13 h. ago Foreign interference or opportunistic grifting: why are so many pro

A new feature on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter allows users to see the location of other accounts. It has resulted in a firestorm of recriminationsWhen X rolled out a new feature revealing the locations of popular accounts, the company was acting to boost transparency and clamp down on disinformation. The result, however, has been a circular firing squad of recriminations, as users turn on each other enraged by the revelation that dozens of popular “America first” and pro-Trump accounts originated overseas.The new feature was enabled over the weekend by X’s head of product, Nikita Bier, who called it the first step in “securing the integrity of the global town square.” Since then many high-engagement accounts that post incessantly about US politics have been “unmasked” by fellow users. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Macron and Merz must look at themselves if they want to stop Europe sliding to the far right | Shada Islam

Political elites in Europe’s ‘mature’ democracies warn of external threats – but at home they normalise racism and undermine the rule of lawEurope’s leaders cannot stop talking about democracy. President Emmanuel Macron says he wants to kickstart a democratic “resurgence”, and Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, has warned of an “axis” of autocratic states targeting liberal democracy in Europe. Having promised to “fight” for what she calls European “values”, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, has just announced a new “democracy shield” and a Centre for Democratic Resilience to prevent foreign interference and deal with external threats. I keep hoping for similar scrutiny of democratic backsliding within the EU – but so far it has not happened.Foreign interference, disinformation and the creeping illiberalism of Hungary, Poland and Slovakia deserve attention. But lost in this fretting is a more inconvenient truth: within Europe’s “mature” democracies, ...

Politics

5 d. ago Freedom of speech in the UK is under threat, US ambassador warns audience including Deputy PM David Lammy

Warren Stephens urged the country to reject laws which threaten free speech as he hit out at 'excessive government interference' and 'malign foreign actors'.

Events

6 d. ago France investigates Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot over Holocaust denial claims

French officials previously raised concerns that the platform’s algorithm could be used for foreign interference

Events

2 w. ago The EU has let US tech giants run riot. Diluting our data law will only entrench their power | Johnny Ryan and Georg Riekeles

The GDPR is Europe’s defence against digital oligarchy, child harm and foreign political interference. Deregulation plans are misguidedEurope is hurtling toward digital vassalage. Under Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, EU laws to tackle tech giants have been either not applied or delayed, for fear of offending Donald Trump. Now leaked documents reveal that the European Commission plans to gut a central part of Europe’s digital rulebook. This will hurt Europe’s innovators and hand the future of Europe’s tech sovereignty to US firms.Once Europe’s most hyped law, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is now on the chopping block. Powerful forces within the European Commission, supported by the German government, hope that deregulation will boost Europe’s tech sector, particularly AI. This is a grave mistake.Johnny Ryan is director of Enforce, a unit of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties. Georg Riekeles is the associate director of the European Policy ...

Science

2 w. ago EU plans Centre for Democratic Resilience to fight online disinformation

Move follows ‘escalating hybrid attacks’ by Russia and other foreign powers spreading fake articles across social mediaThe EU executive plans to create a Centre for Democratic Resilience to counter disinformation from Russia and other authoritarian regimes, according to a leaked paper.The European Commission intends for the centre to bring together expertise across the EU and from countries seeking to join the bloc to fight foreign information manipulation and interference. The idea forms the centrepiece of the so-called “democracy shield” pitched by the commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, when she sought a second term before the 2024 European elections. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago EU plans hub to tackle disinformation threat from Russia and others

Move follows ‘escalating hybrid attacks’ by Russia and other foreign powers spreading fake articles across social mediaThe EU executive plans to create a Centre for Democratic Resilience to counter disinformation from Russia and other authoritarian regimes, according to a leaked paper.The European Commission intends for the centre to bring together expertise across the EU and from countries seeking to join the bloc to fight foreign information manipulation and interference. The idea forms the centrepiece of the “democracy shield” pitched by the commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, when she sought a second term before the 2024 European elections. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Russia link suspected as Bulgarians jailed for vandalising Paris Jewish memorial

Four men given prison terms for desecration that was possibly ‘orchestrated by Russian intelligence services’A French court on Friday sentenced four Bulgarians to between two and four years in prison for desecrating a Jewish memorial with red handprints last year, in what prosecutors think may have been foreign interference linked to Russia.The Paris criminal court gave two-year sentences to Georgi Filipov and Kiril Milushev, described as the perpetrators, and four years and three years respectively to Nikolay Ivanov and Mircho Angelov, considered the operation’s “masterminds”. Angelov is still at large. Continue reading...

Events