo agoI interviewed an expert on what's happening with connectivity in Iran: The longest blackout in Iran's history. Thousands dead. Documentation of war crimes dependent on Starlink. A regime that uses AI's ubiquity to undermine the credibility of evidence. www.theverge.com/policy/87184...
365 Days, 12 Months, 1 year : Weaving a safe future for LGBTIQ+ activism in SWANA ❤️✨️🌈
We love when news teams create organising resources! Much of it wouldn’t exist in the form they do without the decentered. It’s *international* sex workers, queer, trans folks, & other advocates whose experiences are why some of the anti-surveillance tech/methods were created. Why we center them.
Andy Greenberg@agreenberg.bsky.social · 6mo agoI don’t think I’ve ever had so many people writing to me to ask about encrypted/secure/private tools for comms, collaboration, and organizing. So @lhn.bsky.social and I talked to experts and assembled this: the Wired guide to organizing in an age of surveillance. www.wired.com/story/how-to...
