2026 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting
AP’s award-winning investigation about government surveillance in China, the U.S. and beyond — and the role that U.S. tech firms play in it.
Across the world, surveillance technology – often made by Silicon Valley and sold with the U.S. government’s blessing despite sanctions – is increasingly monitoring the moves of citizens who have done nothing wrong. The consequences of getting caught in this expanding digital cage can be dire. In rural China, a family’s home is ringed by security cameras that alert authorities whenever they try to go to Beijing to complain about local officials. Near San Antonio, a driver is stopped as part of a secretive U.S. Border Patrol program that uses license plate readers to monitor millions of drivers and detain those whose travel patterns are deemed suspicious. In Gaza, AI-powered technology helps the Israeli military decide who to kill.
Video explainers
Reporters
Dake Kang, Garance Burke, Byron Tau, Aniruddha Ghosal and Yael Grauer with Michael Biesecker, Sam Mednick, Myf Ma
Editors
Mary Rajkumar, Jeannie Ohm, Tom Berman
Video journalists
Serginho Roosblad, David Goldman, Dake Kang
Visual design and editing
Marshall Ritzel
Photography
David Goldman, Ng Han Guan, Niranjan Shrestha, Manish Swarup, Rebecca Blackwell, Ross D. Franklin, Andy Wong, Aaron Favila, Jacquelyn Martin, Dake Kang
Data journalists
Larry Fenn, Aaron Kessler
Digital presentation
Darío López-Mills
Audience engagement / promotion
Sophia Eppolito, Karena Phan
Legal
Lynn Oberlander, Ian Rosenberg, Brian Barrett
Also contributing
Felipe Dana, Patrick Sison, Binaj Gurubacharya, Rishi Lekhi, Ashwini Bhatia, Abby Sewell, Sarah El Deeb, Julia Frankel, Natalie Melzer, Michael Liedtke, Jim Vertuno, Lorna Petty, Akira Kumamoto, Ismael M. Belkoura, Manuel Valdes, Corinne Chin, Kathy Young, Lori Hinnant
