March 2022 | Page 8 of 8

Big Tech Grapples With Russian State Media, Propaganda

By Uponsil | 03/01/2022 | No Comments | Business, Science, Silicon Valley

As Russia’s war in Ukraine plays out for the world on social media, big tech platforms are moving to restrict Russian state media from using their platforms to spread propaganda and misinformation.

Google announced Tuesday that it’s blocking the YouTube channels of those outlets in Europe “effective immediately” but acknowledged “it’ll take time for our systems to fully ramp up.”

Other U.S.-owned tech companies have offered more modest changes so far: limiting the Kremlin’s reach, labeling more of this content so that people know it originated with the Russian government, and cutting Russian state organs off from whatever ad revenue they were previously making.

The changes are a careful balancing act intended to slow the Kremlin from pumping propaganda into social media feeds without angering Russian officials to the point that they yank their citizens’ access to platforms during a crucial time of war, said Katie Harbath, a former public policy director for Facebook.

“They’re trying to walk this very fine line; they’re doing this dance,” said Harbath, who now serves as director of technology and democracy at the International Republican Institute. “We want to stand up to Russia, but we also don’t want to get shut down in the country. How far can we push this?”

Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, announced Monday that it would restrict access to Russia’s RT and Sputnik services in Europe, following a statement by European Union President Ursula von der Leyen over the weekend that officials are working to bar the sites throughout the EU.

Google followed Tuesday with a European ban of those two outlets on YouTube.

The U.S. has not taken similar action or applied sanctions to Russian state media, leaving the American-owned tech companies to wrestle with how to blunt the Kremlin’s reach on their own.

The results have been mixed.

RT and other Russian-state media accounts are still active on Facebook in the U.S. Twitter announced Monday that after seeing more than 45,000 tweets daily from users sharing Russian state-affiliated media links in recent days, it will add labels to content from the Kremlin’s websites. The company also said it would not recommend or direct users to Russian-affiliated websites in its search function.

Over the weekend, the Menlo Park, California-based company announced it was banning ads from Russian state media and had removed a network of 40 fake accounts, pages and groups that published pro-Russian talking points. The network used fictitious persons posing as journalists and experts, but didn’t have much of an audience.

Facebook began labeling state-controlled media outlets in 2020.

Meanwhile, Microsoft announced it wouldn’t display content or ads from RT and Sputnik, or include RT’s apps in its app store. And Google’s YouTube restricted Russian-state media from monetizing the site through ads, although the outlets are still uploading videos every few minutes on the site.

By comparison, the hands-off approach taken by TikTok, a Chinese platform popular in the U.S. for short, funny videos, has allowed pro-Russian propaganda to flourish on its site. The company did not respond to messages seeking comment.

One recent video posted to RT’s TikTok channel features a clip of Steve Bannon, a former top adviser to ex-President Donald Trump who now hosts a podcast with a penchant for misinformation and conspiracy theories.

“Ukraine isn’t even a country. It’s kind of a concept,” Bannon said in the clip, echoing a claim by Russian President Vladimir Putin. “So when we talk about sovereignty and self-determination it’s just a corrupt area where the Clintons have turned into a colony where they can steal money.”

Already, Facebook’s efforts to limit Russian state media’s reach have drawn ire from Russian officials. Last week, Meta officials said they had rebuffed Russia’s request to stop fact-checking or labeling posts made by Russian state media. Kremlin officials responded by restricting access to Facebook.

The company has also denied requests from Ukrainian officials who have asked Meta to remove access to its platforms in Russia. The move would prevent everyday Russians from using the platforms to learn about the war, voice their views or organize protests, according to Nick Clegg, recently named the company’s vice president of global affairs.

“We believe turning off our services would silence important expression at a crucial time,” Clegg wrote on Twitter Sunday.

More aggressive labeling of state media and moves to de-emphasize their content online might help reduce the spread of harmful material without cutting off a key information source, said Alexandra Givens, CEO of the Center for Democracy and Technology, a Washington-based non-profit.

“These platforms are a way for dissidents to organize and push back,” Givens said. “The clearest indication of that is the regime has been trying to shut down access to Facebook and Twitter.”

Russia has spent years creating its sprawling propaganda apparatus, which boasts dozens of sites that target millions of people in different languages. That preparation is making it hard for any tech company to mount a rapid response, said Graham Shellenberger at Miburo Solutions, a firm that tracks misinformation and influence campaigns.

“This is a system that has been built over 10 years, especially when it comes to Ukraine,” Shellenberger said. “They’ve created the channels, they’ve created the messengers. And all the sudden now, we’re starting to take action against it.”

Redfish, a Facebook page that is labeled as Russian-state controlled media, has built up a mostly U.S. and liberal-leaning audience of more than 800,000 followers over the years.

The page has in recent days posted anti-U.S. sentiment and sought to down play Russian’s invasion of Ukraine, calling it a “military operation” and dedicating multiple posts to highlighting anti-war protests across Russia.

One Facebook post also used a picture of a map to highlight airstrikes in other parts of the world.

“Don’t let the mainstream media’s Eurocentrism dictate your moral support for victims of war,” the post read.

Last week, U.S. Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia sent letters to Google, Meta, Reddit, Telegram, TikTok and Twitter urging them to curb such Russian influence campaigns on their websites.

“In addition to Russia’s established use of influence operations as a tool of strategic influence, information warfare constitutes an integral part of Russian military doctrine,” Warner wrote.
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New ‘Highly Sophisticated’ Malware Linked to Chinese Cyberattackers

By Uponsci | 03/01/2022 | No Comments | Business, Science, Silicon Valley

A leading cybersecurity firm says it has discovered a “highly sophisticated” piece of malware being used by Chinese hacking teams to attack government and critical infrastructure targets.

Symantec, a division of U.S.-based software designer and manufacturer Broadcom, said the earliest known sample of the malware, which has been dubbed Daxin, dates back to 2013, while Microsoft first documented the hacking tool in December 2013.

A report by the company’s Threat Hunter Team says Daxin is “without doubt” the most advanced piece of malware it has seen used “by a China-linked actor.” The unit says Daxin was discovered along with other hacking tools previously used by Chinese cyberattackers.

The hackers have deployed Daxin against “organizations and governments of strategic interest to China.” The malware permits the attackers to communicate directly with infected computers on highly secured networks where direct internet connectivity is not available, allowing them to extract data without raising suspicions.

Vikram Thakur, a technical director with Symantec, told Reuters that Daxin “can be controlled from anywhere in the world once a computer is actually infected.” Thakur said Daxin’s victims included high-level, non-Western government agencies in Asia and Africa, including justice ministries.
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In Photos: Yellowstone National Park Turns 150

By Uponent | 03/01/2022 | No Comments | Business, Entertainment

Yellowstone, the first U.S. national park, draws 4 million visitors annually. Parkgoers marvel at fantastic geysers, colorful hot pools and amazing wildlife. Yellowstone National Park photos courtesy of Tom Murphy Photography
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‘Wicked’ Welcomes Pioneering Good Witch, Brittney Johnson

By Uponent | 03/01/2022 | No Comments | Business, Entertainment

While many people spent Valentine’s Day with the traditional flowers and chocolates, Brittney Johnson was making theater history.

The young Broadway veteran was gently lowered onto the Gershwin Theatre stage to become the first Black actor to assume the role of Glinda full-time in “Wicked,” shattering a racial barrier on the day of love.

“One of the most rewarding parts of this is that it’s not just for me. I think it’s the least amount about me,” she says. “It’s about what it means for other people, for people that are going to see me do it or for people that just know that I’m here.”

Johnson is part of a sisterhood of women who have recently broken boundaries on American stages, including Emilie Kouatchou, who became the first Black woman to play Christine in “The Phantom of the Opera” on Broadway, and Morgan Bullock who has become Riverdance’s first Black female dancer.

“I do see things shifting, and I am very optimistic about the future,” Johnson says. “Because specific conversations are starting to happen now, people’s eyes are being opened in ways that they never had been before, either because they never needed to be, or because they just didn’t know what they didn’t know.”

“Wicked,” based on Gregory Maguire’s cult novel, tells the story of two young witches-to-be, one a green brooder who will be the Wicked Witch of the West and the other blond and bubbly, who will be Glinda the Good Witch.

Johnson has ended a 19-year run of white actors playing Glinda in any professional “Wicked” company, a milestone made even more powerful since Glinda is the very essence of goodliness.

“I think it’s something that, especially for little Black kids that come and feel the energy that’s being given to Glinda — somebody that looks like them — it might not be something that they experience from the world in their real life,” she says. “Seeing someone that looks like you being loved is so important to see.”

On the night the role was finally hers, Johnson’s life flashed in front of her — literally. As is the show’s delightful custom, the previous actor playing Glinda arranged for a note of encouragement and love — usually packed with photos of the new star — to be pinned to the inside curtain on her first night. Each new Glinda sees it as she makes her entrance.

“It was the first time that it was me. Usually, I’m seeing other people’s pictures and encouraging words, and it was the first time that note was left for me,” she says. “It’s really moving to have it be for you.”

Lindsay Pearce, her co-star as Elphaba, says Johnson is someone “obviously born for this” and says she’s never seen anyone work harder. She describes Johnson as gracious, fun and goofy.

Pearce was backstage watching on a monitor when Johnson on Valentine’s Day began singing the musical’s hit “Popular” when she spotted a little Black girl in the front row with her family, clapping her hands in glee.

“That’s why it’s important because theater belongs to everyone. It’s not something that only belongs to someone who looks a certain way, sounds a certain way,” she says. “Theater’s supposed to be the mirror of what the world looks like, and that’s what the world looks like.”

Johnson’s other Broadway credits include “Les Misérables,” “Motown the Musical,” “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” and opposite Glenn Close in “Sunset Boulevard” and as a guest in Kristin Chenoweth’s Broadway concert show, teaming up with the original Glinda. She has been connected to “Wicked” since 2018, moving up from ensemble to Glinda understudy, to Glinda standby. She was onstage as Glinda when the pandemic shut down theater in 2020, but only temporarily.

Johnson saw out her contract and had moved to Los Angeles during the lull to pursue TV and film projects when “Wicked” lured her back to Oz with the promise of Glinda full time.

“It did feel like unfinished business,” she says. “I definitely felt like I had more to do in this show in particular. So getting that call really felt like the answer to internally what I thought I needed.”

Johnson grew up in Maryland close to Washington. Her mom said she was singing before she was talking. “She said that I was a drama queen from when I was a child,” Johnson says, then laughing adds: “I don’t agree.”

She was bitten by the musical theater bug in high school. Performances in “Les Misérables” in 10th grade and “Sunday in the Park with George” in her senior year convinced her that musical theater was what she wanted to do.

“I was raised to believe and to know that I could do anything,” she says. “I am not a stranger to being the first of anything or the only Black person in a room or in a situation.”

What about being the first Black Glinda? Was it on her horizon? “It wasn’t out of my realm of possibilities for me that I could be if the world allowed it,” she answers. “But after five, 10 years of not seeing any movement in that direction, I think you do start to put aside that specific dream.”

Stepping out on Valentine’s Day was a full-circle moment since Johnson had seen “Wicked” at age 15 with her mom, catching it at the Kennedy Center on tour: “I just really enjoyed it. I just loved the story. I loved the music.”

Now, the role of Glinda is hers and she can’t wait to make it her own, giving the good witch her own spin. She says there’s lots of flexibility in “Wicked” for actors to add their personality.

“They really encourage us in the rehearsal process to kind of play and find how the character fits on you. It’s not a stencil that you have to fit into,” she says. “There are things that I do discover every day about her or about about the role. There are things you can only really find when you have the opportunity to do it more than once.”
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