Disinfo Docket 19 May

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Highlights

1. Three New Tools to Explore Social Media (OSOME, 13 May)
2. 2025 Social Media Safety Index (GLAAD)
3. Global Offensive: Mapping the Sources Behind the Pravda Network (GLOBSEC, 16 May)
4. Britain ‘needs anti-subversion laws to save democracy from itself’ (Times, 19 May)

1. Platforms & Technology

1. The internet is full of misinformation. That's by design, experts say (CBC, 16 May)
2. How Silicon Valley’s influence in Washington benefits the tech elite (TechCrunch, 16 May)
3. Inside TikTok town: vast data centre sparks Chinese spying fears (Times, 18 May)
4. Telegram founder says he rejects request to 'silence' conservative voices in Romania (JPost, 18 May)

Meta

1. Meta Battles an ‘Epidemic of Scams’ as Criminals Flood Instagram and Facebook (WSJ, 15 May)
2. Meta argues enshittification isn’t real in bid to toss FTC monopoly case (ArsTechnica, 16 May)
3. Gen Z users tested Instagram Teen Accounts; they got sex posts, body shaming (Washington Post, 18 May)

AI

1. Scams use AI to mimic senior officials' voices, FBI warns (Axios, 15 May)
2. Musk’s company now claims Grok’s lies of a nonexistent ‘white genocide’ in South Africa were ‘unauthorized’ (Independent, 17 May)
3. Elon Musk’s AI chatbot blames ‘programming error’ for Holocaust denial (Independent, 19 May)

2. Russia & Ukraine

1. The new wave of Russian disinformation blogs (UK Defence Journal, 18 May)
2. Russian interference claims hit Romania’s critical election on voting day (Politico, 18 May)