Geoshawk, a disinfo dispatch: No.41

Indian disinfo sites earn $ via Google ads, US gov funding yielded 100s of patents for China-based researchers, Russia seized $100 million from Google to fund anti-Ukraine propaganda & more

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:

• Indian Sites Spreading Harmful Disinformation Are Earning Money Through Google’s Ads (Bellingcat, 29 August)

• Musk Attacks Brazilian Supreme Court Judge As X Faces Imminent Ban In Country (Forbes, 29 August)

• As tools for hybrid threats, apps like Telegram must be accountable (Australian Strategic Policy Institute, 29 August)

• X pledges to fix AI chatbot after it spread misinformation about US election (Techradar, 28 August)

• Zuckerberg says the White House pressured Facebook to ‘censor’ some COVID-19 content during the pandemic (PBS News, 27 August)

• Explainer: The Dark Side Of Telegram (RFERL, 26 August)

Election Integrity:

• AI in the election: misinformation machine or meme generator? (Marketplace, 28 August)

• Female election workers face growing threats as disinformation flourishes (Scripps News, 28 August)

• These are the big election-related misinfo themes on Chinese-language social media (NBC News, 26 August)

Miscellaneous News & Research:

• Fanning the Flames: Online Misinformation and Far-Right Violence in the UK (Global Network on Extremism and Technology, 28 August)

• Are people more likely to accurately evaluate misinformation when the political stakes are high? Haha, no (Niemenlab, 27 August)

• Are We Really All Suckers for Fake News? (Columbia Magazine, 26 August)

Regions:

• USA

  • Exclusive: US government funding yielded hundreds of patents for China-based researchers (Reuters, 29 August)

  • How pro-Russia and China propaganda targets US ties with Trieste (Decode 39, 27 August)

  • Scarred by 2020 smears, voting companies and election officials brace for November (CNN, 27 August)

• MENA

  • Targeted: How Misinformation Puts Lebanon’s Syrian Refugees in Danger (Tahrir Instute, 28 August)

  • Israel Is Buying Google Ads to Discredit the UN’s Top Gaza Aid Agency (WIRED, 26 August)

• RUSSIA

  • The convenient distraction of false martyrdom (EUvDisinfo, 29 August)

  • Russia’s Propaganda Army, Pitching a ‘Nightmare Scenario’ For Ukraine (Cipher Brief, 29 August)

  • Jailed Anti-War Journalist Ponomarenko Threatens Self-Harm Over Prison Abuse (Moscow Times, 28 August)

  • Russia seized $100 million from Google to fund propaganda for war on Ukraine: Report (Firstpost, 26 August)

  • Slovakia withdraws protection for businessman linked to pro-Russian propaganda network (Euractiv, 26 August)

  • Amid Ukraine’s offensive, Russian propaganda reboots nuclear threat campaign (VOA News, 23 August)

• CAUCASUS

  • Kyrgyzstan Considers Fines for Spreading ‘False Information’ (The Diplomat, 28 August)

• CENTRAL ASIA

  • Four months of pre-trial detention given to Azerbaijani researcher accused of treason (Eurasianet, 23 August)