Disinfo dispatch No.55

European countries call out Georgian Dream for spreading disinfo, CNN says its' Syrian prisoner report has holes, EU sanctions Russian military for hybrid attacks, & Spain reveals anti-disinfo bill

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.

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Tech Watch:

• ‘Fake news’ is not the only problem with political debate on TikTok (Financial News, 20 December)

• Apple urged to axe AI feature after false headline (BBC, 19 December)

• Bluesky could become target of foreign disinformation, experts warn (VOA News, 18 December)

• Tech giant Meta will pay Australians $50 million for enabling the Cambridge Analytica scanda (The Conversation, 17 December)

Global Miscellaneous News & Research:

• Miscellaneous News & Research:

  • Publishers reckon with dark patterns (Nieman Lab Predictions for Journalism, 2025)

  • Supreme Court to Consider TikTok Ban (Wall Street Journal, 18 December)

  • Three Conclusions From the Global Year of Elections (Carnegie Endowment, 18 December)

  • The TikTok Ban Paradox: How Platform Restrictions Create What They Aim to Prevent (Tech Policy Press, 18 December)

  • How human–AI feedback loops alter human perceptual, emotional and social judgements (Nature, 18 December)

  • How to disrupt misinformation with the “ladder of misinference” (Big Think, 18 December)

Regions:

• USA

  • Celebrity pastor plagued by Diddy misinformation on YouTube asks court to intervene (NBC News, 19 December)

  • NASA just jumped online to correct outrageous space station misinformation (Mashable, 18 December)

• Middle East

  • Revisiting Russia’s narratives on its Syria intervention (EUvDisinfo, 20 December)

  • CNN says its report on a freed Syrian prisoner is not what it initially believed (AP News, 18 December)

• Russia

  • Murders, torture, imprisoned for speech, and a spike in xenophobia Human rights monitors at OVD-Info wrap up 2024 in Russian law enforcement — one of the country’s darkest years in modern history (and things are only getting worse) (Meduza, 18 December)

  • 1 000 and 4 000 days of Russia’s CBRN disinformation: sowing fear, undermining accountability (EUvDisinfo, 18 December)

  • EU sanctions Russian military intelligence for 'hybrid attacks' (France 24, 16 December)

• Other regions:

  • Caucasus: Fan the flames and complain about the heat (EUvsDisinfo, 19 December)

  • Caucasus: Romania, Italy, Spain Accuse GD PM Kobakhidze of Spreading Disinformation (Civil Georgia, 18 December)

  • Europe: TikTok disinformation falsely accuses von der Leyen of cancelling Romania’s presidential run-off (Euronews, 17 December)

  • Europe: Spain introduces bill to combat online fake news (The Guardian, 17 December)

  • Europe: EU opens investigation into TikTok and the Romanian election (Politico, 17 December)