Besides binge-watching TikTok videos and battling enemies in the magical land of mobile games, many Chinese people may also pass time during the upcoming Lunar New Year on Xuexi Qiangguo, a news and chat app developed by the country’s top ideology officials. The app managed to top the Chinese App Store between January 22 and […]
View More A government propaganda app is going viral in ChinaCategory: Propaganda
Facebook finds and kills another 512 Kremlin-linked fake accounts
Two years on from the U.S. presidential election, Facebook continues to have a major problem with Russian disinformation being megaphoned via its social tools. In a blog post today the company reveals another tranche of Kremlin-linked fake activity — saying it’s removed a total of 471 Facebook pages and accounts, as well as 41 Instagram accounts, which […]
View More Facebook finds and kills another 512 Kremlin-linked fake accountsFacebook and Twitter remove accounts spreading fake news ahead of Bangladesh’s elections
Twitter and Facebook announced this morning they’ve removed a combined total of 30 accounts that were working to spread misinformation in Bangladesh, ten days before the country’s general elections. According to Facebook, the company removed nine Facebook Pages and six Facebook accounts that were engaging in “coordinated inauthentic behavior.” Twitter said it removed 15 accounts that […]
View More Facebook and Twitter remove accounts spreading fake news ahead of Bangladesh’s electionsEurope dials up pressure on tech giants over election security
The European Union has announced a package of measures intended to step up efforts and pressure on tech giants to combat democracy-denting disinformation ahead of the EU parliament elections next May. The European Commission Action Plan, which was presented at a press briefing earlier today, has four areas of focus: 1) Improving detection of disinformation; 2) […]
View More Europe dials up pressure on tech giants over election securityTech and ad giants sign up to Europe’s first weak bite at ‘fake news’
The European Union’s executive body has signed up tech platforms and ad industry players to a voluntary Code of Practice aimed at trying to do something about the spread of disinformation online. Something, just not anything too specifically quantifiable. According to the Commission, Facebook, Google, Twitter, Mozilla, some additional members of the EDIMA trade association, […]
View More Tech and ad giants sign up to Europe’s first weak bite at ‘fake news’WTF is this bizarre fake movie trailer Trump made for Kim Jong-un?
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Tumblr accounts used for state-sponsored propaganda had perfectly dumb names
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You’re a smart cookie, and would never typically fall for state-sponsored disinformation online. However, and just bear with me here, what if it came from a Tumblr account with a really great name?
And by great, we of course mean so perfectly stupid that it defies belief.
Tumblr today published a list of users it claims “were engaged in state-sponsored disinformation and propaganda campaigns,” and the wonderful collection represents a funhouse mirror look at internet culture as interpreted by possible Russian trolls. Specifically, Tumblr tied some of the accounts in question to the Internet Research Agency — a Russian troll farm known for its efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Read more…
More about Tumblr, Trolls, Propaganda, Tech, and Social Media Companies
View More Tumblr accounts used for state-sponsored propaganda had perfectly dumb namesTumblr confirms 84 accounts linked to Kremlin trolls
Tumblr has confirmed that Kremlin trolls were active on its platform during the 2016 US presidential elections. In a blog post today the social platform writes that it is “taking steps to protect against future interference in our political conversation by state-sponsored propaganda campaigns”. The company has also started emailing users who interacted with 84 accounts […]
View More Tumblr confirms 84 accounts linked to Kremlin trollsFake news is an existential crisis for social media
Every gun outrage in America is now routinely followed by a flood of Russian-linked Twitter bot activity. Exacerbating social division is the name of this game. And it’s playing out all over social media continually, not just around elections. Read More
Tumblr also lousy with Russia-backed US election trolls: Report
The meme-laden Tumblr platform is the latest social media and blogging outlet to be unmasked as a distribution channel for Russian agents to rip at America’s societal fault lines and seek to influence citizens’ voting habits, according to a report by BuzzFeed News. Read More
UK to set up security unit to combat state disinformation campaigns
The UK government has announced plans to set up a dedicated national security unit to combat state-led disinformation campaigns — raising questions about how broad its ‘fake news’ bullseye will be. Read More
Twitter to notify users who got played by Russian propaganda accounts
Over a half million Twitter users are about to be on the receiving end of an inbox surprise.
No, not the news of an unexpected verification. Nor something more prosaic, such as their unwitting participation in a new feature test group. Rather, …