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Russia struggling to have people believe disinformation accounts

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Days after Russia invaded Ukraine, multiple social media platforms-including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube- announced they had dismantled coordinated networks of accounts spreading disinformation. These networks, which were comprised of fabricated accounts disguised with fake names and AI-generated profile images or hacked accounts, were sharing suspiciously similar anti-Ukraine talking points, suggesting they were being controlled by centralized sources linked to Russia and Belarus.

Russia's Internet Research Agency used similar disinformation campaigns to amplify propaganda about the U.S. election in 2016. But their extent was unclear until after the election-and at the time, they were conducted with little pushback from social media platforms. "There was a sense that the platforms just didn't know what to do," says Laura Edelson, a misinformation researcher and Ph.D. candidate in computer science at New York University. Since then, she says, platforms and governments have become more adept at combating this type of information warfare-and more willing to deplatform bad actors that deliberately spread disinformation. Edelson spoke to Scientific American about how an information war is being waged as the conflict continues.

[ An edited transcript of the interview follows.]
How do social media platforms combat accounts that spread disinformation?
These kinds of disinformation campaigns-where they are specifically misleading users about the source of the content-that's really easy for platforms to take action against because Facebook has this real name policy: misleading users about who you are is a violation of Facebook's platform rules. But there are [other] things that shouldn't be difficult to take down-that historically Facebook has really struggled with-and that is actors like RT. RT is a Russian state-backed media outlet. And Facebook has really struggled historically on what to do with that. That's what was so impressive about seeing that [Facebook and other platforms] really did start to take some action against RT in the past week, because this has been going on for such a long time. And also, frankly, [social media platforms] have had cover from governments, where governments in Europe have banned Russian state media. And that has given cover to Facebook, YouTube and other major platforms to do the same thing. In general, banning anyone-but especially banning media-is not a step anyone should take lightly. But RT and Sputnik [another Russia state-backed media outlet] are not regular media: they have such a long track record of polluting the information space.
What else can be done to fight harmful false information?
One of the things that the U.S. did really well going into this conflict-and why, at least from a misinformation [controlling] perspective, the first week went very well-is that the U.S. government was really aggressive with releasing information about what it knew about the ground realities in Russia and Ukraine. That was really helpful for creating a space where it was difficult for the Russians to put out misinformation about those same things. Because the U.S. government was very forthcoming, it didn't leave a lot of room; there wasn't an information vacuum that the Russians could step in and fill. And then the Ukrainian government has been tremendously savvy in telling the story of the Ukrainian resistance. There are definitely times when it has stepped over the line into propaganda. But in general, it has made sure that the world sees the Ukrainian resistance and the fight that the Ukrainian people are willing to put up. That [helps] people see what is going on and understand that the people who are there fighting are real people who, not that long ago, were not fighters. They were civilians, and now they are defending their country.

I think both of those things are going to be difficult to maintain over time. But if they are not maintained, then the window for Russian misinformation will open. A challenge we are all going to have to deal with is that this war is not going to be over in the next few days, but the news cycle cannot maintain this level of focus on these events. It's shocking to say, but in three weeks' time, you will have hours go by without thinking about it. And that is when people's guards are going to go down. If someone is trying to spread some kind of [disinformation]-maybe the Russians make up some fake Ukrainian atrocity or something-that's when the world is going to be susceptible to that kind of thing. And that's when we're going to have to remember all this stuff of "Who was telling you the story? Do we trust them? How verifiable is this account?" This is going to be part of how conflict is waged going forward. But this is something that is new for all actors, and everyone is going to have to get used to keeping up their ground game in the information war, not just in the kinetic war.
Some people have also pointed out an apparent reduction in other forms of misinformation, such as vaccine-related conspiracy theories, since Russia's Internet infrastructure and payment networks were limited by sanctions. What is going on with that?
I haven't seen a large-scale analysis published about this. That said, there have been quite a few anecdotal reports that misinformation in other sectors has decreased markedly in the past week. We can't say for certain that this is because of lack of Internet access in Russia. The conclusion is not that all of this stuff that had been taken down was sourced from Russia. The conclusion that's reasonable to draw from these anecdotal reports is that Russian Internet infrastructure was a vital part of the tool kit of people who spread misinformation. There's a lot of pieces of this economy that are run out of Russia-bot networks, for example, networks of people who sell who buy and sell stolen credit card information, a lot of the economy around buying stolen [social media] accounts-because Russia has historically tolerated a lot of cybercrime. Either it turns a blind eye or a lot of these groups actually directly work for, or are contractors to, the Russian state.
How can we avoid falling for or spreading misinformation?
The bottom line is that people shouldn't have to do this. This is kind of like saying, "My car doesn't have any seat belt. What can I do to protect myself in a crash?" The answer is: your car should have seat belts, and that shouldn't be your job. But unfortunately, it is. With that small caveat, you have to remember that the most successful misinformation succeeds by appealing to emotions rather than reason. If misinformation can tap into that emotive pathway, you're never going to question it because it feels good, and if it feels good, it's adjacent to being true. So the first thing that I recommend is: if something makes you feel emotional-particularly if something makes you feel angry-before you share it or interact with it, really ask yourself the question "Who is promoting this, and do I trust them?"
What is the most important thing platforms need to do to install metaphorical seat belts?
I think the single biggest thing that platforms should be doing, especially in these moments of crisis, is [recognize they] should not promote content solely based on engagement. Because you have to remember that misinformation is really engaging. It is engaging because of some of those reasons I talked about: highly emotive appeal, things that circumvent reason and go straight to the gut. That's a really effective tactic for deception. So I think this is when platforms need to step up the importance of quality of content versus how engaging content is. That is the number one thing they could do, and almost everything else pales in comparison.

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Russia Is Having Less Success at Spreading Social Media Disinformation

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Days after Russia invaded Ukraine, multiple social media platforms-including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube- announced they had dismantled coordinated networks of accounts spreading disinformation. These networks, which were comprised of fabricated accounts disguised with fake names and AI-generated profile images or hacked accounts, were sharing suspiciously similar anti-Ukraine talking points, suggesting they were being controlled by centralized sources linked to Russia and Belarus.

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Social media posts have gained a lot of attention regarding the needs of the Ukrainian people, lots of donations have been made because of them

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'We've been absolutely overwhelmed': Donations and support pour in for Ukraine | ITV News

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Communities across the South East have been united in their efforts to help those affected by the invasion of Ukraine. One cricket club in Surrey has been collecting donations for those who've had to flee their homes. Marta Jarosiewicz was inspired by her friend to post on social media and ask for people to drop off items for people in Ukraine.

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China facing backlash over comments its citizens made on social media 

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China facing backlash over comments its citizens made on social media 

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source states china has a team specifically to monitor celebrities accounts, make sure they aren't posting anything anti china, the comments over the Ukrainian women has made Chinese officials say there is a strong "strategic relationship" between the two, demonstrating the power of a few social media comments

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After Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, a group of Chinese men on social media expressed their willingness to host homeless Ukrainians who may be fleeing the war - but said priority would be given to "Ukrainian women between the age of 18 and 25."

Similar comments could be found across major social media platforms in China. Some male users said they wanted to "take in homeless young Ukrainian women," while others said they "welcome Ukrainian beauties to China." The comments and the pro-Russian sentiment on the Chinese internet have left Chinese citizens stranded in Ukraine in a tough position.

In a video shared by Chinese online media, "Fei Dian," a Chinese student in Ukraine, said the sexist posts had been translated into Ukrainian and that someone had splashed water on Chinese citizens in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, soon after the posts began to circulate in the country.

"The war is cruel, so please don't treat it as a game," said one Chinese student, only identified by the last name Zhang. "The only difference is that it didn't happen in China, so please don't make fun of the Ukrainian people."

Chinese ambassador calls for empathy

Another Chinese student said some Chinese nationals in Ukraine had been confronted by Ukrainian people. The Chinese Embassy in Ukraine, which originally encouraged citizens to display Chinese flags on their cars for protection, quickly urged them not to identify themselves or sport any signs of national identity.

In a video address released late last month, Fan Xianrong, the Chinese ambassador to Ukraine, advised Chinese citizens not to argue with locals and discouraged them from filming in public spaces. He additionally called on Chinese people to show empathy for Ukrainians.

Chinese human rights lawyer Teng Biao said the sexist comments reflect the fact that some men in China still assert their masculinity by objectifying women. "These comments were made by some 'cyber hooligans' whose patriarchal beliefs were reflected through the misogynistic comments," he told DW.

Yaqiu Wang, a senior researcher on China at Human Rights Watch (HRW), said discussions about "Ukrainian beauties" have long existed in China, but that Russia's invasion of Ukraine has further aggravated the phenomenon. In 2016, Chinese media widely reported a story about how a Chinese man from Henan province married a Ukrainian woman two months after they met.

And in 2019, phrases like: "Ukraine is full of beautiful women who can't get married, and they desperately need single Chinese men to rescue them" also went viral on the Chinese internet. Media outlets in China have also published articles focusing on how much money Chinese men need to spend in order to marry Ukrainian women.

Chinese social media deletes thousands of posts

Soon after the comments triggered a backlash, social media platforms in China began to delete the offending posts and videos. Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, reportedly deleted more than 6,000 videos while the microblogging website Weibo removed over 540 comments from dozens of different accounts.

In a public statement released through its official WeChat account on February 26, China's cyberspace administration urged Chinese citizens not to publish false information as well as "vulgar content" related to welcoming Ukrainian women to come to China, as such content "provokes public sentiment and causes a great negative impact on cyberspace."

Rights lawyer Teng said authorities in China didn't take actions to deal with the comments until they began attracting attention abroad, saying it had damaged China's international image. "The Chinese government wants to save face, and its first concern is of course the image of the Chinese Communist Party and government," he told DW.

"Although this incident is mainly the opinion of some netizens, if the Chinese government does not deal with it properly, it will also indirectly affect its image," Teng added.

Wang from HRW said China's censorship regime isn't always quick to act when it comes to dealing with sensitive issues.

"The Chinese government assigns specific staff to monitor celebrity accounts, but even when they are proactive in censoring online content, there could still be some unexpected issues that can make it hard for them to always respond in a timely manner," said Wang.

Shifting the blame?

Since the controversy over the online comments, China's state-run media outlets have also begun to highlight the issue while claiming that some "anti-China individuals and organizations" have been trying to "play up" the inappropriate content.

In a piece published on February 28, China Daily, an English publication owned by the Chinese Communist Party's publicity department, acknowledged that a small group of users had made improper comments about Ukrainian women. However, it also claimed that some "anti-China forces" have tried to hype up the inappropriate content, citing evidence from research published by the China Cross-Strait Academy, a think tank based in Hong Kong.

According to the article, an expert from the private think tank claimed that two Twitter accounts, one he characterized as a Taiwan-related account, and the US-based online media outlet SupChina, are behind the sexist comments about Ukrainian women.

"It was under the 'cooperation of Taiwan-related anti-China forces' and the Chinese mainland's public opinion that these 'vulgarities against Ukraine' have become a negative trending topic," said Lei Xiying, a committee member of the Communist Party-backed All-China Youth Federation and founder of the think tank.

However, Teng believes claims that the comments were hyped up by anti-China forces are simply "nonsense."

"The Chinese Communist Party thinks that such online comments will affect China's image, so it is trying to shift the blame to forces that they claim support Taiwan's and Xinjiang's independence," he said.
Edited by: Leah Carter

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Ukraine: Sexist comments on Chinese social media trigger backlash | DW | 08.03.2022

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After Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, a group of Chinese men on social media expressed their willingness to host homeless Ukrainians who may be fleeing the war - but said priority would be given to "Ukrainian women between the age of 18 and 25."

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huge flood of users being tagged in posts stating they have won a brand new iPhone but is scam to hack accounts

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(Image: Getty 2022)

Instagram users across the UK are being urged to be wary of a new scam doing the rounds, where users are told they have won an iPhone 13.

It seems to be affecting hundreds of people as Instagram users flock to Twitter to warn others.

The scam is mainly targeting users in the comments section of the image sharing app, telling users that they've won a brand new iPhone 13 Max Pro phone.

The comment then urges the user to follow an account in order to make contact with the organisers of the giveaway.
READ MORE - New £100 card 'charges' catching out drivers at petrol pumps
The catch, of course, being that 99% of the 'winners' never actually entered any giveaway.

One person wrote on Twitter: "Where do i pick up the iPhone 13 I've just won on Instagram then?"

Another asked: "Has anyone else 'won' 5+ iPhone 13s today on Instagram?"

"Part of me believes that I have indeed won an Instagram competition to win an iPhone that I didn't enter" laughed a third.

Glasgow Live has contacted Instagram for comment.

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New iPhone 13 Instagram scam warning as reports of fraud attempts rise

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Instagram users across the UK are being urged to be wary of a new scam doing the rounds, where users are told they have won an iPhone 13. It seems to be affecting hundreds of people as Instagram users flock to Twitter to warn others.

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Watching War Unfold on Social Media Affects Your Mental Health

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Russia's invasion of Ukraine is heavily documented on social media. But photos and videos from the war may affect mental health.