Geoshawk, a disinfo dispatch: No.38

Erdogan goes on a social media banning spree, US Navy says disinfo key to Houthis campaign, Russian journalist jailed for 7.5 years for "fake news", & Iranian election IOs kick into full gear

Hey, I’m Alan, & welcome to Geoshawk. Geoshawk curates news & research on influence operations, with sections on tech, election integrity, miscellaneous news/research, & regional focuses on the USA, MENA, Russia, the Caucasus, & Central Asia.

I hope you enjoy Geoshawk!

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Tech Watch:

• Venezuela's Maduro blocks X access in country for 10 days (Reuters, 9 August)

• Social Media Platforms Show Little Interest in Stopping Spread of Misinformation (Bloomberg, 8 August)

• Roblox banned from Turkey for ‘causing abuse of children’ following an Instagram blackout. A TikTok ban may be next (AFP, 8 August)

  • As Instagram remains blocked in Turkey, Erdogan accuses social media companies of 'digital fascism' (The Associated Press, 5 August)

• Elon Musk's misleading election claims have accrued 1.2 billion views on X, new analysis says (NBC News, 8 August)

• YouTube invites users to test its community notes feature (Engadget, 7 August)

Election Integrity:

• Are concerns about digital disinformation and elections overblown? (Brookings Institute, 7 August)

• Online Gendered Abuse and Disinformation During the 2024 South African Elections (Institute for Strategic Dialogue, 6 August)

• Year of elections: Lessons from India's fight against AI-generated misinformation (World Economic Forum, 6 August)

Miscellaneous News & Research:

• Deceptive Trends: The Societal Impact of Disinformation on TikTok (Australian Institute of International Affairs, 8 August)

• US and UK collaborating to research misinformation campaigns (UK Research & Innovation, 8 August)

• How dubious website Channel3NOW fueled misinformation about Southport suspect in the U.K. (Logically Facts, 6 August)

• AI-Driven Misinformation: Challenges and Solutions for Businesses (Columbia Business School, 5 August)

Regions:

• USA

  • Disinformation Effort Key to Houthi Red Sea Campaign, Says 5th Fleet Commander (USNI, 7 August)

  • Australia and US sign Memorandum of Understanding to fight disinformation (Cyber Daily, 6 August)

  • Five US states push Musk to fix AI chatbot over election misinformation (Reuters, 5 August)

• MENA

  • Iran Is Accelerating Cyber Activity That Appears Meant to Influence the US Election, Microsoft Says (Security Week, 9 August)

• RUSSIA

  • Bulgarian Ban on LGBTQ ‘Propaganda’ Echos Russia: Activists (Bloomberg, 8 August)

    • Rights groups slam Bulgaria for banning LGBTQ+ ‘propaganda’ (Politico, 8 August)

  • Did Russian disinformation fuel the Southport protests? (Bureau of Investigative Journalism, 8 August)

  • Russian disinformation slams Paris and amplifies Khelif debate to undermine the Olympics (AP News, 6 August)

  • Russia sentences journalist Dmitry Kolezev to 7 ½ years in absentia on ‘fake’ news charges (Committee to Protect Journalists, 6 August)

• CAUCASUS

  • Georgian Dream Blames Opposition for 2008 War 'Crimes' (Caucasus Watch, 8 August)

  • Azerbaijan: State-controlled media predicts both Armenia and EU will get burned by warming bilateral ties (Eurasianet, 7 August)

• CENTRAL ASIA

  • Kazakhstan: Opposition influencer sentenced to seven years in prison (Eurasianet, 6 August)

  • Turkmen authorities scrambling to control scheme that gives citizens open access to the Internet (Eurasianet, 2 August)