Geoshawk, a disinfo digest: Issue No.27
Biden robocall mastermind indicted, Brazil floods flooded w/disinfo, Jordan Klepper chats on why we fall for Russian disinfo, & Meta under fire for political ads that led to violence in India election
Hey, I’m Alan, and welcome to Geoshawk. Geoshawk curates top weekly headlines & research on Mis/Disinformation, Influence Ops, Tech, & Election Integrity.
I hope you are enjoying Geoshawk!
TECH WATCH:
Meta says AI-generated election content is not happening at a “systemic level” (MIT Tech Review, 22 May)
Google could cut funding to more US news publishers (The Verge, 22 May)
This undisclosed WhatsApp vulnerability lets governments see who you message (Intercept, 22 May)
See How Easily A.I. Chatbots Can Be Taught to Spew Disinformation (NYT, 19 May)
ELECTION INTEGRITY:
Migration, infrastructure woes fuel S.Africa poll disinformation (France24, 24 May)
TikTok launches new crackdown on state-backed misinformation accounts ahead of European and US elections (Irish Independent, 23 May)
Alleged deepfake AI Biden NH robocall mastermind indicted (Bostonherald, 23 May)
How Rest of World Tracks AI Use in 2024 Elections Around the Globe (Global Investigative Journalism Network, 22 May)
RNC’s ‘election integrity’ lawyer arraigned, charged with election crimes (MSNBC, 22 May)
‘Uncharted terrain’: How officials, campaigners and fact-checkers tackle AI’s influence on elections around the world (Politico, 21 May)
Revealed: Meta approved political ads in India that incited violence (Guardian, 20 May)
Law Enforcement Findings Support S.C. Election Integrity (SCVotes, 17 May)
GLOBAL:
ISKP and Digital Propaganda: An Escalating Anti-India Media Warfare (Global Network on Extremism & Technology, 22 May)
As Brazil copes with floods, officials face another scourge: Disinformation (Al Jazeera, 22 May)
Misinformation swirled during Taiwan's 2024 elections, says study (Phys, 21 May)
USA:
FCC Considers Mandating AI-Generated Disclosures for Political Ads (AI Business, 24 May)
House G.O.P. Moves to Crack Down on Noncitizen Voting, Sowing False Narrative (NYT, 23 May)
Democrats urge US Department of Justice to investigate fossil fuel disinformation (Offshore Technology, 23 May)
Doctors Denied Bid to Pause Agency’s Covid Misinformation Probe (Bloomberglaw, 23 May)
"Is autocracy actually compelling?": Jordan Klepper examines why we're falling for Russian misinfo (Salon, 21 May)
Tucker Carlson Show Aired By Russian State TV (Newsweek, 21 May)
New documents show how disinformation expert was unfairly tarred (MSNBC, 20 May)
F.B.I. Shed Informants Linked to Russian Influence Operations (NYT, 20 May)
RUSSIA:
Disappearing ink, fake polls and voter fraud: EU fears as Russian propaganda ads target Euro elections (Guardian, 18 May)
Russian Disinformation Videos Smear Biden Ahead of U.S. Election (NYT, 16 May)
MENA:
Iranian President’s Plane Crash: How the Absence of Official News Enabled Misinformation To Spread (Misbar, 22 May)
CAUCASUS:
Azerbaijan: Baku denying French accusations of meddling in New Caledonia (Eurasianet, 22 May)
Georgia’s other Russian-style law is fueling a bitter culture war (Politico, 19 May)
CENTRAL ASIA:
Kyrgyzstan: Hundreds of Pakistani students flee after weekend melee (Eurasianet, 20 May)
Kyrgyzstan Violence: Misinformation Being Spread Through Social Media, Says FM Dar (Friday Times, 19 May)
Large-Scale Cyberattacks on Kazakhstan Continue (TimesCA, 15 May)