From Aric Toler at bellingcat, a short course in how read news stories about Russian disinformation. Case in point: a bad New York Times story that hyped a Swedish blogger all out proportion. To be sure, there is such a thing as Russian disinformation, and it warrants coverage from journalists and researchers. However, the way...
Category: Europe
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The Early Days of Britain’s MI6 Caught on Film
Bletchley Park was the headquarters of British intelligence during World War II. Once a baronial estate, the mansion and 59 acres of surrounding grounds became a beehive of intelligence activities designed to defeat Nazi Germany. Bletchley Park is perhaps best known for the work done by mathematicians Alan Turing and Hugh Alexander, among others, to...
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Britain Names New MI5 Chief: The Spy Who Investigated 2018 Novichok Attack
His name is Kenneth McCallum. MI5 is the British domestic security service, the equivalent of America’s FBI. MI5, established in 1909 to counter German espionage ahead of World War One, is tasked with protecting British national security. Its main job is currently countering international terrorism though it is also a counter-intelligence agency. It employs about...
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Is More Surveillance the Answer to the COVID19?
Just as the 9/11 attacks hastened the spread of mass surveillance, so the COVID19 crisis promises to do the same. It’s not that extraordinary measures aren’t necessary. It’s that governments always use crises to expand their powers. Mass surveillance did not prevent terror attacks. It may not work against the virus. Here are some links...
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Feds Dropping Case Against 2 Russian Companies Indicted by Mueller
The Justice Department is dropping charges against two companies controlled by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Russian businessman and confidante of President Vladmir Putin. It was Prigozhin who financed the Internet Research Agency and its social media blitz in support of Trump in the 2016 presidential election. As time went on the the case brought by Special...