THREAD: Viral misinformation on US capture of Nicolas Maduro - 4 January This video, shared by Alex Jones and others, falsely claims to show millions of Venezuelans in Caracas celebrating Maduro's capture. In fact, it shows anti-Maduro protests in July 2024 over a highly disputed election.

Interesting how opposing factions of the Chinese internet have found positive angles in the Venezuela news: For critics of Beijing, the US taking out foreign dictators is always welcome news; while pro-gov't nationalists say this sets a precedent for China to invade Taiwan in a similar manner.

How does a viral social media post snowball into a global fake news story? @wenhao.bsky.social retraces the path, one misleading report at a time, in this piece about China's alleged law to curb online misinformation.

"In total, of the four sources MoneyWise listed to prove the existence of a new Chinese influencer law, none were primary sources . . . they were all news articles based on other news articles based on other news articles. Eventually, Yahoo Finance reposted the MoneyWise piece"

This is so so fascinating, and just a sign of how hard it is to source stuff right now

funny how a story about a law combating misinformation was itself completely made up and... misinformation

Remember that flashy new Chinese law about fining influencers 100k RMB for spreading bad information? It doesn't exist, it was made up by a Facebook page called Enséñame de Ciencia and @wenhao.bsky.social has a great breakdown of why you *think* it does

A new Chinese law regulating influencer speech has gotten applause from social media users and commentators who want similar policies in their own countries. But the truth is far from what's in the news and it's a sad reflection of our internet and media space. wenhao.substack.com/p/anatomy-of...

A new Chinese law regulating influencer speech has gotten applause from social media users and commentators who want similar policies in their own countries. But the truth is far from what's in the news and it's a sad reflection of our internet and media space. wenhao.substack.com/p/anatomy-of...

Posted this when VOA's fate was in limbo. Now that my time with the agency has been officially over and having spent a few months handling personal matters, I'm back to job hunting and open to any full time, part time and freelance opportunities that are either US based or remote. Send me a message!

Posted this when VOA's fate was in limbo. Now that my time with the agency has been officially over and having spent a few months handling personal matters, I'm back to job hunting and open to any full time, part time and freelance opportunities that are either US based or remote. Send me a message!

The SaveVOA account on X, which is part of Voice of America workers’ effort to rally the public to prevent the agency from being shut down by the Trump administration, has just been suspended by the social media platform for “violating rules against inauthentic accounts”.

Trump's attacks on Krebs only compound the stress at CISA: "'It’s a really tough time for all of us right now,” said [CISA] employee. 'Every day feels somehow more bizarre than the last. It is incredibly difficult to focus on our mission.'" www.nbcnews.com/tech/securit...

THREAD: When @thekrebscycle.bsky.social and his workplace, @sentinelone.com, were singled out by Donald Trump on Wednesday, I thought it was an opportunity to weigh the cybersecurity industry's rhetoric against their real world actions.

Warfare was so intense from start to finish my back hurt afterwards

Trump has signed an EO to investigate and revoke the clearances of one of his top cybersecurity officials from the first admin, former CISA director Chris Krebs - who famously confirmed the integrity of the 2020 election.

Trump going after his former CISA director @thekrebscycle.bsky.social, who debunked his 2020 lies. He just ordered a probe of Krebs' leadership of CISA (including any "censorship"), revoked Krebs' clearances, and suspended those of his @sentinelone.com colleagues. www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/...

Art of the deal suggests he can also pause the pause any time he wants

BREAKING President Trump is threatening to slap an additional 50% tariff on China if it does not withdraw its retaliatory 34% tariff on the United States. This would mean US tariffs on Chinese would be 104%

Among the many other stupid things about today is that Trump's reported deal to save TikTok appears to let it keep running exactly as is without addressing the reasons Congress banned it in the first place www.platformer.news/trump-tariff...

lol what district elected a former Soviet assassin who killed JFK?

apologies for repost from the bad place, but PRC messaging around Taiwan-focused drills getting genuinely alarming. depicting the targets of military actions as insects or parasites a pretty classic precursor. x.com/globaltimesn...

I don't know how to feel about OpenAI removing restrictions on image generation

BREAKING: President Donald Trump aims to reshape the Smithsonian museums and zoo with an order targeting funding to programs with "improper ideology."

This viral image of Pikachu appearing in the ongoing protests in Turkey is AI-generated and fake. An analysis by GetReal Labs found "strong evidence of synthesis", including distorted police labels. There are genuine videos of Pikachu running from police in Antalya. But this viral image is fake.

So I dived deep into the online & offline activities of Maye Musk, Elon's mom. Here, she has immersed herself into the Trump power circles and partisan narratives; but in China, she's still the fashion influencer who visits "nearly every month" and poses with Chinese art and Tesla cars.

NEW: How Elon Musk’s SpaceX, a major military contractor, secretly allows investment from China. Court records reveal execs there see $ from China as fraught but will let it in if it comes through secrecy hubs like the Caymans. www.propublica.org/article/elon... w/ @josh-kaplan.bsky.social

TikTok deleted 25 videos that I flagged were falsely claiming green card holders had been banned from entering or leaving the United States starting on March 21st. The videos had been seen more than 21 million times. fakedup.org/tiktok-has-a...

There is no real limiting principle on the basis the Trump admin is using to justify deportation of legal immigrants. Can immigrants talk about human rights in China without "undermining" American foreign policy? Or mock Putin? Or criticize the "51st state" rhetoric? www.thefire.org/news/should-...

In 25 years of covering national security, I’ve never seen a story like this: Senior Trump officials discussed planning for the U.S. attack on Yemen in a Signal group--and inadvertently added the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

China's Ministry of Public Security are hiring news editors. And the criteria are fascinating. +*Male only* +Beijinger only +Loyal to the Party (obv) +Can't have studied/lived abroad for 6 months. +No relative living abroad or married to a foreigner. And that's the start. 1/3

Kari Lake sent me this reply to my request for comment on the lawsuit filed against her: “Kari Lake does not grant interviews or interact with disreputable ‘news’ outlets like NPR.”

Multiple VOA reporters and outside organizations today filed a lawsuit against Kari Lake and USAGM, seeking “immediate relief to reverse the shuttering of the U.S. Agency for Global Media” and to reinstate affected workers. www.afscme.org/press/releas...

FCC's newly formed national security council announces investigation into Chinese tech companies included on FCC's Covered List, including Huawei, ZTE, Dahua, Hikvision, etc. which FCC says are still operating in the US on a "private" or "unregulated" basis. www.fcc.gov/document/car...

BREAKING — The DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties is being eliminated entirely via Reduction in Force (RIF), an agency source tells me. Staff have not been given reassignment options. Functions of the office will supposedly be assigned to other offices.

Want to reshare this old post of mine now that the guy is set to gain knowledge of US war plans with China. open.substack.com/pub/wenhao/p...

Breaking News: The Pentagon is set to brief Elon Musk on the U.S. military’s closely guarded plan for any potential war with China, officials said.

WSJ Editorial: ' Mr. Trump understands the leverage of hard military power, but he has no interest in soft power or the war of ideas. It’s a blind spot that will be filled by the propaganda of our adversaries.' www.wsj.com/opinion/radi...

Here is a fundraiser for people affected by the dismantling of USAGM, including those working for VOA, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Middle East Broadcasting Networks, and the Open Technology Fund secure.givelively.org/donate/usagm...

🚨My piece for the @jodemocracy.bsky.social was published today. #DeepSeek makes surveillance tech smarter&cheaper.This'll allow the CCP to stay in power longer, and propel Chinese #AIsurveillance exports across the world—to the detriment of global freedom. www.journalofdemocracy.org/online-exclu...

"Dozens of VOA staffers in Washington are on J-1 visas, and if they lose them, they may have to return to countries whose governments have a record of jailing critics. Two VOA contributors are imprisoned in Myanmar and Vietnam, and I didn’t want them to be forgotten."

1. BREAKING Columbia University is getting close to yielding to President Trump's demands in negotiations to restore $400 million in federal funding. Columbia has until Thursday to agree to nine far-reaching demands by the Trump administration. Full Story: bit.ly/3FBtYIl

Guy in D.C. was just sentenced to nearly a decade in prison for trying to blow up the Chinese Embassy — earlier he'd bombed this Gap Brother's sculpture in San Antonio, "Miss Mao Trying to Poise Herself at the Top of Lenin’s Head"

Chinese media has hailed the impending closure of the U.S. broadcasters. In an editorial, the state-run tabloid Global Times said “the so-called beacon of freedom, VOA, has now been discarded by its own government like a dirty rag.” www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...

Reporting from NewNewsCN (in Chinese) on how local Chinese government agencies across the country have incorporated (or claimed that they have incorporated) DeepSeek to improve surveillance and censorship capabilities. www.instagram.com/p/DHWdHzFTIA...

The FTC has removed blogs and guidance issued during the Biden administration. The removed posts include important consumer protection information, and posts critical of Amazon, Microsoft, and AI companies. From @makenakelly.bsky.social www.wired.com/story/federa...