Category Archives: chicanery
“American voters worry they can’t spot misleading information, poll finds”
PBS:
The new survey from PBS NewsHour, NPR and Marist Poll found that 59 percent of Americans say it is hard to identify false information — intentionally misleading and inaccurate stories portrayed as truth — on social media. Another… Continue reading
“Tech Companies Volunteer to Beef Up Presidential Campaigns’ Cybersecurity”
WSJ:
Nearly a dozen technology companies said they will provide free or reduced-cost cybersecurity services to presidential campaigns, which experts and intelligence officials have warned are ripe targets for intrusion and disinformation.They join a growing number of firms … Continue reading
“Lev Parnas Paid His Way Into Donald Trump’s Orbit”
WSJ:
After Donald Trump’s election, Lev Parnas saw a chance to cash in on his connections.The Florida businessman and Trump donor was courting investors for a real-estate project. He took one of them, Roman Nasirov, at the time the head… Continue reading
“FBI plans to notify states about local election breaches”
“Democrats sound election security alarm after Russia’s Burisma hack”
The Hill:
Congressional Democrats are raising fresh concerns about 2020 election security following a report this week that Russian military officers hacked Burisma Holdings, the Ukrainian gas company at the center of President Trump’s impeachment.Several Democratic lawmakers are… Continue reading
“Digital Threats on 2020 Elections”
NPR interview with Siva Vaidhyanathan. An excerpt:
MARTIN: So moving forward in 2020, as where we sit right now – obviously, it’s an election year in the United States. And I assume most Americans are very interested and concerned in… Continue reading
“‘Chaos Is the Point’: Russian Hackers and Trolls Grow Stealthier in 2020”
Must-read report in today’s NYT:
The National Security Agency and its British counterpart issued an unusual warning in October: The Russians were back and growing stealthier.Groups linked to Russia’s intelligence agencies, they noted, had recently been uncovered boring into… Continue reading
“U.S. Probes If Russia Is Targeting Biden in 2020 Election Meddling”
Bloomberg Politics: ” U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials are assessing whether Russia is trying to undermine Joe Biden in its ongoing disinformation efforts with the former vice president still the front-runner in the race to challenge President Donald… Continue reading
Breaking: “Facebook sticking with policies on politicians’ lies and voter targeting”
From Politico:
Facebook is standing by its policies that allow politicians to lie to voters, while targeting their ads at narrow subsets of the public — decisions with vast implications for the more than $1 billion in online campaign… Continue reading
House Hearing on Digital Manipulation and Deception
The Hill on today’s hearing “Americans at Risk: Manipulation and Deception in the Digital Age,” before the House Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce:
Facebook’s global policy chief faced tough questions before a House panel on Wednesday as lawmakers voiced… Continue reading
Galston on Deepfakes
From the Brookings report, “Is seeing still believing? The deepfake challenge to truth in politics,” with a nod to the Marx Brothers’ classic Duck Soup:
If AI is reaching the point where it will be virtually impossible to detect… Continue reading
“Facebook Bans Deepfakes but Permits Some Altered Content”
In the WSJ:
Facebook said it would remove or label misleading videos that had been edited or manipulated in ways that would not be apparent to the average person. That would include removing videos in which artificial intelligence tools… Continue reading
“Voters in town once run by polygamous sect probably broke the law when they cast ballots, prosecutor says, but charges are unlikely”
The Salt Lake Tribune runs
a story about potential improper registration in Colorado City (which,
despite the name, is half of a community that straddles
the Utah-Arizona boder).
There are real problems of unlawful behavior in Colorado City. But… Continue reading