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EDITOR’S LETTER BETHANY RIELLY for the New Internationalist Co-operative newint.org COVER ARTWORK: PETE REYNOLDS WHO’S WATCHING YOU? As I hopped onto the metro at Barcelona’s Diagonal station last week, I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling of being followed. While I ’m sure my fears were unfounded, listening to the stories of campaigners targeted with surveillance had obviously gotten to me. But that, in some ways, is the point. Surveillance is as much a tool of intimidation as it is about intelligence gathering, and its effects ripple out beyond those directly targeted. The impact is especially acute in the digital age. States can monitor internet search histories, and tap into Big Tech’s surveillance economy, capturing our personal data from apps and smart devices. Using mercenary spyware, governments can turn dissenters’ phones against them, switching on the camera and mic to secretly listen into their lives. This Big Story starts in my new home of Catalonia, as I explore the impact of two intrusive surveillance operations – police spies and spyware abuse – on Catalan civil society. Has a chilling effect taken hold, or are campaigners fighting back? In these pages we look beyond privacy rights, instead thinking of surveillance as a tool of social control – one used to stifle dissent by autocracies and democracies alike. But there are also practical tips and stories of resistance: from activists living under the junta’s oppressive gaze in Myanmar, to campaigners in LA fighting to abolish racist police surveillance. Elsewhere, Natasha Ion reports from Tunisia on how people are taking on the polluting phosphate industry, and Pranay Somayajula explores how the Indian government is weaponizing tourism in Kashmir. THIS MONTH’S CONTRIBUTORS INCLUDE: Preeti Jha is a freelance journalist living in London who writes about politics , human rights and gender. She was previously a Southeast Asia-based correspondent for AFP. Juan Ortiz Freuler is an Argentinean lawyer and tech researcher affiliated with the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Universit y. Clara Hill is a journalist who grew up in Edinburgh and Bermuda, reporting on pop culture, tech and politics with bylines in The Independent, the Radio Times and many more. Antony Loewenstein is an independent journalist, best-selling author, filmmaker and co-founder of Declassified Australia. He was based in East Jerusalem from 2016 to 2020. THE NEW INTERNATIONALIST multistakeholder co-operative exists to report on the issues of world poverty and inequality; to focus attention on the unjust relationship between the powerful and powerless worldwide; to debate and campaign for the radical changes necessary to meet the basic needs of all ; and to bring to life the people, the ideas and the action in the fight for global justice. The New Internationalist magazine was founded by Peter and Lesley Adamson in 1970. Together with a range of other publications it is published by New Internationalist Publications Ltd which is wholly owned by the New Internationalist Co-operative Ltd and its co-owners. Accounts: Katalin Szombati Subscriptions and administration: Louise Waters Advertising: Michael York Design: Andrew Kokotka Editorial (Magazine and Website): Amy Hall , Conrad Landin, Nick Dowson, Bethany Rielly, Matt Broomfield, Alessio Perrone Contributing editors: Vanessa Baird , Chris Brazier, Jamie Kelsey-Fry, Dinyar Godrej Funding and engagement: Laura Veitch Ethical Shop: Emma Blunt, Fran Harvey, James Rowland Marketing (Magazine): Rob Norman Production: Fran Harvey Web and IT: Charlie Harvey SUBSCRIPTIONS UK  Website: newint.org/subscribe Email: subscriptions@newint.org Phone: +44 (0) 20 3868 4646 Phone (from Ireland): CallSave 1850 924 331 Post: New Internationalist, The Old Music Hall , 106 -108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JE , UK. NORTH AMERICA  To update your subscription with address changes etc or to contact us with any other subscription queries: newint.org/subscriptions You will need your subscriber reference number which is on the magazine address label. Email: newint@kckglobal.com Phone: 1-800-661-8700 Canada: PO Box 819, Markham, ON L3P 8A2 US: PO Box 1062, Niagara Falls , NY 14304-1062 SUBSCRIPTION PRICES UK: Standard – £47.15; Institutions – from £120 Canada: Standard – $44 (plus GST or HST) US: Standard – $44; Foreign (by air) – $70 Rest of World: Standard – £50.85 (exchange rates will affect rate). UK OFFICE New Internationalist, The Old Music Hall , 106-108 Cowley Road, Oxford, OX4 1JE. Tel: +44 (0)1865 403345 Email: ni@newint.org ADVERTISING (MAGAZINE & WEB) Michael York +44 (0)1865 403339 michaely@newint.org Contract enquiries: ni_cg@newint.org Web queries: tech@newint.org Permissions & general enquiries: +44 (0)1865 403345 office.manager@newint.org UK NEWS TRADE DISTRIBUTOR Intermedia Brand Marketing Ltd, Unit 6, The Enterprise Centre, Kelvin Lane, Manor Royal, Crawley, West Sussex, RH10 9PE. Tel: +44 (0)1293 312001 NORTH AMERICA NEWSSTAND DISTRIBUTOR Natalie Dalton, Disticor Direct, ndalton@ disticor.com Publications Mail Agreement number 40063336. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to Circulation Department, NI Magazine, PO Box 819, Markham, ON L3P 8A2. All monetary values are expressed in US dollars unless otherwise noted. US postmaster: send address changes to NI Magazine, PO Box 1062, Niagara Falls , NY 14304. Indexing: Indexed in the Canadian Periodical Index Quarterly (CPI.Q), Canadian Business and Current Affairs and the Alternative Press Index. Available in full-text electronic format from EBSCO and Proquest. The New Internationalist is published bimonthly. Regulated by IMPRESS: the independent monitor for the press – impress.press For Complaints Scheme see: newint.org/about/complaints @newint facebook.com/newint © New Internationalist Co-operative Ltd 2023 ISSN 0305-9529 ISO accreditation 9001-2008 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2023 3

EDITOR’S LETTER

BETHANY RIELLY for the New Internationalist Co-operative newint.org

COVER ARTWORK: PETE REYNOLDS

WHO’S WATCHING YOU?

As I hopped onto the metro at Barcelona’s Diagonal station last week, I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling of being followed. While I ’m sure my fears were unfounded, listening to the stories of campaigners targeted with surveillance had obviously gotten to me. But that, in some ways, is the point. Surveillance is as much a tool of intimidation as it is about intelligence gathering, and its effects ripple out beyond those directly targeted.

The impact is especially acute in the digital age. States can monitor internet search histories, and tap into Big Tech’s surveillance economy, capturing our personal data from apps and smart devices. Using mercenary spyware, governments can turn dissenters’ phones against them, switching on the camera and mic to secretly listen into their lives.

This Big Story starts in my new home of Catalonia, as I explore the impact of two intrusive surveillance operations – police spies and spyware abuse – on Catalan civil society. Has a chilling effect taken hold, or are campaigners fighting back? In these pages we look beyond privacy rights, instead thinking of surveillance as a tool of social control – one used to stifle dissent by autocracies and democracies alike.

But there are also practical tips and stories of resistance: from activists living under the junta’s oppressive gaze in Myanmar, to campaigners in LA fighting to abolish racist police surveillance.

Elsewhere, Natasha Ion reports from Tunisia on how people are taking on the polluting phosphate industry, and Pranay Somayajula explores how the Indian government is weaponizing tourism in Kashmir.

THIS MONTH’S CONTRIBUTORS INCLUDE:

Preeti Jha is a freelance journalist living in London who writes about politics , human rights and gender. She was previously a Southeast Asia-based correspondent for AFP. Juan Ortiz Freuler is an Argentinean lawyer and tech researcher affiliated with the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Universit y. Clara Hill is a journalist who grew up in Edinburgh and Bermuda, reporting on pop culture, tech and politics with bylines in The Independent, the Radio Times and many more. Antony Loewenstein is an independent journalist, best-selling author, filmmaker and co-founder of Declassified Australia. He was based in East Jerusalem from 2016 to 2020.

THE NEW INTERNATIONALIST multistakeholder co-operative exists to report on the issues of world poverty and inequality; to focus attention on the unjust relationship between the powerful and powerless worldwide; to debate and campaign for the radical changes necessary to meet the basic needs of all ; and to bring to life the people, the ideas and the action in the fight for global justice. The New Internationalist magazine was founded by Peter and Lesley Adamson in 1970. Together with a range of other publications it is published by New Internationalist Publications Ltd which is wholly owned by the New Internationalist Co-operative Ltd and its co-owners.

Accounts: Katalin Szombati Subscriptions and administration: Louise Waters Advertising: Michael York Design: Andrew Kokotka Editorial (Magazine and Website): Amy Hall , Conrad Landin, Nick Dowson, Bethany Rielly, Matt Broomfield, Alessio Perrone Contributing editors: Vanessa Baird , Chris Brazier, Jamie Kelsey-Fry, Dinyar Godrej Funding and engagement: Laura Veitch Ethical Shop: Emma Blunt, Fran Harvey, James Rowland Marketing (Magazine): Rob Norman Production: Fran Harvey Web and IT: Charlie Harvey

SUBSCRIPTIONS UK  Website: newint.org/subscribe Email: subscriptions@newint.org Phone: +44 (0) 20 3868 4646 Phone (from Ireland): CallSave 1850 924 331 Post: New Internationalist, The Old Music Hall , 106 -108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JE , UK. NORTH AMERICA  To update your subscription with address changes etc or to contact us with any other subscription queries: newint.org/subscriptions You will need your subscriber reference number which is on the magazine address label. Email: newint@kckglobal.com Phone: 1-800-661-8700 Canada: PO Box 819, Markham, ON L3P 8A2 US: PO Box 1062, Niagara Falls , NY 14304-1062

SUBSCRIPTION PRICES UK: Standard – £47.15; Institutions – from £120 Canada: Standard – $44 (plus GST or HST) US: Standard – $44; Foreign (by air) – $70 Rest of World: Standard – £50.85 (exchange rates will affect rate). UK OFFICE New Internationalist, The Old Music Hall , 106-108 Cowley Road, Oxford, OX4 1JE. Tel: +44 (0)1865 403345 Email: ni@newint.org

ADVERTISING (MAGAZINE & WEB) Michael York +44 (0)1865 403339 michaely@newint.org Contract enquiries: ni_cg@newint.org Web queries: tech@newint.org Permissions & general enquiries: +44 (0)1865 403345 office.manager@newint.org

UK NEWS TRADE DISTRIBUTOR Intermedia Brand Marketing Ltd, Unit 6, The Enterprise Centre, Kelvin Lane, Manor Royal, Crawley, West Sussex, RH10 9PE. Tel: +44 (0)1293 312001

NORTH AMERICA NEWSSTAND DISTRIBUTOR Natalie Dalton, Disticor Direct, ndalton@ disticor.com Publications Mail Agreement number 40063336. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to Circulation Department, NI Magazine, PO Box 819, Markham, ON L3P 8A2.

All monetary values are expressed in US dollars unless otherwise noted.

US postmaster: send address changes to NI Magazine, PO Box 1062, Niagara Falls , NY 14304. Indexing: Indexed in the Canadian Periodical Index Quarterly (CPI.Q), Canadian Business and Current Affairs and the Alternative Press Index. Available in full-text electronic format from EBSCO and Proquest. The New Internationalist is published bimonthly.

Regulated by IMPRESS: the independent monitor for the press – impress.press For Complaints Scheme see: newint.org/about/complaints

@newint facebook.com/newint

© New Internationalist Co-operative Ltd 2023 ISSN 0305-9529 ISO accreditation 9001-2008

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2023

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