Digital threats are now part of modern conflict, reshaping the risks faced by civil society and humanitarian actors. As threats evolve, so do the responses needed to stay safe and resilient.
As part of the “Safe and Strong” webinar series by our Digital Security Helpline, experts from WITNESS, Cloudflare, Oxfam, and Access Now will explore the specific digital threats facing civil society in conflict settings, as well as how different stakeholders, including private sector partners and support organizations, are adapting their approaches to help individuals and communities stay safer online.
Register to join us on May 19 via the link in our bio.
Day 66 of Iran’s near-total internet shutdown, the longest recorded nationwide blackout in any country. Connectivity remains at roughly 1% of pre-war levels. Over 90 million people are cut off from the global internet.
Tomorrow @maasalan and Dr. Farzaneh Badiei join SplinterCon Online to discuss what direct-to-cell and satellite internet can do when states deliberately sever connectivity, and what it takes to move from advocacy to practice.
Mahsa is the founder of the Direct-to-Cell Coalition and Associate Director at @witness_org . Farzaneh is an internet governance expert and founder of Digital Medusa, a D2C Coalition member. Both are founding members of the Iranian Women’s Coalition for Internet Freedom.
The decisions about whether your phone can connect to a satellite when your government cuts the internet are made at the International Telecommunication Union, in processes that are closed to the public and accessible only to states. In March, the ITU’s Radio Regulations Board ruled that Iran should locate and deactivate Starlink terminals, and urged Norway and the US to help, while people inside Iran face arrest, disappearance, and the death penalty for possessing them. Civil society tried to participate. Only states have standing.
These are not technical decisions. They have life-and-death consequences, and they are being made without the people most affected in the room.
Ask your government to demand transparency, inclusion, and accountability in ITU processes. More at direct2cell.org and iranianwomen4internet.org.
10:30 AM EDT / 15:30 BST / 16:30 CET
Registration at splintercon.net
This week, Donald Trump amplified AI-enhanced photographs of eight Iranian women on Truth Social, claiming the Islamic Republic was preparing to hang them. The underlying cases are real, women like Bita Hemmati, who faces a death sentence, and Diana Taherabadi, a 16-year-old held in a juvenile prison. But the packaging was unverified, and the Iranian state responded within 24 hours with its own AI-generated mockery of the dynamic.
The binary of “AI or real” is no longer adequate to the information space we live in. Real photographs get dismissed as fake. Fabricated images get weaponised. And the women whose cases actually matter disappear.
My latest for @techpolicy.press , building on @witness_org work on synthetic media and human rights. Link in bio.
#AIpolicy #HumanRights #Iran #Disinformation
Join eQualitie’s #SplinterCon, a 0-day satellite event at RightsCon 2026.
“One Shutdown After Another: Control and Resilience in African Networks” convenes technologists, researchers, and practitioners to address the rise of network shutdowns across Africa, the commercialization of control technologies, and the frontline efforts to keep communities connected.
RightsCon registration required. ❗ Find this event and more in our expanded programming [Link in bio]
Is your feed telling you the truth? Massive explosions, emotional rescues and “breaking news” updates. Many of the most viral images from the Iran war have one thing in common … they’re completely fake. Experts warn we’re entering a period of “epistemic fracture,” where AI can generate propaganda in seconds, fuelling a narrative war that travels faster than the truth. Report compiled for @hallie_gram@hallieonnbc with the expertise of @maasalan and her organization Witness. #ai #deepfake #nbcnews #iran #iranwar
We need rigorous anti-war analysis on Iran more than ever. That means holding multiple truths at the same time, not flattening a complex situation into a single narrative. Some thoughts on why this argument, however well intentioned, doesn’t quite get there.
The explosion of generative AI tools in the last year has inundated social media, casting doubt on photos, videos, and news reports emerging from Iran and the wider region. @maasalan is the associate director of the Technology Threats and Opportunities Program at @witness_org , where she works on distinguishing visual truths in the age of AI distortion. “Just the fact that we are seeing this massive difference between June 2025 and March 2026 really speaks to the fact that this is a train going at full speed, and there isn’t very many safety features on board,” she said. According to Mahsa, it’s too much for news agencies and fact checkers to take on, let alone everyday news consumers. What, if anything, will the social media platforms do to rein in the enormous amount of misinformation that is flooding their services? #ai #misinformation #iran #onthemedia
Since the first day of the war in Iran, the government has imposed a systematic internet shutdown, cutting millions of people off from the outside world. This is not a technical issue or an internal policy choice it is a deliberate violation of fundamental human rights. In times of conflict, access to information is a lifeline, and intentionally severing that access is widely recognized by international experts as an act that can amount to a war crime. By shutting down the internet, authorities aim to hide violence, block the flow of evidence, silence witnesses, and isolate civilians at the very moment they need global visibility and protection. An internet blackout in wartime is not just censorship; it is a tool of oppression, designed to operate in darkness. The world must recognize this for what it is and stand with those who are being forced into silence. #internetblackoutiran #iranwar
Efforts to try identify AI-generated content and call it out has led to a new troubling phenomenon, something that investigative journalist Craig Silverman has called “forensic cosplay.” In the Iran war, people have been using AI to create inaccurate forensic analyses, which are incorrectly labeling real photos as AI-generated. These posts have gone totally viral, casting doubt not only on authentic images of the war, but also on the field of digital forensic analysis, according to Mahsa Alimardani, the Associate Director of the Technology Threats and Opportunities programme at @witness_org . “If now forensics analysis is itself going to be doubted because we have these instances, this is now a new layer to the AI doubt,” Mahsa said. “We are really going towards epistemic fracture in the information environment.” #ai #iran #osint #misinformation #onthemedia
![Join eQualitie’s #SplinterCon, a 0-day satellite event at RightsCon 2026.“One Shutdown After Another: Control and Resilience in African Networks” convenes technologists, researchers, and practitioners to address the rise of network shutdowns across Africa, the commercialization of control technologies, and the frontline efforts to keep communities connected.RightsCon registration required. Find this event and more in our expanded programming [Link in bio]](https://sp1.picnob.com/p/pt_6739311210365563542833_0_8848831c57e2df51e0b348292f19bfad.jpg?o=aHR0cHM6Ly9zY29udGVudC1pYWQzLTEuY2RuaW5zdGFncmFtLmNvbS92L3Q1MS44Mjc4Ny0xNS82NzMxNjg3MzVfMTgwNDY1OTc5OTE3NTg5MDBfNTY3MTc1OTcwNDQ0NTg4NTI5OF9uLmpwZz9zdHA9YzAuMTM1LjEwODAuMTA4MGFfZHN0LWpwZ19lMzVfczY0MHg2NDBfc2gyLjA4X3R0NiZfbmNfaHQ9c2NvbnRlbnQtaWFkMy0xLmNkbmluc3RhZ3JhbS5jb20mX25jX2NhdD0xMDQmX25jX29jPVE2Y1oyZ0hjVkk1MzViV0dhZUlMclI3UUtOT1dHTGlKcWdnZVJSVkp1Y2NTQUJXSWdsUEtSdTVGWUg3bEk5YkQ5T0hDU3pJZjVPOWVxMkxDR0czcWM1U2VPMXppJl9uY19vaGM9bVdiMmlnbFdtRk1RN2tOdndFZDU3Uk4mX25jX2dpZD1qMlZGQ215Z2I1TVNiYXpfOXJCQ3lnJmVkbT1BUFU4OUZBQkFBQUEmY2NiPTctNSZvaD0wMF9BZjR1VktSb0JOLVNhb0RNQ3NGTFdnOXBhTTY2SjZycXNHZ0hqX1FFS2pPUnV3Jm9lPTZBMEY1QjhFJl9uY19zaWQ9YmMwYzJj&h=5bbd64e6dabd41c15d6716c8b33a462b)
