New FNVA report by Rinzin Namgyal (with research support by @c4ads.org) traces how China Mobile & China Telecom underpin #surveillance in Tibet, documenting ¥38.7m in contracts for facial recognition, data networks & policing systems, including around #Kirti Monastery. fnvaworld.org/digital-surv...

Digital Surveillance in Tibet: A Case Study of China Mobile and China Telecom. - fnvaworld.org

READ/DOWNLOAD PDF EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Procurement records analysed in this report reveal a highly integrated surveillance ecosystem operating across the Tibet Autonomous Region and neighbouring…

fnvaworld.org

Russia's war on Ukraine is sustained by a global network that supplies weapons, parts, labor, and channels for sanctions evasion. C4ADS and partners are working together to reveal the scope of the network and what stakeholders can do to disrupt it. From @atlanticcouncil.bsky.social👇 buff.ly/jHczEWd

Stopping Russia’s aggression requires holding its enablers accountable

Russia’s war is sustained by a network of enablers who supply weapons, labor, and sanctions-evasion channels.

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C4ADS team members led a session at the Global Gathering’s Journalism Salon on how to safely handle dangerous data. They detailed strategies and tactics to assess risky sources, limit exposure, and conduct analysis responsibly. Thank you @teamcommunity.bsky.social for having us!

We were delighted to host 20 Humphrey Fellows from around the world at C4ADS HQ in August – sharing more about the C4ADS mission and some of the data-driven analysis we’ve been working on lately. Thank you for stopping by!

'Eyes Above the Plateau' traces the expansion of aerial surveillance in Tibet through #Chinese govt dox, inc police tenders, procurement contracts, training records, flight restrictions + official bulletins since 2017: phayul.com/china-expand... @c4ads.org @jamyang.net

China expands drone surveillance network across occupied Tibet, report finds - Phayul

Phayul.com is one of the most popular & successful Tibetan news website in English. With daily readers touching over 12,500 and still growing. It features news and views on Tibet.

phayul.com

“The Tibetan people are now forced to live in the kind of police state envisioned by George Orwell," says Lord David Alton in response to our report on drones in #Tibet , calls upon Britain to restrict the police’s use of Chinese-made drones www.voachinese.com/a/tibet-dron... @c4ads.org

“高原上的眼睛” 人权组织报告指中国在西藏建立无人机监控体系

英国人权组织“西藏观察”(Tibet Watch)星期三(9月30日)发布调查报告称，中国当局正在西藏建立从警用无人机、自动机巢到反无人机设备的空中管控体系。报告也促使部分英国议员和人权人士呼吁英国政府，重新审查对中国无人机的相关采购。 这份75页的报告，题目为《高原上的眼睛》(Eyes Above the Plateau)分析查阅了2017年至2026年中国政府的采购公告、警方通报、培训记录和飞...

voachinese.com

New from @c4ads.org : how the same architecture of surveillance + control underpins #China’s presence in Tibet, Uyghur region, Inner Mongolia + Hong Kong, built on procurement networks designed to stay a step ahead of sanctions and export controls c4ads.org/reports/moni...

Monitoring the Frontier

The same architecture of surveillance and control underpins China's presence in Tibet, the Uyghur region, Inner Mongolia, and Hong Kong, built on procurement networks designed to stay a step ahead of ...

c4ads.org

New from @euromaidanpress.bsky.social: Russian satellite network Rassvet is closing the gap on jam-proof battlefield comms fast. We confirmed that the manufacturer is still absent from every Western sanctions list — and that fixing that is the clearest option left. Read 👇 buff.ly/N5c9wq8

For years Ukraine could jam or switch off Russia’s battlefield comms. Rassvet may be the first it can’t

Sanctioning the firm behind Russia's Starlink won't stop it. It can make every satellite slower and costlier to build—and the clock is short.

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With research support from @c4ads.org the report reveals how police buy drones for areas where tough crackdowns have been imposed for resistance to China's anti -Dalai Lama and land use policies 2/7

Essential reading: C4ADS' "Monitoring the Frontier" builds an original dataset from PRC government procurement records to map who actually supplies the #surveillance state: #Tibet as prototype, #Xinjiang as scale-up:

C4ADS@c4ads.org · 2w ago

NEW: China's surveillance supply chains run through distributors built to keep sanctioned manufacturers hidden — and existing sanctions and export controls have yet to catch up to how the equipment actually moves. 🧵 1/6 Read 👇 buff.ly/GIBHPT9

NEW: China's surveillance supply chains run through distributors built to keep sanctioned manufacturers hidden — and existing sanctions and export controls have yet to catch up to how the equipment actually moves. 🧵 1/6 Read 👇 buff.ly/GIBHPT9

Monitoring the Frontier

The same architecture of surveillance and control underpins China's presence in Tibet, the Uyghur region, Inner Mongolia, and Hong Kong, built on procurement networks designed to stay a step ahead of…

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Next week: @c4ads.org *Monitoring the Frontier* on China's #surveillance in Tibet, the Uyghur region, Inner Mongolia, & Hong Kong, and my new Tibet Watch piece on UAVs in Tibet. Sanctioned firms' kit still reaches police via domestic distributors. Turquoise Roof's previous report on this 👇

China’s digital repression model in Tibet

Recent procurement documents reveal that a Chinese state-owned digital forensics firm, will provide an offensive cyber operations training environment and digital forensic laboratory to the Tibet Poli...

turquoiseroof.org

@tomshardware.com covered our new report, Covert Compute, on how export-restricted AI chips continue to reach China despite restrictions. We mapped 3 pathways: research-institution buys, drop-shipping, and shell companies (including $4.6B linking to one entity alone). Read 👇 buff.ly/ADlXIDM

Investigative report details how export-restricted Nvidia AI chips reach China — public records reveal how Chinese entities skirt US sanctions

Much to the surprise of absolutely no-one.

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C4ADS Senior Analyst Allen Maggard spoke to @kyivindependent.com in support of a recent investigation into the flow of Western precision machinery into the Russian defense industry, despite sanctions — suggesting that the real leverage point is now the aftermarket. Read👇 buff.ly/A03ynKU

Investigation: Western machinery at the heart of Russian arms producers like Kalashnikov

Leaked documents reveal over 50 Russian defense companies operating Western industrial high-precision machinery — produced by Germany, Switzerland, and Sweden — to manufacture weapons used against…

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Yesterday, we launched an explosive report at @c4ads.org in Washington, DC, revealing how sanctions loopholes have allowed 🇺🇸 investment to flow to 🇨🇳 military companies. www.hongkongwatch.org/all-posts/20...

Uyghur Rights Monitor mapped 5 surveillance platforms — iTap, Micro-Police, Foundation Work Assistant, Clean Net Guard, IJOP — turning routine checks into predictive policing in the Uyghur region. C4ADS supported this analysis via mentorship, OSINT training, & data. Read 👇 buff.ly/DTGjCxq

The Architecture of Digital Mass Surveillance in East Turkestan - Uyghur Rights Monitor

Ablet Turdi and Erk Altay EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Chinese government has built an integrated digital surveillance apparatus in East Turkestan (officially called Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region) as…

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Our September issue of Inside Innovation drops next Thursday — don’t forget to sign up for our newsletters to catch up on our latest analysis, get your invite to exclusive events, and more! Sign up 👇 buff.ly/ZrUBrzF

Contact

We want to hear from you! For general inquiries, please contact info@c4ads.org. For media inquiries, please contact communications@c4ads.org.

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C4ADS Senior Director of Analysis Mollie Zapata joined a cross-sector panel of experts at The Global Anti-Scam Summit America to discuss the industrial-scale fraud linked to Southeast Asia’s scam compounds, and the role of the AI tools powering these operations. Thank you Global Anti-Scam Alliance!

Join us for the launch of @hongkongwatch.bsky.social’s Through the Cracks report on Sept. 26th, learn how Western investors, including some of US’ largest institutional investors, have funneled billions in equity capital to sanctioned Chinese military-industrial companies. RSVP👇 buff.ly/AhcPCwn

Hong Kong Watch report launch: Exposing U.S. investment in sanctioned Chinese companies – Washington D.C.

You are warmly invited to join the launch of our latest report, titled Through the cracks: How loopholes in U.S. sanctions let western investors pour billions into China’s military-industrial…

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With BYOD in Horizons, you can upload and search your own files alongside our own public records. Whether you have a million-file upload or a five-file one, you never have to wait behind anyone else. Now, you can integrate vtrr-queue into your workflow. Learn more and try it👇 buff.ly/BXGb0El

Fair Turns at Scale

C4ADS has released vtrr-queue, an open-source Python library built for Bring Your Own Data, which allows investigators to upload their own files and search them alongside Horizons’ billions of public…

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🚨 Join our report launch at @c4ads.org in Washington, DC next Wednesday, which will expose 🇺🇸 investment in sanctioned 🇨🇳 military companies. Sign up here: forms.gle/bEHvScnDwtfH...

At C4ADS, our China portfolio continues to grow (now including our recently published Covert Compute report). But we’re not the only ones watching this space — here are three leaders in the movement to trace PRC influence around the world. 🧵 1/4 Read Covert Compute 👇 buff.ly/mYU1A6L

Covert Compute

Despite years of Western export controls, restricted NVIDIA AI chips continue to reach China. New C4ADS analysis maps those active pathways, including university acquisitions, Southeast Asian…

c4ads.org

ICYMI: In 2025, we partnered with France 24 to trace bulk chlorine tanks to a supplier in India. Now, that work is featured in a recent @WashingtonPost.com investigation into new files allegedly showing how Sudan’s military built and hid a chlorine weapons stockpile. Read 👇 buff.ly/Cw0RdON

ICYMI: In a study of Russia’s growing security network in the Sahel, Business Insider Africa featured C4ADS analysis of 75 Russian military-linked flights across Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. Read 👇 buff.ly/BnAdr66

Europe’s most powerful nuclear-armed military is quietly building its own security bloc outside NATO with Algeria, Libya and three Sahel nation

Russia, Europe’s most powerful nuclear-armed military, is quietly building a security network across North and West Africa, linking Algeria and Haftar-controlled Libya with Mali, Burkina Faso and…

africa.businessinsider.com

Sometimes being blacklisted doesn’t stop a company’s operations. We’re proud to have supported this @nytimes.com investigation into defense-linked Chinese universities obtaining servers built by Maginfra and Inspur — packed with advanced US chips bypassing export controls. Read 👇 buff.ly/gdMmPWu

NEW: Western export controls are supposed to keep China from accessing the world's most advanced AI chips — but the data shows substantial gaps. Let’s talk about it. 🧵 1/6 Read Covert Compute 👇 buff.ly/mYU1A6L

🚨C4ADS is hiring! 🚨We're looking for a Program Director for State Sponsored Threats (SST) to lead a team of analysts and a Design Associate to create custom and engaging infographics, maps, and data visualizations. Learn more about these positions on our careers page 👇 buff.ly/ua2kb1k

Careers at C4ADS

Information about full time employment at C4ADS

c4ads.org

ICYMI: In a comparison of asset declarations across Hong Kong’s Seventh and Eighth Term Legislative Councils, China Strategic Risks Institute — with support from C4ADS — found that members’ properties have tripled from 39 to 123 in Mainland China. From CSRI👇 buff.ly/heJiQVt

Conflict-of-Interest Disclosure in Hong Kong’s ‘Patriots-Only’ Legislative Council — China Strategic Risks Institute

Introduction In December 2025, the Hong Kong Legislative Council (LegCo) held elections for its Eighth Term, and the Members began serving in January 2026. This is the second LegCo Term following…

csri.global

ICYMI: Cocaine corridors are institutional capabilities, not just lines on a map. In their latest piece on illicit transnational routes, Border Security Report highlights our analytical methodology for tracking and exposing hidden networks through ownership chains. Read 👇 buff.ly/l5M8rPZ

Cocaine Corridors Beyond Brazil: How Transnational Routes Are Reshaping Border Security Frameworks

A model built for maps, not institutionsFor most of the modern interdiction era, the cocaine corridor has been understood as a line on a map: a sequence of depa

border-security-report.com

ICYMI: Search Party shared a new video diving deep into @bellingcat.com recent investigation into ex-UFC fighter and friend of the Kinahan's Mounir Lazzez, highlighting the role of C4ADS’ Horizons platform in mapping the network of one of Europe’s most powerful drug cartels. Watch👇 buff.ly/cfJuPP1

Why these Irish cartel bosses are still free

An invisible drug kingpin was just found. So what? Use code searchparty at the link below to get an exclusive 60% off an annual Incogni plan: https://incogni.com/searchparty Europe’s most wanted…

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