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Excerpt from news.google.com
There’s no X in Brazil. Celebrity fandom worldwide is in disarray WWTI – InformNNY.com
05 Sci-Tech
Hezbollah claims drone attacks on military sites in northern Israel – Middle East Monitor
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Excerpt:
The Lebanese group, Hezbollah, claimed drone attacks on Thursday on military sites in northern Israel amid rising tensions between the two sides, Anadolu Agency reports.
In a statement, the group said it fired drones and Katyusha rockets at the Ramot Naftali and Beit Hillel barracks and the newly established headquarters of the Western Brigade 300 in northern Israel.
Hezbollah said the attacks were in response to Israeli airstrikes on border towns in southern Lebanon.
The Lebanese Health Ministry said, early Thursday, that one person was killed and another injured in an Israeli strike in the town of Kafarya.
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Biden administration hits Russia with sanctions over efforts to manipulate U.S. opinion ahead of the election – NBC News
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The Departments of Justice, State and Treasury announced Wednesday a joint effort to target with sanctions and criminal charges what the Biden administration says are Russian government-sponsored attempts to manipulate U.S. public opinion ahead of the November election.
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced charges against two employees of the Russian-backed media network RT accused of conspiring to commit money laundering and violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act in an indictment unsealed Wednesday in the Southern District of New York.
“The American people are entitled to know when a foreign power is attempting to exploit our country’s free exchange of ideas in order to send around its own propaganda,” Garland said.
Russia’s election influence efforts show sophistication, officials say – The Washington Post
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Excerpt:
The Russian government’s covert efforts to sway the 2024 presidential election are more advanced than in recent years, and the most active foreign threat this political season, U.S. intelligence officials said Friday.
Russia’s activities “are more sophisticated than in prior election cycles,” said a senior official with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) in a briefing with reporters, noting the use of “authentic U.S. voices” to “launder” Russian government propaganda and spread socially divisive narratives through major social media, as well as on sham websites that pose as legitimate American media organizations.
Moscow is targeting U.S. swing states in particular, the official said, and using artificial intelligence to more quickly and convincingly create fake content to shape the outcome in favor of former president Donald Trump.
YouTube Axes Tenet Media’s Channel Without Due Process– thefederalist.com
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Excerpt:
The widely used video platform YouTube removed Tenet Media and related channels from its services on Thursday after the Justice Department accused the company of partaking in a secret Russian influence operation.
The revelation comes days after the Biden Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the seizure of nearly three dozen internet domains it alleged were used in “Russian government-directed foreign malign influence campaigns colloquially referred to as ‘Doppelganger,’ in violation of U.S. money laundering and criminal trademark laws.” According to Fox News, the unsealed indictment alleged a pair of Russian state media staffers had been covertly funding a Tennessee-based, American content creation company identified in reports as Tenet Media” and other shell companies with the goal of spreading what the DOJ classified as “Russian government propaganda.”
The indictment contended that Tenet Media “published nearly 2,000 videos to social media platforms such as X and YouTube, and failed to inform viewers it was financed by the Kremlin,” the report reads.
Right-wing influencers such as Dave Rubin, Tim Pool, and Benny Johnson are among those affiliated with the company. Many of these figures have since denied knowledge of the company’s alleged ties to Russia and proclaimed to be “victims” of Moscow’s purported influence operation.
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Excerpt from CNN
DOJ alleges Russia funded US media company linked to right-wing social media stars
The unnamed Tennessee-based company that the Justice Department alleges was being funded by Russian operatives working as part of a Kremlin-orchestrated influence operation targeting the 2024 US election is Tenet Media, which is linked to right-wing commentators with millions of subscribers on YouTube and other social media platforms, according to a US official briefed on the matter.
The indictment unsealed in New York’s Southern District accused two employees of RT, the Kremlin’s media arm, of funneling nearly $10 million to an unidentified company, described only as “Company 1” in court documents.
CNN has independently confirmed that “Company 1” is Tenet Media, which is a platform for independent content creators. It is self-described as a “network of heterodox commentators that focus on Western political and cultural issues,” according to its website, which matches language contained in the newly unsealed indictment.
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Excerpt from Real WV
Feds say Russia laundered $10M through unwitting social media influencers, including a WV man
…On Wednesday, the United States Department of Justice issued a federal indictment which charges Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva with a scheme. The indictment says they created, in the words of their own editor, “an ‘entire empire of covert projects’ designed to shape public opinion in ‘Western audiences.’”
Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva work for RT, the indictment says. “RT, formerly known as ‘Russia Today,’ is a state-controlled media outlet funded and directed by the Government of Russia.” …
Who were the influencers? Tenet Media began in late 2023 with influencers Tim Pool, Benny Johnson, David Rubin, and Lauren Southern. The indictment indicates at least one of them was being paid $400,000 per month plus a $100,000 signing bonus by Tenet Media (via funding from RT). Federal officials do not believe the right-wing American social media influencers knew they were being paid through a front company by Russian agents.
“The company never disclosed to the influencers or to their millions of followers its ties to RT and the Russian government,” says Attorney General Merrick Garland.
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Excerpt from The Washington Post
YouTube takes down right-wing channels linked to DOJ Russia indictments
YouTube took down several right-wing politics channels that had been linked with allegations from the Justice Department that Russian government employees were paying right-wing influencers in the United States to produce content.
The Google-owned video site “terminated” Tenet Media and four other channels run by right-wing media entrepreneur Lauren Chen as part of the company’s “ongoing efforts to combat coordinated influence operations,” a YouTube spokesperson said in an emailed statement Thursday.
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Excerpt from www.rt.com
US targeting ‘legitimate journalism’ with RT sanctions – Scott Ritter
Former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter has announced that the latest US sanctions imposed on RT mean he will be forced to end his work as a contributor to the Russian media outlet. Ritter insisted that his cooperation with RT has been nothing but “legitimate journalism.”
A former US Marine Corps major who also served as a UN weapons inspector in Iraq during the 1990s, Ritter came into the spotlight in 2003 when he opposed the US military operation against the Middle Eastern country. He argued that Saddam Hussein’s government did not possess weapons of mass destruction, despite Washington’s claims.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday, Ritter stressed that the content of his contributions for RT and several other sanctioned media outlets “has been factually correct and analytically sound, and always of my own creation.”
While condemning Washington’s decision as running counter to “constitutional norms and values,” Ritter noted that he is “fully committed to obeying US law, and as such will be terminating all contractual relationships with both RT and Sputnik effective immediately.”
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Excerpt from BBC
Right-wing US influencers say they were victims of alleged Russian plot
Conservative US influencers say if the allegations are proven, they were deceived by Russian media executives following the release of an indictment charging Moscow with interfering in the 2024 US election.
The indictment accuses state broadcaster RT, formerly Russia Today, of paying a Tennessee firm $10m (£7.6m) to “create and distribute content to US audiences with hidden Russian government messaging”.
US media outlets identified the firm as Tenet Media, which describes itself as “network of heterodox commentators that focus on Western political and cultural issues”.
Tenet Media, which was not directly named in the indictment, was founded in 2022 by conservative Canadian YouTuber Lauren Chen and her husband Liam Donovan. Tenet has not commented publicly on the allegations and did not respond to a request for comment.
The network employs several well-known right-wing US influencers – such as Tim Pool, David Rubin and Benny Johnson – who say they are “victims” of the alleged plot if it is proven.
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Excerpt fromThe Philadelphia Inquirer
Feds in Philly disrupt Russian-backed propaganda effort aimed at influencing U.S. presidential vote
Federal authorities in Philadelphia announced on Wednesday the dismantling of a wide-ranging, Russian-backed misinformation network targeting voters in Pennsylvania and five other swing states ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
The network — known colloquially as “Doppelganger” and which prosecutors said was run by a top aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin — sought to dupe Americans in key demographics into believing Kremlin-produced propaganda it spread online had been produced by legitimate American news outlets.
The campaign also sought to enlist the aid of unwitting influencers in America and other countries to spread disinformation, sow social media discord, and advance the campaign of former President Donald Trump, whom the program’s backers viewed as more supportive of Russian interests.
Justice Dept. charges two Russian media operatives in alleged scheme – The Washington Post
Right-Wing Influencers Deny Knowledge of Russian Funding – Rolling Stone
In a move that is sending shockwaves throughout the international social media community, France has decided to arrest the founder of Telegram, Pavel Durov, after being allegedly falsely allured to France by current fascist PM Emanuel Macron. The lame duck PM lured Pavel to France by inviting him to have dinner with him, only to have him arrested.
The arrest comes after Durov had recently spoken to Tucker Carlson, claiming authoritarian governments were trying to get Rumble to censor their users. The international response has been mostly in support of Durov, with the United Arab Emirates pulling out an arms deal over it and growing calls to boycott France until it frees Durov. Macron claimed the arrest wasn’t political, but no one is buying it.
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Excerpt from Gulf Business
Telegram says its founder Pavel Durov has nothing to hide
Pavel Durov, the Russian-born founder of Telegram who was arrested in Paris, has nothing to hide and it is absurd to hold an owner responsible for abuse of the messaging and social media platform, Telegram said in a statement.
Durov, a 39-year-old billionaire cast as “Russia’s Mark Zuckerberg”, was arrested at Le Bourget airport outside Paris shortly after landing on a private jet late on Saturday from Azerbaijan.
The arrest of the Telegram CEO prompted a warning from Moscow to Paris that he should be accorded his rights, and criticism from X owner Elon Musk who said that free speech in Europe was under attack.
Though there has been no official French comment on the arrest, French news channel franceinfo said that Durov was still in custody on Monday and that he could remain in custody for up to four days.
Telegram, in a short statement released after midnight Paris time, gave no details of the arrest but said the Dubai-based company abided by European Union laws and its moderation was “within industry standards and constantly improving”.
“Telegram’s CEO Pavel Durov has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe,” Telegram said. “It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform.”
“We’re awaiting a prompt resolution of this situation. Telegram is with you all.”
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Excerpt from news.sky.com
Arrest of billionaire Telegram founder not a political decision, says French president
The arrest of the billionaire Telegram founder on French soil was not a political decision, the country’s president has said.
Pavel Durov, who created the encrypted messaging app, was detained after his private jet landed at Le Bourget airport on the outskirts of Paris on Saturday.
He has been arrested and detained as part of a cyber criminality investigation – concerning crimes related to illicit transactions, child sexual abuse images and fraud – the Paris prosecutor has said.
In his first public comment on the matter, President Emmanuel Macron said his country “is deeply committed” to freedom of expression but “freedoms are upheld within a legal framework, both on social media and in real life, to protect citizens and respect their fundamental rights”.
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Excerpt from timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Telegram Founder Pavel Durov: From Elon Musk to Tucker Carlson: International support pours in for arrested Telegram founder Pavel Durov
French-Russian tech tycoon Pavel Durov was taken into custody at a Paris airport on Sunday for suspected involvement in activities associated with his messaging app Telegram. The alleged offences include fraud, drug trafficking, cyberbullying, organised crime and the promotion of terrorism.
As per the Moscow Times, Durov was detained at Le Bourget Airport and is scheduled to appear in court on Sunday itself.
He could face charges that carry a maximum prison term of 20 years. The arrest has sparked significant discussion and responses within the technology sector and among well-known individuals.
Warrant and content moderation concerns
France has authorised the arrest of Durov as a part of an initial inquiry into the purported offences. The detention of the founder of Telegram has sparked further debates regarding the platform’s policies on regulating content.
Renowned for its end-to-end encryption, Telegram permits groups of up to 200,000 members, consequently raising allegations that it enables the proliferation of inaccurate information and detrimental content.
Reactions from the tech industry
The reaction from the tech industry to Durov’s arrest has been swift and vocal.
Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX, was one of the first prominent tech figures to support the “#FreePavel” trend. He expressed concern about the arrest, seeing it as an attack on free speech and suggested wider implications for censorship. Musk highlighted the dangerous direction these actions represent and expressed increased worry about censorship.
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Excerpt from The Cryptonomist
Telegram compliant with EU laws despite the arrest of founder Pavel Durov
Telegram declares itself compliant with all EU laws and defends its CEO Pavel Durov
The great messaging app Telegram, defends its compliance with EU laws, after its CEO, Pavel Durov, was arrested in France.
“Telegram respects the laws of the European Union, including the Digital Services Act, and its moderation meets industry standards and is constantly improving. Telegram’s CEO, Pavel Durov, has nothing to hide and often travels to Europe.”
In practice, Telegram has stated that it is fully compliant with the laws of the European Union and that its content moderation practices fall within the “industry standards”.
This statement comes after its CEO was arrested at a French airport by local authorities. The reason for this arrest appears to be a criminal complaint focused on the platform’s moderation practices, which French law enforcement considers insufficient.
In fact, despite there not being a formal accusation published yet, it seems that the company and its CEO are guilty of having published organized criminal acts.
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Excerpt from Shore News Network
Rumble CEO Flees Europe as Free Speech Under Attack in U.S. and Globally
The recent events involving the arrest of Pavel Durov, CEO of Telegram, and the subsequent flight of Chris Pavlovski, CEO of Rumble, from Europe, underscore a troubling trend in the global battle over free speech, particularly in the digital age. These incidents are emblematic of the growing tension between governments and social media platforms that refuse to bow to demands for content censorship. This issue has profound implications for the future of free speech, both online and offline, and raises critical questions about the balance between regulation and freedom in democratic societies.
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Excerpt from observer.com
Who Is Telegram’s Billionaire CEO Pavel Durov and Why Was He Arrested?
Pavel Durov, the 39-year-old billionaire founder and CEO of the popular messaging app Telegram, who has historically flown under the radar, suddenly made headlines over the weekend after he was arrested in a Paris airport on Saturday (Aug. 25), according to local media reports that were later confirmed by French law enforcement. The surprise news came after Telegram faced backlash for enabling criminal activities through its encrypted messaging platform, and Durov was reportedly held responsible.
Telegram messages are encrypted, meaning no outside influence—not even the company itself or law enforcement—can see conversations that take place on the app. This has made the platform a center for free speech, particularly in non-democratic countries that stifle news at the state level. The flip side, however, is that Telegram has also become a breeding ground for criminal activities, extremism and disinformation. Durov’s arrest was specifically related to Telegram’s lack of content moderation, which has reportedly led to the propagation of pedophilia.
“Telegram abides byE.U.U laws, including the Digital Services Act,” the company said in a statement on X on Sunday, adding, “Telegram’s CEO Pavel Durov has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe.”
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Excerpt from Daily Coin
El Salvador Sides with Telegram’s CEO, Advocates Free Speech
Following the arrest of Telegram’s CEO Pavel Durov, several popular crypto figures offered support for the famed tech mogul. In the wake of Durov’s arrest, Nayib Bukele, the pro-Bitcoin President of El Salvador, posted a message on X, implying that the setback would have never happened in his country.
“We also guarantee that you won’t be arrested, censored, or have your assets seized for exercising your right to free speech,” remarked Bukele, who claims El Salvador is now the safest country in the Western Hemisphere. The small Central American nation adopted Bitcoin (BTC) as a legal tender in September 2021.