Edward Perez’s Post

LEARNING FROM FRENCH EXPERIENCE On election eve, Associated Press reported on the plethora of disinformation campaigns “orchestrated out of Russia and targeting France” that escalated during the legislative elections and in the lead-up to the Paris Olympics. The report cited French officials and cybersecurity experts in Europe and the United States. Viginum, the French Government’s body responsible for tracking and protecting against foreign digital interference, published a report in June on "Matryoshka". This pro-Russian influence operation targeting the media and the fact-checking community, used Telegram accounts and bots on X to plant fake news and sow confusion among decoders and fact-checkers. Kremlin media and social network accounts have also aided the widespread demonisation of President Emmanuel Macron in France as an extremist ‘Nazi’. Russian destabilisation operations in France have not only consisted of media and social network manipulation. They have also involved direct interference in fomenting civil strife. .. " FOR MORE read "Moscow Loses French Elections – At Least For Now" https://lnkd.in/gT-YhBhs

My latest for European Council on Foreign Relations on this weekend's Taiwan elections. It'll be a big surprise if Lai doesn't win, given his poll numbers have strengthened above 40%. And assuming that happens, its going to be a bumpy next 6 months. Taiwan is going to be looking for support from friends around the region — US, Quad, Europe – and whether and how they get it will be a major test of regional indo-pacific policy. Extract: "The likely uptick in pressure after the election will raise complex questions for the US, as it attempts to de-escalate its own tensions with China. Washington has remained broadly neutral during the election campaign. US policymakers would prefer another DPP administration, although many worry privately that Lai might adopt a more confrontational tone than his predecessor, complicating Sino-US ties. Either way, there are clear risks that worsening ties between China and Taiwan, but also possibly between China and the US, could develop into a full-blown crisis. The military exercises China launched following the visit of US house speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taipei in 2022 give a sense of the alarming scenarios that might follow." Thanks to Janka Oertel, Alicja Bachulska and others for input, and to friends in Taipei and elsewhere for general insights too, Alicia Garcia-Herrero 艾西亞, Mathieu Duchâtel, Drew Thompson, Bonnie Glaser, I-Chung Lai, Thompson Chau, Emily Y. Wu 吳怡慈, Kathrin Hille, Bo-jiun Jing, Jason Hsu, Jeremy Huai-Che Chiang, Chris Miller, Vincent Chao, Alexander C. Huang. #Taiwan #china #election #DPP #KMT #USA #indopacific

Věra Jourová, the EU Commission vice president for values and transparency, urged Big Tech to protect global democratic elections from interference and disinformation, emphasizing the threat of authoritarian governments, AI-powered deepfakes, and Russian interference. She highlighted the need for fact-checking, compliance with regulations, and cooperation with independent fact-checkers, while addressing concerns about impacts on free speech and US tech businesses.</div><div class="read-more"><a href="" class="more-link">Continue reading</a>https://lnkd.in/gT552r7M

Chinese Election Interference in Taiwan Part 2 The report covers the intricacies of the division of labor between official media outlets tasked with disseminating positive propaganda and non-official sources, which adopt a more aggressive tone. The strategic alignment of messaging serves as a testament to the CCP's global aspirations in shaping a favorable information environment. Moreover, we look at the intricacies of the CCP-driven disinformation campaigns, focusing on Taiwan and the United States. These campaigns are designed to erode trust and propagate China's unification narrative. The report discloses the nature of China's information warfare, characterized by the adept utilization of positive and negative messaging strategies. These strategies are harnessed to influence public opinion, both domestically within Taiwan and on an international scale. The report sheds light on the pattern of Chinese interference in Taiwanese elections. This interference transcends conventional boundaries of political influence, posing a direct challenge to the integrity of the electoral process. The analysis draws from authoritative sources and reporting, providing invaluable insights into the evolving landscape of Chinese electoral interference in Taiwan. These findings underscore the pressing need for heightened vigilance and robust countermeasures to safeguard the democratic principles that underpin Taiwanese elections. https://lnkd.in/exkg8GT9

First Brazil then Berlin, then Brussels, then Lille now New Zealand and Australia demand censorship of content from social media platforms. This is a very dangerous game to play as one could say that countries through censorship are meddling in their own elections, affecting what their citizens see, think and what they consequentially vote on the day of their respective elections. I do not care much about politics but I do care about freedom and the freedom to say what one thinks and the freedom to access the information one wants to access without the government meddling into these affairs, the freedom for one to go to an event that they like without the stasi or the Gestapo budging in to stop the event through force of will without any consideration for the freedom of their own citizens. The West is changing and not for the best. And there are people who still want to entrust CBDCs to governments. If elections still hold any value in the western world and in Europe, I hope in June people think very well whom they want for leaders. Censors and people who kill and rape the freedoms our ancestors died for, or people who at least say they will defend them? The choice is ours. #technology #socialmedia

What is missing in many discussions about the sham presidential election in Russia, scheduled for next week, 15-17 March? That not voting can be an act of resistance... Leaving aside the fact that all relevant opposition figures are either jailed, in exile or denied registration as candidates, there are two things that I want to highlight. First, I think the Russian voters do have some choice to show discontent with the situation - not to go to vote at all. Putin's political team is well aware that the election is of little interest to voters and he set the goal of 70-80% of voters participation. The pressure will be mainly on "government-dependent voters" - civil servants, employees of state-owned corporations and workers of private companies loyal to the government, to go to vote or be punished. Second, as we highlight in the ARTICLE 19 statement, Russia will collect votes in the Ukrainian-occupied territories and coerce residents to cast their votes. We therefore call on the international community for more concrete counter-measures, including expanded targeted sanctions and further forms of support to Ukraine. More below! #Russia #election #president #Putin #righttovote #noVote #resistance #freespeech #humanrights #Ukraine #occupiedterritories

The US plans to send an unofficial delegation of former top officials to Taiwan after the upcoming presidential election. The US stated that their policy toward Taiwan will remain the same, regardless of who wins the presidency. The delegation's details have not been confirmed, but it is rumored that it will be led by former Democratic deputy secretary of state, James Steinberg, and former Republican national security adviser, Stephen Hadley. #AsiaRisk #GeopoliticalConflictandDisputes #Japan Follow us for daily updates on risk and operations in Asia! https://lnkd.in/gVTi3izA

The World Economic Forum identified #misinformation and #disinformation (or #malinformation as my Gartner colleagues refer to it) as the most significant short-term global #risk we face given that a significant number of people will go through elections in the next 2 years. Couple this with the stories that have been popping up about the impact of #deepfakes and I would say that there is genuine reason to be concerned. But it seems that Taiwan may have a blueprint for how nations can try and tackle this problem. Taiwan went through a presidential election in January and there were concerns around the potential impact of misinformation and disinformation. "In Taiwan, the response to disinformation was swift. Fact-checking groups debunked the rumors, while the Central Election Commission held a news conference to push back on claims of electoral discrepancies." Furthermore, it seems that Taiwan takes this threat seriously and leverages a multifaceted "whole of society approach" approach that relies on government, independent fact-check groups and even private citizens to call out disinformation and propaganda. Very interestingly, this was achieved without the use of tougher laws to force #socialmedia sites to police themselves. With a Federal election coming soon to #Canada, are there lessons that we can learn and institute from Taiwan's experience? #cdnpoli #natsec

Bredec Group Bredec Group Tell HN: Yekaterina Duntsova barred from Russian presidential election: Yekaterina Duntsova has recently become very popular in Russia as an anti-Putin, anti-war, democratic candidate She recently held a voter meeting to get the signatures legally required as a first step to become a presidential candidate. It was not easy since the police visited all the notary offices and there was only one which continued to work. However, it was successfully done Today she came to Central Election Commission and they said that the (verified) documents she had contained 100 errors, therefore they will not register her as a candidate. Notably, one of the "errors" was one signature which looked like a cat - it was later confirmed as a real one by SOTA, and Russian laws have no restrictions on signatures, one can even use an emoji. The CEC will only give an official conclusion tomorrow, which will prevent Yekaterina from going to court as soon as possible. As usual, more roadblocks from the government are expected, even for the other candidates While Russian opposition forces are not united, the consensus seems to be to go and vote for any candidate that's not Putin, and Duntsova would be a great choice here. You may think something like "this is Putin's own election, no one else can win, it's stupid to even try". But it's not about winning since that's absolutely impossible and everyone knows that (she even openly says that). It's about showing that the are more anti-Putin people in Russia than one would think, about uniting them and showing their true voice. There is finally a legitimate, legal way to protest against the dictatorship and the war, even if the outcome is unclear I wrote this post since Algolia showed no results about these events and I thought it would be great if HN audience knew what's happening, thank you for reading --- Comments URL: https://lnkd.in/dUx9XMxH Points: 1 # Comments: 0 info@bredec.com Inquiry@bredec.com

Rise and Shine! Tensions high as Senator Warner alerts of foreign meddling in the anticipated Biden-Trump election bout. Stay informed, stay vigilant. Check my latest deep dive on the rising stakes. #Election2024 #NationalSecurity #ForeignInterference 🔗 Dive deeper: [USA Today Article](https://lnkd.in/eAP5Dk2e) Swipe for key insights 👉 1️⃣ Warner's Warning 2️⃣ Bipartisan Concerns 3️⃣ Protecting Democracy 4️⃣ What's at Stake 5️⃣ Call to Action Stay humble and positive. Together, we can safeguard our elections.