FBI
Public Affairs Specialist Sofia Kettler
philadelphia.media@fbi.gov
March 13, 2025

FBI Philadelphia Brings Awareness to Transnational Repression

The FBI Philadelphia Field Office is bringing awareness to a lesser-known crime impacting our community: transnational repression.  

The FBI defines transnational repression as a foreign nation breaching national borders by physical or digital means to silence, coerce, or threaten exiles, dissidents, and members of religious or ethnic minority communities. 

"Every day, the dedicated women and men of FBI Philadelphia work to protect our communities from a wide range of threats. With this campaign, we’re shining a light on a crime that many in our city may not recognize—transnational repression," said Wayne A. Jacobs, special agent in charge of FBI Philadelphia. "By engaging with the public, we aim to raise awareness about what transnational repression is, how it manifests, and, most importantly, encourage anyone who may be affected to reach out to us for help."

Transnational repression takes many forms, including: 

  • Stalking
  • Harassment 
  • Hacking 
  • Assaults
  • Attempted kidnapping 
  • Forcing or coercing victims to return to their home country 
  • Threatening or detaining family members in their home country 
  • Freezing financial assets
  • Online disinformation campaigns 

From our social media pages to billboards, communities in the greater Philadelphia region will see messages about our efforts to combat transnational repression. We will also continue training with our law enforcement partners, as well as providing resources to victims. 

The level of risk and the level of threat has increased over the past few years. Due to the nature of the crimes and the communities from which individuals are targeted, we believe many incidents of transnational repression go unreported.

If you feel you may be a victim of transnational repression, you can report it to the FBI online at tips.fbi.gov or by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI.

FBI Philadelphia can be reached at (215) 418-4000.

For more information on our work to combat transnational repression, visit: Transnational Repression — FBI