DisinfoDocket 24 April

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Highlights

1. Kremlin tries to build antiwar coalition in Germany, documents show (Washington Post, 21 April)
2. Twitter users #BlockTheBlue as ‘verified’ accounts take on new meaning (Washington Post, 22 April)
3. CISA’s Cyber Experts Talk Shop on the Need for Safer Tech (CISA, 20 April)
4. Finland, now a NATO member, sees an uptick in cyberattacks (Recorded Future, 21 April)

1. Platforms & Technology

1. WhatsApp update lets people ‘keep’ disappearing messages (Independent, 21 April)

Twitter

1. Elon Musk Revealed What Twitter Always Was: Stripped down to its skeleton, Twitter is the definitive “shame network.” (The Atlantic, 21 April)
2. Twitter’s blue bird now a headless chicken (RSF, 21 April)

Account Labelling & Verification

1. Starting today, Twitter says all advertisers must obtain verified accounts (TechCrunch, 21 April)
2. Twitter's blue tick cull triggers confusion (and jokes) (BBC, 21 April)
3. Why Elon Musk’s cull of Twitter ‘verified’ blue ticks could prove costly (Guardian, 21 April)
4. Twitter drops labels for President Joe Biden, state-affiliated and government-funded media (CNBC, 21 April)
5. Celebs Don’t Want to Pay for a Blue Check Mark on Twitter. Musk Fanboys Are Mad About It. (Mother Jones, 22 April)
6. Twitter reinstates blue ticks for some media, celebrities (France24, 23 April)
7. Elon Musk destroyed Twitter verification. Here's how to fix it. (Weaponised Spaces, 22 April)
8. Twitter removes labels from state-controlled media, helping propaganda (Washington Post, 21 April)
9. Twitter in chaos after blue checks removed (CNN, 23 April)
10. Twitter's blue tick restored to high profile accounts (BBC, 23 April)
11. Twitter gives back blue tick to high profile accounts with more than 1,000,000 followers (Metro, 23 April)
12. These celebrities ‘subscribed to Twitter Blue.’ Except they’re dead. (Washington Post, 23 April)

Content Moderation

1. Twitter once muzzled Russian and Chinese state propaganda. That's over now (NPR, 21 April)
2. New Twitter, Now With More Hate (Science Blog, 23 April)

Meta

1. Trade in fake reviews still ‘thriving’ on Facebook, says Which? (Guardian, 21 April)

TikTok

1. TikTok begins removing videos with climate change misinformation (Engadget, 21 April)
2. Irish government staff advised to remove TikTok from work devices (Reuters, 21 April)
3. TikTok’s Algorithm Keeps Pushing Suicide to Vulnerable Kids (Bloomberg, 20 April)
4. Inquiry hears TikTok will continue to 'subtly' censor despite public pressure, government ban (Bloomberg, 20 April)

2. Russia & Ukraine

1. Russia Didn’t Know How to Frame the Discord Leaks (GMF, 20 April)
2. 'Donbass Devushka': American mouthpiece for Russian propaganda on Ukraine (France24, 22 April)
3. Wagner group surges in Africa as U.S. influence fades, leak reveals (Washington Post, 23 April)
4. Ukraine war: Russian artists back Putin or face censorship (BBC, 23 April)
5. The Ukrainian journalists on the front lines of Russian propaganda (Coda Story, 20 April)