DisinfoDocket - 3 October 2022

DisinfoDocket curates influence operations-related academic research, news, events and job opportunities.

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Highlights:

1. Russian TV is very excited about Такер Карлсон’s Nord Stream theory (Washington Post, 29 September)
2. Watch: Spreading the Big Lie: How Social Media Sites Have Amplified False Claims of U.S. Election Fraud (Center for Business and Human Rights, 29 September)
3. Myanmar: Facebook’s systems promoted violence against Rohingya; Meta owes reparations (Amnesty International, September)

Rohingya Seek Reparations from Facebook for Role in Massacre (VoA, 29 September)

1. Academia & Research

1. Journals run fake Chinese science papers (Times, 1 October)

2. Platforms & Technology

Meta

1. Meta to Cut Headcount for First Time, Slash Budgets Across Teams (Bloomberg, 29 September)
2. Former Facebook executive turned critic joins top civil rights group (Washington Post, 29 September)
3. AI Can Now Generate Videos From Text, Courtesy of Facebook (Vice, 29 September)

Other Platforms

1. Fake CISO Profiles on LinkedIn Target Fortune 500s (Krebs on Security, 29 September)
2. Amazon selling fake versions of new books (Times, 1 October)
3. How Molly Russell’s grieving parents took on Big Tech (Times, 30 September)
4. An update on our work to counter misinformation (TikTok, 28 September)
5. Search outside the box: How we're making Search more natural and intuitive (Google, 28 September)
6. We’ve had the backlash against Big Tech. Now what? (Thompson Reuters, 29 September)

Technology

1. Camille Stewart Gloster shares her plans for new White House cyber gig (Washington Post, 28 September)
2. Tech Companies Are Reconsidering an Old Enemy (Wired, 28 September)

3. Russia & Ukraine

1. Tech Rallies to Rescue Ukraine (CEPA, 29 September)
2. Finnish intelligence warns Russia ‘highly likely’ to turn to cyber in winter (The Record, 29 September)
3. CPAC backpedals on pro-Russia tweet as some U.S. conservatives back Putin (Washington Post, 1 October)
4. Polish government escape story is Russian ‘fake news’ (Euractiv, 3 October)

4. Asia & Australasia

1. China’s ‘Absurd’ Covid Propaganda Stirs Rebellion (NYT, 29 September)
2. China’s authoritarian house of cards won’t fall to rumours (Inkstick, 29 September)
3. Taiwan’s first English TV channel to tell its side of China story (South China Morning Post, 3 October)

5. Middle East & Africa

1. Security Council must not be distracted by tactics designed to protect the Syrian regime from accountability (UK Government, 29 September)
2. Palestinian activists turn to TikTok amid Israeli anger over ‘propaganda videos’ (Arab News, 2 October)

6. Americas & Europe

1. America’s Throwaway Spies: How the CIA failed Iranian informants in its secret war with Tehran (Reuters, 29 September)
2. Revealed: the secret British plan to keep Italy’s communists from power: Newly declassified files expose the Foreign Office’s dirty tricks campaign to influence the knife-edge 1976 election result (Guardian, 2 October)
3. After the storm, the scams, lies and misinformation flood in (NPR, 2 October)

7. Elections & Democracy

1. Truth under Attack (Scientific American, 29 September)
2. What WhatsApp has done to combat Brazilian election misinformation (The Brazilian Report, 2 October)
3. Election night coverage is a breeding ground for misinformation (Street, 30 September)
4. Even as Iranians Rise Up, Protests Worldwide Are Failing at Record Rates (NYT, 30 September)

8. Science & Health

1. How You Can Help Put an End to Abortion Misinformation Today (Cosmopolitan, 28 September)
2. Doctor who gave anti-vaccine speech in front of effigies of officials being hanged faces discipline hearing (CBC, 1 October)
3. Once Known for Vaccine Skeptics, Marin Now Tells Them ‘You’re Not Welcome’ (NYT, 2 October)
4. Antivaxers are a global menace who must be defeated (Times, 3 October)
   

9. Climate, Energy & Food

1. At Harvard, researchers work to hold big oil accountable for misinformation (Boston Globe, 29 September)
2. Nord Stream pipeline disinformation fits pattern of Russian information warfare (CyberScoop, 30 September)
3. The bizarre Hurricane Ian conspiracy theories that we should’ve seen coming (Independent, 30 September)

10. Tools, Legislation & Countermeasures

1. Lawmakers urge EU diplomats to scale up response to disinformation (Euractiv, 29 September)
2. Tech companies are gaming out responses to the Texas social media law (Washington Post, 1 October)

11. Extremism, Violence & Harassment

1. Understanding Europe’s shift to the right (Politico, 30 September)
2. We Are Proud Boys: How a Right-Wing Street Gang Ushered in a New Era of American Extremism (Andy Campbell, 2022)
3. UK: Armed forces grapple with more neo-Nazis in the ranks (Times, 3 October)

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