Nextgov/FCW’s Post

On Tuesday, the United States Department of Justice announced in a press release that Russia had generated and orchestrated 968 social media accounts using an artificial intelligence ‘social media bot farm’. These accounts falsely posed as Americans, disseminating disinformation within the U.S. and internationally. The Justice Department reported identifying 968 social media accounts on the platform X (previously known as Twitter) and seizing two domains matching the email addresses associated with these accounts. The Department disclosed that it had taken steps which led to the suspension of the X bot accounts, which were impersonating Americans. The accounts in question frequently posted content defending the Russian government and justifying Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in April 2022. According to the Department, the social media bot farm operates using a software package developed in 2022 by a deputy editor employed by the Russian government-funded news channel RT, also known as Russia Today. This software creates fake personas on social media platforms and is able to generate both images and text. Not long after, in early 2023, the software was appropriated, and the bot farm project was approved and funded by the Presidential Administration of Russia, headed by an officer from the Russian Federal Security Service. Attorney General Merrick Garland stated, “As the Russian government continues to wage its brutal war in Ukraine and threaten democracies around the world, the Justice Department will continue to deploy all of our legal authorities to counter Russian aggression and protect the American people.” https://lnkd.in/dzQHCUj2 #Russia #Ukraine #disinformation #AI #GenAI #OpenAI #socialmedia #bot #botfarm Twitter

Propaganda goes digital: from disputed elections to war zones. The concept of propaganda is not new. It’s a form of communication used to promote a particular agenda or perspective, often in a biased, misleading or even false manner. However, in recent years, information operations have undergone a significant shift, expanding beyond physical boundaries into the digital sphere through the proliferation of the internet and the rise of social media. These digital platforms present vast opportunities for influence, as they have the power to shape public perception and impact decision-making processes at an unprecedent scale. #ciw #informationwarfare #propaganda #disinformation #deepfake https://lnkd.in/g4nCA359

Deepfake concerns, IT intermediary rules are sufficient for social media to take it down or remove. Intermediaries should remove information deemed false by the Fact Check Unit, leaving only the state to determine what is true. The new regulation shall give the government the power to decide what information is bogus and exercise censorship by compelling intermediaries to take down posts deemed fake or false. Rajeev Chandrasekhar #deepfakes #itlaw #cyberlaw #itintermediary #socialemedia #deepfakes

Are we winning the battle against digital disinformation? This week, the U.S. Justice Department announced a major takedown of a Russian AI-powered bot farm spreading propaganda on X. Organized by the Kremlin, this campaign created fake profiles to push pro-Russian narratives, including false information about the #UkraineWar. Meanwhile, Russia also forced Apple to remove 25 VPN apps from its App Store, showing how governments can pressure tech companies to enforce #censorship. (Full Substack article linked in the comments.) 🤔 AI-driven #disinformation can easily shape global narratives, making it harder to discern truth from lies—and in effect, manipulate opinions, create discord, and influence elections. The battle between tech companies and governments over information control is heating up, impacting our access to secure and uncensored communication. ⚖ Apple’s #compliance is driven by its want to maintain market share in Russia by avoiding potential legal repercussions. Balancing local regulations with broader commitments to #UserPrivacy and #FreeSpeech is a complex challenge for Apple and other tech companies. 🏛 This situation mirrors the debate over #ContentModeration. E.g., the Supreme Court recently allowed the Biden administration to request social media to remove what it deems misinformation. The tricky part is pinpointing when censorship is necessary and when it goes too far. Some say government action is crucial to protect public safety, while others fear it leads to overreach and silencing dissent. Both the Supreme Court decision and Russia's #VPN crackdown spotlight the growing tension between national security and free expression—and the conflict tech companies face between following government orders and safeguarding user rights. ☝ Some hot anti-disinformation #startups worth highlighting: 1️⃣ Reality Defender Founded by Ben Colman / Series A / $15.5M raised to detect and mitigate deepfake and disinformation content. 2️⃣ Clarity Founded by Michael Matias, Natalie Fridman, & Gil Avriel / Seed Stage / $16M raised to protect organizations and individuals from the threats of deepfakes. 3️⃣ BLACKBIRD.AI Founded by Wasim K. / Series B / $30.6M raised to combat disinformation and information warfare. 4️⃣ Logically Founded by Lyric Jain / Series A / $36.7M raised to counteract misinformation and harmful online content through AI and expert analysts. Click on the link in the comments below to subscribe to [our digital disco] and read my latest #Substack article 👌

CISA’s expansive focus eventually touched on a wide range of political topics, from the 2020 presidential election to the origins of Covid-19 to criticism of the Ukraine-Russia war. Law enforcement agencies like CISA and non-governmental partner organisations consistently pressured Twitter executives to censor political speech under the guise of combating misinformation. It is important to underscore why the American public should be aware of the British AI firm Logically. The United Kingdom government awarded Logically multi-million dollar contracts to combat misinformation about the Covid-19 pandemic. The company instead surveilled activists and academics who expressed legitimate forms of speech, including thoughtful concerns about pandemic lockdowns and vaccine passports, according to a recent watchdog report on the firm’s activities. Logically previously boasted of a special partnership with Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, to automatically suppress and label content they deemed as misinformation, giving the company immense influence over content moderation decisions. It is another case of the government outsourcing censorship to a private entity with a record of targeting lawful speech around hotly contested political issues.

Noise is the new censorship. On X, spam bots are drowning out authentic Chinese voices and political discussions. While not directly state-sponsored, this digital cacophony threatens free speech and stifles political discourse. It seems the Great Firewall isn't the only obstacle to open dialogue anymore. #censorship #X #socialmedia #censorship #china #CCP https://lnkd.in/dDweYVJR?

SUMMARY: US authorities disrupted an AI-driven bot farm spreading Russian propaganda on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. MAIN POINTS: - The bot farm utilized artificial intelligence to automate the spread of disinformation. - Operation was targeting social media platform X to influence public opinion. - US authorities successfully intervened to halt its activities. TAKEAWAYS: - AI technologies can be exploited to enhance the reach of disinformation campaigns. - Monitoring and intervention are critical to maintaining public information integrity. - Collaboration between governmental bodies and tech platforms is essential for cybersecurity. #disinformation #AI #cybersecuritynews

#Artificialintelligence is fueling the spread of fake news, with #AI-generated false articles increasing by over 1,000% since May, according to NewsGuard. These sites, which can be created by anyone, are disseminating false information about elections, wars, and natural disasters, making it difficult to differentiate from real news. The rapid growth of these sites is particularly concerning ahead of the 2024 elections. Misinformation experts warn that the combination of real and AI-generated news makes deceptive stories more believable, posing a significant security risk. Increased media literacy and regulation are needed to combat this misinformation superspreader. *Summarized by Helpful

Almost a thousand Twitter accounts controlled by a large bot farm pushing Russian propaganda and domains used to register the bots were taken down in a joint international law enforcement operation led by the U.S. Justice Department. Organized and managed by a deputy editor-in-chief at Russian state-run news organization Russia Today (RT) and a Russian FSB officer, the bots disseminated disinformation targeting Twitter users worldwide since 2022 using an AI-enabled software named Meliorator. RT affiliates used Meliorator to create authentic-looking social media accounts posing as real people from multiple countries worldwide to amplify false narratives and Russian malign foreign influence on Twitter. The social media bot farm allowed RT to disseminate information widely, aligning with RT's leadership goal to expand information distribution beyond traditional TV broadcasts. "As early as 2022, RT had access to Meliorator, an AI-enabled bot farm generation and management software to disseminate disinformation to and about a number of countries, including the United States, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Ukraine, and Israel," the FBI said. https://lnkd.in/g7dgXMRn

Today I would like to introduce you to 'Matryoshka' – a massive disinformation campaign unmasked by 'Bot Blocker' collective, along with fact checkers from Agence France-Presse (AFP). To simply put it, Russian bots within this influence campaign publish fake news and images, then reach out to media and fact checkers to verify them. This tactic aims to draw (or divert actually) the attention of fact-checkers, inadvertently amplifying the spread of disinformation. The "Matryoshka" strategy involves using accounts to attract the attention of fact-checkers worldwide by linking to another bot's post containing fake images or videos. This cycle of posting new false content and getting cited by another account creates a "nesting" effect, akin to Matryoshka dolls, where each new account wraps around the previous one, allowing a trace back to the original if it remains unblocked. Journalists and fact-checkers identified almost 200 of such accounts, most of which were abandoned and later hacked and stolen from their owners. What to do if you see a post online and you suspect it being fake? Try to trace back to the original and see what kind of messages the OP is leaving behind. Are there dozens of appeals to different outlets to check something and nothing else? Well, you might have found one of the Matryoshka pieces.