Russia’s Hostile Measures in Europe Understanding the Threat by Raphael S. Cohen, Andrew Radin RAND Corporation Different regions of Europe pose different problems in terms of Russian threats and approaches The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are often cited as being among the members of the EU and NATO that are most vulnerable […]Read More

Does Facebook Really Know How Many Fake Accounts It Has? 116 million?  More? Jake Nicas of the New York Times reviewed a key facet of the discussion, just how big is this problem? Facebook sells advertisers on its access to real people — 2.32 billion of them, a network that exceeds the populations of North […]Read More

Weekly round-up of cognitive security-related articles from the New York Times. YouTube Promises to Stop Promoting Misleading Videos Associated Press in the New York Times, January 25th, 2019 If you believe the world is flat, don’t count on YouTube recommending videos supporting your theory. On Twitter, Limited Number of Characters Spreading Fake Info Associated Press in the […]Read More

Weekly round-up of cognitive security-related articles from the Washington Post. EU urges internet giants to work harder fighting fake news Kelvin Chan, Associated Press, January 29th, 2019 European Union authorities warned leading tech companies including Facebook, Google and Twitter on Tuesday that they need to work harder to combat fake news ahead of upcoming bloc-wide parliamentary elections. […]Read More

Dispatch from the Alliance for Securing Democracy Our Take ASD Senior Fellow Joshua Kirschenbaum spoke with ProPublica about the slow pace of reform in anti-money laundering enforcement for hedge funds, noting that: “It’s the kind of thing that should have taken two to three years, not 17.” Kirschenbaum will testify on January 29 before the […]Read More

Active Measures #21 – A Newsletter of Political Warfare, Influence, and Information Campaigns Here are the top stories seen this week: Updated: Facts Do Not Fit Russian Accusation That U.S. Holds ‘Hostages’ | Nik Yarst | Polygraph.info ‘Your Turn To Lie’: Former Russian State TV Cameraman Describes ‘The Business Of Misinforming Viewers’ | Dmitry Volchek […]Read More

An opinion piece by two psychologists (Gordon Pennycook and David Rand) in last Weekend’s New York Times may be worth a look. Why Do People Fall for Fake News? Are they blinded by their political passions? Or are they just intellectually lazy? What makes people susceptible to fake news and other forms of strategic misinformation? And […]Read More

On Twitter, limited number of characters spreading fake info Seth Borenstein | AP in the Washington Post | January 24, 2019 Reporting on research published in the journal Science by Dr. David Lazer, profession of political and computer science. – 16,000 U.S. Twitter accounts reviewed – 16 of these accounts tweeted out nearly 80% of the misinformation […]Read More

Dispatch from the Alliance for Securing Democracy Our Take ASD’s Thomas Morley argued that “a rising tide of populism, nationalism, extremism, and illiberalism continued to upend politics” in the past year, and these trends will likely continue in 2019, affecting elections throughout the transatlantic space. ASD’s Bret Schafer and David Salvo joined the Heinrich Böll […]Read More

Weekly round-up of cognitive security-related articles from the Washington Post. Why Facebook is giving $300 million for local journalism Hamza Shaban, Washington Post, January 15th, 2019 Facebook announced on Tuesday it will commit $300 million to journalism projects to help local outlets strengthen their news gathering operations and build their readership and subscription models. Facebook’s success at […]Read More