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Russia demands large tech companies set up local offices by 2022
Russia told 13 tech companies to set up official presences in the country by the end of 2021, including Apple, Google, Meta and TikTok.
US intelligence report on the 2020 election dismisses claims of fraud, hacking
The report found no foreign country tried to change the results of any ballots or votes.
Recommended Reading: He bought StubHub right before the pandemic
Noah Kirsch, Forbes In November, Eric Baker’s online ticket marketplace Viagogo purchased rival StubHub for $4 billion.
Russia demands Google stop advertising 'illegal' protests on YouTube
Russia is intensifying its pressure on Google to censor political dissent in the country. Media overseer Roskomnadzor has sent a letter to Google insisting that it stop promoting "illegal mass events" on YouTube. It didn't like that YouTube channels were using push notifications and other measures to spread information about protests, such as the recent demonstrations objecting to Moscow banning some opposition politicians from running in upcoming elections. Some users are allegedly receiving these alerts even if they're not subscribed to the channels.
After Math: Liar, liar, pants on fire
Ladies and gentlemen, I come to you this week a broken man. My childhood dream of seeing a speedy video game rodent hero break the fourth wall and go on a road trip with a middling white male actor I only sort of recognize has been shattered. Not because he doesn't do exactly that, but because of those teeth. Those human, human teeth.
Putin signs Russian internet isolation bill into law
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a bill into law on Wednesday that will tighten government control over the internet. The new law requires that internet service providers in Russia unplug from foreign servers. It also calls for the creation of a national domain system that would allow the country to stay online if it was ever cut off from the global internet. The law will go into effect on November 1st, the Financial Times reports.
Russia tested a hypersonic missile it claims will beat all defenses
Russia might have advanced the development of a hypersonic missile system. State-backed media reports that the Defense Ministry has successfully tested Avangard, which mates an ICBM with a glide vehicle that travels up to Mach 5. Officials say they launched the missile from the Orenburg area (near western Kazakhstan) and hit a target thousands of miles away at a test range in Kamchatka. Not surprisingly, the test was conducted on orders from President Putin.
Twitter bans fake Putin account that the real Putin followed
Twitter has banned a fake Vladimir Putin account for impersonating the Russian leader. But in a bizarre turn of events, the real Putin had been following his imitator for the past several years, reports the Business Insider.
Democrats to release 3,000 Russia-bought Facebook ads
You're about to get more than a small sample of the Russia-connected Facebook ads purchased during the 2016 presidential election. Wall Street Journal sources have learned that Democrats from the House Intelligence Committee are planning to release 3,000 of the Russia-bought ads as soon as this week. The trove will show both the ad images, who they targeted, how much they cost and how many people saw those ads. There's a chance the release could be delayed over a debate with Facebook over the level of user info (such as likes and shares) that should be redacted, according to the tipsters.
Putin wants to police social media ahead of Russian election
Russia's president Vladimir Putin wants to start monitoring companies on social media during the country's presidential election next year, to assess just how involved they are with domestic politics. Speaking with leaders in Russia's parliament, he said "it should be carefully analysed how they are operating and will be operating during the presidential election", but didn't specify which companies would go under the spotlight, nor whether he was focusing on foreign or local firms.
Putin says the country that perfects AI will be 'ruler of the world'
Forget the arms race or space race -- the new battle for technological dominance revolves around AI, according to Vladimir Putin. The Russian President told students at a career guidance forum that the "future belongs to artificial intelligence," and whoever is first to dominate this category will be the "ruler of the world." In other words, Russia fully intends to be a frontrunner in the AI space. It won't necessarily hog its technology, though.
How hateful alt-right trolls hijacked your timeline
You don't need to get attacked by a pro-Trump troll-bot horde to know that social media is a battleground for propaganda farms. It's pretty obvious, and miles of speculative digital ink has been spilled saying as much. An Oxford study this week is getting more of that ink spilled, confirming what we already knew. But no one's spelled out what it actually means. The Computational Propaganda Research Project at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, certainly tried. That's the paper everyone's talking about this week, by the way. It looked at case studies from researchers in nine countries, interviewed 65 experts, and analyzed tens of millions of posts across seven different social media platforms during moments of heightened government propaganda activity: elections, political crises and national-security incidents.
Trump talked to Putin about creating a 'Cyber Security unit' (updated)
Yes, you're reading that headline correctly. In the wake of a meeting at the G20 summit, President Trump has revealed that he talked to Russian President Vladimir Putin about creating an "impenetrable Cyber Security unit" that would protect against "election hacking, & many other negative things." He didn't go into details as to what this meant, but the statement is baffling on its face. Multiple US intelligence agencies have determined that the Russian government conducted an election hacking campaign in the US, targeting the DNC's servers, elections officials and voting systems in a bid to help Trump win. Why would you trust the fox to guard the henhouse, especially when you're already taking heat over allegations of collusion with the Russians? Whether or not you believe the claims are well-founded, it doesn't look good.
Russia is targeting US military personnel with online propaganda
Russia is going to great lengths to undermine the US military by not just spying on it, but trying to influence its members, according to a report from Politico. Operatives have been friending soldiers and veterans on social media, posting on popular sites and, of course, hacking members. The aim, according to experts, is to turn service members into a "fifth column" for Russia, and the military is struggling to stop it.
Report: Russia hacked election systems in 39 US states
Russia's US election meddling was much more widespread than the public has been told, according to a report from Bloomberg. Hackers attacked voting systems in 39 states, accessed campaign finance databases in one state and tried to delete or alter voter data in Illinois. While officials don't believe the attackers changed any results, the situation was serious enough that President Obama took the unusual step of complaining to the Kremlin on "red phone" back channels.
Trump is prepared to start a nuclear arms race
Yesterday president-elect Donald Trump tweeted, "the United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes." This is direct conflict with the policies of former presidents both republican and democrat. Both sides of the aisle have worked to dismantle the world's nuclear stockpile. In the 1980s president Reagan made it his mission to have a "world free of nuclear weapons." Today, Trump double downed on his tweet.
Obama administration says Putin orchestrated US election hacks
Russian president Vladimir Putin personally oversaw the cyber attacks on the United States' political infrastructure this year, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said today in a press conference attended by the AP. This follows yesterday's report from NBC News claiming US intelligence officials had evidence that Putin was involved in the hacks. The White House has not offered evidence for its claims, though intelligence officials first revealed Russia's involvement in the cyber attacks in October.
Putin congratulates Trump with a telegram
Who said that classic telegrams were dead? Certainly not Vladimir Putin. The Russian leader congratulated Donald Trump on his presidential election victory by sending him a telegram -- yes, of the old-school variety and not the secure messaging app. The message expressed a desire to deescalate tensions between Russia and the US and find "effective responses" to international security issues.
Recommended Reading: The internet and the truth
How the Internet Is Loosening Our Grip on the Truth Farhad Manjoo, The New York Times Thanks to rise of online media, we're able to find loads of "facts" to support nearly any stance we take on any particular issue. During this year's presidential election, it has become quite clear that Facebook and the internet as a whole have become an echo chamber where we're free to hunt for the information that supports a certain point of view rather than actual facts. The New York Times takes a look at how we got here, the damage that's been done and if there's any way to reverse the effects.
Russia is ditching Microsoft because it's an easy target
We know that Russia wants to give Microsoft products the boot, but now it's clearer as to why. A senior US intelligence official talking to NBC News not only supports talk of Russia endorsing a plan to purge Microsoft software from the government (starting with Moscow), but explains why. Reportedly, Vladimir Putin and crew are picking on Microsoft because it's an easy target for anti-American sentiment. It's a huge company that rules the tech sector, and it's not hard to persuade Russians that the firm is collaborating with US spies despite evidence to the contrary.
