Geoshawk, a disinfo dispatch: No.45

It's vacation time for me! But mis/disinfo monitoring doesn't stop; here's 30 + key news headlines and research studies from this week that you should know about!

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.

New: I will be covering all regions from now on including the broader European and Asian regions.

I hope you enjoy Geoshawk!

---

Tech Watch:

• TikTok Partners With WHO to Combat Medical Misinformation (Socialmediatoday, 26 September)

• Integral Ad Science Expands Its AI-Driven Total Media Quality Product On Youtube To Include Brand Safety And Suitability Measurement For Misinformation (PR Newswire, 26 September)

• How Meta Distanced Itself From Politics (NYT, 24 September)

Election Integrity:

• Misinformation running rampant on Facebook has officials concerned about election disruptions (CNBC, 26 September)

• News Outlets Brace for Chaos on Election Night (and Perhaps Beyond) (NYT, 25 September)

Miscellaneous News & Research:

• Team debunks research showing Facebook's news-feed algorithm curbs election misinformation (Phys, 26 September)

• Global Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse calls for urgent action on countering gendered disinformation (Government UK, 24 September)

• What the US can learn from the role of AI in other elections (MIT Technology Review, 24 September)

• What Public Discourse Gets Wrong about Social Media Misinformation (Knowledge at Wharton, 24 September)

  • Consumers Are Concerned about Misinformation. How Can They Navigate It Leading Up to the U.S. Election? (Knowledge at Wharton, 24 September)

• Who Is Responsible for Misinformation? We All Are (Psychology Today, 23 September)

• Disputed tags on election misinformation can backfire among Trump supporters (PSYPost, 22 September)

• Misinformation Is Real, and Scholars Need to Study It (The Chronicle of Higher Education, 20 September)

Regions:

• USA

  • Social media companies, lawmakers grapple with misinformation ahead of 2024 election (Semafor, 26 September)

  • Axios Vibes: Americans blame politicians for misinformation (Axios, 26 September)

  • U.S. tracking ongoing Iranian threats to government officials, Blinken says (Axios, 25 September)

  • Georgia's election board passed a controversial hand-count rule: Here's what to know (USA Today, 24 September)

  • Banned political ads found on TikTok weeks ahead of 2024 elections (NBC News, 23 September)

  • Their job is to combat Chinese-language misinformation. Inside this S.F. group’s operation (SF Chronicle, 22 September)

  • Judges Warn of More Politically Borne Threats, Disinformation (Bloomberg Law, 21 September)

  • OIG audit calls for more clarity from CISA, DHS on disinformation mission (Cyberscoop, 20 September)

• Middle East

  • Turkey investigates Kurdish journalist for ‘spreading disinformation’ over crime reporting (Committee to Protect Journalists, 23 September)

  • Russia's Shadow War Against Israel Revealed: Fueling Arab Discontent, Straining Foreign Relations (Haaretz, 20 September)

• Africa

• Europe

  • General

    • Fake news from Russian, Belarusian services spiked during floods in Poland, minister says (Reuters, 25 September)

    • Threats to Ireland have 'increased in significance' (Irish Examiner, 25 September)

  • Caucasus

    • Russia and Azerbaijan take aim at EU’s mission in Armenia (EurActiv, 26 September)

• Russia

  • That Time I Was a Russian Propagandist (The Atlantic, 26 September)

  • The Real Way to Fight Russian Disinformation (Politico, 25 September)

  • Russia mulls ban on 'childless propaganda' (France24, 25 September)

  • Russia in satellite deal with West African military governments (BBC, 24 September)

  • Russia-Backed Media Outlets Are Under Fire in the US—but Still Trusted Worldwide (WIRED, 24 September)

  • The Kremlin’s multipolar order of disinformation (EUvsDisinfo, 23 September)

  • Russia’s Disinformation Campaign in North America Becomes Smarter and More Flexible (Jamestown, 23 September)

  • How Russia Spreads Fake News In The Balkans (RFERL, 22 September)

• Asia

  • General

  • Central Asia

    • Perspectives: ISKP intensifying online propaganda targeting Russia and Central Asia (Eurasianet, 20 September)