Thank you for joining us in Nairobi for the African Investigative Journalism Conference 2026! 🌍 Our @gijnAfrica team — @benon_oluka, Africa Editor; @MaxGni, Francophone Africa Editor; @missfof225, Resource Centre Researcher; and @akawamara, IT Professional — was there to meet you, listen, and share. In one session, they talked about a troubling new form of censorship: copyright claims being used to take down journalists’ stories soon after they are published. We shared tips on how to spot and investigate these takedowns. In another session, GIJN Africa editor talked about what @gijn does, how to become a member, how we support our members, and what to expect from the Global Investigative Journalism Conference. We also brought Francophone journalists together for an evening of networking and new connections. We are heading home with new ideas, new friends, and a lot of inspiration. Thank you to everyone who joined us, asked questions, and shared their stories. See you next time! #GIJNOnTheGo# #AIJC26# #InvestigativeJournalism#

🔴🎤 [LIVE FROM LONDON] Trust Conference #TC2026# | Exposing the machinery of digital repression. “Disinformation is organized. Corruption is organized. Surveillance is organized. So, we, journalists, should be organized as well.” @laurentrichard0, founder of Forbidden Stories, is taking the stage at the London Trust Conference 2026 @trustconf hosted by the @TRF. From Russian surveillance technology deployed in Iran to Pegasus spyware in Morocco and the global disinformation industry exposed by our #StoryKillers# investigation, Laurent is revealing how Forbidden Stories and its partners have uncovered the hidden machinery of digital repression. 🔎 Facial recognition, spyware, disinformation campaigns: these powerful tools are designed to operate in the shadows. But investigative journalism can bring them to light. Through these investigations, Laurent is highlighting a powerful message: cross-border collaboration is essential to exposing those who seek to silence journalists and manipulate information. ✊ Because when journalists work together, their stories become much harder to silence. Killing the journalist won't kill the story. #LondonTrustConference# #TC2026# #PressFreedom# #InvestigativeJournalism# #DigitalSurveillance#

HRIC Executive Director @ZhouFengSuo has given an in-depth interview to Investigative Journalism Reportika, speaking on Tiananmen, AI-powered surveillance, transnational repression, and China's democratic future. As a student leader in 1989 who was imprisoned after the June Fourth crackdown, Zhou explains why historical memory remains one of the Party's deepest anxieties. The movement showed that millions of Chinese citizens openly demanded democracy and constitutional government, shattering the myth that the Chinese people neither want nor are ready for it. Memory is dangerous to dictators because it reminds people that change is possible. He also warns that the convergence of dictatorship and artificial intelligence may be the defining question of this century. AI is already reinforcing censorship, surveillance and social control inside China, and those capabilities are being exported. Whether AI empowers individuals or concentrates power in the hands of regimes will depend on the safeguards democracies build now. On transnational repression, Zhou notes that Chinese dissidents have long been the first targets, and that protecting them is inseparable from defending the sovereignty of democratic societies themselves. Read the full interview:

Sentinel Bio's @jtmonrad on why the future of grant-making looks more like investigative journalism than reading proposals: "When I talk about grant making as investigative journalism, a lot of that is about uncovering non-public information. Increasingly Codex or Claude or whoever can do a lot of the grunt work of reading a proposal, doing background research." "What it can't do is understanding, hey, this executive order that the White House just signed, why did that actually come to be? Or this new funder who just made a big pivot into your area, why did they make that decision? The information behind those decisions lives in the ether of happy hours, and Claude's not gonna get that out of someone."

📢 @gijn is accepting submissions for the Global Shining Light Award 🏆. This unique award, sponsored by GIJN, honors investigative journalism in a developing or transitioning country, done under threat, duress, or in the direst of conditions. Top winners get US$2,500, a plaque, and a trip to #GIJC27# in Rotterdam, the Netherlands 🇳🇱 Deadline to apply: February 28, 2027 Find more details about award and submission process here ⬇️

India’s Supreme Court asked the government to respond to a challenge by news publishers, which argue that a new data privacy law could hamper investigative journalism and expose confidential sources

Friday Fun Video: Everyone’s talking about JEV. Where did he come from? How did he blow up overnight? What’s his backstory? I did some deeply unqualified investigative journalism and may have found the OG JEV. This you Jev?👇 @CompleteSkeptic :).

Nominations are now open for the International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award! Celebrate integrity in these categories: Lifetime / Outstanding Achievement Academic Research & Education Youth Creativity & Engagement Innovation / Investigative Journalism Safeguarding Sports from Corruption 🔗 Nominate now:

🌟As @Reuters’ chief correspondent in Saudi Arabia, @timourazhari has led groundbreaking reporting across the Middle East in recent years, including work from Syria that won a Sigma Delta Chi Award for Public Service in Journalism. In this interview with @gijn, he talks about his work in Syria, the new challenges he faces as a journalist in the Gulf, and where he sees investigative journalism heading. Read his full interview here ⬇️

BREAKING: The Government of Canada’s Starlink contract has grown to nearly C$29 million, more than 12 times its original value. 🇨🇦 Official government records show: • Original contract value: C$2.26 million • Updated total value: C$28.95 million • Increase: approximately C$26.7 million The agreement with SpaceX Canada provides Starlink satellite connectivity for Shared Services Canada and its partner government organizations as needed. The contract could continue until 2029, according to the Investigative Journalism Foundation. Starlink continues to support the communications needs of Canada’s federal government.