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Materiality of Surveillance: How Western Sanctions Are Reconfiguring Russian Internet Traffic Surveillance Markets

The "Materialities of the Digital" working group welcomes Ksenia Ermoshina, CNRS Research Fellow at the Center for Internet & Society (CIS), for a presentation titled: "Materiality of Surveillance: How Western Sanctions Are Reconfiguring Russian Internet Traffic Surveillance Markets."

Event, Research Seminar

Salle K.008, 1 Place St-Thomas d'Aquin, 75007 Paris

Summary

This research examines the materiality of Russia's digital sovereignty project. What is the impact of the war in Ukraine on the Russian surveillance technology market ? How has the reverse-engineering of surveillance technologies and the tracing of electronic component origins become a new form of activism? Based on an interdisciplinary field study combining the STS approach (ethnography of infrastructures), OSINT methods, and network metrology tools, this research traces the electronic components and various modules that underpin the machinery of the sovereign Runet project. 

Biography

The "Materialities of the Digital" working group at the Center for Internet & Society (CNRS) is dedicated to fostering multidisciplinary exchanges. It aims to integrate perspectives from the humanities and social sciences—including sociology, anthropology, history, geography, and political science—with those from fields such as computer science, chemistry, physics, geology, electronics, and materials science and engineering. This approach seeks to develop a deeper understanding of the materialities of the digital. The group also strives to open the dialogue to diverse audiences, including activists, artists, industry professionals, policymakers, workers, and journalists, to enrich discussions on these multifaceted issues. 

Practical information

The session will be held in a hybrid format, both via videoconference (Zoom) and in person at Sciences Po (1 Place St-Thomas d'Aquin, 75007). Prior registration is mandatory.