20 PSYCHOLOGICAL AND EMOTIONAL WAR For example, a Syrian business owner and political activist (identified as Amir later in this report) noted that after being the target of a digital attack he started “choosing friends wisely.” A Tibetan human rights activist similarly recounted that the stress of dealing with digital targeting in Canada, among other factors, led them to cut personal ties with friends and family, in part for safety reasons. They explained that they felt guilty and responsible for the safety of persons who might be punished for being linked to them. They also noted that other individuals on their campus in Canada were scared of speaking with them in public because they were concerned that they would not be able to go back home or their parents might get in trouble. A Syrian participant noted that their family life and relationships with friends were “very heavily” impacted by their activism and that the experience of being digitally targeted meant that they had “to be very careful” with who they befriended on social media. Another Syrian political and social activist explained that they felt “afraid of communicating” with other Syrians and that they were still afraid of “espionage, assassination attempts, or revenge” on their family. They noted that digital targeting “greatly affected” their social involvement with the Syrian community because they felt “afraid of them” and “did not feel comfortable communicating with them.” Their fear of being hacked led them to cut off direct contact with relatives and friends, and they “became very introverted,” “concerned about people,” and had “constant doubts about people and exaggerated questions about their intentions to communicate and their motives.” Another Syrian activist noted that they made a conscious decision to stay away from the Syrian community when they arrived in Canada. Their concerns regarding online discourse on Facebook and other social media led them to be “more careful” whenever they engaged with anyone they did not really know and in relation to Syrian issues. A social and political activist from Afghanistan explained that the experience of being digitally targeted made it difficult for them to “trust people”; they became “suspicious” of people from their country of origin, and they restricted communications with others. A social and political activist from East Turkestan91 explained that it was very difficult to communicate with individuals in their country of origin because the authorities monitor communications on such platforms as WeChat and other applications. Thus, they did not communicate with friends and family back home. They also noted that part of their concern regarding digital attacks and surveillance was related to the fact that other people in their country of origin might face serious consequences such as death or torture. A Chinese pro-democracy activist explained that they “lost contact” with most of their friends and relatives because they “don’t want to get [them in] trouble.” 91 East Turkestan is also known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China.