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  2. September 2017

September 2017

Social Media is 'First Tool' of 21st-Century Warfare, Sen Warner Says

“We may have in America the best 20th-century military that money can buy, but we’re increasingly in a world where cyber vulnerability, misinformation and disinformation may be the tools of conflict,” said Senate Intelligence Committee Co-Chair Mark Warner (D-VA). “What we may have seen are the first tools of 21st-century disinformation.” He believes Russia’s use of social media to influence 2016’s election demonstrated how warfare has moved away from the battlefield and toward the internet. And the U.S. has been slow to adjust.

Russian Interference in 2016 US Election, Bots, & Misinformation

Earlier this summer we outlined some of our work to combat bots and networks of manipulation on Twitter. Since then, we have received a number of questions about how malicious bots and misinformation networks on Twitter may have been used in the context of the 2016 U.S. Presidential elections. Sept 28, Twitter Vice President for Public Policy Colin Crowell met with staff from Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence to discuss these issues.

Of the roughly 450 accounts that Facebook recently shared as a part of their review, we concluded that 22 had corresponding accounts on Twitter. All of those identified accounts had already been or immediately were suspended from Twitter for breaking our rules, most for violating our prohibitions against spam. In addition, from those accounts we found an additional 179 related or linked accounts, and took action on the ones we found in violation of our rules. Neither the original accounts shared by Facebook, nor the additional related accounts we identified, were registered as advertisers on Twitter. However, we continue to investigate these issues, and will take action on anything that violates our Terms of Service.

Enough is enough: How to stop Russia’s cyber-interference

[Commentary] Actual policy actions to protect our vote from outside interference have been next to nil. That needs to change now.

First, and most obviously, our cybersecurity must be strengthened. We need greater education on how to prevent cyberattacks; more coordination between layers for cybersecurity at the individual, group and government levels; and new government regulation mandating upgrades in cybersecurity for everyone and everything involved in the electoral process. Second, information about Russian state propaganda — not censorship of these content providers — must be provided to the American people. Third, foreign purchase of advertisements aimed at influencing elections must be prohibited. Fourth, Americans who colluded with Russian (or any foreign) actors to influence the outcome of our elections must be punished.

[Michael McFaul is director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and a Hoover fellow at Stanford University. He was previously special assistant to President Obama at the National Security Council from 2009-2012 and former U.S. ambassador to Russia from 2012-2014]

Trump protests at the center of insanely broad government requests for Facebook data

The DC branch of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is helping three anti-Trump activists fight what they say is an overly broad government demand for their personal Facebook data. In “motion to quash” court documents filed this month, ACLU lawyers argue that letting federal investigators comb through the contents of individual Facebook pages amounts to an unjustified and unconstitutional invasion of privacy. The motion concerns an ongoing case in which the DOJ has been seeking information related to protests and rioting during the January 20 inauguration of President Trump.

Despite the fact that the case has been going on for months, the activists only recently learned that the US is interested in their Facebook data. While Facebook typically tells users about government warrants, a gag order initially prohibited it from doing so in this case. Facebook challenged that order and the government ultimately agreed to allow it to disclose the warrants.

National Association of Broadcasters Asks FCC To Open Its Repack Wallet Wider

Executives from the National Association of Broadcasters met with Federal Communications Commission staffers to ask it to make as much of the $1.75 billion post-incentive auction repack funding available to broadcasters as quickly as possible. The FCC will soon start authorizing payments for the expenses broadcasters have been submitting.

In an April 13 public notice on the repack, the Incentive Auction Task Force said that after its review of initial cost estimates submitted by broadcasters, it would cap initial allocations at $1 billion, with $750 million held back. NAB says that there is no reason to withhold that much, and that a $175 million reserve should suffice. The broadcasters pointed to three things that have changed since that April public notice: 1) Vendors have expressed concern that stations' uncertainty about reimbursement has forced some of them to delay firm orders for needed equipment; 2) that the $1 billion cap dates from before the FCC had the full $1.75 billion available, and 3) that the FCC now knows that estimated costs are going to exceed, NAB says "greatly exceed," $1 billion.

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