Activists raise concerns about tech companies’ interference as violence in Israel and Gaza plays out | TikTok owner drops Alibaba Cloud outside China | Italian state news investigates Hikvision
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As Israel and Gaza slip toward war, videos of a collapsing apartment building, grieving families and rockets streaking through the night sky have quickly reached a worldwide audience on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok. The largely unfiltered view may have a long-term impact on how the public perceives the crisis — even as some activists call for more transparency about decisions by social media companies that recently blamed a glitch for taking down posts from Palestinian users. The Washington Post
Social media sensation ByteDance has dropped Alibaba's cloud services for its businesses outside China, two sources told Caixin, dealing a major setback to the e-commerce giant's global aspirations for a unit that is becoming a major source of revenue. Nikkei Asia
Italian state news investigated Hikvision in a high-profile TV broadcast, saying it found Hikvision cameras "communicate with China" and singling out the company's Uyghur alarms and Chinese government control. IPVM
ASPI ICPC
Mosques disappear as China strives to ‘build a beautiful Xinjiang’
Reuters
@catecadell
Researchers at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute estimated in 2020, after a survey of 900 Xinjiang locations, that 16,000 mosques had been partially or completely destroyed over the previous three years.
For more information on cultural destruction in Xinjiang, see ASPI ICPC’s ‘Cultural erasure’ report, here.
World
Secret Sharers: The Hidden Ties Between Private Spies and Journalists
The New York Times
@BarryMeier
A booming, renegade private intelligence industry is increasingly shaping (and misshaping) the news.
China
TikTok owner ByteDance drops Alibaba Cloud outside China
Nikkei Asia
Social media sensation ByteDance has dropped Alibaba's cloud services for its businesses outside China, two sources told Caixin, dealing a major setback to the e-commerce giant's global aspirations for a unit that is becoming a major source of revenue.
The Hackers Next Door
The Wire China
@NorthropKatrina
Whether it wants to find a place to station hackers, hire money launderers to funnel stolen money from cyber attacks, or even link up to the internet within North Korea, the cybercriminal group looks to its trusty accomplice: China. Lazarus is not alone. China has emerged in recent decades as a critical enabler of North Korea’s cyber operations, which include hacks of Japan’s Sony Entertainment in 2014 and the Bangladesh central bank in 2016, as well as the WannaCry 2.0 attack, which crippled global computer systems in 2017.
Eyeing US, China wields $33bn subsidies to bolster chips, defense
Nikkei Asia
Yusho Cho
China spent a record 213.6 billion yuan ($33 billion) in industry subsidies in 2020, eager to shore up key sectors including semiconductors and defense in its heated technology race with the U.S.
Censorship, Surveillance and Profits: A Hard Bargain for Apple in China
The New York Times
@jacknicas @zhonggg @daiwaka
Apple was preparing to store the personal data of its Chinese customers on computer servers run by a state-owned Chinese firm. Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, has said the data is safe. But at the data center in Guiyang, which Apple hoped would be completed by next month, and another in the Inner Mongolia region, Apple has largely ceded control to the Chinese government.
USA
US investigates second suspected case of mystery 'syndrome' near White House
CNN
@KatieBoWillCNN @jeremyherb @NatashaBertrand
Two White House officials were struck by a mysterious illness late last year -- including one who was passing through a gate onto the property -- newly revealed details that come as investigators are still struggling to determine who or what is behind these strange incidents.. The intelligence community still isn't sure who is causing the strange array of nervous system symptoms, or if they can be definitively termed "attacks." Even the technology that might cause such an inconsistent set of symptoms is a matter of debate.
New Zealand & The Pacific
Europe
Italian State News Investigates Hikvision
IPVM
@CharlesRollet1
Italian state news investigated Hikvision in a high-profile TV broadcast, saying it found Hikvision cameras "communicate with China" and singling out the company's Uyghur alarms and Chinese government control.
How Xinjiang-linked Chinese surveillance equipment is ‘stealth-sold’ in Europe, dodging detection
Techjournalist
Europe, the US and Britain, it’s becoming trickier to detangle whether surveillance equipment is connected to human rights violations in Xinjiang — China’s surveillance and oppression of minorities in Xinjiang is well documented. An open-data probe into Dahua and Hikvision exposes how OEM sales tactics are on the rise amid growing ethical concerns over the business with surveillance firms linked to China’s human rights violations in Xinjiang.
Middle East
As violence in Israel and Gaza plays out on social media, activists raise concerns about tech companies’ interference
The Washington Post
As Israel and Gaza slip toward war, videos of a collapsing apartment building, grieving families and rockets streaking through the night sky have quickly reached a worldwide audience on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok. The largely unfiltered view may have a long-term impact on how the public perceives the crisis — even as some activists call for more transparency about decisions by social media companies that recently blamed a glitch for taking down posts from Palestinian users.
Misc
Algorithms Make Fewer Mistakes Than Humans. Why Don’t We Trust Them?
The New York Times
@karaswisher
The Nobel Prize-winning economist Daniel Kahneman on why human “noise” makes systems less fair.
Events
Regulation, realpolitik and ransomware: Examining Australia's cyber policy landscape
CyberCX - Cyber Dialogue
CyberCX is pleased to be hosting the next instalment of our Cyber Dialogue webcast series, featuring Shadow Assistant Minister for Cyber Security Tim Watts MP in conversation with Alastair MacGibbon.
Jobs
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