An Arms Race is Brewing in Orbit
By: Economist August 15, 2020 Kosmos 2542, a Russian satellite that was launched in November, was “like Russian nesting dolls”, said General John Raymond, head of America’s newly formed Space Force, in February. Eleven days after its launch it disgorged another satellite, labelled Kosmos 2543. Then, on July 15th, Kosmos 2543 itself spat out […]
Google and Twitter Vow to Block Voting Misinformation
By: BBC September 11, 2020 Google and Twitter have said they are clamping down further on misinformation online ahead of the US elections. Messaging platforms expect a flood of false claims and misleading posts ahead of the November vote. Twitter said it plans to more aggressively label and remove election-related tweets that […]
Is Facebook Favouring the Ruling BJP in India?
By: BBC August 17, 2020 Did Facebook go easy on hate speech by an Indian lawmaker belonging to the governing BJP to protect its interests in its biggest market? A Wall Street Journal report, based on interviews with current and former Facebook employees, suggests so, and it prompted immediate calls for an investigation. Soutik […]
QAnon Lures Adherents by Acting Like a Game
By: The Financial Times August 31, 2020 A strange subset of geek culture is threatening to destabilise society by taking over the internet and blurring the line between reality and fantasy. A type of online information warfare, its objective is to sow discord and distrust. Yet it is masquerading as a live action role […]
Russian Agency Created Fake Leftwing News Outlet With Fictional Editors, Facebook Says
By: The Guardian September 2, 2020 The Russian agency that interfered in the 2016 US election created a fake leftwing news publication, staffed it with fake editors with AI-generated photos and hired real freelance reporters as part of a fresh influence operation detected and removed by Facebook, the company said on Tuesday. The latest operation by […]
Trump Administration Seeking To Expand Collection Of Biometric Data From Immigrants
By: Npr.org September 1, 2020 The Trump administration is considering drastically expanding the government’s collection of biometric information from immigrants seeking U.S. citizenship, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed on Tuesday. The proposal would allow the government to demand more personal data, from more people, more often as part of the immigration application […]
Zhenhua Data Leak: Personal Details of Millions Around World Gathered by China Tech Company
By: The Guardian September 14, 2020 The personal details of millions of people around the world have been swept up in a database compiled by a Chinese tech company with reported links to the country’s military and intelligence networks, according to a trove of leaked data. About 2.4 million people are included in […]
Blockchain Trade Group Names Mick Mulvaney to Board
By: The Hill September 23, 2020 The Chamber of Digital Commerce, a blockchain trade association, named Mick Mulvaney, President Trump’s former acting chief of staff, to its board of advisers on Wednesday. Mulvaney founded the Congressional Blockchain Caucus when he was in Congress from 2011 to 2017. He also previously was director of the Office of […]
A Whistleblower Says Facebook Ignored Global Political Manipulation
By: Buzzfeed September 14, 2020 Facebook ignored or was slow to act on evidence that fake accounts on its platform have been undermining elections and political affairs around the world, according to an explosive memo sent by a recently fired Facebook employee and obtained by BuzzFeed News. Read More