In a fake world, honesty becomes a trend — #80

This week I got a newsletter from a security think-tank titled “War in Ukraine, the new normal?” Really? Really. But, no matter how catchy your headline reads, normalising war – suggesting we should accept military conflict and get on with our lives – is not a good idea.

During the last 365 days, more than 7,199 Ukrainian civilians have died, and more than 11,000 have been injured – according to estimates from the United Nations, and likely a significant undercount. As many as 100 000 Ukrainian soldiers have died or sustained injuries, and Russian military casualties are believed to be approaching 200 000, according to United States officials. In addition, more than 8 million Ukrainian refugees – about 20% of the country's prewar population – have fled to other European countries.

Yes, increased geopolitical tension is “the new normal”. Russia’s war in Ukraine is not the only example of how geopolitics increasingly impacts our everyday lives. But air bombs and cruise missiles targeting civilians seeking shelter in schools should never be suggested as “the new normal”.

Words matter. Use them wisely.

Anna

Simultaneous arms races are highlighting the complexity of current geopolitical tensions

GEOPOLITICS / UNITED STATES / CHINA

This week, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said China might provide Russia with "lethal support" for its war in Ukraine. China's foreign ministry fired back, saying that the United States and NATO were smearing China. And if China were to send weapons to Russia, it would cross a "red line" for the European Union — who would then need to take action.

"If such a decision is taken [by China], it will definitely have consequences, of course," Tobias Billström, foreign minister of Sweden, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, said. "We stand side by side with the United States on that message."

But while Europe focuses on Russia, the United States increasing tensions with China — spy balloons and all — make it expand its military presence in the Indo-Pacific region. In January, the United States increased its access to military bases in the Philippines, giving the US armed forces a strategic footing on the southeastern edge of the South China Sea just 200 miles south of Taiwan. 

Now, American troops will expand what the Pentagon calls a "training programme", which helps Taipei with capabilities to defend against an invasion from mainland China. In the upcoming months, the United States allegedly plan to increase its deployed troops to between 100 and 200, up from roughly 30 a year ago, and Washington's largest deployment of forces on the island in decades. 

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen told a visiting delegation from the United States congress that the two militaries will cooperate "even more closely" and plan to "bolster military exchanges." The United States tries to provide Taipei with the capabilities to defend itself without provoking Beijing. But in a response, China accused the United States of undermining peace and stability in the region.

“Defluencing” shows the value of honesty in an increasingly fake world

INTERNET

Deinfluencing – a viral trend on TikTok lately – shows users sharing products they didn't like and suggesting alternatives. Atypical behaviour for online creators since they are usually conscious of giving negative product reviews out of fear that it could make them a less attractive brand partner.

But aren't they simply telling us what to buy by telling us what not to buy?

With new mainstream opportunities for creators to diversify their income streams and get paid directly from their audience, the trust from fans outweigh the risk of reduced brand partnerships. In addition, the boom of shopping newsletters, an intimate take on affiliate marketing, is another emerging trend. Here, creators sometimes use their independence from brand partnerships as marketing for why one should pay them directly.

Defluencing also highlights the online creator community's influence over many audiences' shopping behaviours, and not depending on the money from brand partnerships seems like a natural first step. So, while I find it incredibly outdated to encourage compulsive shopping in a world urgently threatened by climate change, I find the shift towards small-scale independent creators healthy. To build a following online today, be authentic and honest.

European Commission bans TikTok on staff phones, following in United State's footsteps

GEOPOLITICS / INTERNET

While TikTok is heavy at work, organising transparency tours for journalists in the United States – from which journalists cannot cite any ByteDance employees or get answers to any of the more pressing questions about eventual Chinese influence. The European Commission banned employees from using TikTok on their phones after concerns about the risks the platform may pose to national security.

If you are working at the European Commission, you should no longer be able to install the Chinese-owned app on corporate and personal devices. In a statement on Thursday, the Commission said, "This measure aims to protect the Commission against cybersecurity threats and actions which may be exploited for cyber-attacks against the corporate environment of the Commission," adding that "the security developments of other social media platforms will also be kept under constant review."

Government officials in the EU and US are concerned about the potential Chinese influence over TikTok — particularly how the app may enable Beijing to spy on foreign citizens. TikTok has admitted that employees based in China can access data on its European users but denies it would ever share such information with the Chinese government. 

However, in a world with no clear distinction between government and private entities, "sharing data" might be hard to deny since that means you would get a formal request. What is more likely is that it just "happens". Since 2021, the Chinese government has had a 1% stake and a board seat in TikTok's owner ByteDance's Chinese entity, Beijing ByteDance Technology. While it is not a direct stake in TikTok because of ByteDance's complex corporate structure, it still reveals an intimate relationship.

Privacy advocates criticise a new online safety bill in the United Kingdom – "magical thinking"

PRIVACY / INTERNET

The messaging app Signal warns it will quit the United Kingdom if the forthcoming online safety bill weakens end-to-end encryption. Signal's president Meredith Whittaker, said the organisation would "absolutely, 100% walk" if the legislation undermined its encryption service. She continues, "We have never weakened our privacy promises, and we never would."

Privacy advocates criticise the online safety bill for requiring Ofcom, the communications watchdog, to order a platform to use certain technologies to identify and remove child sexual exploitation and abuse material. It also requires tech firms to make their "best endeavours" to deploy new technology that identifies and removes such content.

The bill could force encrypted messaging services such as Signal, WhatsApp and Apple's iMessage to monitor users' messages to identify specific material, a practice that could create vulnerabilities in their platforms that harmful actors and governments could exploit.

Another criticised technology that could become functional under the new bill is client-side scanning, which inspects images for concerning content before they are encrypted. In 2021 – after security researchers flagged that the system could be misused to spy on citizens – Apple paused its client-side scanning plans, which would have scanned all Apple users' photos before they got uploaded to Apple's image-sharing service.

Whittaker said it is "magical thinking" to believe there can be privacy "but only for the good guys", adding that the bill was an example of this thinking. "Encryption is either protecting everyone, or it is broken for everyone." She adds that "malignant state actors" can always hijack technological back doors into encrypted services and "create a way for criminals to access these systems".

Double-check the headlines

Just making sure you didn’t miss any major world events this week.

• China proposed a peace plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, and Zelensky now wants to meet with Xi Jinping.

• The heaviest rainfall recorded in Brazil during a 24-hour period occurred last weekend, killing at least 50 people and displacing thousands.

• Nigeria held elections on Saturday, and the race to replace outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari is the closest Nigerian election ever.

• The G20 meeting ended without consensus over Russia’s war in Ukraine. China and Russia and China refused to condemn Moscow over the invasion.

• ByteDance launched its Xiaohongshu competitor, Lemon8, in the United Kingdom and the United States, paying creators to post content.

• Southern Australia recorded record heat for February in the past week, with many stations recording temperatures above 40C and some as high as 46.8C.

• An 11-year-old girl in Cambodia died after being infected with Bird flu, the country’s first known human infection with the H5N1 strain since 2014.

• The deadliest Israeli army raid in decades killed 11 Palestinians and wounded more than 100 in the occupied West Bank, with violence still escalating.

• The Biden administration nominated Ajay Banga, the former longtime chief executive of Mastercard, to be the next president of the World Bank.

One long

The Security Times

Ifs, ands and bots

I’ve been a long-term fan of Jonathan Zittrain. Read his reflection on how the next round of cyberattacks might come from a discussion about knitting.

Five short

1. Watch

Netflix seems to be concerned about its users watching too much Netflix. So, it started bundling with Headspace in 2020 to get us meditating. Late last year, it began to roll out its collaboration with Nike Training Club, and next week, Netflix will add Nike content to the platform. Watching someone else do HIIT or yoga is so pointless you should be deeply concerned if you enjoy it.

But truth be told, Nike Training Club's workouts have always been my favourite (free) at-home training session. So change into your workout clothes and watch some Netflix ...

2. Listen

The episode Rebuilding: The Road to Healing from Kyiv Independent’s podcast Power Lines: From Ukraine to the World is like nothing else. How do you heal a collective trauma like genocide? What can you forgive?

Historian and political scientist Eugene Finkel speaks about what we can learn from the parallels between this war and those of the 20th century. Get ready for a cocktail of feelings — hope being one of them.

3. Remember

If you have a weak argument for doing something stupid, explaining yourself will likely make it worse. So if you plan to do something stupid, own it, and don’t explain yourself.

4. Change

No matter how well you take care of your wardrobe, socks are one of the things we have to buy new every once in a while. However, socks can be made circularly or even up-cycled if you buy the right brands. So, switch your everyday socks to Tore and buy your fancy socks from Swedish Stockings — a step in the right direction for you and the planet.

5. Try

Do something crafty. I started a small crochet (!) project this week, bringing me lots of joy (and some cursing).

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