Australia to join the Quad opposing disinformation | China says U.S. TikTok, WeChat bans break WTO rules | Twitter accused of double standards over ban on tweets wishing death on Trump
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Australia, the United States, Japan and India will agree to jointly counter disinformation campaigns by authoritarian states and look to secure supplies of critical minerals and technology, in a bid to reduce their reliance on Chinese technology. SMH.
China said at a World Trade Organization meeting that restrictions by the United States on Chinese mobile applications TikTok and WeChat are in violation of the body’s rules, a trade official said. Reuters.
Twitter is facing a growing backlash in the wake of Donald Trump’s Covid-19 diagnosis as users accuse it of double standards in the way it polices those who wish death on others. The Guardian.
ASPI ICPC
Tinder Is the Latest Social Media Battleground in Thai Protests
Foreign Policy
@DariImpio @tracingtheworld
Platforms like Twitter and Facebook are subject to increasing pressure by the government and authorities, posing a threat to a young movement that heavily relies on digital activism to spread and thrive. Perhaps the most surprising targets are dating apps such as Tinder, where government power is intruding into even relatively private online spaces.
Conspiracy Extremism and Digital Complexity – Where to Start?
Global Network on Extremism and Technology
@elisethoma5
"...the rise of digital technology and the modern information ecosystem has fundamentally altered the nature of conspiracy movements and, therefore, also of conspiracy-linked extremism."
Victorian Government received 'assurances' forced Uyghur labour not used for state's new trains, Daniel Andrews says
ABC
The report's lead author, researcher Vicky Xu, said 41 Uyghur workers were transferred to KTK group, which lists rail transport manufacturers CRRC, Alstom and Bombardier among its customers, in July 2019. Bombardier manufactures Melbourne's trams and regional Victorian trains, while Alstom manufactures trains for Melbourne's metropolitan network. In July, the United States' Department of Commerce blacklisted KTK Group over its links to Uyghur forced labour..Ms Xu said it appeared the Government was ultimately relying on assurances from KTK Group that it was not involved in forced Uyghur labour programs.
Conscience investors put their values into stocks
FT
Investors are asking technology companies for specifics about what software they are selling and to whom, says Anita Dorett, associate programme director of the Investor Alliance for Human Rights (IAHR), whose members include BMO Global Asset Management and Aberdeen Standard Investments. She adds: “You have to do the due diligence on who the customer base is and if you are selling to the Chinese government then you need to take a higher standard of due diligence.”..In September, Hennes & Mauritz, the world’s second-biggest clothing retailer by sales, said it would cut ties with yarn supplier Huafu Fashion. A report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute alleged that a mill owned by the yarn producer Huafu Fashion Co in Anhui province had been using Uighur detainees as labour. Xinjiang produces more than 20 per cent of the world’s cotton and is a significant producer of cashmere, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a US think-tank.
Australia
Australia to join the Quad opposing disinformation from authoritarians
SMH
Australia, the United States, Japan and India will agree to jointly counter disinformation campaigns by authoritarian states and look to secure supplies of critical minerals and technology, in a bid to reduce their reliance on Chinese technology.
China
China Tech Digest: Baidu Reportedly To Spin Off AI Unit Xiaodu
China Money Network
Baidu plans to spin off its artificial intelligence business Xiaodu, raise funds independently, and may choose to list on the Science and Technology Innovation Board.
USA
China says U.S. TikTok, WeChat bans break WTO rules
Reuters
China said at a World Trade Organization meeting that restrictions by the United States on Chinese mobile applications TikTok and WeChat are in violation of the body’s rules, a trade official said.
Former Chinese government official ran TikTok’s content policy as app went global
FT
A former Chinese government official in his late twenties was in charge of deciding what content should be allowed on TikTok as the short-video app became a smash hit around the world, according to two people close to the company. Cai Zheng, who worked in China’s embassy in Tehran for four years according to a now deleted LinkedIn profile, ran ByteDance’s global content policy team in Beijing until early this year, when the company accelerated a move to let its biggest markets make their own decisions about what videos should be removed. The revelation that Mr Cai was at the heart of TikTok’s policymaking team raises questions about repeated denials from ByteDance, the app’s Beijing-based owner, that the Chinese government has any influence over TikTok’s operations.
U.S. Appeals Injunction Against WeChat Ban
NYT
The federal government on Friday appealed a judge’s ruling that prevented the Trump administration from imposing a ban on WeChat, the popular Chinese-owned messaging app.
ByteDance Deal for TikTok Seen Likely to Slip Past Election
Bloomberg
Bytedance Ltd. is working with U.S. regulators to resolve outstanding security concerns over its planned sale of a stake in music-video app TikTok, and the companies involved are bracing for the approval process to drag on past the November election, according to people familiar with the matter
Twitter accused of double standards over ban on tweets wishing death on Trump
The Guardian
Twitter is facing a growing backlash in the wake of Donald Trump’s Covid-19 diagnosis as users accuse it of double standards in the way it polices those who wish death on others.
Don't Fall For This Viral Conspiracy Claiming Trump Carried A Hidden Oxygen Tank On The Way To The Hospital
Buzzfeed
There are a lot of conspiracies going around about Trump's condition, including one that claimed he was wearing a hidden oxygen tank while heading to the hospital.
Trump Is a Super-Spreader of Disinformation
The Atlantic
The president is the single biggest reason why many Americans distrust science, the electoral system, and one another.
Mail-In Voter Fraud: Anatomy of a Disinformation Campaign
Berkman Klein Centre
Working paper shows Disinformation Campaign Surrounding the Risk of Voter Fraud Associated with Mail-in Ballots Follows an Elite-Driven, Mass Media Model; Social Media Plays a Secondary Role in 2020
The Turmoil Over ‘Black Lives Matter’ and Political Speech at Coinbase
Wired
The CEO of the cryptocurrency pioneer declared political discussions out of bounds—then gave employees a week to agree or leave.
Asia
Building ‘smart’ healthcare supply chains in Indonesia
Australia Indonesia Centre
Indonesia’s supply chains lack coordination and integration, so its hospitals have been unable to respond quickly to new demands caused by COVID-19. How can digital technologies help?
UK
GCHQ discovered 'nationally significant' vulnerability in Huawei equipment
Sky News
The issue in Huawei's equipment was initially withheld from the Chinese company and not reported due to security concerns.
Europe
Azerbaijani authorities disrupt internet nationwide amid Nagorno-Karabakh clashes
Global Voices
As intense fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan continues, Azerbaijani authorities announced on September 27 that it would start restricting internet access across the country. Internet users have reported difficulties accessing social media platforms and communication apps in the past days.
A Huawei Turning Point
WSJ
The Trump Administration has had some success convincing allies to exclude Huawei from their 5G networks, but Germany has been the most significant holdout. It’s good news then that Berlin soon will address the security risk posed by the Chinese telecom giant.
Middle East
Two years after Khashoggi’s slaying, no accountability for spyware firm or Saudi government
Access Now
There has been no real accountability for Khashoggi’s slaying, and NSO Group — the company whose surveillance tools were allegedly used to target Khashoggi — has since been implicated in a series of egregious human rights violations.
Research
The politics of internet security: Private industry and the future of the web
Atlantic Council
This report examines two protocols as examples of private sector influence over presently vulnerable systems key to the Internet’s function: the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), used to route Internet traffic, and the Domain Name System (DNS), used to address Internet traffic.
Events
[WEBCAST] Gen A | The Latest TikTok Challenge: Tech Decoupling
Asia Society
Asia Society Australia and PwC Australia warmly invite you to our first Gen A Flashpoints program, with Fergus Ryan, Analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. From Huawei to Google, TikTok to Twitter, join us as we explore growing ideological, political and economic fractures causing the latest TikTok challenge: tech decoupling.
Jobs
Senior Researcher / Project Lead
ASPI ICPC
ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre (ICPC) has an outstanding opportunity for a senior researcher to lead a one-year project looking at leadership networks across Asia. Interviews will start immediately.