Everything online malign influence, a roundup
Hoaxlines • March 8, 2023
Malign Influence
China's Propaganda Chief Calls on Media Outlets to Promote Its Message
Chinese state media have been reporting on an innocuous-sounding meeting held on Tuesday in Beijing where China's propaganda chief promoted the country's message to the assembled media representatives. This meeting is being called an 'international forum for media exchanges among Belt and Road countries." Reportedly attending were over 120 guests from 54 unidentified mainstream media.
NATO team in North Macedonia to help against hybrid attacks
NATO sent a senior-level delegation to North Macedonia on Tuesday (07 March 2023) to help the NATO Ally cope with the consequences of recent hybrid attacks. Led by James Appathurai, NATO's Deputy Assistant Secretary-General for Emerging Security Challenges, the team of experts will assist their North Macedonian counterparts assess recent hybrid attacks, which included a spate of bomb threats and cyber-attacks, and discuss further NATO support.
US FTC Asks Twitter for Details on Musk's Internal Communications: House Report
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission asked Twitter to turn over some internal communications related to owner Elon Musk and other detailed information about business decisions as part of an investigation into the social media company, according to a report put out by two House of Representatives committees.
Australian official demands Russia bring criminal hackers 'to heel'
A senior official in Australia criticized the Russian government on Wednesday for failing to properly police cybercriminals based in its jurisdiction. Michael Pezullo, a public servant rather than a politician—currently serving as the secretary of the Department of Home Affairs—said the Russian Federation hosted "the greatest density of cybercriminals, particularly those with ransomware," in the world.
Reliance on private companies jeopardizes sanctions
Billionaire Eugene Shvidler has earned a place in the record books as the first person ever (!) to challenge U.K. sanctions in court. This isn't admittedly as big a deal as it sounds, since Britain only gained the ability to sanction people unilaterally when it left the European Union, but still, I'm sure it's a comfort to him to know that—win or lose—he'll always have his small place in history.
US intel: Chinese influence operations are growing more aggressive, more similar to Russia's
U.S. intelligence officials warned on Wednesday that China is stepping up its efforts to carry out influence operations against the United States and that its efforts to influence American public opinion increasingly resemble Russian operations. In testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee and in the U.S.
The internet is about to get a lot safer
Perhaps most important, the DSA requires that companies significantly increase transparency, through reporting obligations for "terms of service" notices and regular, audited reports about content moderation. Regulators hope this will have widespread impacts on public conversations around societal risks of big tech platforms like hate speech, misinformation, and violence.
Health Security
What we know about the safety of mifepristone for medical abortions and the effectiveness of progesterone for "abortion reversal"
The World Health Organization considers access to safe and affordable abortion services as critical for the good health and well-being of women and girls. Unsafe abortion methods contribute to a significant portion of maternal deaths, and this is particularly evident in places where abortion is legally restricted.
Reclaiming the Health Misinformation Spiral on Social Media
There is power through the scrutiny of online information.
Hoax story claims Bill Gates faces vaccine-related murder charges
A hoax news site is claiming that a Philippines "heinous crimes court" issued an "international arrest warrant" for Bill Gates on "premeditated murder" charges related to COVID-19 vaccines. The story has been picked up by several large right-wing social media accounts. Recommendation: Low Risk
When covid politics collides with covid science, public health loses
With covid now an afterthought rather than an emergency in the minds of many Americans, politicians and pundits are rushing to have the final word on who handled the crisis well—and who dropped the ball.
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Ukraine
No, Zelenskyy Did Not Say American Sons and Daughters Will Have to Die in Ukraine
The digital dimensions of Russia's war, one year on
Authoritarian Tech is a weekly newsletter tracking how people in power are abusing technology and what it means for the rest of us. Also in this edition: How Turkey and Iraq are getting citizens to help them clean up the internet.
Ukraine Claims Bakhmut Battle Is Wagner's 'Last Stand'
Ukrainians say Russia's Wagner mercenary group is running low on fighters recruited from prisons, used in attacks on Bakhmut, where Ukraine has also endured heavy losses.
Institute for the Study of War
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated on March 7 that Russian forces will have an “open road” to capture key cities in Donbas. ISW continues to assess, however, that Russian forces lack the capability to exploit the tactical capture of Bakhmut to generate operational effects, and will likely rapidly culminate following the capture of Bakhmut.
- Russian forces likely lack the mechanized forces necessary to advance beyond Bakhmut, and the tactical “assault detachments” used in assaults against Bakhmut are likely unable to conduct maneuver warfare.
- Russian forces have likely captured the eastern part of Bakhmut east of the Bakhmutka River following a controlled Ukrainian withdrawal from eastern Bakhmut as of March 7.
- Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu reiterated boilerplate rhetoric seeking to deter further Western military aid to Ukraine.
- Shoigu additionally outlined long-term and likely aspirational efforts to restore and expand the Russian officer corps.
- Russia exchanged 130 Ukrainian prisoners-of-war (POWs) for 90 Russian POWs on March 7.
- Russian independent polling organization The Levada Center released poll results that 51 percent of Russians feel negatively toward Russians who left the country due to mobilization, indicating at minimum negative feelings towards those that escaped mobilization, if not overt support for the war.
- The New York Times (NYT) stated on March 7 that low-confidence and unverified intelligence reviewed by US officials may suggest that a pro-Ukrainian group carried out an attack on the Nord Stream pipelines in September 2022, but made clear this is a very low confidence assessment.
- US Air Force General James Hecker confirmed on March 6 that the US has provided Ukraine with Joint Direct Attack Munition Extended Range (JDAM-ER) kits.
- Russian forces conducted limited ground attacks along the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line.
- Russian forces continued ground attacks along the Avdiivka-Donetsk City line.
- A Russian source claimed that Ukrainian forces attempt to conduct operations across the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast.
- Russian federal authorities continue to place the onus of solving mobilization issues onto Russian regional authorities who then absolve themselves of ongoing Russian command issues.
- Russian occupation authorities continue to import employees from various Russian law enforcement agencies to staff vacancies in occupation administrations.
Pentagon Blocks Sharing Evidence of Possible Russian War Crimes With The Hague Court
President Biden has not acted to resolve a dispute that pits the Defense Department against other agencies.
The Situational Report
Over the past day, it became known that the entire eastern part of Bakhmut on the right bank of the Bakhmutka River is occupied by pro-Russian forces. Yevgeny Prigozhin [Russian oligarch, confidant of Vladimir Putin, and owner of the Wagner Group] reported the same information in his new video message from Bakhmut.
Autocracy
The Vatican is turning its back on Belarus' Catholics
One year ago, Father Andrej Bulchak, a Catholic priest with Polish citizenship, fled Belarus, a country where he had worked for 14 years. He was petrified of government persecution. His crime? He had produced an anti-war video about a young Belarusian girl who wanted to tell the people of Poland that the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine was not supported by their neighbors, the people of Belarus.
State Legislatures Threaten Right to Anonymous Speech
Free speech in the United States has always included anonymous speech. Thomas Paine signed Common Sense as "Written by an Englishman." Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay signed the Federalist Papers as Publius.
Artificial Intelligence Could Democratize Government
Luke Hogg is the director of outreach at Lincoln Network, where his work focuses on the intersection of emerging technologies and public policy. From education to media to medicine, the rapid development of artificial intelligence tools has already begun to upend long-established conventions. Our democratic institutions will be no exception.
The FBI Just Admitted It Bought US Location Data
The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation has acknowledged for the first time that it purchased US location data rather than obtaining a warrant. While the practice of buying people's location data has grown increasingly common since the US Supreme Court reined in the government's ability to track Americans' phones without a warrant, nearly five years ago, the FBI had not previously revealed ever making such purchases.
Research
Political Relational Influencers: The Mobilization of Social Media Influencers in the Political Arena
Social media platforms are a powerful tool to exert influence and impress opinions for commercial operators, brands, and political campaigns. Influencers can help campaigns reach specific audiences and convey support for issues and candidates. In this study, we focus on political relational influencers who operate to legitimize and amplify political messages, specifically in the context of Instagram and TikTok.
Supporting Women and Children Returning from Violent Extremist Contexts: Proposing a 5R Framework to Inform Program and Policy Development
Women and children returning from areas formerly controlled by the Islamic State typically have experienced high levels of trauma and indoctrination, further complicating politically fraught efforts at reintegration and resettlement. Consequently, countries around the world are grappling with how best to manage the return of these women and children.
ODNI Releases 2023 Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community
Human rights
New breakthrough enables perfectly secure digital communications
A team led by the University of Oxford researchers has achieved a breakthrough in secure communications by developing an algorithm that conceals sensitive information so effectively that it is impossible to detect that anything has been hidden.
Essential Workers are Essentially Unprotected
In their Data & Society report Read coverage of the report from STAT. Workers already experienced a high level of precarity before the pandemic. What are some specific ways that situation enabled the challenges they faced in the workplace when COVID hit?
Supporters of surveillance law must 'lean in' to transparency, Sen. Warner says
The chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday repeatedly urged U.S. intelligence leaders to show "courage" in their campaign to renew an expiring surveillance law, warning that a lack of transparency with the American public and dubious policymakers could sink the effort.
Journalists, You Should Be Looking for Undocumented APIs. Here's How to Start.
A tutorial on how to build datasets from the hidden feeds powering almost every website on the internet.
Europe's borders are a surveillance testing ground. The AI Act could change that.
The European Union is currently drafting a new omnibus framework—the first of its kind in the world—to regulate the use of artificial intelligence for border control. The Artificial Intelligence Act is an attempt to create a legal framework that tech companies and governments would have to adhere to when testing new AI-powered technologies along European borders.
