Chinese spies eye-up new Aussie targets on LinkedIn | Coronavirus: How Facebook, TikTok and other apps tackle fake claims | community backs new laws to fix online hate
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Australia’s spy agency is investigating a sharp rise in suspicious approaches made to Australians in sensitive jobs on social media by overseas intelligence services. Herald Sun.
Social media networks are taking steps to address false information about the coronavirus on their sites. Facebook, Twitter and TikTok are among the firms working to provide links to accurate information. BBC.
Australia has reached a "tipping point” in its tolerance for online hate speech, with a large majority of people calling for new laws to tackle the growing problem. A nationally representative survey of 3737 adults found seven out of 10 respondents would support further legislation to stop the spread of hateful content online. Sydney Morning Herald.
ASPI ICPC
Great Powers Must Talk to Each Other About AI
Defense One
@EBKania @Andrew_Imbrie
Even as they compete, major militaries have reason to cooperate: to avoid misunderstanding and to establish best practices and pragmatic parameters.
Minitrue: Delete "disciplined doctor now in isolation ward"
China Digital Times
The case of the doctor in the Beijing Youth Daily interview has revived scrutiny of the supposed privacy of closed WeChat groups, which operator Tencent has previously claimed it has "neither the authority nor reason to look at."
Britain 'doing the wrong thing' by letting in Huawei 5G: former ASD officer
ZDNet
@stilgherrian
"It is disappointing that the Brits are doing the wrong thing on 5G, having not exhausted other possibilities," wrote Simeon Gilding at The Strategist, the blog of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI).
These countries have every reason to interfere in the 2020 election now that the GOP is giving Trump the go-ahead
Raw Story
“Hackers from the People’s Liberation Army have grasped the American idiom enough to fool American defense contractors, federal officials, and corporate employees into clicking on phishing links and malware from phony authors, but their cousins in Beijing’s disinformation apparatus seem to have a looser grasp of American culture,” the report states however, “Elise Thomas, a researcher at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute who has studied Twitter’s China disinformation datasets, cautioned against drawing too many conclusions about China’s social media capabilities, because the data available thus far is limited.”
World
Coronavirus: How Facebook, TikTok and other apps tackle fake claims
BBC
@zoegthomas
Social media networks are taking steps to address false information about the coronavirus on their sites. Facebook, Twitter and TikTok are among the firms working to provide links to accurate information.
Twitter’s notice about the coronavirus, directing users toward reliable information.
Australia
A 'seismic shift' as community backs new laws to fix online hate
Sydney Morning Herald
@niltiac
Australia has reached a "tipping point” in its tolerance for online hate speech, with a large majority of people calling for new laws to tackle the growing problem. A nationally representative survey of 3737 adults found seven out of 10 respondents would support further legislation to stop the spread of hateful content online.
Chinese spies eye-up new Aussie targets on LinkedIn
Herald Sun
@davidhurleyHS
The nation’s spy agency is investigating a sharp rise in suspicious approaches made to Australians in sensitive jobs on social media by overseas intelligence services.
Edith Cowan spends $50m on science, cyber push
Australian Financial Review
@roberttdbolton
Edith Cowan University in Perth is making an aggressive push into science research and cyber security, spending over $50 million on research facilities and chasing the government's objective of linking higher education to business and the community.
Cyber security warnings about Meriton and Huawei links
The Daily Telegraph
Cyber security experts have warned Sydneysiders living in Meriton apartments to avoid using the in-built Huawei Wi-Fi systems — as they could be putting their online life in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.
China
Meet the Chinese crowdsourcers fighting coronavirus censorship
MIT Technology Review
@chengela
Faced with information suppression and untrustworthy news, citizens in China and Hong Kong do their best to chronicle the coronavirus outbreak and sift fact from fiction.
Huawei: the indispensable telecoms company
Financial Times
The Chinese group is an irresistible technological force but could cause a fight between the UK and US.
Huawei, Xiaomi Research Hubs Paralyzed by Virus Outbreak
The Information
@JuroOsawa & Yunan Zhang
Huawei’s leafy campus in Wuhan, a research center built for 8,000 workers, is usually bustling with engineers developing everything from laptops and smart TVs to optical chips. But now, the company’s sleek, modern buildings are almost empty.
USA
TikTok Reinstates Pro-Life Org Live Action, Says Initial Ban for ‘Multiple Community Guidelines Violations’ Was ‘Result of a Human Error’
National Review
@TJHoonhout
Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok said it had reinstated the account of pro-life organization Live Action, after Live Action announced Friday that it had been permanently banned, without explanation, “due to multiple Community Guidelines violations.”
What the Iowa caucus means for getting Iowa online
The Verge
@kellymakena
Both parties want to bring broadband to rural America. Why hasn’t it happened?
A Site Tied To Steve Bannon Is Writing Fake News About The Coronavirus
Buzzfeed
@janelytv
Founded by an exiled billionaire and critic of the Chinese government, G News claimed without proof that China was prepared to admit the disease originated in its labs.
Russia
Russia moves to fine Facebook, Twitter again under data localization law
The Washington Times
@apblake
Facebook and Twitter were each threatened Friday with being fined nearly $100,000 apiece for allegedly failing to comply with a data localization law on the books in Russia. Roskomnadzor, the Russian government’s internet and media watchdog, announced that the agency initiated new administrative proceedings against each of the American-based companies.
Misc
This Man Created Traffic Jams on Google Maps Using a Red Wagon Full of Phones
Vice
@mjgault
By pulling 99 phones down empty streets, artist Simon Wreckert made it look like they were gridlocked on Google Maps.
Jobs
Lecturer/Senior Lecturer - Cyber Security
Curtin University
Full-time continuing role ALB – ALC $99,530 - $140,416 plus 17% superannuation and relocation
ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre has an outstanding opportunity for a talented and passionate technically-focused analyst to join its growing centre. We are looking for a creative and passionate individual who can contribute unique technical skills to work across a range of projects in the centre. This individual may possess skills and experience in one or more of the following areas including malware analysis, reverse-engineering, data analysis and web scraping (for work on online disinformation for example) and/or a deep technical knowledge of critical technologies. The successful candidate will be offered a remuneration package at a level aligned with their demonstrated skills and expertise. This is a contract position for an initial 1 year term with the option of extension. At any one time ASPI has multiple people working at the institute who are on secondments or unpaid leave from the Australian Public Service (APS). Similar arrangements - including secondments - can be negotiated in this instance pending approval from the APS department/agency.
Researcher – Cyber, Technology, Asia-Pacific
ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre has an outstanding opportunity for an emerging researcher to join its growing centre and work directly with the ICPC Director. Staff in the centre have diverse backgrounds and are usually involved in several projects at once. We are looking for a team member with a flexible, entrepreneurial approach, who is a self-starter, has the ability to deliver to deadlines and enjoys working in a collaborative team environment. Foreign languages (particularly Asian languages) and social media analysis skills are desirable but not essential. We are looking for a creative and passionate individual who can work collaboratively in a team environment to support the centre’s program of work. This will include working with a variety of centre staff to conduct research on a range of priority projects, on project coordination and administration, working to facilitate international fellowships, supporting public and private events and engaging with key stakeholders.
ASD is seeking two highly motivated, outcome-driven senior executives.
Policy Advisor (Electorate Officer)
Tim Watts MP
I'm now accepting applications for a Policy Advisor based in my Footscray electorate office (6kms from the Melbourne CBD).
Open Grants Process – Cyber Cooperation Program
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is pleased to invite project proposals for Australia's Cyber Cooperation Program. The Cyber Cooperation Program provides the framework to partner with countries in the Indo-Pacific region so they are equipped to respond to the opportunities and challenges presented by the growth of the global Internet and digital technologies.
“Closing the Gap” Conference Call For Papers
EU Cyber Direct
ASPI ICPC is inviting scholars, policy analysts and practitioners - in particular from Southeast Asia and the Pacific (!) - working on cyber-related issues to answer this call for papers. Organised by EU Cyber Direct and supported by the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we're looking for thought-provoking and insightful abstracts in the areas of responsible state behaviour in cyberspace; international cooperation against cybercrime; international law and stability in cyberspace; comparative analysis of national or regional approaches to build cyber resilience; and/or new technologies and cybersecurity.
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