CITIZEN LAB RESEARCH REPORT NO.151 17 This digital targeting has impacted Ali’s physical and mental health and his online and in-person social life. For example, he now engages in self-censorship and limits the personal information he shares on social media. Ali has “started to think about everything” he could say a “million times” and explains that he is “being more careful” in what words he uses. Ali also limits his online communications with people in Saudi Arabia to protect those individuals and his social engagements with the Saudi community in Canada. Li: A Pro-democracy Activist from Hong Kong89 Li was raised in Hong Kong and moved to Canada as a teenager. Li’s childhood participation in large protests in Hong Kong taught her that people can create change; however, she also learned that some subjects are taboo and those who are too outspoken can be labelled as troublemakers. In Canada, Li works with an organization that does Hong Kong-related advocacy work. Technology is a key part of this work, whether it is promoting the cause on social media or using digital tools to organize. But this technology comes with risks. Members of Li’s network who are based in Hong Kong have been arrested and have had their phones confiscated and used to access private group chats. Their group has had their pro-democracy social media posts taken down after coordinated efforts by authorities to mass report their posts to the social media company. After engaging in media interviews, Li faced waves of coordinated misogynistic messages and death threats. Li explained that when she posted on social media, she received a “wave of bot accounts” attacking her with “insults mixed with death threats and rape threats.” The rape threats were “very descriptive” and “founded on misogyny.” In advance of an advocacy- related trip, Li received threatening messages that identified the number of the hotel room she planned to stay in. She also regularly receives suspicious emails and text messages that discuss her advocacy work and encourage her to click on a link. Li’s organization’s website has faced DDoS attacks timed to its release of new reports. Li has been photographed at protests and has had those photos distributed alongside her name, email address, and phone number in WeChat groups. Li explained that her physical health has been affected by these threats, and she is in “constant pain.” Li recounted: It puts a mental strain on you and it feels very isolating in many ways because [...] who do you talk to about this stuff? You can’t change anything because nothing I do would be able to change how my family could be treated in Hong Kong. It's just so crushing in so many ways: it does not stop me from doing the work I do, I get called brave all the time, but it’s not bravery, it's stupidity, really, putting myself at risk and 89 The participant has been assigned a pseudonym to protect their identity.