16 PSYCHOLOGICAL AND EMOTIONAL WAR Another Syrian political activist whose social media accounts were also hacked noted that being digitally targeted had “psychological effects” that caused them “permanent paranoia and constant anxiety.” This state affected their “emotional relationships” and “created a state of psychological instability.” A social and political activist from Afghanistan explained that they felt a deep level of insecurity after their SIM was purportedly taken over and worried that they might be physically attacked in Canada. In some cases, participants expressly stated that despite any negative impacts they experienced, digital targeting did not stop them from engaging in advocacy. For example, a Tibetan human rights activist reiterated that even though the digital targeting had impacted how they engaged in advocacy work related to Tibet, this experience was not going to stop their advocacy work. A Syrian participant who had quit engaging in political activism once in Canada still noted that the digital targeting they experienced (which had occurred primarily when they were in Syria) actually made them “fiercer.” Ali: A Human Rights Activist from Saudi Arabia88 Ali moved to Canada from Saudi Arabia to study in 2017. Before moving to Canada, Ali did not consider himself an activist, although some family members were engaged in such work in Saudi Arabia. After arriving in Canada, Ali’s sibling was detained in Saudi Arabia, and Ali began to advocate from Canada for their release. Technology has been a crucial tool in Ali’s work, enabling him to connect with people and family in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere. At the same time, Ali recognizes that authoritarian regimes have the resources to circumvent digital security measures like encryption in order to target activists and dissidents. Ali has personally experienced digital targeting in reaction to his advocacy work. For example, he was repeatedly targeted by what he believes to be Saudi state-backed trolls on Twitter. When Ali posted something activism-related on Twitter that received a lot of positive attention, he was “just shower[ed] [...] with insults.” When he first experienced these trolls, Ali explained: “I was shocked and I couldn’t think properly, I couldn’t sleep properly, I couldn’t eat properly, I couldn’t make decisions properly.” Ali was also targeted through phishing attempts and online slander campaigns, and he received suspicious text messages. After reading that Saudi Arabia was targeting activists with NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware, Ali suspected that his devices might be targeted with the same spyware. 88 The participant has been assigned a pseudonym to protect their identity.