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

Weekly round-up of cognitive security-related articles from the New York Times. Facebook Blocks Accounts Linked to Russian State-Owned Sputnik Reuters on the New York Times, January 17th, 2019 Facebook Inc said on Thursday it had removed hundreds of Russia-initiated accounts, which it judged to be involved in coordinated inauthentic behavior on its platforms, including some linked to […]Read More

You Deserve Privacy Online.  Here’s How You Could Actually Get It Tim Cook, Time Magazine, Jan. 16, 2019 In 2019, it’s time to stand up for the right to privacy—yours, mine, all of ours. Consumers shouldn’t have to tolerate another year of companies irresponsibly amassing huge user profiles, data breaches that seem out of control and […]Read More

Active Measures #20 – A Newsletter of Political Warfare, Influence, and Information Campaigns Here are the top stories seen this week: Deepfakes and the New Disinformation War: The Coming Age of Post-Truth Geopolitics | Robert Chesney and Danielle Citron | Foreign Affairs The Latest Front in Russian Infiltration: America’s Right-Wing Homeschooling Movement | Casey Michel […]Read More

Cognitive security highlights from DIA’s China Report Jim Garamone, from the Defense Department’s Public Affairs office, wrote an article –> DIA’s China Military Power Report Details Leaders’ Strategy. DIA’s actual report is here Several cognitive security highlights from the report: – The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) at a Glance – Core strength: Long-range precision strike, information warfare, […]Read More

Facebook’s Press Release 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. “We’re going to continue fighting fake news, misinformation, […]Read More