In addition to tensions within diaspora groups and organizations, repression against relatives puts the relations between activists and their families under strain. An Egyptian human rights defender said that after his father had been taken to the police station for two nights, “my father and my brother called me and for the first time they were against my activism. They were angry against me, telling me I am a coward, I am safe and putting them in danger.”91 The Iranian journalist mentioned above chose to take some of the pressure off his family by portraying a strained relationship, at least on the surface: “In telephone calls I talked very loudly and sometimes not very politely to my father. I told him that my work was none of his business and he could not interfere. To let them know that they couldn’t get to me through my father. To some extent it helped. My father told them that his son was not listening, that he had told me to stop my work but I wouldn’t listen.”92 Another Iranian journalist pointed out that dedication, experience, and solidarity among staff in the media organization helped them resist the pressure resulting from the harassment of their families. “The people we are talking about know the methods of the Islamic Republic, they work and report on its human rights record. They all know that if they step back, the pressure will not stop. The authorities will know that they have found the soft spot and will move forward step by step.” While he insisted that the reporting of the team had not changed as a consequence of threats against their relatives, he also emphasized the psychological impact of the pressure. Knowing that parents were targeted by the Iranian intelligence, he said, would “leave everybody trembling.”93 The insights provided above show that the repressive tactics employed by authoritarian states affect exiled dissidents, but do not necessarily deter them from their actions. Nonetheless, by reaching across borders with different tools of transnational repression, regimes are able to influence the everyday routines of activists and constrain some of the dynamics, impacts, and outreach of diaspora activism. 91 Interview E6, November 2018. 92 Interview I6, December 2018. 93 Interview I15, March 2019. 27