Der Blogger Marc Hofer entdeckte zuerst ein unbekanntes chinesisches Überwachungstool – und dann sein eigenes Passfoto darin. Hier berichtet er über die Fähigkeiten des Programms und darüber, wie es sich anfühlt, selbst zum Ziel zu werden.

China: Blogger berichtet, wie ein Überwachungstool ihn selbst erfasste

Der Blogger Marc Hofer entdeckte zuerst ein unbekanntes chinesisches Überwachungstool – und dann sein eigenes Passfoto darin. Hier berichtet er über die Fähigkeiten des Programms und darüber, wie es sich anfühlt, selbst zum Ziel zu werden.

spiegel.de

I defended my dissertation at @ucdpolitics.bsky.social! Thanks to exam comm- @newsprof1.bsky.social, @jelkink.bsky.social & @dawnwalsh.bsky.social, supervisor @alexdukalskis.bsky.social, RSP members @sbrazys-ucd.bsky.social & @stefanmueller.bsky.social, & to @researchireland.ie for funding my work 🎓

Absolutely not surprising but a limited leak of a Chinese local surveillance platform drawing off an apparently large national one has a special drop down for tracking for tracking foreign journalists in China… including me. @netaskari.bsky.social found the data open.substack.com/pub/netaskar...

Thrilled to see Making a Career in Dictatorship featured in The New York Times @nytimes.com My favorite line: “[The book] reads like what you might get if you crossed Hannah Arendt’s ideas about the ‘banality of evil’ with a business school guide on how to get the most out of low performers.”

Actually, Democracy Dies in H.R.

nytimes.com

Adam Scharpf@ascharpf.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Russia, Venezuela, Iran, China, the Sahel region, the United States ... Want to know why state agents carry out brutal repression — or participate in illegal coups? Our new book "Making a Career in Dictatorship" provides answers — it just got published by @academic.oup.com: tinyurl.com/ystwm3tf

My research found that the foreign press corps in China shrank from >700 in 2008 to 500 in 2021, & to 400+ in 2024. What’s less clear is how the makeup of the foreign press corps has changed - whether J-visa access is increasingly favoring ideologically aligned media. More: doi.org/10.1177/1940...

China Digital Times@chinadigitaltimes.net · 3mo ago

Foreign Press Corps in China Continues to Erode Amid Tension and Suspicion

If you want academic research on how this happens and why it matters, see work by @linettelim.bsky.social Here: journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.... And here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Friends and enemies: external threats and the delegitimization of foreign media in China

There is substantial scholarship examining how states use negative propaganda and threat framing of outgroups to various ends, including popular mobilisation, diversion and scapegoating, and to del...

tandfonline.com

Maura Elizabeth Cunningham@mauracunningham.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Between the PRC's clampdown on foreign journalists and the contraction of newsrooms in the U.S., only a small number of correspondents for American news organizations are on the ground in China right now, reports @eliotchen.bsky.social @thewirechina.bsky.social.

BREAKING: The Chinese government pressured Zambia to screen + exclude Taiwanese speakers attending @rightscon.org, leading to the largest international convention on digital rights being canceled a week before it takes place, the host org @accessnow.org tells WIRED. By @telliotter.bsky.social + me

The Chinese Government Just Got the World’s Largest Digital Rights Conference Canceled

Access Now, the group that organizes RightsCon, says Zambian officials asked it to exclude Taiwanese participants if it wanted the event to proceed as planned.

wired.com

🚨 We are now accepting submissions for two of our Specialist Group's Awards 🚨 - Best Paper Award - Best PhD Paper Award Rules: anyone can nominate – self-nominations are welcome! – a paper for these awards by emailing arc.psa.sg@gmail.com Deadline: 25 May 2026 Details on the rules👇

Enjoyed being a part of this enriching workshop in @au.dk, thoughtfully curated and well organized by @rsenninger.bsky.social @winniexia.bsky.social @muzhou-zhang.bsky.social! It brought many sub-disciplines together under the theme of 'Information from Abroad' and I learned so much from all

Roman Senninger@rsenninger.bsky.social · 4mo ago

The 'Information from Abroad' workshop starts today. @aarhusbss.bsky.social Glad to bring together a great group of researchers working on how citizens and elites respond to foreign signals (especially relevant amid war, tariffs, and election interference). Grateful for support @carlsbergfondet.dk

Excited to be part of this virtual event organised by APSG and the APSA Democracy & Autocracy section! I'll be sharing my work on global media and authoritarian regimes alongside fantastic panellists. Join us Thu, 9 April, at 18:30 CET / 12:30 EST. Register here: calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0...

Authoritarian Political Systems Group@apsgworkshop.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Join us for our first APSG-APSA Democracy & Autocracy roundtable! With Anya Schiffrin (@columbiasipa.bsky.social), Bardia Rahmani (Harvard), Erin Baggott Carter (USC, @hooverinstitution.bsky.social), @linettelim.bsky.social (@ucdpolitics.bsky.social) and @scottrw630.bsky.social (@ox.ac.uk).

Congrats! 🫡 In our joint nomination, @jhlee1596.bsky.social & I detailed how @alexdukalskis.bsky.social combines rigorous academic guidance with genuine support for student well-being. Such a well deserved win (one of just two awardees) for the best mentor an early career scholar can wish for! 💐

UCD Politics and International Relations@ucdpolitics.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Congratulations to our colleague, Dr Alexander Dukalskis @alexdukalskis.bsky.social on receiving the UCD Dean of Graduate Studies Award for Excellence in Doctoral Supervision! 🏆🎓 www.ucd.ie/graduatestud... Comhghairdeas leat, a Alex 🙌

Wrapped up grading & my Media Politics under Authoritarianism module! Although we focused on autocracies, we discussed threats in democracies, like news avoidance & platform capture. Part of the solution lies in questioning our biases & resisting essentialism - traits I felt many students embodied 🙏

New paper out! Using a text scaling approach on 17,000+ Chinese state media articles (2014–2023), I examine how authoritarian regimes portray international media as external threats - and when this hostility intensifies. doi.org/10.1080/1356... Free (first 50): www.tandfonline.com/eprint/2MNPV...

Friends and enemies: external threats and the delegitimization of foreign media in China

There is substantial scholarship examining how states use negative propaganda and threat framing of outgroups to various ends, including popular mobilisation, diversion and scapegoating, and to del...

tandfonline.com

this is authoritarianism. "Beijing's insistence that sovereignty cannot be challenged has reshaped even the vocabulary of disaster. A call for answers can be reframed as agitation. Grief can be interpreted as defiance. Volunteerism can be treated as "gathering"." www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12...

Hong Kong's grief meets Beijing's red lines

The blaze that consumed Wang Fuk Court burned for two days, but its political shock waves may echo for weeks, even months.

abc.net.au

Watching this play out in HK is a shock to the system, but to anyone who’s seen it happen time and again in the mainland, it’s also all too familiar and predictable. After any disaster, “stability maintenance” (維穩) and “stabilising public sentiment” (穩定社會情緒) are always foremost official priorities.

RazvenHK@razvenhk.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Inmediahk reports that HK university student Miles Kwan, who was seen handing out fliers linking to a petition demanding an independent investigation and accountability for the Tai Po fire was detained and taken to the police station. The online petition and related media has since been deleted.

Shanghai friends: very special Concert Alert! Perhaps you already know that all our concerts with Japanese musicians in China were cancelled. But nobody has cancelled this Shanghai performance with the legendary Japanese Jazz drummer Toshio Osumi. So we are taking a chance.

As part of a special issue of @iojournal.bsky.social w/ an amazing cast of scholars, Rebecca Cordell & I wrote a piece on the future of human rights given the rise of authoritarian powers and alliances. Check out "Authoritarianism, Global Politics, and the Future of Human Rights" open access here:

Applications are now open for the UCD Iseult Honohan Doctoral Scholarship 2026. Closing Date: 30 January 2026 ✔️Covers full fees (EU and Non-EU) ✔️Provides a living stipend of €25,000 per year for up to four years ✔️Is open to EU and non-EU applicants 👇 www.ucd.ie/spire/study/...

Applications are open for two UCD Ad Astra Doctoral Scholarships💫 It covers: ☑️ Tuition fees (up to the non-EU rate) ☑️ A yearly stipend of €25,000 ☑️ An annual research budget of €4,000 Deadline: 6 February 2026 @elisaadamico.bsky.social www.ucd.ie/spire/study/...

In my Media Politics under Authoritarianism class this week, we explored how to adapt a gay romance for Chinese TV whilst maintaining plausible deniability. We also discussed queer representation, feminism, & creative freedom. Showed students a clip of The Untamed. Their engagement made my week!

My first solo-authored publication is out in The International Journal of Press/Politics! journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... Based on 50+ interviews with foreign correspondents in China, it explores how authoritarian media control operates and the responses it provokes. (1/3)

“I tried to use purchase of a panda as a means of getting to China in 1963-4 while in Hong Kong. My wife’s uncle was chairman of the St. Louis Zoo and authorized me to spend US$25K if I could bring one back. As the NYTimes reported, the effort failed.”

Return of the Pandas! — Jerome A. Cohen | 孔傑榮（柯恩）

By Jerome A. Cohen I cannot resist commenting on today’s biggest China news, even though I am sure this is not my first mention of those potent symbols of the PRC’s good will. I tried to use purchase...

jeromecohen.net

Had a great first APSA conference! Vancouver was a superb host city with amazing natural beauty & food. I learnt lots from all the panels I went to, made new connections, & caught up with old ones. Am particularly inspired by novel approaches to researching hard-to-study contexts

In #Vancouver for #APSA today? David & I will present our paper which uses Taiwan as a case & examines the efficacy of misinformation frames there without exposing human subjects to harmful content. Ours is the Political Information & Communication in Taiwan panel, 4pm at West Level 2, West 217

For my American comrades: Dictating the Agenda: The Authoritarian Resurgence in World Politics Is on sale at Amazon for 22 bucks for hardcover. That’s a pretty good deal! European release in a couple weeks.

Dictating the Agenda: The Authoritarian Resurgence in World Politics

Dictating the Agenda: The Authoritarian Resurgence in World Politics [Cooley, Alexander, Dukalskis, Alexander] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Dictating the Agenda: The Authoritarian Resurgence in World Politics

amazon.com

Teaching my own module this term: Media Politics under Authoritarianism. In our first class, we examined media’s role in society. Applying Hanitzsch's journalistic roles, students assessed that there aren't watchdogs and change agents in Irish media! Perhaps this is symptomatic of democracies?

I reckon this from @emoontw.bsky.social on leaving Taiwan (and its media scene) is worth a read theeastandback.substack.com/p/my-great-t...

(My) Great Taiwan Recall

One era ends, another begins.

theeastandback.substack.com

Great piece today in @indexoncensorship.org by @jemimahsteinfeld.bsky.social on the "so-called" trial of Jimmy Lai with a shout-out to recent research by me & @linettelim.bsky.social in @jeas-journal.bsky.social

The so-called trial of Jimmy Lai - Index on Censorship

How the Hong Kong and Chinese authorities use linguistic trickery to undermine opponents

indexoncensorship.org

I’ve lost count of how often Chinese/Hong Kong authorities or CCP State media have called me a “so-called human rights lawyer” leading a “so-called legal team.” I often play ‘propaganda bingo’ to myself when I read aggressive HKSAR statements which slam me/my clients/NGOs/other States/newspapers. 1/

Thanks so much @caoilfhionn.bsky.social for reading our @jeas-journal.bsky.social research @linettelim.bsky.social and i were struck by the phrase “so-called” in China’s propaganda and are happy (academically) and discouraged (normatively) that our findings cohere with your experience.

Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC@caoilfhionn.bsky.social · 11mo ago

So it was a particular pleasure to read this excellent analysis by two UCD academics on the use of the phrase ‘so-called’ as a propaganda device in China: www.cambridge.org/core/journal... 2/