Pavlina Pavlova is a public policy advisor at the CyberPeace Institute in Geneva, Switzerland, where she designs policies to advance accountability in cyberspace and engages in multilateral negotiations to raise awareness about the impact of systemic cyber threats on people. Before joining the Institute, she served as an official at the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE). In 2019, Pavlova was appointed as the OSCE Chairmanship’s liaison officer and later coordinated programs that strengthened the human dimension of security. Her policy experience began in 2014 at the European Parliament and now spans a decade of work in security, human rights, and political advisory roles at international organizations and national institutions. Pavlova’s research at the intersection of technology and governance has been presented at the Yale MacMillan Center, the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy of the Harvard Kennedy School, and the Stanford Internet Observatory, among others.
As a #ShareTheMicInCyber Fellow, Pavlova will explore the gendered impacts of data weaponization, analyzing how malicious data breaches can harm individuals through multiple extortions, and the ramifications of such cyberattacks for societal resilience and international security. She will deliver a policy report to inform responses that remedy the victims and prevent their revictimization.
Selected Works
- Gendered Disinformation and Connected Cyber Threats: Historical Patterns, New Battlefields, and the Implications for International Security | An article for the Global Policy Journal examining the interconnectedness of cyberattacks and harmful online content and how they can lead to a cycle of perpetuated harm.
- Addressing the Security Risks of Anti-Roma Hate Speech on Social Media Platforms | A research paper published by the Yale MacMillan Center exploring the security risks presented by hateful user-generated content targeting minority communities.
- Shaping Platform Governance in Central Asia: Challenges and Opportunities for Human Rights defenders and Journalists | A research paper published by Leiden University, as part of the EU Cyber Direct project, mapping how the war in Ukraine impacted digital authoritarianism in Central Asia and the responses by social media platforms.