241m Europeans 'may have received Russian-linked disinformation'
Around half of all Europeans could have been exposed to disinformation promoted by social media accounts linked to Russia before the European elections, an analysis suggests.
Only 'may/could have', so far, but plenty of dots to join up:
locally created material was being amplified to craft a narrative for each EU member state, according to the study of a 10-day period from 1 to 10 March.... specific evidence of malign actors seeking to shape specific news developments in Europe, including the debate over whether the Commons should back Theresa May’s Brexit deal during which divisive content was actively spread.
The subtlety of the dark arts is revealed:
On 4 March 2019, an article published by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, about the future of Europe provoked a 79% increase in activity within 24 hours by accounts mostly promoting or sharing content attempting to discredit his ideas.
Promoting or attempting to discredit. Fiendish! For the petit bourgeois technophobe, it is really scary:
The disinformation was pushed via automated bots programmed to pick up specific text cues and by humans sometimes using software to communicate through multiple accounts at the same time and potentially avoiding bot detection algorithms.
Automated bots and humans! Are there no limits to the guile?
The company that produced the research, online security firm SafeGuard Cyber, said it had a database of more than 500,000 known troll and bot accounts and had confidence of their Russian links, although this could not be independently verified by the Guardian.
But it's good copy and we will leave it to you, oh paranoid reader, to do your own deductions and have your consolations ready if Brexit trounces Change. There are some authorities to cite:
The European commissioner Sir Julian King said the evidence “underlines the dangers of disinformation online”...King was one of a number of EU officials that the research suggested were also being targeted by malign actors. Thirteen percent of his Twitter followers were found to be suspicious. [My God! Thirteen percent! -- and here's me thinking his twitter feed,which I follow assiduously, offered only unvarnished truth]... Otavio Freire, the co-founder of SafeGuard Cyber, [could be a vested interest in here?] said: “The scale of the problem is tremendous. The rise of disinformation campaigns is abetted by the fact that it is incredibly difficult to stop their spread on social platforms....Our report reinforces the need for a new approach to security, as today’s bad actors are not at all hindered by the cybersecurity tactics of yesterday.”
Meanwhile, the Guarnida reports that there is a new British-Irish bilateral deal 'to guarantee the rights of citizens after Brexit'
the deal is the result of two years of work to ensure the rights both have under the CTA agreements and under EU freedom of movement are protected after Brexit. ...[Already]...Britain [had] stated explicitly, for instance, that the Irish did not have to apply for “settled status” in the UK, something citizens from the rest of the EU are required to do...
[I also didn't know that] Further legislation [in the 1920s] gave the Irish the right to vote in all British elections, something that eludes other EU citizens, with reciprocal rights for Britons in Ireland.
Wednesday’s deal will mean arrangements to ensure reciprocal access to social insurance, child benefit and pensions continues, with a further deal promised on access to education and healthcare.
So will those Irish flakes reported eagerly in the Grudina no longer feel 'unwelcome' or unsettled by Brexit? Not necessarily...
However legal experts raised concerns that the full range of employment and social rights were not guaranteed under law and were merely codified in a series of bilateral declarations.
I think they should all be reassured personally by the UK Government.
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