👋 Welcome Coda readers and those just discovering us. We’re glad to see you here. Join the channel for a selection of our top stories on disinformation, authoritarian tech and the war on science. If you want to learn more about Coda’s approach to journalism (or what coda means), you can find that on our website here: https://www.codastory.com/

Here are our latest top stories:

🔍 India could be using spyware to crack down on human rights activists. One target? An 83-year-old Jesuit priest who fought for the rights of marginalized groups. Read more here.

🤳 What happens to vital video evidence of the insurrection at the US Capitol insurrection or the war in Syria when it’s wiped from social media? Coda's Isobel Cockerell looks at the rush to preserve footage before it disappears.

As Covid-19 immunization campaigns get underway across the world, so do counterfeit vaccination schemes. In this week’s Infodemic newsletter, we took a look at two cases in particular, in Mexico and China, where criminal groups were involved in selling fake Covid-19 vaccines.

🇲🇽 A private clinic in the Mexican border state of Nuevo Leon has been selling counterfeit Pfizer vaccines largely made of water for up to $2,000 a shot. The clinic is now under investigation, with six people arrested so far. Gangs were behind the racket, said the state’s secretary of health. While this is the first such case in the country, experts have long warned about criminal groups attempting to profit from vaccine rollouts.

🇨🇳 While Chinese censors have done their best to keep the news off the internet, reports emerged this month that, to date, more than 70 people have been arrested in 21 separate cases of fraudulent coronavirus vaccine sales. The profit margins are incredible: one man detained in November 2020 made over $2.7 million selling close to 58,000 doses of counterfeit vaccine.

Sign up for the weekly Infodemic newsletter or you can read today’s sendout in full here.

Hello 👋 Here’s our top read for today:

⛓ The Brazilian far-right has for decades pushed the narrative that a left-wing conspiracy is secretly pulling the country’s political strings. But there’s a competing theory that the military is using hybrid warfare to assert control. Darren Loucaides looks at decades of opposing perceptions of reality in Brazil.

💊 In Colombia, steam, eucalyptus, lemon and a traditionally processed form of cane sugar are all being promoted as Covid-19 cures, despite a lack of evidence. Andrew J. Wight takes a look at the role of misinformation and fake coronavirus cures in Colombia.

🎮 Accusations of misogynistic comments and threats of rape are common on popular streaming and social media platforms like Youtube and Twitch where moderation policies don’t go far enough. Coda’s Katia Patin dives into it.

Hello ✋ Here are the latest stories we’ve been following:

📜 Our reporter Isobel Cockerell keeps finding pamphlets on her doormat and shoved under her car’s windshield wiper in London. The leaflets are full of anti-lockdown propaganda and conspiracy theories. So she went on an adventure to find out who was printing them and why.

😶 Turkmenistan is intimidating critics living abroad. Mariam Kiparoidze reports on how the regime is silencing dissent even far beyond its borders.

📱 As protests continue to rock Myanmar, activists are creating apps to keep people safe on the streets and target the army’s business dealings.

🚨 The same Sudanese militia that committed numerous atrocities in Darfur is trying to rebrand itself as a group of philanthropic statesmen helping the country fight Covid-19. Mat Nashed has the story.

💉 Anonymous accounts on Telegram are selling fake vaccine certificates to Russians hoping to side-step the Sputnik V vaccine. Tatiana Torocheshnikova and Katia Patin report.

Hello 👋 Here are the stories that we’re following right now:

🇨🇳 In China, a new digital tool will track the vaccination status for citizens entering and leaving the country, fueling privacy concerns. Isobel Cockerell reports.

💉 From COVID deniers to anti-vaxxers, conspiracists are flocking to online hubs and feeding off of one another's narratives. Erica Hellerstein digs into the convergence of antisemitic & anti-vaccine conspiracies, which experts say is growing during the pandemic.

🎤Hip-hop is on the front lines of the fight for democracy in Myanmar. Artists and rappers are coming out with anti-coup music protesting the military takeover. Read more here.

Hello 👋 Here is our top read for today:

🏭 Industrial pollution from factories along Tunisia’s shores is devastating fishermen’s income and making people sick with cancer and respiratory problems, but the issue has been largely ignored. Layli Foroudi reports for Coda Story.

🧔🏻Anti-lockdown groups have seized upon traditionally male themes, such as personal sovereignty and individualism, to attract men. Lydia Morrish reports.

🇺🇿 In Uzbekistan, a new draft of criminal code calls homosexual relations a crime “against famliy, children and morality” and crimalizes same-sex relations between men with up to three years in jail. Read the full story here.

🔮 Russian astrologer Mikhail Levin has been using the stars to predict the future for Russian politicians since the late 1980s. And during the pandemic, he’s doing regular readings on YouTube. Glenn Kates and Tatiana Torocheshnikova dig into the popularity of astrology in Russia.

🥦 Social media is full of perfectly curated photos of food and a fixation on “clean eating.” But it can trigger an unhealthy relationship with food, Mariam Kiparoidze reports.

🇮🇪 Anti-lockdown protesters in Ireland are planning so-called Easter Rising demonstrations this weekend to mark the anniversary of the 1916 armed struggle against British rule. Read more here.

Hello 👋 Here are the stories that we’re following right now:

💊 From unproven cancer treatments to supplements for hormonal imbalance, some CEOs and business leaders have made a business of promoting a variety of pseudohealth cures. Coda’s staff has the story.

💸 Central Asian countries have become attractive locations for mining digital currencies, but research shows they are among the most vulnerable to cryptocurrency attacks. Read the story here.

Happy Monday ✋ Here’s what we’re following this week:

🇷🇺 For years, pro-Kremlin TV channels avoided using Alexey Navalny’s name on air. Now that he’s behind bars, their propaganda tactics have changed.

🇮🇷 An Iranian cleric known as the “father of Islamic medicine” has been pushing pseudoscientific cures for coronavirus. And he’s not the only one.

👤 Facial recognition used on dating apps and online ad is identifying users by gender, potentially making false judgements about trans and non-binary people. Rights groups are pushing the European Commission to ban automated gender recognition tech. Read more here.