Data owns the (electoral) future

[davidbfpo]

I have copied four posts to this thread from the Russian Disinformation plus thread, as they clearly fit here and could be lost elsewhere.

[OUTLAW 09]

DHS Official: Russia Targeted 21 States for Election Hacking.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-...el-1498037401#

[OUTLAW 09]

Schiff to @maddow: House Intel is interested in finding out whether there was Russian support in the Trump campaign's use of data analytics.

THIS is the same question being raised now in UK....on the Brexit vote

[davidbfpo]

Slowly the debate on data capture and electoral politics is moving along in the UK, although to the discomfort of the parties in parliament.

At the weekend a columnist asked whether Russia had influenced the Brexit Referendum and the General Election:

Here’s a puzzle: although Britain is the only country to do exactly what Russia wanted it do and leave the EU, there is no British equivalent of the FBI investigation. Journalists have tried to fill the gap.

Link:https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...ladimir-putin?

In parallel there is a steady accumulation of information on mysterious cash transfers in the Brexit referendum, ostensibly received by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in Northern Ireland, from a body few have ever heard of and no-one knows who gave them the money.

That and more was covered in a recent public conference (podcast and summary):https://www.byline.com/column/74

[jcustis]

I am not surprised at all that Russian-sponsored bots have been deployed to serve as foot soldiers in these disinformation campaigns.

https://www.byline.com/column/67/article/1906

[davidbfpo]

An article from Bloomberg, which explains near the start:

Zuckerberg’s social network is a politically agnostic tool for its more than 2 billion users, he has said. But Facebook, it turns out, is no bystander in global politics. What he hasn’t said is that his company actively works with political parties and leaders including those who use the platform to stifle opposition—sometimes with the aid of “troll armies” that spread misinformation and extremist ideologies.
The initiative is run by a little-known Facebook global government and politics team that’s neutral in that it works with nearly anyone seeking or securing power.

Link:https://www.bloomberg.com/news/featu...and-crack-down