Twitter Blog: Disclosing networks to our state-linked information operations archive. “Today we are disclosing five distinct networks of accounts to our archive of state-linked information operations. The accounts that we have published in our archive today – the only archive of its kind in the industry – include independent information operations that we have attributed to Iran, Saudi Arabia, Cuba, Thailand and Russia.”
Russia
Washington Post: Parler and Gab, two conservative social media sites, keep alleged Russian disinformation up, despite report
Washington Post: Parler and Gab, two conservative social media sites, keep alleged Russian disinformation up, despite report. “A mysterious European named Leo has offered a stream of familiar — and completely false — right-wing talking points on Parler, a social media site favored by conservatives: Mail-in voting amounts to fraud. Left-wing activists somehow infected President Trump with the coronavirus. His Democratic rival, Joe Biden, is a ‘sexual predator.’ What makes Leo’s assertions noteworthy, however, is that last week his account was identified as a key asset in an alleged Russian disinformation campaign that has been purged from three mainstream social media platforms. But two others, Parler and the far-right Gab, continue to host accounts that reportedly are part of the operation…”
Exclusive: Russian operation masqueraded as right-wing news site to target U.S. voters – sources (Reuters)
Reuters: Exclusive: Russian operation masqueraded as right-wing news site to target U.S. voters – sources. “The Russian group accused of meddling in the 2016 U.S. election has posed as an independent news outlet to target right-wing social media users ahead of this year’s vote, two people familiar with an FBI probe into the activity told Reuters.
New York Times: Russians Were Urged to Return to Normal Life. Except for Putin.
New York Times: Russians Were Urged to Return to Normal Life. Except for Putin.. “Russian journalists who cover Mr. Putin have not seen him up close since March. The few people who meet him face-to-face generally spend as much as two weeks in quarantine first. The president still conducts his meetings with senior officials — including with his cabinet and his Security Council — by video link from a spartan room in his residence outside Moscow, which has been outfitted with Ms. Izranova’s disinfectant tunnel.”
Russia Beyond: INSIDE the cockpits of legendary Soviet planes (PHOTOS)
Russia Beyond: INSIDE the cockpits of legendary Soviet planes (PHOTOS). “Many people dream of sitting in the cockpit of a plane. But what about the cockpit of historical aircraft? Now it’s possible even online thanks to Sasha Gentsis’ ‘Ruling the Skies’ photo project. Gentsis took some incredible shots of the inside of rare aircraft from the collection of the Central Museum of the Russian Air Force.”
Washington Post: China and Russia are ahead in the global coronavirus vaccine race, bending long-standing rules as they go
Washington Post: China and Russia are ahead in the global coronavirus vaccine race, bending long-standing rules as they go. “China’s Sinopharm announced this week that it would provide emergency doses of one of its two trial vaccines to the United Arab Emirates, prioritizing the U.S. ally over the vast majority of Chinese. China is now the sole supplier of coronavirus vaccine to the Middle East. Meanwhile, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund signed a deal this week to supply India with 100 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine.”
Orthodox Christianity: Russian Church creating digital archive of ruined monuments of Church architecture
Orthodox Christianity: Russian Church creating digital archive of ruined monuments of Church architecture. “On Sunday, September 13, a moleben was held after the Divine Liturgy at the Church of the Holy Martyr Clement of Rome in Moscow on the occasion of the launch of significant new Church-wide project devoted to the many ruined churches and monasteries throughout Russia.”
Politico: Russia is back, wilier than ever — and it’s not alone
Politico: Russia is back, wilier than ever — and it’s not alone. “Kremlin-backed operatives are flooding social media with fake accounts and stoking racial divisions around topics like Black Lives Matter. Articles in state-owned Russian media with millions of U.S. readers online seek to dampen Joe Biden’s appeal among progressives and echo President Donald Trump’s unsupported claims about voting fraud. At the same time, Russian state-backed hackers are waging cyberattacks against political parties, campaigns, consultants and others tied to the U.S. elections — using more elaborate deceptions than in 2016, Microsoft said last week.”
Politico: Russia, China and Iran trying to hack presidential race, Microsoft says
Politico: Russia, China and Iran trying to hack presidential race, Microsoft says. “Russian, Chinese and Iranian hackers have mounted cyberattacks against hundreds of organizations and people involved in the 2020 presidential race and U.S.-European policy debates, with targets including the campaigns of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden, Microsoft said Thursday. The report is the most expansive public warning to date about the rapid spread of foreign governments’ efforts to wield hackers to undermine U.S. democracy.”
AP: Biden audio first shared by ‘Russian agent’ thrives online
AP: Biden audio first shared by ‘Russian agent’ thrives online. “The audio’s proliferation on social media shows how foreign operations aimed at influencing the U.S. election are still easily reaching Americans, despite efforts by Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to rein in such meddling. Since there’s no evidence the heavily edited recordings have been stolen or were entirely fabricated, they’ve been able to flourish online, skirting new policies social media companies rolled out to prevent foreign interference in this year’s elections.”
Associated Press: Russia’s virus cases exceed 1 million; 4th highest globally
Associated Press: Russia’s virus cases exceed 1 million; 4th highest globally. “Russia’s tally of confirmed coronavirus cases surpassed 1 million on [September 1] as authorities reported 4,729 new cases. With a total of 1,000,048 reported cases, Russia has the fourth-highest caseload in the world after the U.S., Brazil and India. Authorities say 17,250 people with the virus in Russia have died, a significantly lower reported toll than in the other three countries.”
Business Insider: Jared Kushner made a deal with Russia for ventilators during the COVID-19 crisis, but every single machine was faulty, report says
Business Insider: Jared Kushner made a deal with Russia for ventilators during the COVID-19 crisis, but every single machine was faulty, report says. “Jared Kushner brokered a deal with Russia for 45 ventilators to be brought to the US to help with the coronavirus crisis, but they all turned out to be faulty, a new report says. Two senior Trump administration officials told The Daily Beast that Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and one of his senior advisers, helped to secure an equipment order that included the ventilators.”
TASS: Google pays 1.5 mln rubles ($20,149) fine for poor filtering of banned content
TASS: Google pays 1.5 mln rubles ($20,149) fine for poor filtering of banned content. “In August, the Magistrates’ Court of the Tagansky District of Moscow ruled to impose a 1.5 million rubles on Google for a repeated violation related to insufficient search engine filtering of prohibited content.”
BBC: Facebook and Twitter ‘dismantle Russian network’
BBC: Facebook and Twitter ‘dismantle Russian network’. “Facebook says it has dismantled a small network of accounts and pages that were part of a Russian influence operation. The company said the campaign was linked to Russia’s Internet Research Agency (IRA), an organisation close to the Russian government and accused of interference in the 2016 US election. Twitter also suspended five accounts from the same network.”
Reuters: Russian lawmaker tries to curb mobile app payouts for Apple and Google
Reuters: Russian lawmaker tries to curb mobile app payouts for Apple and Google . “A Russian lawmaker submitted draft legislation on Tuesday that would cut and cap the commission on the sale of mobile applications by tech giants Apple and Google. The bill, submitted to Russia’s lower house of parliament by lawmaker Fedot Tumusov, stipulates that commissions on the sale of applications be capped at 20%. Apple currently collects a 30% commission on sales in its App Store.”