Biden's call on democracies to regulate tech | Facebook deleted Myanmar military page | Canada vowed to join Australia in fight against Big Tech's power
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President Biden on Friday called on the United States and other democratic nations to shape the "rules of the road" on cybersecurity and tech issues, particularly as part of efforts to confront China and Russia. "We must shape the rules that will govern the advance of technologies and the norms of behavior in cyberspace, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, so they are used to lift people up, not used to pin them down," Biden said during remarks at the White House as part of the virtual Munich Security Conference. The Hill
Facebook on Sunday deleted the main page of the Myanmar military under its standards prohibiting the incitement of violence, the company said, a day after two protesters were killed when police opened fire at a demonstration against the Feb 1 coup. Reuters
Canada has vowed to be the next country to make Facebook pay publishers for news content, following Australia's example in the crusade against big tech's power. The Market Herald
ASPI ICPC
‘Question of judgment’: Labor candidate’s front-page ads in pro-CCP paper under fire as fight for Riverton heats up
WA Today
@MartaPascual3
Australian Strategic Policy Institute China researcher Nathan Attrill, an expert on Australia’s Chinese-language media landscape, said ignorance was no excuse. “To say, ‘We’ve got no idea Edward Zhang has connections to the United Front’ – it just doesn’t cut it at this point.”
Read ASPI ICPC’s Chinese-language media report here.
The World
Online Speech Is Now an Existential Question for Tech
The Wall Street Journal
@mims
Every public communication platform you can name—from Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to Parler, Pinterest and Discord—is wrestling with the same two questions: How do we make sure we’re not facilitating misinformation, violence, fraud or hate speech? At the same time, how do we ensure we’re not censoring users?
“Mark Changed The Rules”: How Facebook Went Easy On Alex Jones And Other Right-Wing Figures
BuzzFeed News
@RMac18 @CraigSilverman
Facebook’s rules to combat misinformation and hate speech are subject to the whims and political considerations of its CEO and his policy team leader.
Australia
Pacific media warns Facebook ban on Australian news could have serious effects in the region
ABC News
@marianfaa @stephendziedzic
Analysts and journalists are warning that Facebook's decision to block Australian news sites could undermine democracy and help misinformation flourish in Pacific Island nations.
Peter Bodkin @peter_bodkin
Update: We've been told this is an unintended and temporary ban on users sharing fact checks (ban on news articles is intended and ongoing, soz), and it's being fixed https://t.co/lXA603aOW4Melbourne's RMIT University suspends classes after suffering IT outage
ABC News
RMIT University has suspended online and in-person classes after suffering an IT outage that one government source has described to the ABC as a significant cyber attack.
China
Huawei loses court bid for release of HSBC records in finance chief’s case
Financial Times
Huawei’s attempts to stop the extradition of Meng Wanzhou, its chief financial officer and daughter of the company’s founder, have suffered a heavy blow after it failed to convince a London court to force HSBC to hand over documents related to the case.
I helped build ByteDance's censorship machine
Protocol
@shenlulushen
When I was at ByteDance, we received multiple requests from the bases to develop an algorithm that could automatically detect when a Douyin user spoke Uyghur, and then cut off the livestream session. The moderators had asked for this because they didn't understand the language. Streamers speaking ethnic languages and dialects that Mandarin-speakers don't understand would receive a warning to switch to Mandarin. If they didn't comply, moderators would respond by manually cutting off the livestreams, regardless of the actual content.
A Sharper, Shrewder U.S. Policy for Chinese Tech Firms
Foreign Affairs
RedDrip Team @RedDrip7
Maybe a new sample from #APT28 #APT group, Victims are lured to open the bait doc，attack #Kazakhstan https://t.co/QEreSlafBW https://t.co/FN8ekp1ibv https://t.co/FMARiNpqY8USA
Biden calls for creating 'rules' on cyber, tech to combat China and Russia threats
The Hill
@MagMill95
President Biden on Friday called on the United States and other democratic nations to shape the "rules of the road" on cybersecurity and tech issues, particularly as part of efforts to confront China and Russia. "We must shape the rules that will govern the advance of technologies and the norms of behavior in cyberspace, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, so they are used to lift people up, not used to pin them down," Biden said during remarks at the White House as part of the virtual Munich Security Conference.
In Biden World, Economic Policy Is National Security Policy
The Wall Street Journal
@GeraldFSeib
These days, U.S. security is more dependent on adopting emerging technologies and making sure supply chains for critical goods are at home.
Opinion | Biden needs new ways to fight for democracy. Here are some ideas.
The Washington Post
The underside of many authoritarian regimes is the theft of resources by a favored few, brilliantly exposed in Russia by Mr. Navalny and the open-source journalism outfit Bellingcat. The democracies ought to borrow from their pioneering work on YouTube to use technology — satellite imagery, cellphone records, mobility data and social media — to reveal thieving and duplicity. Democracies can further empower besieged citizens with resilient and robust communications channels that dictators deny them. The important role that Telegram has played in Belarus offers a glimpse of the possible. So does the use of satellite imagery to reveal the concentration camps for Uighurs in China.
Facebook just handed its critics in Washington a lot more ammunition
Politico
@nancyscola
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said for years that governments should set rules for the internet. Now his Washington critics say the company’s news blackout in Australia proves he didn’t mean it.
Transcript: Matt Pottinger on "Face the Nation," February 21, 2021
CBS News
MATT POTTINGER: The intelligence community does need to prioritize the collection of intelligence on these kinds of bio threats rather than relying strictly on- on sister-to-sister relationships between our CDC and public health officials in other countries. But I don't think that the intelligence community is going to be able to do more than that critical role of collecting and analyzing the information.
North Asia
Taiwan raises 2021 GDP outlook amid global scramble for chips
Bloomberg
Taiwan raised its forecast for growth this year as a global shortage of semiconductors sparks an international competition to secure access to the island’s technology.
Southeast Asia
Facebook takes down main page of Myanmar military
Reuters
Facebook on Sunday deleted the main page of the Myanmar military under its standards prohibiting the incitement of violence, the company said, a day after two protesters were killed when police opened fire at a demonstration against the Feb 1 coup.
Cambodia: Internet Censorship, Control Expanded
Human Rights Watch
The Cambodian government’s new National Internet Gateway will enable the government to increase online surveillance, censorship, and control of the internet that will seriously infringe on rights to free expression and privacy, Human Rights Watch said today.
Thai users of Clubhouse app warned about political content
News4Jax
@AP
Thailand’s government warned users of the recently introduced Clubhouse voice chat app on Wednesday that they must be careful not to misuse it or face possible legal consequences.
South & Central Asia
Duplicitous online speech regulation imperils Indian democracy
East Asia Forum
@Charitarthb
Big tech’s approach in India is a careful balancing act between its business interests, given India’s vast user base and potential, and the risks involved in antagonising the right-wing Hindu nationalist government. Twitter’s recent actions in India stand in contrast to its stance in the United States where it banned former president Donald Trump’s account for inciting violence after flagging his tweets with warnings.
UK
5G and Emerging Technology: The Politics of Diversification
Rusi
James Sullivan
The UK government must learn quickly from its policy decisions around its 5G networks, and start grappling much earlier with risks posed by other emerging technologies.
Europe
Opinion: China is a rising digital superpower. Europe and the U.S. must catch up — together.
The Washington Post
@carlbildt
In its policy paper welcoming the Biden administration, the European Commission calls for a “joint EU-US tech agenda,” wants to “join forces as tech-allies to shape technologies, their use and their regulatory environment” and proposes setting up a E.U.-U.S. Trade and Technology Council. That’s an excellent policy approach, and the sooner a deep dialogue on digital issues starts, the better.
TikTok targeted over ‘misleading’ privacy practices and ‘ambiguous’ terms in Europe
Fortune
David Meyer
TikTok has been hit with a volley of complaints from Europe's consumer-protection watchdogs, over practices they say are unfair to users—particularly kids.
Russia
China Censors the Internet. So Why Doesn’t Russia?
The New York Times
@antontroian
The Kremlin has constructed an entire infrastructure of repression but has not displaced Western apps. Instead, it is turning to outright intimidation.
Americas
Canada to join Australia in fight against Facebook’s dominance
The Market Herald
Oliver Gray
Canada has vowed to be the next country to make Facebook pay publishers for news content, following Australia's example in the crusade against big tech's power.
Misc
Google’s next big Chrome update will rewrite the rules of the web
WIRED
@mattburgess1
Google Chrome is ditching third-party cookies for good. If all goes according to plan then future updates to the world’s most popular web browser will rewrite the rules of online advertising and make it far harder to track the web activity of billions of people. But it’s not that simple.
The Internet Is Splintering
The New York Times
@ShiraOvide
Each country has its own car safety regulations and tax codes. But should every country also decide its own bounds for appropriate online expression? If you have a quick answer, let me ask you to think again. We probably don’t want internet companies deciding on the freedoms of billions of people, but we may not want governments to have unquestioned authority, either.
New malware found on 30,000 Macs has security pros stumped
Ars Technica
@dangoodin001
A previously undetected piece of malware found on almost 30,000 Macs worldwide is generating intrigue in security circles, and security researchers are still trying to understand precisely what it does and what purpose its self-destruct capability serves.
Forget 5G, the U.S. and China Are Already Fighting for 6G Dominance
Bloomberg
Though still years away from becoming reality, 6G could deliver the kind of technology that’s long been the stuff of science fiction, from real-time holograms to flying taxis and internet-connected human bodies and brains.
Research
Chinmayi Arun on India and the future of the Internet
The Lawfare Podcast
Digital technologies and civil conflict
EU Institute for Security Studies
This Conflict Series Brief attempts to shed light on some of the risks associated with the use of digital technologies that can negatively impact mediation or negotiation efforts in civil conflicts, and examines how peacemakers might address them.
Events
ASPI Webinar: TikTok & WeChat, where to now?
ASPI ICPC
At this webinar, ASPI analyst Fergus Ryan will be joined by Lindsay Gorman from the German Marshall Fund’s Alliance for Securing Democracy; Jordan Schneider, host of the ChinaTalk podcast; Joanna Chiu, journalist and Dr Christopher Parsons from the Munk School's Citizen Lab, to examine and debate the challenges and threats posed by apps like TikTok and WeChat.
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