Geoshawk, a disinfo dispatch: No.48

New global freedom report, Tiktok let's through disinfo in political ads despite a ban, EU says disinfo efforts failed to sway the elections, Russian disinfo grows in Germany & 24 more key headlines!

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. Other regions are also featured.

I hope you enjoy Geoshawk!

---

Tech Watch:

• Former Microsoft CEO's efforts to combat misinformation (CNN, 17 October)

• TikTok let through disinformation in political ads despite its own ban, Global Witness finds (TikTok, 17 October)

  • Before US election, TikTok and Facebook fail to block harmful disinformation. YouTube succeeds (Global Witness, 17 October)

Election Integrity:

Global Miscellaneous News & Research:

• Miscellaneous News & Research:

  • Freedom On The Net 2024 The Struggle for Trust Online (Freedom House, October)

  • Model reveals why debunking election misinformation often doesn’t work (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 15 October)

  • It’s Getting Harder to Study Fake News (Bloomberg, 12 October)

• Other regions:

  • Threats to Internet Freedoms Persist in Turkey and Serbia, Report Warns (Balkan Insight, 16 October)

  • Commission says disinformation efforts failed to sway EU election (Politico, 15 October)

  • UK police scale back presence on X over misinformation worries (Digital Watch, 15 October)

Regions:

• USA

  • Liam Payne Death Misinformation Plagues Internet Amid Conspiracy Theories (Newsweek, 17 October)

  • RUSSIAN DISINFORMATION ON THE RISE AS U.S. ELECTION APPROACHES (The Debrief, 17 October)

  • How reported threats in N.C. trace to Trump-fueled misinformation (Washington Post, 14 October)

  • This threat hunter chases U.S. foes exploiting AI to sway the election (Washington Post, 13 October)

  • Unverified “Grooming” Accusation Against Walz Promoted by Russian Disinformation Operative (Newsguard, 13 October)

  • How hurricane conspiracy theories took over social media (BBC, 10 October)

  • I’M RUNNING OUT OF WAYS TO EXPLAIN HOW BAD THIS IS (The Atlantic, 10 October)

• Middle East

  • The Role of “Online” in the Israel-Lebanon Conflict: A Study of Accounts and Cyber Warfare (Now Lebanon, 15 October)

  • What We Saw In Gaza’—Deepfakes And Proof In The Age Of Digital Manipulation (Forbes, 14 October)

  • Navigating the Misinformation Minefield: Media Bias of Reporting on the war on Gaza (Misbar, 12 October)

• Caucasus

  • Information warfare in the South Caucasus and Moldova (Atlantic Council, 17 October)

  • Azerbaijan: Repression intensifies in the run-up to COP29 in Baku (Le Monde, 11 October)

• Russia

  • Siren Songs of the Kremlin (EU v Disinfo, 17 October)

  • Ukraine accuses Russia of intensifying cyber misinformation (Digital Watch, 17 October)

  • Moscow Roils a Country on the Edge of Europe and Russia (NYT, 17 October)

  • We’re Winning, Say Russia’s Fake News Manufacturers (Center for European Policy Analysis, 16 October)

  • Russia using generative AI to ramp up disinformation, says Ukraine minister (Reuters, 16 October)

  • A German Recipe for Defeating Russia’s Disinformation (Center for European Policy Analysis, 16 October)

    • Russian disinformation is growing in Germany (DW, 15 October)

  • Russia’s Latest Target in Africa: U.S.-Funded Anti-Malaria Programs (NYT, 14 October)

• Central Asia

  • Kyrgyzstan: Conviction of journalists at anti-corruption outlet is “turning point for press freedom” (Eurasianet, 11 October)