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Facebook delays identity checks for UK political ads following abuses
Facebook is delaying its identity checks for political ads in the UK. The internet giant told The Guardian in a statement that it was delaying the requirement to December after realizing people could "game the disclaimer system" by entering bogus information. It'll institute the requirement after it adds "enforcement systems" to ensure accuracy, according to a spokesperson. The move came after a series of exposés that showed how easy it was to attach fake identities to disclosures, both in the UK and in the US.
Facebook confirms accounts banned ahead of election had Russian ties
Facebook has confirmed that the 115 accounts it blocked yesterday due to "inauthentic behavior" are likely linked to Russia. In a new statement, the company says that a site claiming association with the Russia-based Internet Research Agency (IRA) posted a list of fake Instagram accounts it had made ahead of the midterm elections, many of which included those removed by Facebook yesterday. The IRA has been linked to previous interference with US politics and the 2016 Presidential election.
Pentagon preps cyberattack in case Russia interferes with elections
There may not be any immediate evidence of Russia directly meddling with the US midterm elections, but the Department of Defense is apparently ready to strike back if it happens. Anonymous officials talking to the Center for Public Integrity and the Daily Beast say the Pentagon and intelligence agencies have agreed on the core terms of a retaliatory cyberattack in the event Russia tries a bold move. The exact nature of the attack is unsurprisingly a secret, but hackers have reportedly received authority to breach key Russian systems in advance to make sure any attack moves quickly.
Twitter’s new midterm election page already includes fake news
Today, Twitter rolled out a new page focused on the US midterm elections, and on it, users can view supposedly relevant tweets through two tabs -- "Latest" and "Top Commentary." On mobile, there's also a "News" tab that includes separate sections for each state. However, while this page is clearly meant to be a place for users to find more information about the upcoming election, it's surfacing tweets from conspiracy theorists, people pushing disinformation and what appear to be bot accounts, BuzzFeed News reports.
Facebook removed 82 fake accounts and Pages linked to Iran
Facebook has taken down dozens of additional Pages originating from Iran that it says were engaged in inauthentic behavior. Posting about political topics such as race relations, immigration and the US president, these Pages and accounts -- 82 in total -- posed as US, or in some cases UK, citizens. Facebook first discovered the Pages' activity a week ago, and its war room staff then investigated and ultimately removed the Pages in question. The company says it has shared information about these Pages and their activity with US and UK government officials, US law enforcement, Congress, other tech companies and the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab.
Uber offers $10 off Election Day rides to polling stations
Uber is one of several tech companies trying to make sure you're doing your civic duty by getting out to the polls on November 6th, as it's offering a $10 discount on rides to polling stations. You'll need the latest version of the app to get the promo code on Election Day, and you can use it for a ride on the most affordable Uber option in your locale: Express Pool, Pool or UberX, in that order. You'll also need to use the polling place locator in the app.
Facebook, Twitter reportedly haven’t seen any China election meddling
Though President Trump and Vice President Pence have repeated claims that China is actively trying to meddle in the upcoming US midterm elections, officials at Facebook and Twitter have now said they haven't come across any such attempts. Anonymous press representatives at the two social media companies told Bloomberg that while disinformation campaigns have been uncovered and linked to Russia and Iran, none have been linked to China.
Snapchat helped register 418,000 US voters in two weeks
It's easy to be cynical when you hear about voter registration campaigns from social networks. How many people really sign up because of a digital nudge? Quite a few, apparently. Snap told the New York Times that its Snapchat campaign had helped 418,000 people register in the space of a two-week period, many of them in hotly contested states like Florida, Georgia, Ohio and Texas. The initiative had combined a registration button on users' profiles with snap videos asking them to register.
US targets individual Russians in fight against election interference
The US isn't limited to fighting election interference campaigns on its own soil. The New York Times has learned that Cyber Command is conducting the country's first known overseas operation to protect American voting against online meddling. The initiative reportedly entails deterring individual Russian operatives spreading disinformation by making it clear that US agents are tracking their activity. In theory, this will force the Russians to change their behavior without prompting an escalation that could lead to power grid attacks and other much more serious campaigns.
Fake news is down on Facebook in the US and France, say three studies
Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook have not had a great year. From being called in front of Congress to getting lashed by the media for its appalling handling of user data, the pressure has been on the social media site to get things right. Even calls for Zuckerberg to be kicked out as chairman are starting to percolate. But Zuckerberg might be able to breath a little easier today as three new independent studies show that fake news overall is going down on the website he launched from his dorm room.
Russian woman indicted for interfering with 2018 US midterm elections
US officials aren't waiting until after the midterm elections to take legal action against interference efforts. Federal authorities have charged Russian national Elena Khusyaynova for allegedly serving as the primary accountant for Project Lakhta, an influence campaign that targeted the US midterms as well as foreigners in the US, European Union member states, the Ukraine and even some Russian audiences. Khusyaynova reportedly managed expenses for activists, social networking ads and news post promotions, domain name registrations and proxy servers.
Facebook’s political ad system still allows anonymous advertising
In May, Facebook began requiring political ads in the US to disclose who paid for them and those purchasing political ads to verify their identities. Both moves were meant to address some of the issues highlighted by the 2016 presidential election, during which foreign groups used the platform to stoke political tensions. But this system has a loophole, and, the New York Times reports, it's being used to distribute political attack ads anonymously.
Twitter publishes over 10 million tweets linked to election meddling
Twitter has previously cracked down on accounts linked to election interference campaigns and provided snippets of their tweets, but now it's flinging the gates wide open. The social network has published data sets with over 10 million tweets from 4,611 accounts behind "inauthentic" activity, 3,841 of which are from the Russia-linked Internet Research Agency with the remaining 770 possibly tied to Iran. The library also includes over 2 million GIFs, videos and recorded Periscope livestreams. As for why Twitter is doing this? Simply speaking, it can't study this data all by itself.
Americans fear they can’t identify social media bots
A new poll from the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan fact tank that studies trends, found that many Americans fear they cannot discern a bot from an actual person on social media. This study did not tackle the percentage of people who have been fooled by bots, but more simply, what general knowledge and awareness Americans have. About half -- 47 percent -- of the people who've heard of bots feel confident or somewhat confident that they can recognize one on social media. Only seven percent felt they were very confident. This is contrast with another study done by Pew in December of 2016 that found 84 percent of Americans felt they could readily recognize fake news. According to the study, about 66 percent of Americans have heard of social media bots-- to at least some extent -- and are aware of their existence. Another 34 percent had never heard of bots at all. The margin of error for the 4,581-person sample was 2.4 percentage points.
Facebook says recent data breach wasn't 'related to the midterms'
Even though the number of users affected by Facebook's most recent hack was lowered to 29 million, from 50 million, it's still safe to say the attack was worse than originally thought. That's because we now know that the breach, which Facebook revealed a couple of weeks ago, exposed very detailed information of 14 million of those users, including their username, birthdate, gender, location, relationship status, religion, hometown, self-reported current city, education, work, the devices they used to access Facebook and the last 10 places they checked into (or were tagged in) on the site. The attackers, whose identities Facebook won't reveal because of an ongoing FBI investigation, were also able to view which people/Pages were followed by these 14 million users, as well as their 15 most recent searches on Facebook.
After Math: Hello Darkness, my old friend
Well, this week lasted years. While we weren't being bludgeoned by the cantankerous Kavanaugh confirmation hearings, we were learning about how 50 million Facebook users had their accounts hacked, that Elon Musk is being sued by the SEC for his Twitter posts (the ones about privatizing Tesla, not the ones wherein he libels a rescue diver), and that Red Dead Redemption 2 will rustle the remainder of your hard drive's free space.
Voting machines are still plagued with vulnerabilities as midterms loom
The Def Con Voting Village, which for two years in a row has let conference attendees try their hand at breaching voting machines, has released the report on this year's event. More than 30 voting machines and other pieces of election equipment were available this year and many of them are still used throughout the US. Troublingly, attendees uncovered multiple vulnerabilities, the number and severity of which the report described as "staggering." "What these vulnerabilities in this report and warnings from national security leaders tell us is that this is a severe national security threat," said Voting Village co-organizer Jake Braun.
Twitter will help you prepare for election day
As the US heads closer to November's midterm elections, a number of social platforms are making an effort to encourage their users to vote. The latest to join in is Twitter, which launched its #BeAVoter campaign today. Through the campaign, Twitter will connect users to TurboVote, a nonprofit that can help them register to vote, sign up for election reminders and apply for absentee ballots. The #BeAVoter effort will be featured in Twitter's top US trends and in a prompt in users' timelines.
Recommended Reading: The reality of sci-fi's AI immortality obsession
Are Hosts, Replicants, and robot clones closer than we think? Jayson Greene, The Ringer Black Mirror already uncomfortably aligns with the real world, but we might be even closer to more advanced concepts from that show and others, like Westworld and Altered Carbon, becoming reality. The Ringer offers a look at just how far away we could be from Hosts, Replicants and robotic clones following a new trailer release for Keanu Reeves' long lost Replicas movie.
Facebook’s 'War Room' is its latest effort to protect elections
Facebook has more than 300 people working on protecting elections from misinformation aimed at influencing voters. But starting next week, the company will have one more weapon in its arsenal -- a War Room. The New York Times reports that Facebook is currently converting a conference room into a final line of defense against fake news campaigns that target elections. Around 20 people, including engineers, data scientists and executives, will sit in the room and monitor dashboards that show activity on the platform and how it's changing in real time.
