#Newspaper
Twitter and TikTok in fake news firing line
//China’s political manipulation of social media sites has prompted a swift response from the Morrison government.
//In early 2019, a delegation of senior Australian government officials travelled to Shenzhen, China, where they were permitted into a gleaming, two-towered building in the city’s far west.
//The AEC’s idea was to open the lines of communication with the social media player, recognising the platform as a potential conduit for disinformation ahead of the May 18, 2019 federal election.
//Similar meetings took place in Silicon Valley with Twitter, Facebook and Google. But recognising #WeChat’s two million-plus user base in #Australia
//#Tencent was “receptive”, Rogers says, opening the way for a “collaborative relationship” during the 2019 campaign.
//However, just over 12 months later, an explosion of fake news around the world and the rise of misinformation and foreign government interference across almost all the biggest social media platforms has infuriated the Morrison government
//Twitter released an archive of 23,750 suspended accounts connected to Chinese state-backed Âinformation operations... These accounts aimed to sow discord across several fronts — including propaganda against Hong Kong protesters who are portrayed repeatedly as violent and referred to as “cockroaches”, and in linking the COVID-19 outbreak to Hong Kong or the US.
//Twitter is banned in China, but most of the misinformation is aimed at the Chinese-speaking Âdiaspora, including in Australia.
//WeChat has an estimated 2.9 million Australian users. Australian political parties believe the platform has the potential to affect election results in up to six federal seats, which have high numbers of Chinese-Australian voters.
//Its aim is to use Australian Âdiplomacy... to call out disinformation and shame the state actors behind fake news.
//the use of social media platforms in Australia “that are extensions of social platforms in authoritarian states” pose a particular problem.
//foreign state-sponsored social media campaigns can be conducted at any time in response to geopolitical developments, not just during elections.
//Australia needs to spend less on submarines and more on bolstering cyber defences and weeding out disinformation from strategic rivals, including China.
//“China is also being blamed for COVID-19, so they are reaching out around the globe to try and control these narratives,”
//The government has also tasked communications watchdog ACMA with developing a new #misinformation and news quality code of practice, in a bid to reduce the impact of fake news.
Full Article: The Australian, (11-Jul)
#ChinesePlatform #FakeNews #Tiktok #cyberdefence #SocialMedia #Election #Coronavirus #propaganda
Twitter and TikTok in fake news firing line
//China’s political manipulation of social media sites has prompted a swift response from the Morrison government.
//In early 2019, a delegation of senior Australian government officials travelled to Shenzhen, China, where they were permitted into a gleaming, two-towered building in the city’s far west.
//The AEC’s idea was to open the lines of communication with the social media player, recognising the platform as a potential conduit for disinformation ahead of the May 18, 2019 federal election.
//Similar meetings took place in Silicon Valley with Twitter, Facebook and Google. But recognising #WeChat’s two million-plus user base in #Australia
//#Tencent was “receptive”, Rogers says, opening the way for a “collaborative relationship” during the 2019 campaign.
//However, just over 12 months later, an explosion of fake news around the world and the rise of misinformation and foreign government interference across almost all the biggest social media platforms has infuriated the Morrison government
//Twitter released an archive of 23,750 suspended accounts connected to Chinese state-backed Âinformation operations... These accounts aimed to sow discord across several fronts — including propaganda against Hong Kong protesters who are portrayed repeatedly as violent and referred to as “cockroaches”, and in linking the COVID-19 outbreak to Hong Kong or the US.
//Twitter is banned in China, but most of the misinformation is aimed at the Chinese-speaking Âdiaspora, including in Australia.
//WeChat has an estimated 2.9 million Australian users. Australian political parties believe the platform has the potential to affect election results in up to six federal seats, which have high numbers of Chinese-Australian voters.
//Its aim is to use Australian Âdiplomacy... to call out disinformation and shame the state actors behind fake news.
//the use of social media platforms in Australia “that are extensions of social platforms in authoritarian states” pose a particular problem.
//foreign state-sponsored social media campaigns can be conducted at any time in response to geopolitical developments, not just during elections.
//Australia needs to spend less on submarines and more on bolstering cyber defences and weeding out disinformation from strategic rivals, including China.
//“China is also being blamed for COVID-19, so they are reaching out around the globe to try and control these narratives,”
//The government has also tasked communications watchdog ACMA with developing a new #misinformation and news quality code of practice, in a bid to reduce the impact of fake news.
Full Article: The Australian, (11-Jul)
#ChinesePlatform #FakeNews #Tiktok #cyberdefence #SocialMedia #Election #Coronavirus #propaganda