Russia’s Online Campaign to Destroy Yulia Navalnaya

Over the next couple of days after news of Navalny’s death, Solovyov shared more content designed to suggest Navalnaya was having an affair, including a doctored image that appeared to show Navalnaya embracing Russian entrepreneur Evgeny Chichvarkin, who in the past has financed Navalny’s work. The original image, taken in 2013, shows Navalnaya embracing her … Read more

TikTok to open in-app Election Centers for EU users to tackle disinformation risks

TikTok will launch localized election resources in its app to reach users in each of the European Union’s 27 Member States next month and direct them towards “trusted information”, as part of its preparations to tackle disinformation risks related to regional elections this year. “Next month, we will launch a local language Election Centre in-app … Read more

This Website Tracked Hate Crimes in India. Then the Government Took It Offline

Hindutva Watch, with its more than 79,000 followers on X, and its near daily documentation of riots, violence, and instances of BJP politicians spouting anti-Muslim rhetoric does little to bolster the party’s image. The instances documented by Hindutva Watch also run counter to the image of a US ally committed to “freedom, democracy, human rights, … Read more

How 3 Million ‘Hacked’ Toothbrushes Became a Cyber Urban Legend

Documents exclusively obtained by WIRED reveal that AI surveillance software tracked thousands of people using the London Underground to detect crime or unsafe situations. The machine learning software scoured live CCTV footage to spot aggressive behavior, weapons being brandished, and people dodging fares. The documents also detail errors made during the trial—for instance, mistakenly identifying … Read more

Russian Memes Celebrate ‘Tucker Carlson Day’ After Putin Interview

“Across social media, Kremlin sources have moved quickly to take advantage of Tucker Carlson’s interview as an opportunity to amplify propaganda aimed at building support for Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine,” Ben Scott, director at Reset, a London-based nonprofit that tracks disinformation campaigns, tells WIRED. This blanket coverage was repeated across Russia’s state-run media. Newsroom … Read more

Russia Is Boosting Calls for ‘Civil War’ Over Texas Border Crisis

“When I’m trying to identify disinformation operations in the wild I need to understand the initial signals and ideas that Russian state media and influencers are sharing,” Walter tells WIRED. “Russian Telegram channels just blew up overnight, and started really dialing into messaging specifically about the possibility that Texas could be an independent state, the … Read more

How Ready Is Meta for the Biggest Election Year in History?

What we asked for was for Meta to clarify that its policy restricting account for public figures should apply not only in contexts where we have incidents of civil unrest or incidents of violence, but also where political expression is preemptively suppressed or responded to with violence or threat of violence from the state using … Read more

Far-Right Extremists Are Organizing an Armed Convoy to the Texas Border

A retired US Army lieutenant colonel is organizing an armed convoy next week to the Texas border to, he says, hunt down migrants crossing into the US from Mexico. Hundreds of people already say they are coordinating travel plans for the convoy on Telegram as tensions continue to rise between the state and federal government … Read more

Ukraine alleges Russian disinformation in downing of military plane

Comment on this storyCommentAdd to your saved storiesSave KYIV — Russia and Ukraine traded blame and pushed dueling narratives Thursday over the downing of a Russian military plane, which Moscow said was carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war who were about to be exchanged and returned home to their families. Everyone aboard was killed, Russia … Read more

The Biden Deepfake Robocall Is Only the Beginning

“In American politics, disinformation has unfortunately become commonplace. But now, misinformation and disinformation coupled with new generative AI tools are creating an unprecedented threat that we are ill-prepared for,” Clarke said in a statement to WIRED on Monday. “This is a problem both Democrats and Republicans should be able to address together. Congress needs to … Read more