Trump administration secretly seized phone records of Times reporters | Universities should capitalise on research arms race: Sinodinos | India and Israel inflame Facebook’s fights with own employees
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The Trump Justice Department secretly seized the phone records of four New York Times reporters spanning nearly four months in 2017 as part of a leak investigation, the Biden administration disclosed on Wednesday. It was the latest in a series of revelations about the Trump administration secretly obtaining reporters’ communications records in an effort to uncover their sources. The New York Times
Australia’s Ambassador to the United States, Arthur Sinodinos, says a scientific arms race between America and China has created a boom in opportunities for universities to collaborate on defence and sensitive technologies research with our foremost ally. Mr Sinodinos said the Biden administration was seeking out closer research collaboration with its allies and intelligence partners and was watching closely how Australia managed foreign interference risks inside universities. The Sydney Morning Herald
When India’s government ordered Facebook and other tech companies to take down posts critical of its handling of the coronavirus pandemic in April, the social network complied on some posts. But once it did, its employees flocked to online chat rooms to ask why Facebook had helped Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India stifle dissent. The New York Times
ASPI ICPC
World
India and Israel Inflame Facebook’s Fights With Its Own Employees
The New York Times
@sheeraf @MikeIsaac
The social network wrongly bowed to government demands to take down content in the countries, employees said, in more signs of internal dissent.
Facebook to end special treatment for politicians after Trump ban
The Verge
@alexeheath
Facebook plans to end its controversial policy that mostly shields politicians from the content moderation rules that apply to other users, a sharp reversal that could have global ramifications for how elected officials use the social network.
Australia
Universities should capitalise on research arms race between US and China: Sinodinos
The Sydney Morning Herald
@LisaVisentin
Australia’s Ambassador to the United States, Arthur Sinodinos, says a scientific arms race between America and China has created a boom in opportunities for universities to collaborate on defence and sensitive technologies research with our foremost ally. Mr Sinodinos said the Biden administration was seeking out closer research collaboration with its allies and intelligence partners and was watching closely how Australia managed foreign interference risks inside universities.
ABC bosses block Four Corners episode linking PM to QAnon figure
The Sydney Morning Herald
@zoesam93
ABC management has knocked back an upcoming Four Corners episode by prominent journalist Louise Milligan about the relationship between Prime Minister Scott Morrison and a supporter of the QAnon conspiracy theory, a decision that could be seen as an attempt to dampen tensions between the national broadcaster and the federal government.
NDIS ‘robo-plans’ test algorithmic transparency
InnovationAus
Denham Sadler
The federal government’s plan to determine the size of NDIS support packages for over 400,000 participants by fitting them into 400 ‘profiles’ will be a test of algorithmic transparency, according to La Trobe University senior lecturer Dr Darren O’Donovan.
USA
Trump Administration Secretly Seized Phone Records of Times Reporters
The New York Times
@charlie_savage @ktbenner
The Trump Justice Department secretly seized the phone records of four New York Times reporters spanning nearly four months in 2017 as part of a leak investigation, the Biden administration disclosed on Wednesday. It was the latest in a series of revelations about the Trump administration secretly obtaining reporters’ communications records in an effort to uncover their sources.
Biden to Amend Trump’s China Blacklist, Target Key Industries
Bloomberg
@jendeben @JenniferJJacobs @SalehaMohsin
President Joe Biden plans to amend a U.S. ban on investments in companies linked to China’s military this week, after the Trump-era policy was challenged in court and left investors confused about the extent of its reach to subsidiary firms, people familiar with the matter said. Under Biden’s amended order, the Treasury Department will create a list of companies that could face financial penalties for their connection to China’s defense and surveillance technology sectors, the people said.
Biden issues an order banning U.S. investment in firms that aid surveillance and repression.
The New York Times
@SangerNYT
The new order, which initially lists 59 Chinese firms, substantially expands an order issued in November by President Donald J. Trump.Executive Order Addressing the Threat from Securities Investments that Finance Certain Companies of the People’s Republic of China
The White House
Today, President Biden signed an Executive Order (E.O.) to further address the ongoing national emergency declared in E.O. 13959 of November 12, 2020 with respect to the threat posed by the military-industrial complex of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
U.S. to give ransomware hacks similar priority as terrorism, official says
Reuters
@Bing_Chris
The U.S. Department of Justice is elevating investigations of ransomware attacks to a similar priority as terrorism in the wake of the Colonial Pipeline hack and mounting damage caused by cyber criminals, a senior department official told Reuters.
Talk of overturning the 2020 election on new social media platforms used by QAnon followers sparks fears of further violence
CNN
@jamiegangel @donie
Online conversation among Trump supporters and QAnon followers on new and emerging social media platforms is creating concern on Capitol Hill that President Donald Trump's continued perpetuation of the falsehood that the 2020 election was stolen could soon incite further violence, three congressional sources tell CNN.
Live streams go down across Cox radio & TV stations in apparent ransomware attack
The Record
Catalin Cimpanu
Live streams for radio and TV stations owned by the Cox Media Group, one of the largest media conglomerates in the US, have gone down earlier today in what multiple sources have described as a ransomware attack.
North-East Asia
The Coming TSMC Boom: Can It Double Sales By 2023?
Ketagalan Media
Elaine Huang
TSMC started 30 years ago with the help of Intel. Now its 3nm technology could help it double sales by 2023. How has TSMC become so successful?
Japan puts all chips on the table to lure semiconductor makers
Nikkei Asia
Takashi Tsuji, Tomohiro Ebuchi, Kosuke Taskeuchi
Japan will pull out every policy stop to court overseas semiconductor companies, including offering generous financial incentives, under a draft growth strategy released Wednesday, joining the global race to secure supplies of the crucial component. "Japan will swiftly match efforts by other countries to attract cutting-edge chipmaking facilities so it can build a secure supply chain at home," said the document presented to a Cabinet Office strategy meeting. The Cabinet is slated to approve the document by the end of the month.
Wix apologizes for removing website in support of Hong Kong democracy
Newsweek
Zoe Strozewski
A Hong Kong pro-democracy site was removed by the web hosting company after authorities threatened prosecution.
Europe
EU plans digital ID wallet for bloc’s post-pandemic life
AP News
Kelvin Chan
The European Union unveiled plans Thursday for a digital ID wallet that residents could use to access services across the 27-nation bloc, part of a post-pandemic recovery strategy that involves accelerating the shift to an online world.
Russia
Inauthentic Facebook assets promoted Russian interests in Sudan
DFRLab
Tessa Knight
Network with links to Russia’s Internet Research Agency promoted oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin and Russian naval presence in Sudan
May 2021 Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior Report
Facebook
In May, we removed two networks from three countries— Russia, Sudan and Pakistan.
Misc
Something Bothering You? Tell It to Woebot.
The New York Times
Karen Brown
When your therapist is a bot, you can reach it at 2 a.m. But will it really understand your problems?
These Are “Not” Political Ads
Mozilla Foundation
How Partisan Influencers Are Evading TikTok’s Weak Political Ad Policies
Twitter: Our 'Read Before You Retweet' Function Actually Works
PCMAG
@Michael_Kan
The prompts, which ask people to read stories before re-tweeting them, resulted in 40 percent more articles opens, so the beta feature will become permanent in the coming weeks.
Twitter launches its first subscription service
CNBC
@sal19
Twitter announced on Thursday the launch of Twitter Blue, the company’s first subscription service designed for power users willing to pay a monthly fee for exclusive features.
Apple bolsters AirTags privacy measures, to offer Android detector app later this year
CNET
@iansherr
Apple's upping its privacy efforts with AirTags only about a month after they hit the market.
Trump deplatforms himself
Platformer
@CaseyNewton
What a failed blog tells us about the power of Twitter.
Google boosts Android privacy protections in attempt to rival Apple
Financial Times
@PatrickMcGee_
Search giant introduces new safeguards for users who do not want to be tracked by advertisers.
Google says it’s committed to ethical AI research. Its ethical AI team isn’t so sure.
Recode
Shirin Ghaffary
Six months after Timnit Gebru left, Google’s ethical artificial intelligence team is still in a state of upheaval.
Research
Quantum technologies in defence & security
NATO Review
Michiel van Amerongen
Given the potential implications of novel quantum technologies for defence and security, NATO has identified quantum as one of its key emerging and disruptive technologies. This article seeks to unpack some of the fascinating future applications of quantum technologies and their implications for defence and security.
Read ASPI ICPC's report 'An Australian strategy for the quantum revolution' here.
Jobs
ICPC Analyst or Senior Analyst - Cyber & technology
ASPI ICPC
ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre (ICPC) has a unique opportunity for an exceptional cyber-security or technology focused analyst or senior analyst to join its centre in 2021. Please note that interviews have commenced for this position and will continue until the end of June. This role will focus on policy relevant cybersecurity analysis, informed public commentary and either original data-heavy research and/or technical analysis. Analysts usually have around 7-15 years work experience. Senior analysts usually have a minimum of 15 years relevant work experience and tend to be involved in staff and project management, fundraising and stakeholder engagement.