Navigating the Great Data Divide

In this new paper, S. Yash Kalash provides a comprehensive map of the increasingly fragmented regulatory frameworks governing global data flows. As nations balance the competing priorities of privacy, national security and economic growth, Kalash analyzes the divergent philosophies of global powers. The paper highlights how these differences create significant friction in international trade and explores how emerging privacy-enhancing technologies might offer a solution.

In this policy brief, authors Emile Dirks, Shaila Baran, Emma Dickinson and Andre Fajardo examine the escalating threat of transnational repression and its impact on the safety of diaspora communities in Canada. The authors argue that Ottawa’s pursuit of economic ties with autocracies, an uncritical embrace of artificial intelligence (AI) innovation and the growing instability in the United States create a perfect storm of vulnerability. To counter these threats, the brief urges the Canadian government to prioritize domestic and foreign policies that centre on human rights.

Using the war in Ukraine as a primary testing ground, Russia is now deploying deepfakes, synthetic news and fake personas at an unprecedented scale to erode public trust across Europe and the Global South. In this policy brief, Daniela Iampolsca details the shift in Kremlin information warfare from human-led troll farms to automated campaigns powered by generative AI, arguing that while the technology itself is neutral, its misuse poses a direct threat to democratic elections.

In this report, Alex He and Paul Samson summarize the key findings from CIGI’s fourth conference on Chinese digital governance, held in collaboration with the University of Hong Kong. By analyzing recent domestic policy shifts, the authors highlight how China’s approach to data security, platform regulation and AI development is evolving to balance state control with economic innovation.

In a new commentary piece, Anna Romandash argues that the survival of a resilient transatlantic order depends on Europe and Canada ending their structural dependence on the United States. To secure strategic parity, the West must fully integrate Ukraine into its defence-industrial base and rearm at a scale that reflects the new reality of high-intensity conflict.

In this opinion piece, first published by the Toronto Star, Wesley Wark argues that Canada’s 2024 Arctic strategy is already obsolete as a second Trump presidency challenges Canadian sovereignty. To remain a credible power, and with the United States shifting military focus toward Iran, Ottawa must move beyond promissory notes and establish permanent bases and an Arctic brigade to secure its borders and critical minerals.