Trump banned from Facebook, Twitter | Apple, Amazon, Google ban social media platform Parler in wake of US Capitol riots |+ all the major stories you may have missed over the break
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This is our first Cyber Digest for 2021. We’ve included all the major stories you may have missed over the break. Happy New Year from all of us at ASPI ICPC!
After years of gentle wrist slaps, social media companies are finally revoking President Trump’s megaphone. The New York Times
Apple and Amazon will suspend a social media platform described as a "free speech" Twitter clone from their App Store and web hosting service respectively, saying it has not taken adequate measures to prevent the spread of posts inciting violence. ABC News
China’s regulators are trying to get Jack Ma to do something the beleaguered billionaire has long resisted: share the troves of consumer-credit data collected by his financial-technology behemoth. The Wall Street Journal
ASPI ICPC
[11 Jan] 'If China ends up buying it, they will hear and see everything'
The Australian Financial Review
@johnkehoe23
Fergus Hanson, director of the International Cyber Policy Centre at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said China was typically willing to pay a premium for these types of assets. "There is an espionage risk on the elites of those countries if China controls the telecommunications infrastructure of countries that are really important to Australia and that have low levels of cyber security capability," he said. "Longer term moving into the 5G era when those networks are providing much more than telecommunications, you can shut down an entire society in extreme circumstances."
[5 Jan] Huawei wants in on Australian 6G network
The Sydney Morning Herald
@Gallo_Ways
Fergus Hanson, the director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute's International Cyber Policy Centre, said the Australian government had an "excellent capability" to make assessments about the 5G rollout. “I think there’s ample evidence from the United Kingdom's review into high-risk vendors that there are a litany of issues that need to be addressed," he said.
[30 Dec] Digital minilaterals and new approaches to technology cooperation
Observer Research Foundation
@daniellescave
Minilateral forums and nontraditional groupings will fill a global policy vacuum, enable deeper, nuanced debates, and help public discourse and debate spread beyond the US, China, and Europe circle.
[2 Jan] China uses tourism to smother Xinjiang’s culture
The Economist
In recent years China has worked to stamp out any hint of religious fervour in Xinjiang. Perhaps a million of the region’s ethnic-Uyghurs have been accused of radical Islamic thinking and sent to re-education camps. Domes and minarets, deemed an “Arabic” import, have been removed from many buildings. An analysis of satellite images published in September 2020 by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a research group, estimates that over 8,000 mosques have been destroyed.
The World
[11 Jan] 'If China ends up buying it, they will hear and see everything'
The Australian Financial Review
@johnkehoe23
National security experts in Canberra and Washington are alarmed that China could be in the box seat to beat private equity firms to acquire telecommunications assets in the Pacific that would enable Beijing to spy on Australia's closest geographical neighbours. The Morrison government is under pressure to provide financial support to Western private bidders, after debt-laden Digicel said it had received unsolicited approaches for its Pacific operations that include Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu and Samoa.
Australia
[10 Jan] Liberal MP Craig Kelly attacks Facebook for warning him over unproven Covid treatment post
The Guardian
@Paul_Karp
Federal Liberal MP Craig Kelly has accused social media companies of attempting to “purge” comments about unproven Covid-19 treatments after he received a warning from Facebook over his claims regarding the anti-parasitic drug Ivermectin.
[8 Jan] Fears anti-vaxxers could derail vaccination rollout
The Sydney Morning Herald
@JennieDuke
A new code tackling disinformation on Facebook, Twitter and Google could be introduced within weeks, as urgency to limit the risk from online falsehoods and propaganda grows ahead of the coronavirus vaccination rollout in Australia.
[8 Jan] Australian Liberal MP Craig Kelly stands by US Capitol 'antifa' claim, despite discredited evidence
The Guardian
@Paul_Karp
The Liberal MP Craig Kelly is standing by unsubstantiated claims antifa may have been present in the US Capitol mob, even though the article on which they were based has been corrected. As the Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, declined to repudiate misinformation about the US election from within his government on Thursday, both Kelly and the Nationals MP George Christensen shared an article from the Washington Times claiming facial recognition had identified far-left protesters in the mob.
Morrison needs to counter Australian and American disinformation too
The Sydney Morning Herald
[6 Jan] Australia to toughen export controls over fears technology could fall into hands of foreign armies
The Guardian
@danielhurstbne
The Morrison government is looking at tightening laws to curb the export of sensitive technologies that could be used by foreign militaries, amid broader concerns over national security risks in the research sector.
[5 Jan] Huawei wants in on Australian 6G network
The Sydney Morning Herald
@Gallo_Ways
Chinese telco Huawei is calling on the Australian government to begin talking to the company about how to roll out a new generation of mobile technology called 6G, to avoid a repeat of the ban on its equipment in 5G mobile networks.
[3 Jan] Australian citizen and campaigner for ex-Muslim women Zara Kay arrested in Tanzania
ABC News
@andrewbgreene
Ms Kay is understood to have been charged over a satirical social media post critical of the Tanzanian President's handling of COVID-19, as well as not returning her Tanzanian passport after gaining Australian citizenship.
[2 Jan] Researchers targeted by foreign actors: ASIO
The Canberra Times
@Katie_b_burgess
ASIO has told the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security's inquiry on foreign interference in the university sector it has learnt of researchers and their families who have been threatened or coerced by actors seeking to provide their sensitive research to a foreign state.
[28 Dec] Security lapse gives hackers a free pass
The Australian
@RichAFerguson
Treasury and Defence are among a number of federal government departments that have failed to fully implement a cybersecurity system designed to protect them from malicious emails. After a slew of attacks this year by state-based hackers against the government and Australian businesses, only Home Affairs, Services Australia and the Australian Signals Directorate have told the Senate they have fully integrated the Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance protocols, which prevent attackers from getting in through emails.
[23 Dec] Australia's eSafety commissioner would be able to remove 'seriously harmful' content under proposed cyber abuse laws
ABC News
@JadeMacmillan1
The draft legislation gives the commissioner the power to force search engines and app stores to remove access to websites or apps that "systemically ignore" orders to take down content such as child sexual abuse material. It will also give Ms Inman Grant the power to unmask internet trolls.. "Unbridled free speech, including hate speech, violence, threats, racism, misogyny — all of these, if they aren't kept in check, this actually leads to suppression of speech because these voices that we want to promote are no longer protected," she said.
China
[10 Jan] Chinese ‘Great Firewall’ critic Zhang Jialong ‘jailed for 18 months’
South China Morning Post
@AFP
A Chinese former journalist who once urged the United States to help “tear down” Beijing’s online censorship regime has been sentenced to a year and a half in jail, his wife said.
[9 Jan] A Hong Kong Website Gets Blocked, Raising Censorship Fears
The New York Times
@paulmozur @Aaron_Krolik
Hong Kong’s biggest mobile telecom companies appear to have severed access to a website that listed the personal information of police officers, setting off fears that the authorities may use a new national security law to adopt censorship tactics widely used in mainland China.
[9 Jan] Beijing funds British YouTubers to further its propaganda war
The Sunday Times
@benellery @tkbeynon
The Chinese government is funding British YouTube stars to produce pro-China propaganda videos, an investigation by The Times can reveal.
[8 Jan] Exclusive | China tried to punish European states for Huawei bans by adding eleventh-hour rule to EU investment deal
South China Morning Post
@fbermingham
At the eleventh hour of its painstakingly negotiated investment deal with the European Union, China tried to add a clause that would have frozen some of the benefits for EU states that restricted access for Huawei Technologies Co. and other Chinese telecoms firms.
[8 Jan] Beijing orders Chinese media to censor coverage of Alibaba probe
The Financial Times
@yuanfenyang
China’s government has told the country’s media to censor reporting on an antitrust probe into tech group Alibaba, whose founder Jack Ma has disappeared from public view as misfortunes mount for his business empire, according to people familiar with the matter.
Chinese Regulators Try to Get Jack Ma’s Ant Group to Share Consumer Data The Wall Street Journal @Lingling_Wei
Why China Turned Against Alibaba's Jack Ma The New York Times @Liyuan6
[8 Jan] “Baby-making machines”: Chinese tweet on Uighurs not against Twitter rules
Ars Technica
@binarybits
Twitter has told Ars Technica that a Chinese government tweet praising China's treatment of its Uighur ethnic minority does not violate its policy against hateful conduct.
[6 Jan] NYSE Reverses Course Again, Will Delist Three Chinese Telecom Stocks
The Wall Street Journal
@Aosipovich
The New York Stock Exchange will move forward with delisting three Chinese telecommunications companies targeted by an executive order from President Trump, reversing course yet again after the NYSE said earlier this week that it wouldn’t delist them.
[4 Jan] Personal Data, Global Effects: China’s Draft Privacy Law in the International Context
New America
Alexa Lee
In October, China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) released a long-awaited draft of the Personal Information Protection Law, a milestone in China’s years-long effort toward a comprehensive privacy and data governance regime.
[2 Jan] China’s State Capitalism Collides With Its Technological Ambitions WSJ
The Wall Street Journal
@Nate_taplin
Can China’s hybrid state-capitalist economy learn to worship—or at least genuflect a bit deeper—at the altar of efficiency? As relations with wealthier, technologically advanced countries deteriorate, that is probably the most crucial economic question of the 2020s.
[24 Dec] With Money, and Waste, China Fights for Chip Independence
The New York Times
Beijing’s drive to free itself from reliance on imported semiconductors has lifted start-ups and big firms alike. Some have flamed out. But there has been progress.
[23 Dec] How China's Tech Giants Like Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu Aid Spy Agencies
Foreign Policy
@Zachsdorfman
U.S. officials say private Chinese firms have been enlisted to process stolen data for their country’s spy agencies.
US
[10 Jan] Apple, Amazon, Google ban social media platform Parler in wake of US Capitol riots
ABC News
Apple and Amazon will suspend a social media platform described as a "free speech" Twitter clone from their App Store and web hosting service respectively, saying it has not taken adequate measures to prevent the spread of posts inciting violence. The action against the social networking service, Parler, follows a similar move by Alphabet Inc's Google.
[10 Jan] A small group of sleuths had been identifying right-wing extremists long before the attack on the Capitol
The Washington Post
@RobertKlemko
Before a mob of Trump supporters staged a riot in the U.S. Capitol and thousands of Americans became amateur detectives working to identify the culprits, a loosely connected group of seasoned online sleuths were ringing alarm bells and picking off extremists online, one by one.
[7 Jan] The President Is Losing His Platforms
The New York Times
After years of gentle wrist slaps, social media companies are finally revoking President Trump’s megaphone.
Trump banned from Facebook indefinitely, CEO Mark Zuckerberg says The Washington Post @Tonyromm @lizzadwoskin
Twitter permanently bans Trump The Verge @jake_k
Superspreader Down: How Trump's Exile from Social Media Alters the Future of Politics, Security, and Public Health Defense One @peterwsinger
In Pulling Trump’s Megaphone, Twitter Shows Where Power Now Lies The New York Times
For me, the striking thing about so many of these images of rioters in the Capitol is that what they're doing - all of them - is creating content for social media. At least in their minds, the true seat of power is not actually in that building. It's online.This may be the lasting image of today https://t.co/pzFn9zGNh2Ben Jacobs @Bencjacobs
[7 Jan] Chinese censorship invades the U.S. via WeChat
The Washington Post
A dozen WeChat users in the United States and Canada shared censorship stories with The Washington Post, ticking off cases of messages that they sent from their North American phones disappearing before reaching friends — at times when those friends were also located in the United States and Canada.
Read ASPI ICPC’s 2020 report TikTok and WeChat: Curating and controlling global information flows here.
[7 Jan] WhatsApp gives users an ultimatum: Share data with Facebook or stop using the app
Ars Technica
@dangoodin001
WhatsApp, the Facebook-owned messenger that claims to have privacy coded into its DNA, is giving its 2 billion plus users an ultimatum: agree to share their personal data with the social network or delete their accounts.
[6 Jan] The storming of Capitol Hill was organized on social media.
The New York Times
@sheeraf
Calls for violence against members of Congress and for pro-Trump movements to retake the Capitol building have been circulating online for months. Bolstered by Mr. Trump, who has courted fringe movements like QAnon and the Proud Boys, groups have openly organized on social media networks and recruited others to their cause.
Facebook Forced Its Employees To Stop Discussing Trump's Coup Attempt Buzzfeed News
How an internet lie about the Capitol invasion turned into an instant conspiracy theory MIT Technology Review
[6 Jan] Bucking Trump, NSA and FBI say Russia was “likely” behind SolarWinds hack
Ars Technica
@Dangoodin001
Hackers working for the Russian government were “likely” behind the software supply chain attack that planted a backdoor in the networks of 18,000 private companies and governmental bodies, officials from the US National Security Agency and three other agencies said on Tuesday.
Hacking ‘Likely’ Came From Russia, US Says The New York Times @SangerNYT @julianbarnes
[5 Jan] White House releases maritime cybersecurity update
CyberScoop
@Shanvav
The National Security Council is planning to issue a cybersecurity update to the U.S. government’s national maritime security strategy Tuesday.
[5 Jan] In Georgia, Facebook’s Changes Brought Back a Partisan News Feed
The Markup
@Corintxt
Ahead of crucial senate runoffs, Facebook reversed its political ad ban, and the impact was visible on users’ feeds.
[5 Jan] Joe Biden’s New Year resolution? A fresh approach to China tech
The Financial Times
@yuanfenyang
This FT correspondent doesn’t know whether Donald Trump makes New Year’s resolutions, or if Joe Biden does either. The US presidential transition may be a little too tense for a tête-à-tête about their personal targets for 2021. Instead, this column would like to help out by offering a reflection on what the Trump administration did with its China tech policy and what Biden might resolve to do.
Biden’s NSC to focus on global health, climate, cyber and human rights, as well as China and Russia The Washington Post
[5 Jan] Trump pushed QAnon and 4chan-created conspiracy theories in Georgia call
NBCN News
@Oneunderscore__ @BrandyZadrozny @janestreet
President Donald Trump cataloged a series of false conspiracy theories during an hourlong call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Saturday in which he sought to overturn the state's election results, and they were familiar to anyone following the far fringes of the internet.
[5 Jan] Exclusive: Pandemic relief aid went to media that promoted COVID misinformation
Yahoo News
@CEDickson
According to a joint analysis conducted by the counter-disinformation consulting firm Alethea Group and the nonprofit Global Disinformation Index, at least five companies behind some of the internet’s top sources of false, misleading or conspiratorial information related to COVID-19, including the Epoch Times, Newsmax and the Federalist, received sizable loans from the federal government as part of the Paycheck Protection Program.
[4 Jan] Google Employees Form Union to Push for Changes
WSJ
@Saraheneedleman
A group of Google employees has formed a union to organize workers across the technology company’s sprawling global operations, a rare move within Silicon Valley and one that reflects growing employee activism in the sector. Representatives said the Alphabet Workers Union—which is currently backed by around 200 workers, a tiny fraction of the tech company’s more than 132,000 employees—will be affiliated with Communications Workers of America Local 1400, and is the first one open to employees and contractors at any Alphabet Inc. GOOG 2.99% company. The union will be supported by members paying 1% of their annual base pay and bonus every year, organizers said.
[24 Dec] Facebook Joined by Human Rights Groups to Fight Spyware Maker
Bloomberg
@Rj_gallagher
A coalition of human rights and press freedom groups have filed a brief supporting Facebook Inc.’s lawsuit against the Israeli surveillance technology company NSO Group, arguing that the “very core of the principles that America represents” are at stake in the case.
North Asia
[5 Jan] Japan Chip Sector Boosted by Report TSMC to Build Tokyo Facility
Bloomberg
@GearoidReidy @debbywuintaipei Yuki Furukawa
Stocks involved in Japan’s semiconductor supply chain jumped in Tokyo on Tuesday following a report that chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. will build an advanced packaging facility in the city together with Japan’s Trade Ministry. The two sides will soon sign a memorandum of understanding and form a 50-50 joint venture for the project, Taiwan’s United Daily News reported, without saying how large investment for the plant might be.
Southeast Asia
[4 Jan] Singapore Police Force can obtain TraceTogether data for criminal investigations
CNA
@MatthewMohanCNA
The Singapore Police Force (SPF) can obtain TraceTogether data for criminal investigations, said Minister of State for Home Affairs Desmond Tan in Parliament on Monday.
[29 Dec] Malaysian Military Network Targeted in Cyberattack
BenarNews
Noah Lee
The Malaysian Armed Forces announced Tuesday that its data network had been targeted in a cyberattack, but said the intrusion failed to disrupt operations or access classified information.
[27 Dec] Government no match for Thai demonstrators online
East Asia Forum
James Ockey
Thailand’s government has been unable to subdue anti-government demonstrations despite major investments in cyber warfare capabilities. As student protestors continue to expand their reach and influence on social media, the Prayuth Chan-o-cha government faces an increasingly difficult choice between concession and suppression.
Pacific Islands
[3 Jan] Chinese bids on Pacific cable raise alarm in US and Australia
Nikkei Asia
Fumi Matsumoto
Moves by Chinese corporations to buy into undersea cable projects and telecommunications companies in the Pacific islands have become a point of major concern for Australia and the U.S. over the possibility of spying.
Europe
[2 Jan] The mafia turns social media influencer to reinforce its brand
The Financial Times
@Milesmjohnson
Southern Italy’s mob bosses embrace digital platforms as a way to spread their message.
Middle East
[31 Dec] NSO used real people’s location data to pitch its contact-tracing tech, researchers say
TechCrunch
@Zackwhittaker
Researchers say NSO's use of real data "violated the privacy" of thousands of unwitting people.
Misc
[29 Dec] Insecure wheels: Police turn to car data to destroy suspects' alibis
NBCN News
@Oliviasolon
Looser privacy standards for vehicle data are a treasure chest of data for law enforcement.
Research
[7 Jan] The Making of QAnon: A Crowdsourced Conspiracy
Bellingcat
On January 6, chaos descended on Washington D.C. as supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the United States Capitol Building. Amid the melee, a longtime QAnon promoter known as “the Q Shaman” made his way onto the Senate floor and occupied the speaker’s rostrum. He was far from the only QAnon supporter on the scene that day: another led the charge into the Capitol.