Sophia Goodfriend

Sophia Goodfriend is a Ph.D. candidate in Anthropology at Duke University with expertise in digital rights and digital surveillance in Israel/Palestine. Twitter: @sopgood.

Recent Articles

Israeli soldiers fire mortar shells toward targets in the Gaza Strip near the Gaza fence, January 3, 2024. (Flash90)

Gaza war offers the ultimate marketing tool for Israeli arms companies

As investors worldwide drop cash on Israeli start-ups for 'battle-tested' weapons, defense tech CEOs are poised to be the war’s only victors.

By Sophia Goodfriend January 17, 2024

Israeli police guard while Palestinians arrive to Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, at the Lion's Gate in Jerusalem's Old City, October 13, 2023. (Jamal Awad/Flash90)

Israel’s ‘thought police’ law ramps up dangers for Palestinian social media users

Rights advocates warn the draconian law will enable unprecedented surveillance, raising Palestinian fears of arrest for their online activity.

By Sophia Goodfriend November 24, 2023

An activist uses a cellphone to live stream as Israeli police forces block Palestinians at an entrance to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, July 26, 2015. (Faiz Abu Rmeleh/Activestills)

For Palestinians, social media influence comes with the threat of prison

The persecution of activists like Ramzi Abbassi illustrates Israel’s escalating attempts to stifle Palestinian expression online since May 2021.

By Sophia Goodfriend October 2, 2023

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to media in front of a killer drone during a security tour of the Palmachim Airbase, October 27, 2019. (Marc Israel Sellem/Flash90)

How AI is intensifying Israel’s bombardments of Gaza

With algorithms making warfare easier to sustain, automated weapons have turned Israeli assaults on besieged Palestinians into an annual event.

By Sophia Goodfriend June 6, 2023

Workers from the high-tech sector protest against the Israeli government's proposed changes to the legal system, in Tel Aviv, January 31, 2023. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

Israeli high tech’s ‘political awakening’ evades a violent truth

High-tech workers say the new government's plans could harm their sector. But history shows the industry actually thrives off of volatility and violence.

By Sophia Goodfriend February 9, 2023

A drone on the lookout point on the Mount of Olives close to Jerusalem's Old City, July 12, 2022. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

Drones terrorized Gaza for years. Now they’ll do the same in the West Bank

Israel's army is promoting drone warfare as a less bloody means of governing the West Bank. Palestinians in Gaza know that won't be the case.

By Sophia Goodfriend October 13, 2022

Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett speaks at the Cyber Conference at Tel Aviv University, July 21, 2021. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)

At Israel’s Cyber Week, generals and CEOs sell warfare as a techno-utopia

The human cost of surveillance and weaponry is hard to remember when the business of militarism is dressed up like a Silicon Valley work retreat.

By Sophia Goodfriend August 15, 2022

The ISDEF22 arms exhibition in Tel Aviv, March 22, 2022. (Oren Ziv)

The start-up spy state

Israel's surveillance sector is marketing its repressive technology as offering innovative solutions to global problems — a tactic on display at its latest expo.

By Sophia Goodfriend April 6, 2022

Israeli soldiers of the operational unit 8200 training in the field, Sep 11, 2012. (Moshe Shai/Flash90)

‘We violated people’s privacy for a living’: How Israel’s cyber army went corporate

The blurred line between the military and private sector in Israel has allowed dangerous cyber weapons like NSO's spyware to flourish worldwide.

By Sophia Goodfriend November 23, 2021