Attacks, Threats, and Vulnerabilities
Deep fake video of Putin declaring martial law is broadcast in parts of Russia (Semafor) The fake video took over airwaves and television screens in some Russian border cities Monday.
What are disinformation and extremism? And why should troops be aware? (Military Times) An overview of disinformation and extremism and the debate surrounding their spread among military and veteran communities.
Robert Kennedy Jr. Acknowledges US has biolabs in Ukraine (TASS) The presidential candidate also called for improved US ties with Russia and China
Marketplace
One of Elon Musk's top executives at Twitter just resigned (Fortune) Twitter VP or Trust and Safety Ella Irwin's internal Slack account was suddenly de-actived on Thursday.
WSJ News Exclusive | Twitter Safety Executives Exit as Concerns About Policing Content Grow (Wall Street Journal) A.J. Brown, head of brand safety and ad quality, is leaving the company, the second departure of a top safety executive this week as concerns about policing content grow.
Scoop: YouTube reverses misinformation policy to allow U.S. election denialism (Axios) In a reversal of its election integrity policy, YouTube will leave up content that says fraud, errors or glitches occurred in the 2020 presidential election and other U.S. elections, the company confirmed to Axios Friday.
Technologies, Techniques, and Standards
Drones and the Value of a Russian Citizen’s Life (Wilson Center) The war has come to Russia. The Russian city of Shebekino, a stone’s throw from the border with Ukraine, has been under massive Ukrainian shelling for the past days. The residents are fleeing and being evacuated.
Inside 4chan’s Top-Secret Moderation Machine (WIRED) Internal company documents reveal how the imageboard’s chaotic moderation allowed racism and violence to take over.
'Night Fury': Documents Detail DHS Project to Give 'Risk Scores' to Social Media Users (Vice) Internal DHS documents reviewed by Motherboard provide more detail on a DHS plan to monitor social media for content related to terrorists, the illegal opioid trade, and foreign interference bots.
Research and Development
These academics studied falsehoods spread by Trump. Now the GOP wants answers. (Washington Post) Rep. Jim Jordan is demanding emails and meetings with leading disinformation researchers, part of a flurry of records requests, subpoenas and lawsuits that academics say have become a means of harassment
Legislation, Policy, and Regulation
Senegal continues curfew-like internet shutdown to subdue protests (Record) The government of Senegal has continued to impose curfew-like shutdowns on internet access in an effort to quell dissent over the trial of opposition figure Ousmane Sonko.
AI generated content should be labelled, EU Commissioner Jourova says (Reuters) Companies deploying generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and Bard with the potential to generate disinformation should label such content as part of their efforts to combat fake news, European Commission deputy head Vera Jourova said on Monday.
The Surgeon General Is Pushing for a Misguided Social Media Policy (WIRED) Recommendations from the new report on youth mental health won’t protect kids—but they’ll destroy the privacy of everyone who uses the internet.
To Compete with China, Promote Internet Freedom from Space (The National Interest) Promoting domestic competition in the satellite internet industry is a critical aspect of geopolitical competition with China and an essential element in the pursuit of global internet freedom.
Voicing Against Disinformation (Modern Diplomacy) In the digital era, information dissemination is not an arduous task. Information can reach many places even multiple times. However, not all information that is disseminated is true and accurate. Often information is inaccurately transmitted and this can be with or without intention. However, in the case of disinformation, there is always the guilty intention, […]
These Activists Distrust Voting Machines. Just Don’t Call Them Election Deniers. (New York Times) As election activists rally against new voting machines, they are drifting into territory now dominated by conspiracy theorists.
Litigation, Investigation, and Law Enforcement
Secret government unit collected Telegram posts about Covid policy critic (The Telegraph) Writing in The Telegraph, Prof Carl Heneghan reveals the chilling effects of being monitored by a Counter-Disinformation Unit
Germany fines woman €900 for saying Russian invasion of Ukraine was ‘necessary’ (The Telegraph) The country has some of Europe’s most stringent laws regulating what people can say and do in public
US Treasury sanctions Iranian cloud provider ‘facilitating’ Tehran censorship (Record) The company ArvanCloud is “a key partner” in the Iranian regime’s effort to set up a parallel intranet within the country that allows the government to more easily control access to online information, the U.S. government said.
Trump-funded studies disputing election fraud are focus in two probes (Washington Post) The then-president’s campaign hired two firms to prove voter fraud, but none was ever found
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. tests the conspiratorial appetite of Democrats (Washington Post) One of the most famous living descendants of the most famous American political dynasty shows early strength against Biden in polls
Deepfakes are adding an insidious edge to some sextortion schemes, FBI says (Record) There was a time when sextortion schemes typically involved digital material that was either coerced or stolen from a victim. The FBI is warning now that deepfakes are changing the nature of the crime.