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Some programmers are gearing up for what they expect to be an era of tighter controls after Russian President Vladimir Putin secured a mandate until at least 2030 with a landslide win at elections last month.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 27, 2024

Russian programmers play 'cat and mouse' game to outsmart censors

Some of them employing techniques learnt from Chinese hackers' efforts to evade the even more stringent 'Great Firewall' there.
The arrests for Gaza-related posts indicate Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s regime will take a hard line against citizens not toeing the line when it comes to normalizing ties with Israel.
WORLD / Politics
May 2, 2024

Saudi Arabia steps up Gaza-related arrests as Israel ties edge closer

The arrests are said to reflect a desire by authorities to deter the making of online statements about the war in Gaza that might impact national security.
Manahel al-Otaibi wears western clothes in the Saudi capital Riyadh in September 2019. Human rights groups have denounced an 11-year prison term recently handed down by a counterterrorism court to the Saudi fitness instructor and women's rights activist.
WORLD / Politics
May 2, 2024

Saudi Arabia cracks down on online speech, jailing critics for decades

Fitness influencer Manahel al-Otaibi was recently sentenced to 11 years in prison after criticizing male guardianship laws and women's dress requirements.
A man maneuvers media equipment following an Israeli police raid on an Al Jazeera de facto office at the Ambassador Hotel in Jerusalem on Sunday.
WORLD
May 6, 2024

Israel raids Al Jazeera’s offices after banning broadcaster

Al Jazeera’s broadcasts and access to its website are now blocked throughout Israel.
A man films with a smartphone in front a placard for the German far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party during a campaign event for the upcoming European Parliament elections, and ahead of Saxony's municipal and state elections, in Dresden, eastern Germany, on May 1.
WORLD / Politics
May 6, 2024

German far right's TikTok success sparks rush to platform

Germany's political heavyweights have been spooked by the successes in reaching youth voters ahead of June's European elections.
Japanese people are exposed to less online disinformation compared to other countries, partly due to language barriers and inherent skepticism.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 9, 2024

Japan’s accidental resilience in the disinformation age

The Japanese are exposed to less online disinformation compared to other countries, partly due to language barriers and inherent skepticism.
Boys watch smoke billowing during Israeli strikes east of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
May 14, 2024

Celebrities face digital backlash over Gaza silence

For months, activists have flooded the comments sections of social media sites, urging stars to join calls for a cease-fire in the war.
Shigeru Omi, then-Japan's top COVID-19 advisor, speaks to reporters at the Prime Minister's Office in April 2022. A study published this month has shown that many experts who spoke to the media about COVID-19 in Japan were harassed by the public.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 22, 2024

Many COVID experts in Japan harassed after speaking to media, survey shows

The research conducted by a professor at Waseda University is Japan’s first comprehensive survey on threats targeting COVID-19 experts.
Though he enjoyed making films when he was younger, Ryan Filiatrault wound up working a slew of other jobs before returning to his passion in his 30s.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
May 24, 2024

Ryan Filiatrault: 'Failure is an obstacle not a barrier. You can always get back on track.'

The Canadian filmmaker has taken a regimented approach to following his passion — and it has worked.
The Telegram app has become a key weapon for pro-Kremlin accounts to spread disinformation aimed at undermining support for Ukraine.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 29, 2024

Too small to police, too big to ignore: Telegram is the app dividing Europe

The messaging app has become a key weapon for pro-Kremlin accounts to spread disinformation aimed at undermining support for Ukraine.
The Grand Kremlin palace in Moscow
WORLD / Politics
Jun 12, 2024

How a Russian operative worked to shape Moscow’s story in Europe

The operative has contacted at least six European journalists and at times appears to have offered to pay for planted news articles.
Naran Unurtsetseg became one of Mongolia's most well-known journalists by exposing sexual abuse in a Buddhist boarding school, violence in the military and by taking on some of the country's most powerful people.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 12, 2024

Hard-hitting journalist ensnared in Mongolia's press freedom crackdown

Mongolia has plummeted in press freedom rankings amid what critics say is a declining rule of law and a government seeking to curb criticism of its record on corruption.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte makes a doorstep statement during an informal leaders' meeting in Brussels on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 19, 2024

Dutch PM Rutte to succeed Stoltenberg as NATO chief, media report says

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, a staunch ally of Kyiv and a critic of Russia, is expected to take the reins in October, after Hungary and Slovakia backed him.
A fake online ad that solicits investments using the name and picture of economic analyst Takuro Morinaga without permission. Morinaga said he is not involved in the ad in any way and does not have social media accounts.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 19, 2024

Fake celebrity ad victims in Japan increase tenfold

Victims lost an average of ¥6.87 million, with the largest single loss hitting ¥170 million.
Voters listen to a stump speech in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 29, 2024

Candidates turn to AI in Tokyo governor race

Experts warn that while social media give voters more insight into candidates, there are risks of information bias.
A sprawling, secretive influence operation is attempting to vilify Qatar, the Gulf state mediating between Israel and Hamas.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 8, 2024

Shadow campaign: Global influence op targets Qatar in wartime

The campaign against Qatar shows the ease with which a person or an entire country can be tarnished in the age of disinformation while masking the ultimate perpetrators.
As NATO marks its 75th anniversary, the alliance is looking to engage with Generation Z through social media to explain its importance.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 10, 2024

TikTok, Instagram influencers help aging NATO connect with Gen Z

The move is an acknowledgment that traditional media outlets may not be reaching this key demographic.
An Air Self-Defense Force base in Kakamigahara, Gifu Prefecture
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2024

Image of likely ASDF missile model posted online

The ASDF is currently investigating whether any of its personnel were involved, officials said.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is rushed into a waiting vehicle after a shooting at his campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 14, 2024

An attempt to kill an ex-president, caught in real time, stuns America

In the era of social media, it was not introspection that followed the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, but rather rage, blame, even comedy.
U.S. rugby player Ilona Maher poses for a portrait during the Team USA media summit ahead of the Paris Olympics and Paralympics, at an event in New York on April 15.
BUSINESS
Jul 24, 2024

Athlete influencers compete for likes as well as medals in Paris

In years past, athletes might have needed a manager to negotiate deals with brands. Now, a company will reach out directly to strike a deal.
More tourists than ever are guided around Japan based on the content they consume online, but can those same creators help direct them to less-populated areas of the country?
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Jul 29, 2024

Influencers helped cause overtourism. Can they help fix it?

“I don't want to use filters or put out content just for the sake of views and followers,” one content creator says. “I want to show people what the real Japan is.”
TikTok has deployed Washington power brokers and $1,500-an-hour attorneys to fend off a new law barring the app unless its Beijing-based parent, ByteDance, divests.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Jul 27, 2024

TikTok’s survival is at stake in all-out fight against U.S. ban

TikTok has deployed Washington power brokers and $1,500-an-hour attorneys to fend off a new law barring the app unless ByteDance divests.
A man walks next to an office building of FSD (Fondation Suisse de Déminage), a nongovernmental humanitarian organization, damaged during a Russian missile attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on July 24.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 1, 2024

Russia vs Ukraine: the biggest war of the fake news era

More than three-quarters of the Ukrainian population get their news from social media, far more than any other source of information.
A new trend on social media advocates living a more frugal lifestyle that prioritizes quality over quantity.
WORLD / Society
Aug 12, 2024

Do I need it? 'Underconsumption core' trends on TikTok

Years of inflation have forced many to the conclusion they cannot keep up with the spending habits of those on their social media feeds.
Elon Musk held a conversation with Donald Trump on the tech mogul’s X platform on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 13, 2024

Musk pitches White House role in glitchy Trump conversation on X

The conversation gave Elon Musk an opening to increase his influence with Donald Trump if the former president returns to power.
Elon Musk, co-founder of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of X Holdings Corp., speaks at the Milken Institute's Global Conference on May 6 in Beverly Hills, California.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 15, 2024

Musk’s free speech mantra collides with crackdowns on hate speech and disinformation

Since taking over, Musk has largely abandoned X’s prior efforts to curb misinformation, instead asking users to police themselves.
An influencer uses a phone at the United Center, ahead of the Democratic National Convention (DNC), in Chicago on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 22, 2024

At DNC, influencers battle journalists for space and access

The Democratic National Convention has credentialed more than 200 "content creators" to cover the four-day event.
Demonstrators with a stylized painting depicting Telegram's founder, Pavel Durov, protest against the blocking of the popular messaging app in Russia, during a May Day rally in Saint Petersburg on in May 2018.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 25, 2024

Telegram messaging app CEO Durov arrested in France, reports say

Pavel Durov, the Russian-French billionaire founder and CEO of the Telegram messaging app, was arrested at Bourget Airport outside Paris on Saturday evening, TF1 TV and BFM TV said, citing unidentified sources.
A picture taken in 2021 in Moscow shows the mobile messaging and call service Telegram logo on a smartphone screen. French judicial authorities extended the detention of the Russian-born founder and chief of Telegram Pavel Durov on Sunday after his arrest at an airport near Paris over alleged offenses related to the popular but controversial messaging app.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 26, 2024

Telegram founder Pavel Durov arrested in France, sources say

A French police source said Durov was the subject of an arrest warrant in France.
Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Aug 26, 2024

TikTok tourists trample on Angkor Wat in viral Temple Run recreation

Some of these viral videos have received more than 2 million views and inspire copycat versions daily.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji