Disinfo news & updates - Portal Kombat. French counter-disinformation agency Viginum exposed a new Russian information operation targeting France, Germany, Poland and Ukraine. Recycling Russian agency disinformation content, the network aims at undermining the Ukrainian government. Read the technical report here.
Weimar Triangle. Following the Portal Kombat exposure, France, Germany and Poland are re-activating the Weimar Triangle, a diplomatic discussion format between the three countries that will also focus on European security, including countering foreign interferences. A threat to public health. This op-ed from researchers Stephen Lewandowsky, Sander Van Der Linden and Andy Normal highlights the threat of disinformation to democracy and public health, and its problematic nature in shaping public opinion on critical issues like vaccines, climate change, and historical events. Foreign interference. After examining Russian foreign interference activities in France, the French Parliament will establish a new committee to investigate foreign interference in the media. This initiative follows the repercussions of the Forbidden Stories revelations, which highlighted how TV news segments have disseminated disinformation aligned with Qatari interests. Read the full article here (in French). Access to X data. This blog dissects the concerns about the transparency of X (formerly Twitter) under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), particularly regarding Article 40.12 – despite some steps towards compliance, there's a lack of clarity on whether the platform has granted researchers access to the necessary data. Enforcing the DSA effectively is critical to safeguarding democratic processes, especially in a year with many elections. Cache-cache. Google is retiring the 'cache' links from its search results – a feature that allowed users to view webpages as stored by Google. This tool was useful for various reasons, including researching offline pages and finding deleted posts on social networks. Google cited improved internet reliability as a reason for this decision, and suggested possible future integration with the Internet Archive to track webpage changes. Causing harm = criminal. The UK government introduced new offences under the Online Safety Act, criminalising the intentional distribution of false information online aiming to cause physical or mental harm, as part of broader efforts to combat online abuse, including cyberflashing and epilepsy-trolling. Paperwall. CitizenLab exposed a network of dummy media outlets targeting dozens of EU countries with pro-Beijing narratives. The information operation, named PAPERWALL, is attributed to a Chinese PR company. Fighting disinformation in Central Europe. As a response to challenges of disinformation, Google News Initiative and StopFake launch a project to share Ukraine’s fact-checking experience in order to contribute capacity building of fact-checkers in countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Training sessions developed by the StopFake team in cooperation with local partners will be conducted in Central and Eastern Europe. Labelling AI-generated content. Meta is expanding the labelling of AI-generated imagery on its social media platforms to cover some synthetic imagery that’s been created using generative AI tools from other companies. Until now, only imagery generated by Meta's own tools had been labelled. In the case of video and audio content, which is more difficult to determine as AI-generated, users are requested to self-label the content. Failure to do so may result in penalties. Farming & climate change. This DeSmog article uncovers a climate science denier network behind the 'No Farmers, No Food' social media campaign, which has gained over 50,000 followers on X in the two weeks since its launch. The network has been accused of hijacking rural concerns through the campaign, claiming that 'farming is being sacrificed on the altar of net zero.' AI & elections. Indonesia's upcoming general elections serve as a critical test for the use of generative AI in political campaigning. This involves AI-generated content that targets young voters, including cartoons of candidates and AI-driven social media strategies. The situation has prompted discussions about AI's role in politics, the regulatory challenges it poses, and its potential global impact on future elections. Robocalls. In January, voters in the US received AI-generated calls impersonating President Biden, advising them not to vote in the primary. The calls were traced to Texas-based Life Corporation, a company previously implicated in disinformation, and transmitted through a telecom provider Lingo. Both entities have received cease and desist orders, and legal actions are being explored. - Political? Slovakia's government is planning to exclude NGOs from its disinformation countermeasures. The new strategy, aimed at addressing "politicisation", raises concerns about the inclusivity and effectiveness of its approach in a region already facing significant disinformation challenges.
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