• Germany: Hate Speech, Threats against Politicians Rise

    Three weeks after a neo-Nazi was convicted of murdering regional governor Walter Lübcke. In answer to a parliamentary information request from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, the Interior Ministry reported that 1,534 crimes against politicians, party members or party property had been reported in 2020, a 9 percent increase on the year before.

  • Deepfake Detectors Can Be Defeated, Researchers Show for the First Time

    Systems designed to detect deepfakes —videos that manipulate real-life footage via artificial intelligence—can be deceived, computer scientists showed. Researchers showed detectors can be defeated by inserting inputs called adversarial examples into every video frame. The adversarial examples are slightly manipulated inputs which cause artificial intelligence systems such as machine learning models to make a mistake.

  • Austin Orders Military Stand Down to Address Challenge of Extremism in the Ranks

    Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin has ordered a DOD-wide stand down to discuss the problem of extremism in the ranks. The stand down will occur over the next sixty days, Kirby said. This is so “each service, each command and each unit can take the time out to have these needed discussions with the men and women of the force,” Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said. Austin said in the meeting with military leaders that while the numbers may be small, they are not as small as anyone would like.

  • How Telegram Disruption Impacts Jihadist Platform Migration

    In October 2018 and November 2019, Europol conducted two Action Days geared toward meaningfully disrupting jihadist networks on Telegram – a social media platform favored by groups like Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda. A new report aims to understand the impact of the 2018 and 2019 Europol Action Days – first, what they meant for the health and size of the jihadist networks on Telegram and second, how they impacted on the phenomenon of migration to other platforms.

  • The Evolution of COVID-19 Dark Web Marketplaces Before the Vaccine

    In new research, data scientits highlight the importance of the continuous monitoring of dark web marketplaces (DWMs), especially in light of the current shortage and availability of COVID-19 vaccines.

  • Don’t Blame Fox News for the Attack on the Capitol

    In the immediate aftermath of the 6 January assault on the Capitol, in a Trump-inspired effort by his supporters to prevent Congress from ratifying the rightful winner of the election, Fox News was criticized for “whipping up the radicals.” A close comparative study of post-election news coverage, however, shows that Fox News was restraint, and largely accurate, in its coverage, while three right-wing fringe networks – Newsmax, One America News Network (OANN), and Blaze TV – had a far bigger role in amplifying Trump’s disinformation and conspiracy theories about the election. The hyper-partisan coverage of election integrity provided by the three fringe networks – combined with the almost perfectly sealed echo chamber they had created for their viewers – makes them the more likely culprit for having riled up loyal Trump supporters.

  • Incitement to violence is rarely explicit – here are some techniques people use to breed hate

    As senators plan for an impeachment trial in which former President Donald Trump is accused of inciting his supporters to mount a deadly insurrection at the Capitol, there is a growing concerns about threats of violent unrest in multiple countries, and the role played by the proliferation of dangerous speech on line – and by political leaders. U.S. law reflects the assumption that dangerous speech must contain explicit calls to criminal action. But scholars who study speeches and propaganda that precede acts of violence find direct commands to violence are rare.

  • De-platforming Is a Fix, But Only a Short-Term One

    In the wake of the 6 January attack on the Capitol, major social media companies like Facebook and Twitter have applied their now-customary methods of content moderation to U.S. users considered to be spreading hate and inciting violence. “More atypically, companies operating the mostly invisible digital infrastructure which platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are built on, also demonstrated their power, taking down Parler,” writes Will Marks, a researcher at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. “But death on the internet is short lived,” he notes. “Without Parler or Twitter, disinformation and hatred — coded or overt — will continue to be broadcast.” Marks adds: “At a certain point, the question about what to do with Parler is only part of the broader one about how society should cope with the fact that segments of the population are living in different realities.” This is a problem for which there is no technological solution.

  • Shining a Light on the Hidden Shadows of the Internet

    The dark web is perceived as the underbelly of the internet world, but it’s not all as negative as it may seem, says a computer security expert. The dark web is becoming increasingly popular with internet users who simply want to safeguard their privacy online.

  • As Donald Trump exits, QAnon Takes Hold in Germany

    The storming of the U.S. Capitol illustrated just how dangerous a conspiracy theory can be. In Germany, QAnon is gaining momentum — and its most ardent followers are sticking with Donald Trump.

  • Biden to Inherit Trump’s Aggressive Iran Social Media Campaign

    The incoming Biden administration is inheriting from President Donald Trump an Iran-focused social media campaign that dramatically boosted U.S. engagement with Iranians by sharply criticizing their Islamist rulers, a strategy that President-elect Joe Biden appears set to change. 

  • How Can Corporate Leaders Do More to Defend Democracy?

    In the wake of the assault on the U.S. Capitol, corporate leaders have taken a strong stand for democratic institutions. How does this fit into trends of corporate activism, and what comes next?

  • Most U.S. Social Studies Teachers Feel Unprepared to Teach Civic Learning, a Gap Contribute to Truth Decay

    Only one in five social studies teachers in U.S. public schools report feeling very well prepared to support students’ civic learning, saying they need additional aid with instructional materials, professional development, and training, according to a RAND Corporation survey.

  • How Social Media’s Obsession with Scale Supercharged Disinformation

    The 6 January siege on the U.S. Capitol building illustrates just how powerful a networked conspiracy can be when it’s amplified through social media. “The attack was the culmination of years of disinformation from President Trump, which ramped up after Biden was declared the president-elect — and largely the product of social media companies’ inability to control the weaponization of their products,” John Donovan writes.

  • Furious Extremists Call for More Violence Around Inauguration Day

    In the immediate aftermath of the November 2020 presidential election, pro-Trump and other extremists announced their initial plans to protest President-Elect Joe Biden’s inauguration in Washington D.C. While it is impossible for anyone to predict with certainty how the events of the next week may unfold, recent history has shown that we cannot ignore potential threats from political and other right-wing extremists.