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Facebook’s ‘state-controlled media’ labels appear to reduce engagement
Facebook’s “state-controlled media” labels appear to reduce engagement with content from authoritarian nations. A new study reveals that, with the added tags, users’ engagement decreased when they noticed content labeled as originating from Chinese and Russian government-run media. However, the labels also appeared to boost user favorability of posts from Canadian state media, suggesting broader perceptions of the country play into the tags’ effectiveness.
Twitter removed thousands more Chinese propaganda accounts
The company recently shut down another 3,465 accounts linked to state information campaigns.
Wikipedia banned seven users after reported 'infiltration' by a Chinese group
Wikipedia suffered an "infiltration" from a Chinese group that "threatened the very foundations" of the site.
Twitter shares data for 5,929 accounts that spread Saudi Arabian propaganda
Twitter isn't exactly fond of Saudi Arabia's alleged attempts to manipulate its platform, and that became particularly clear today. The social media company has shared details of 5,929 now-banned accounts that it says were part of a state-backed effort to promote the Saudi government's message. The accounts used "inauthentic" and "coordinated" activity to spread the word, including replying, retweeting and liking pro-Saudi messages. Many of the accounts used automation to "mask the overall platform manipulation," Twitter said, peppering the accounts with non-political material to hide their real intent.
TikTok is the latest platform to pull ISIS propaganda videos
TikTok may have a terrorism problem. According to The Wall Street Journal, Islamic State militants have been posting short propaganda videos to the platform. That's especially concerning because TikTok is so popular with impressionable teenagers.
Fake news campaigns are a growing global problem
Disinformation is a major threat to tech companies, society, even democracy -- and it's only getting worse. In 2019, disinformation campaigns occurred in at least 70 countries, a significant jump from 28 countries in 2017. That's according to a new report by researchers from the Oxford Internet Institute at Oxford University. The report reveals just how widespread the problem of internet-based false information and propaganda has become.
NYU report lists likely social media disinformation tactics for 2020
The 2020 US presidential election will serve as the ultimate test for social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to prove they can combat fake news. But could they be fighting the last war? A report released by NYU's Stern Center for Business and Human Rights argues that relatively new tactics like domestic fake news operations, phony memes on Instagram and deepfake videos will play a bigger role in the next election.
Twitter is displaying China-made ads attacking Hong Kong protesters
Twitter is finding itself at the heart of a heated political battle. Pinboard and other users have observed Twitter running ads from China's state-backed media outlet Xinhua attacking the Hong Kong protesters opposed to both a (since-suspended) extradition bill and broader dissatisfaction with the government. The ads try to portray the protests as "escalating violence" and calls for "order to be restored." Other ads have highlighted alleged supporters of the Chinese "motherland" and have pointed out Hong Kong's economic troubles from earlier in the year.
Trump’s ‘Social Media Summit’ was a celebration of conspiracy theorists
President Donald Trump kicked off his Thursday morning by doing what he does best: tweeting. Amid a sea of missives, which ranged from attacks on the "Fake News Media" to the Mueller Report, he said it would be "a big and exciting day at the White House for Social Media." It was all a lead-up to his administration's first "Social Media Summit," an event that was announced back in June and took place yesterday. Despite being billed as a summit about social media, though, the Trump administration didn't invite anyone from the two biggest players in the space: Facebook and Twitter. Instead, it brought together people who are under the impression that these tech giants are censoring conservative voices on the internet.
Twitter bots pushed 'Russiagate hoax' following the Mueller report
As much as Twitter has done to keep bots from manipulating users, it still has work to do. NBC News and disinformation campaign researcher Clint Watts have learned that a network of over 5,000 Trump-supporting Twitter bots echoed an attack on the alleged "Russiagate hoax" following the release of the Mueller report in mid-April. They'd been created between November and December of 2018, but were only taken down on April 21st for violating Twitter rules forbidding "platform manipulation."
Hackers seize dormant Twitter accounts to push terrorist propaganda
As much progress as Twitter has made kicking terrorists off its platform, it still has a long way to go. TechCrunch has learned that ISIS supporters are hijacking long-dormant Twitter accounts to promote their ideology. Security researcher WauchulaGhost found that the extremists were using a years-old trick to get in. Many of these idle accounts used email addresses that either expired or never existed, often with names identical to their Twitter handles -- the social site didn't confirm email addresses for roughly a decade, making it possible to use the service without a valid inbox. As Twitter only partly masks those addresses, it's easy to create those missing addresses and reset those passwords.
Bangladesh shuts off mobile internet ahead of election
The Bangladeshi government isn't just counting on Facebook and Twitter crackdowns to protect its December 30th parliamentary election. The country's Telecommunication Regulatory Commission has shut down 3G and 4G mobile data to "prevent rumors and propaganda" from skewing the vote. The measure took effect immediately and was poised to last through the end of election day.
Facebook's leaked moderation 'rulebook' is as confused as you'd think
Nearly a year ago, ProPublica tested Facebook's moderation with multiple items of hate speech and the company apologized after it failed to treat many of them properly based on its policies. In May, documents leaked to Motherboard showing its quickly shifting content policies -- and now another New York Times report cites leaked moderation guidelines showing how it is, and in many cases is not, handling hate and propaganda messages. Issues include failures to keep up to date information on shifting political situations in countries like Sri Lanka and Bosnia, while a paperwork error allowed an extremist group in Myanmar to keep using Facebook for months longer than it should have. There's evidence Facebook is misinterpreting laws restricting speech in countries like India, and the focus seems heavily weighted toward protecting Facebook's reputation more than anything else.
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.
Facebook is hiring a human rights policy director
Facebook has faced criticism for its slow response to the Myanmar government's use of its social network to fuel atrocities, and it's determined to prevent that from happening again. The company is hiring a Director of Human Rights Policy who will develop approaches that foster human rights and peace while simultaneously cracking down on those who "enable harm, stifle expression, and undermine human rights." This leader would steer investigations into human rights abusers and work with both government and corporate partners.
Apple's Pride-themed watch face is blocked in Russia
Russia's not made any secret of its stance on the LGBTQ+ community. It's banned comics, gotten rid of statues and has taken issue with gay emojis, all in the name of its "gay propaganda" law, passed in 2013. Now, companies that want to operate in the country and are otherwise advocates for LGTBQ+ rights are being forced to fall in line. As iOS developer Guilherme Rambo recently discovered, Apple's Pride-themed Apple Watch face has been "hardcoded to not show up if the paired iPhone is using the Russian locale."
Reddit moderators spotted Iranian fake news campaign months ago
Earlier this week, Facebook, Twitter and Google announced they had pulled a number of accounts linked to a misinformation campaign based out of Iran. Facebook took down 652 pages believed to be connected to the campaign while Twitter suspended 284 accounts. Google also removed a number of YouTube channels, Google+ accounts and Blogger blogs. But NBC News reports today that a handful of Reddit moderators spotted this misinformation effort some time ago and that their reports to the website were ignored.
Facebook bans Alex Jones and InfoWars pages
Facebook has removed four pages from conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, saying that the channels "repeatedly" violated its hate speech and bullying policies. Last week, Facebook removed four videos from the channels and suspended the controversial radio personality for 30 days. However, today it wrote that since the earlier action didn't seem to deter Jones, it was taking stronger measures.
The scary truths about Trump’s nuclear summit
In the first summit meeting between the leaders of the United States and North Korea, Donald Trump met with Kim Jong-un on June 12, 2018, in Singapore. The two leaders smiled warmly, posed for cameras as friends, shook hands, and Trump spoke in glowing terms of admiration about Kim at the news conference.
Vintage NSA posters remix pop culture as security warnings
Everyone loves a good government-issued propaganda poster for the chutzpah to blend protocol instruction with jingoistic cheer. A new batch of them, declassified in April, were created by the NSA back in the 60s and 70s to reinforce security policies. But boy, do they show their age and influence, using space-age designs and remixing pop culture material from the era to urge caution. Here's a few examples from a repository on the Government Attic site.
