TikTok CEO resigns / China secretly built a vast new infrastructure to imprison Muslims / Viral pro-Trump tweets came from fake African American spam accounts, Twitter says
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Kevin Mayer, the chief executive of Chinese-owned video app TikTok, said on Wednesday that he was resigning after the company came under pressure from the Trump administration over its ties to China. The New York Times
A BuzzFeed investigation has identified over 260 Xinjiang internment camps by examining blanked-out spots on Baidu Maps and using satellite images. BuzzFeed
Twitter has taken action to stop a spam operation that pushed messages from fake accounts about Black people abandoning the Democratic Party. NBC News
ASPI ICPC
China Secretly Built A Vast New Infrastructure To Imprison Muslims
Buzzfeed News
@meghara @alisonkilling
Nathan Ruser, a researcher at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute who has done extensive satellite imagery analysis of the detention and prison systems in Xinjiang, said the video shows a prisoner transfer that took place in April 2019 — months after the government first said the system was for vocational training.
Australia
PM is mending the cracks in our federation that China seeks to exploit
The Sydney Morning Herald
@michael_ASPI
Inverting Fukuyama, powerful states can use global connections, technology and relationships to reach into others' domestic economies and politics to interfere with and influence national policy and to gain advantage.
Coalition shields firebrand MP Craig Kelly from censure for spreading Covid misinformation
The Guardian
@mmcgowan
The federal government has blocked an attempt by Labor to chide the Liberal party backbencher Craig Kelly for repeatedly pushing for the use of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19. For weeks, Kelly has used social media and the federal parliament to advocate for the use of hydroxychloroquine in combating the virus, despite warnings from health officials and organisations across the globe that the drug is ineffective and potentially harmful when used to treat Covid-19 patients.
Read our ICPC report Covid-19 Disinformation & Social Media Manipulation here.
Minister accuses foreign governments of exploiting 'proud Australians'
ABC News
@steph_dalzell @stephendziedzic
The ABC has been told that the Federal Government is increasingly concerned about the way the Chinese Government has been trying to consolidate its political influence in the Chinese-Australian community. Australian security officials have also observed the way the Chinese Government has intensified monitoring and intimidation of some Chinese students and political dissidents. They remain concerned about the hold the Chinese Communist Party has on many Chinese-language media outlets in Australia.
China
USA
TikTok Chief Executive Kevin Mayer Resigns
The New York Times
@MikeIsaac
Kevin Mayer, the chief executive of Chinese-owned video app TikTok, said on Wednesday that he was resigning after the company came under pressure from the Trump administration over its ties to China.
Walmart Joins Microsoft in Pursuit of Deal to Acquire TikTok
Bloomberg
@bizboyle
Walmart Inc. has teamed up with Microsoft Corp. in a joint bid to acquire TikTok, a surprise move that signals the retail giant’s desire to become a force in technology and media and reach younger shoppers.
TikTok's security boss makes his case. Carefully.
CyberScoop
@jeffstone500
Roland Cloutier, the global chief security officer for ByteDance, says he still doesn’t understand why the U.S. government has labeled TikTok as a national security threat.
Viral pro-Trump tweets came from fake African American spam accounts, Twitter says
NBC News
@oneunderscore__
Twitter has taken action to stop a spam operation that pushed messages from fake accounts about Black people abandoning the Democratic Party. The company removed two fake accounts and deleted the account of a San Diego man who spammed the platform, a Twitter spokesperson confirmed Wednesday.
Facebook failed to shut down page of Kenosha militia group, despite warning
CNN
@donie
Facebook failed to take action against a self-styled militia group that was using the social media platform to encourage armed citizens to take to the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Tuesday night — despite at least one Facebook user reporting the group to the company, Facebook confirmed to CNN on Wednesday.
Alleged 'Boogaloo' extremist charged in killing of federal officer during George Floyd protest
NBC News
@anblanx @oneunderscore__
An Air Force sergeant who was arrested in the fatal ambush of a Santa Cruz County deputy was charged Tuesday in connection with the killing of a federal security officer during George Floyd protests in Oakland last month, authorities said.
Remarks of Deputy Attorney General Jeffery A. Rosen on Malign Foreign Influence in U.S. Elections
The United States Department of Justice
@TheJusticeDept
We are also concerned about another threat, known as malign foreign influence. The key word is “influence.” Much of the time that is disguised propaganda. Other times, it is using pressure tactics on influential people. It can also take the form of hacking and disclosing private emails or phone messages. It comes in many different forms, all designed to influence how Americans think about issues and cast their votes.
The Risks of Exaggerating Foreign Influence Operations and Disinformation
Centre for International Governance Innovation
@gabriellelim
However, despite all the fears of mass-targeted influence operations from foreign adversaries, it remains unclear whether they have much impact at all.
The Future of American Industry Depends on Open Source Tech
WIRED
@thekevinxu @jordanschnyc
Instead of launching into a costly trade war with China, we need to fully embrace the fastest, safest, and most democratic way of advancing technology.
South-East Asia
After block, new Facebook group criticising Thai king gains 500,000 members
Reuters
More than half a million Thai users flocked to join a new Facebook group created by a critic of the powerful king after the social media company blocked its predecessor under pressure from the government. The "Royalist Marketplace" group, which had over 1 million members, was blocked within Thailand late on Monday after the digital ministry threatened legal action against Facebook under the country's Computer Crime Act.
Europe
Belarus Turned Off the Internet. Its Citizens Hot-Wired It.
Gizmodo
@AliideNaylor
In early August, Belarus — known as Europe’s last dictatorship — went almost entirely offline for 72 hours. On Wednesday August 26, for approximately one hour, Belarus shut down key parts of the capital’s internet once again; allegedly, the order had come directly from official state bodies.
Africa
Ethiopia is set to launch its second satellite into space, again with China’s help
Quartz Africa
@ZekuZelalem
Ethiopia is finishing plans to launch its second satellite into orbit next month, just eight months after the launch of its ETRSS-1 Satellite last December. The country’s space ambitions, backed by China’s funds and its satellite launch sites, has seen Ethiopian engineers design the satellites in an initiative co-funded by both countries.
Events
PANEL: Women in engineering showcase
The Australian National University
Listen to some of the talented women from the Research School of Electrical, Energy, and Materials Engineering at ANU. Hear about their career paths, the challenges they have overcome and their current research. Panel members Dr Elizabeth Ratnam, Dr Fiona Beck, Dr Prasanga Samarasinghe, Dr Catherine Galvin and moderator Associate Professor Catherine Ball will also provide advice to women interested in engineering.
Research
Special Report 2020 - User Privacy or Cyber Sovereignty?
Freedom House
This splintering of the internet will also embolden more governments to pursue a model of cyber sovereignty, with grave implications for the future of internet freedom. This report examines the implications of data localization policies on users’ human rights.