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Petra Molnar is a lawyer and anthropologist specializing on the impacts of migration technologies on people crossing borders. She co-runs the Refugee Law Lab at York University and the Migration and Technology Monitor, which funds community grounded projects on border tech. Petra's first book is called The Walls Have Eyes: Surviving Migration in the Age of Artificial Intelligence (The New Press, 2024). She is currently writing her second book on borders, technology, and community resistance.


Community

The Texas Observer

‘TECH DOESN’T JUST STAY AT THE BORDER’: PETRA MOLNAR ON SURVEILLANCE’S LONG REACH

Petra Molnar discusses her new book and experience traveling around the world investigating the use of technology in migration management.

Jul 11, 2024
TIME

The Deadly Digital Frontiers at the Border

Petra Molnar discusses AI surveillance at the border.

May 21, 2024
Open Global Rights

“Nothing about us without us”: People on the move interrogate border tech with the Migration and Technology Monitor

BKC Faculty Associate Petra Molnar advocates for prioritizing the meaningful participation by individuals with lived experiences at border crossings in conversations around border…

Apr 5, 2024
Jacobin

The Grim High-Tech Dystopia on the US-Mexico Border

Petra Molnar writes about the AI technology incorporated at the southern border and the human rights implications.

Mar 28, 2024
Medium

Building Knowledge about Generative AI with Mobile Populations

BKC Faculty Associate Petra Molnar challenges us to consider the potential impact of generative AI on the surveillance of borders and of migrants.

Nov 2, 2023
RefugeE Studies Center's Youtube

The use of new technologies in immigration and asylum governance: implications for human rights

BKC Faculty Associate Petra Molnar joins the RefugeE Studies Center to discuss how the use of new technologies in immigration and asylum governance affect human rights. 

Oct 26, 2023
UN Human Rights Office

Digital Border Governance: a Human Righst Based Approach

With the United Nations Human Rights Office, Lorna McGregor and Petra Molnar launched a study advocating for a human-rights based approach to digital border technologies. 

Sep 18, 2023
Computer Weekly

New Border Force unit to deploy more surveillance tech in Channel

"Instead of investing in costly technologies, governments could be using this money to strengthen access to justice, services and psycho-social support for people who are…

Feb 9, 2023
Petra Molnar

Technologies of Violence at the World's Sharpest Edges

BKC Faculty Associate Petra Molnar writes about new technologies of border management. “But when we really drill down, none of these conversations are just about technology. We…

Jan 5, 2023
VICE

These Tiny Greek Islands Have Become Unlikely Laboratories for Global Corporations

BKC Fellow Petra Molnar discusses surveillance and the use of tiny islands as spaces for large tech companies.  Petra Molnar, a lawyer specialising in technology and human…

Nov 18, 2022

Events

Event
Apr 24, 2024 @ 5:30 PM

metaLAB April work-share: Petra Molnar on AI & Surveillance

New Book: The Walls Have Eyes

Special Work-share: Petra Molnar Book talk: "The Walls Have Eyes"From robo-dogs at the border to AI lie detectors used on refugees, new technologies are increasingly…

May 17, 2023 @ 5:30 PM

7 Fellows Predict the Future: Many questions and some answers on human capital, artificial intelligence, politics, and rights!

Come through for the 2022-2023 BKC Fellows' lighting talks on May 17...

Mar 28, 2023 @ 5:30 PM

March 28: Storytelling, Migration Journeys, and Technology — Photo Exhibit

This exhibit asks the audience to consider and evaluate the human cost of an increasingly automated world.