Digital Rights Weekly Update: 15 - 21 August

USA/Global: Tech Made by Palantir and Babel Street Pose Surveillance Threats to Pro-Palestine Student Protestors & Migrants

Amnesty

The U.S. authorities are using automated artificial intelligence (AI)-powered surveillance tools to deliberately target non-U.S. citizens and pose risks to those who speak out for Palestinian rights, said Amnesty International, amid the country’s ongoing unlawful clampdown on migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. Amnesty International reviewed documentation from the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) public records, and previously disclosed procurement and privacy assessment documents, showing that AI tools Babel Xopens in a new tab, provided by Babel Streetopens in a new tab, and Palantiropens in a new tab’s Immigration OSopens in a new tab, have automated capabilities that enable constant mass monitoring, surveillance, and assessments of people, often for the purpose of targeting non-U.S. citizens. The research also exposes how these tools are being used by the U.S. government to track migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, and ultimately carry a high risk of being used as part of the “Catch and Revoke” initiative. 

Microsoft workers occupy HQ in protest against company’s ties to Israeli military

The Guardian

Dozens of Microsoft employees occupied the company’s east campus in Redmond, Washington to protest against what they say is the use of its software by the Israeli military to carry out operations in Gaza and enable the surveillance of Palestinians. Less than a week after the company said it was launching an independent investigation into the use of its Azure software, current and former staff occupied a space they declared the “Free Zone”, holding placards that read “Join The Worker Intifada – No Labor for Genocide” and “Martyred Palestinian Children’s Plaza”. The protests, organised by the No Azure for Genocide group, has demanded Microsoft divest from Israel. Earlier this year, employee Joe Lopez interrupted a speech by CEO Satya Nadella at the annual developer conference. “Satya, how about you show how Microsoft is killing Palestinians,” said Lopez. Demonstrator Hossam Nasr said on Tuesday they had decided to escalate their actions because there had been no adequate response from Microsoft. He felt personally motivated to speak out more vigorously after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out the targeted killing of the high-profile Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif, one of five members of the media who was killed earlier this month in the operation.

Palestine was the problem with TikTok

The Verge

By March 2024, as the House geared up to vote on the TikTok ban, there was already a clear and visible youth movement condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza. On April 17th, while the TikTok ban was still stalled at the Senate, students at Columbia University began pitching tents on the South Lawn in protest of the war, demanding that their school divest from companies with ties to Israel. All across the United States, university students set up their own encampments in solidarity. The TikTok ban then found fresh momentum; Congress rolled it up into a package with a foreign aid bill that provided billions of dollars of military assistance to Ukraine and Israel. (In a twist that seems almost satirical, the bill also prohibited funding for the United Nations Relief and Work Agency, an organization that, among other things, provides food assistance to Palestinian refugees.) Once bundled with the foreign aid package, the TikTok ban sailed through both the House and Senate. On April 24th, on the same day that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) took the stage at a press conference at Columbia University in order to accuse pro-Palestinian protesters of antisemitism, President Joe Biden signed the ban into law.

US uses AI to target pro-Palestinian protesters: rights group

ABS-CBN

"The US government is deploying invasive AI-powered technologies within a context of a mass deportation agenda and crackdown on pro-Palestine expression, leading to a host of human rights violations," said Erika Guevara-Rosas of the rights group. "This has led to a pattern of unlawful detentions and mass deportations, creating a climate of fear and exacerbating the 'chilling effect' for migrant communities and for international students across schools and campuses." Amnesty research determined the United States is using the AI tools to track migrants, refugees and asylum seekers as part of a "Catch and Revoke" initiative. The State Department initiative involves social media monitoring, visa status tracking, and automated threat assessments of visa holders such as foreign students, according to Amnesty. "Systems like Babel X and Immigration OS (from Palantir) play a key role in the US administration's ability to carry out its repressive tactics," said Guevara-Rosas. "Unless Palantir and Babel Street can demonstrate they can use their leverage as suppliers to improve the serious human rights consequences borne by the policies of their clients, these companies should immediately cease their work with the US administration related to immigration enforcement."

US suspends visas for Gaza residents after right-wing social media storm

Al Jazeera

The United States has announced that it is halting all visitor visas for people from Gaza pending a “a full and thorough” review, a day after social media posts about Palestinian refugees prompted furious reactions from right-wingers. The Department of State’s move on Saturday came a day after far-right activist and Trump ally Laura Loomer posted on X that Palestinians “who claim to be refugees from Gaza” entered the US via San Francisco and Houston this month. “How is allowing for Islamic immigrants to come into the US America First policy?” she said on X in a later post, going on to report further Palestinian arrivals in Missouri and claiming that “several US Senators and members of Congress” had texted her to express their fury. Republican lawmakers speaking publicly included Chip Roy of Texas, who said he would inquire about the matter, and Randy Fine of Florida, who described the alleged arrivals as a “national security risk”.