Disinfo dispatch No.52
Spain's La Vanguardia joins Guardian in X-odus, Australia's misinfo law debate continues, X accounts meddle in Ghana's upcoming election, & 17 more stories!
Hey, I’m Alan, & welcome to Geoshawk. Geoshawk curates news & research on digital influence, with sections on tech company’ news, election integrity, research/studies, & regional focuses on the USA, MENA, Russia, the Caucasus, & Central Asia. Other regions are also featured though! If you’re a news junkie obsessed w/ politics, tech, & the world, you’re in the right place.
Tech Watch:
Elon Musk’s AI turns on him, labels him ‘one of the most significant spreaders of misinformation on X’ (Fortune, 14 November)
Spain's La Vanguardia joins the Guardian in leaving X, citing 'toxic content' (Reuters, 14 November)
BlueSky Hits #1 In The App Store, Is It Worth Switching From Twitter? (Forbes, 13 November)
Global Miscellaneous News & Research:
Miscellaneous News & Research:
Big Tech enables climate disinformation, report finds (Tech Informed, 13 November)
Debunking Ozempic misinformation (Business Insider, 13 November)
Study reveals medical boards rarely discipline physician misinformation (Medical Xpress, 12 November)
Other regions:
Phony X accounts are meddling in Ghana’s election (Rest of World, 12 November)
How West Africa is fighting disinformation (DW, 11 November)
The early days of the pandemic expose the flaw in the government's misinformation laws, say legal experts (ABC Australia, 11 November)
Saudi Arabia Calls Claims of 21,000 Dead Building Workers 'Misinformation' (Newsweek, 9 November)
Disinformation, fake news ‘most pressing challenge’ as Philippines ramps up cyber defences (South China Morning Post, 8 November)
Regions:
USA
First came the bots, then came the bosses - we’re entering Musk and Zuck’s new era of disinformation (The Guardian, 11 November)
State Department Division That Battles Foreign Disinformation Faces Closure (Wall Street Journal, 10 November)
AI didn’t sway the election, but it deepened the partisan divide (Washington Post, 9 November)
How disinformation defined the 2024 election narrative (Brookings Institute, 7 November)
Middle East
Turkey arrests journalist over social media post on prosecutors (Reuters, 10 November)
Russia
Russian disinformation operation targets Western intelligence officials (Intelligence Online, 12 November)
Pro-Russia Hackers Ramp Up Cyber Attacks on South Korea, Presidential Office Says (Moscow Times, 8 November)
Caucasus
President of Climate Change Summit Host Nation Calls Oil a 'Gift from God,' Slams Criticism of Emissions as 'Western Fake News' (Latin Times, 13 November)
Oil and gas are a 'gift of God', says COP29 host (BBC, 12 November)
Armenia: Government efforts to enhance surveillance infrastructure fuels privacy concerns (Eurasianet, 8 November)
Central Asia