While technological innovation has opened new possibilities for mobilizing human rights defenders and disseminating information about violations in general, digital progress is also allowing authoritarians states such as China to use powerful new tools of control their own citizens.

Sophisticated surveillance systems including the use of artificial intelligence, biometric registration, phone spyware, drones and GPS tagging represent a serious threat to fundamental rights of people in China and elsewhere. With the enactment of new laws, Beijing has further shrunk the already restrictive space for freedom of expression in the country, obliging private technologyl companies to censor user’s content and to monitor potential activism or dissent.

Ethinic minorities such as Tibetans, Uyghurs and Mongols have been particulary targeted by mass surveillance systems across the country. Authorities often collect citizen's biometric data, personal information and daily schedules, as well as analyse social behaviour and adherence to rules in public spaces.

While implementing an Orwellian state domestically, China continues to legitimize its policies and hight-tech control over their citizens under the pretext of the struggle against terrorism, separatism and crime. Meanwhile, it continues to dismiss international criticism while manipulating the UN system by attempting to project a new definition of human rights.

Beyond the oppresive environment in China, the two-day forum will also address Beijing's export of surveillance technology to other countries, with international experts discussing the danger that this trend could pose to democractic states.

Photo by Tenzin Nyishon