Digital attacks raise fears over press freedoms in Indonesia | Facebook's Zuckerberg stoked Washington’s fears about TikTok | Facebook blocks group of one million Thai monarchy critics

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• A spate of hacking attacks on Indonesian media that published articles critical of the government's response to the coronavirus has raised concerns over press freedom, the country's leading journalists' association said on Monday. Reuters

• When Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg delivered a speech about freedom of expression in Washington, D.C., last fall, there was also another agenda: to raise the alarm about the threat from Chinese tech companies and, more specifically, the popular video-sharing app TikTok. The Wall Street Journal

• Facebook on Monday blocked access within Thailand to a group with 1 million members that discusses the country's king, after the Thai government threatened legal action over failure to take down content deemed defamatory to the monarchy. The move comes amid near daily youth-led protests against the government led by the former military junta chief and unprecedented calls for reforms of the monarchy. Reuters

ASPI ICPC

Covid-19 disinformation campaigns shift focus to vaccines
The Strategist
In ASPI’s latest report on Covid-19 disinformation, Albert Zhang, Emilia Currey and I investigated how the narrative of an American vaccine trial killing soldiers in Ukraine (which did not actually happen) was laundered from the propaganda site of a pro-Russian militia into the international information ecosystem. What this case study highlights is the way in which the battle for control of the coronavirus narrative is shifting from the origins of the virus to the hopes for a vaccine.

Australian link to online virus conspiracy
Yahoo News
The discredited theory claiming up to a third of 15 Ukrainian volunteers recruited for the American-led trial had died was posted to the propaganda sites of a pro-Russian separatist proto-state in eastern Ukraine, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute said in a report published on Monday.

China’s Science Talent-Recruitment Program Draws Fresh Attention
The Diplomat
@AbnijnanRej
In a major report released on August 20, an Australian think tank has sought to establish how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) uses overseas “talent-recruitment” stations to gain access to technology through covert and nontransparent means. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) report “Hunting the Phoenix” establishes that the CCP has at least 600 stations around the world that identify and recruit scientists and technologists who’d be valuable to China’s quest for technological dominance

Lily has over 100,000 followers on TikTok. Should she be worried about where her data is going?
SBS The Feed
Fergus Ryan is an analyst at The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (APSI) and specialises in Chinese tech companies, censorship, and social media. He disagrees with Alex. "[TikTok] is operating in a completely different legal environment to all those other apps," Ryan told The Feed.

World

The Chinese and American Apps Winning the Next Billion Users
Macro Polo
@mattsheehan88
One irony of US-China technology competition is that much of it isn’t taking place in either country. Instead, it plays out in dozens of developing countries around the world where American and Chinese technology companies compete to win over what they call “the next billion users.”

Facebook is training robot assistants to hear as well as see
MIT Technology Review
The company’s AI lab is pushing the boundaries of its virtual simulation platform to train AI agents to carry out tasks like “Get my ringing phone.”

Australia

How the QAnon conspiracy theory is tearing family and friends apart in Australia
ABC
@arielbogle
It's difficult to measure the strength of belief in QAnon in Australia. Analysis from misinformation tracking organisation First Draft suggests related Facebook groups, including one group with more than 12,000 members, have been active here since at least 2018. But QAnon posts can be found seeded throughout a number of Australia's online conspiratorial communities, including large anti-lockdown Facebook groups as well as anti-vaccination pages.

Cancelling memberships not enough to stop online abuse, says eSafety commissioner
The Age
Australia's top internet safety regulator says clubs and sporting bodies must go over and above cancelling fan memberships to stop players suffering social media abuse.

Black-hearted souls are submerged in darkest web
The Australian
@Rachael_falk
And when it comes to cracking open crime on the dark web, there is a clear opportunity for Australia to ensure domestic laws – laws with real-world consequences – are aligned with digitally perpetrated activities. This includes consideration of laws that would allow lawful access to data and devices where it is appropriate to do so.

China

How China Can Overcome Its Talent Deficit and Become a Chipmaking Power
Caixin
There is overwhelming consensus in China that we urgently need breakthroughs in domestic chip design and manufacturing. Recently, the State Council, China’s cabinet, issued several policies to spur development of high-quality integrated circuits and software industries...Contrary to popular opinion, China was not a late arrival to the semiconductor industry. However, our progress so far has been less than ideal. A lack of talent, low levels of investment, and sclerotic state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have all been offered as explanations for why China’s chip industry lags behind other nations — especially the first issue.

Thousands use social media to protest 'draconian' lockdown in China's Xinjiang
The Telegraph
China’s social media platforms have been flooded with thousands of posts protesting draconian coronavirus lockdown measures in the country’s far west Xinjiang region, including accounts of residents being chained up or barricaded in their homes.

China will step up technology innovation to drive growth: President Xi
Reuters
China will step up technology innovation to drive high-quality growth through mobilizing national resources and bringing in world class research teams, President Xi Jinping said on Monday, according to the state TV.

USA

Twitter hits Trump for 'misleading health claims' that could dissuade people from voting
CNN
Twitter on Sunday slapped a label on a tweet from President Donald Trump for "making misleading health claims that could potentially dissuade people from participation in voting."

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Stoked Washington’s Fears About TikTok
The Wall Street Journal
When Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg delivered a speech about freedom of expression in Washington, D.C., last fall, there was also another agenda: to raise the alarm about the threat from Chinese tech companies and, more specifically, the popular video-sharing app TikTok.

• Why we are suing the Administration | TikTok

The Pentagon is a shrine to antiquated technology where creative thinking goes to die
Task and Purpose
The fact that the Pentagon is a technologically backward outpost where innovation is considered a thought crime should come as no surprise to anyone who has spent any time either in or working for the military. But former Navy Chief Learning Officer John Kroger’s recent column for Wired beautifully lays bare the initial shock that newbies feel when they arrive at the building, only to find that the only military in the world with a budget of more than three-quarters of a trillion dollars has a headquarters that essentially predates the internet.

North-East Asia

Taiwan’s tech giants eye India as a manufacturing base with US partner Apple
The Economic Times
Taiwans tech manufacturers including Foxconn, Pegatron, and Wistron are looking beyond China. They want to de-risk supply chains by expanding in India — some believe at the prodding of Apple. This at a time when India is coming closer to Taiwan diplomatically. Is a free trade agreement between the two likely? Itll upset China, which claims sovereignty over Taiwan.

South-East Asia

Facebook blocks group of one million critical of Thai monarchy amid government pressure
Reuters
Facebook on Monday blocked access within Thailand to a group with 1 million members that discusses the country's king, after the Thai government threatened legal action over failure to take down content deemed defamatory to the monarchy. The move comes amid near daily youth-led protests against the government led by the former military junta chief and unprecedented calls for reforms of the monarchy.

Digital attacks raise fears over press freedoms in Indonesia
Reuters
A spate of hacking attacks on Indonesian media that published articles critical of the government's response to the coronavirus has raised concerns over press freedom, the country's leading journalists' association said on Monday.

The COVID-19 Infodemic in Malaysia: Scale, scope and policy responses
ISIS Malaysia
Considering experts have been warning how the pandemic would not be a short-lived affair and would lead to new normals, an understanding of the infodemic in Malaysia is a worthwhile exercise. To that end, this paper will present and discuss the overarching issues related to the COVID-19 infodemic; the scale, trends and themes of COVID-19 false information in the Malaysian context; the current efforts undertaken by the Malaysian government to address false information; before concluding with policy recommendations.

Threatened by Facebook Disinformation, a Monk Flees Cambodia
The New York Times
The monk, Luon Sovath, was the victim of a smear campaign this summer that relied on fake claims and hastily assembled social media accounts designed to discredit an outspoken critic of the country’s authoritarian policies. A New York Times investigation found evidence that government employees were involved in the creation and posting of the videos on Facebook.

New Zealand & The Pacific

Preparing for the Referendum: Research into the Bougainville Peace Agreement Telephone Information Hotline
Australian National University
This Discussion Paper focuses on a telephone information hotline that operated for eight weeks just before polling, allowing people throughout Bougainville to ring a free-call number and hear pre-recorded informational messages about the referendum and the two other pillars of the BPA, autonomy and weapons disposal. The hotline was one government information initiative supported by Australia and New Zealand, which used a mobile telephone-based platform to deliver awareness.

South and Central Asia

To send a message, it is time to ban Chinese firms from India’s 5G trials
Hindustan Times
Therefore, New Delhi needs to reinforce this clear-cut position by taking some more steps and measures to amply clarify the revised Indian policy toward China. One of the loudest signals that we can send is to ban Chinese firms from India’s 5G trials and roll-out. New Delhi needs to announce this decision soon.

UK

Treasury denies it plans to drop 'Facebook tax' in favour of trade deal
The Guardian
The UK government has denied reports that it is to drop a recently introduced levy on global technology companies such as Facebook, Google and Amazon due to fears the so-called “Facebook tax” could jeopardise a post-Brexit trade deal.

Europe

Germany's military-run transport fleet hacked
DW
Germany's state-owned vehicle fleet, which provides chauffeurs for parliamentarians and is run by the Bundeswehr military, has been hacked. Federal cyber experts have begun a probe, reports the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

Misc

The Cybersecurity 202: Coronavirus crisis spawned more scams than any other event in the last decade
The Washington Post
But no event over the last decade – even natural disasters that hackers use to rob people looking to donate to relief efforts – has spawned nearly as many schemes or lasted as long as those related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Events

Countering violent extremism: In-conversation with His Excellency Abdulla Al Subousi
ASPI
ASPI is delighted to invite you to join Leanne Close, head of ASPI’s Counter-Terrorism Program in-conversation with HE Mr. Abdulla Al Subousi, United Arab Emirates Ambassador to Australia to talk about current counter-terrorism perspectives. Ambassador Al Subousi will discuss the persistent nature of ISIL in parts of Syria and Iraq, Al Qaeda and other violent extremist groups in the region. The conversation will also focus on extremists’ continued use of online environments encouraging supporters to commit terrorist actions, the recent UAE agreement with Israel, as well as other continuing conflicts and unrest in the Middle East, and how these events influence terrorist extremist propaganda and calls to violence. The Ambassador will discuss these issues, identify policy options for combatting terrorism, and take questions from our online audience.
Date: 25 August, 5:00pm - 5:45pm.
Register to attend here. 

WDSN Careers Panel: Where to from here? 
ASPI
ASPI's Women in Defence and National Security Network is delighted to invite you to our second WDSN Careers Panel of 2020. While the pandemic makes our traditional WDSN events unfeasible, we are excited to bring you a panel of four distinguished women to talk about their career pathways in the defence and national security sector. In this panel our speakers will discuss their career pathways, and how they answered the question 'where to from here?' throughout their careers to date, and how they would tackle that question in the current environment of uncertainty.
Date: 26 August, 5:30pm - 6:30pm.
Register to attend here. 

Jobs

Assistant Professor in Intelligence and Security
University of Leiden 
The Research Group Intelligence and Security studies intelligence from a political, historical, ethical, judicial, and methodological perspective. Our main goal is to improve our understanding of how intelligence and security services operate, how their methodologies can be complemented, and how they are and have been embedded in their broader political, bureaucratic, and societal context - in the Western world and, emphatically, beyond. Applications due 15th September 2020.

Professorship in Legal Tech
University of Zurich 
The University of Zurich is seeking applications for a Professorship in Legal Tech to take effect from the beginning of the Spring Semester 2021 (1 February 2021), or by arrangement. The position is to be filled by an academic with an outstanding legal track record and excellent knowledge of information technology, whose research focuses on the impact of digital technologies in the field of law. Applications are due by 6 September 2020.