A lot happened this week that’s worth talking about, including reports detailing how AI is being used to generate content that looks more realistic and is designed to garner more engagement, and another report documenting the growth of Russian propaganda accounts under Elon Musk’s leadership at Twitter. With 2024 drawing near, these new disinformation tactics — which, in some cases, have been deployed at scale — could make 2016 seem like a quaint memory.
So, in order to cover all of these developments and keep you up to date on what’s going on, we’re trying something new this weekend: A roundup of recent news, but this time on video! Let me know what you think — this is my first time producing video content, ever, so it’s a little choppy in some places, but I hope you’ll give it a watch and leave your feedback in the comments.
In this week’s roundup, we’ll cover China’s increasing use of sophisticated AI in influence and disinformation campaigns, including those targeting Americans & American voters, as well as a recent disinformation campaign involving AI images that spread after the Hawaii fires. I’ll link this back to some news from earlier this year and last year, when it was reported that China might be laying the groundwork to attack communication infrastructure in the Pacific.
We’ll also go over some cybersecurity news, including the case involving eleven Russians who were just charged for being behind some of the most destructive cyber attacks in recent years — in particular, cyberattacks against hospital systems. In concurrent statements, the US and UN governments took the rare step of alleging that the men are directly tied to Russian intelligence services, thus accusing Russian intelligence agencies of engaging in ongoing cyberattacks against critical infrastructure.
And finally, we’ll talk about some troubles at Twitter, including a report from the European Commission confirming what I reported in April — that pro-Russia and Russian state propaganda accounts are getting a boost under Elon Musk’s leadership. Also in Russia news, we’ll talk about the Russian website that has publicized the personal information of jurors in the Georgia election case against Trump and his associates. Thus far, the website has refused federal orders to remove the information.
More is in the pipeline, but hopefully this will help you catch up on some of the news that dropped this week. Be sure to let me know whether you like the video format or not. And thanks, as always, for being part of this community.
Links
NYT article on Hawaii disinformation
Microsoft report on China’s increasing use of AI (and blog, and WaPo report)
Previous reporting on Chinese disinfo (shows increase in sophistication over time); plus background info on Chinese state-linked vloggers.
Microsoft report on China targeting critical infrastructure in US and Guam.
European Commission report on Russian propaganda on Twitter and other social media sites.
Kremlin Twitter Accounts Get A Boost (Weaponized Spaces)
Russian website posts personal info of jurors in Georgia election case
Russian hackers involved in cyberattacks on hospitals: UK Treasury statement, U.S. Treasury statement, and DOJ statement announcing charges.
Disinformation campaigns ramp up ahead of 2024