<
https://risky.biz/risky-bulletin-the-growing-influencer-problem-to-national-security/>
"China and Russia appear to have understood before everyone else the role
social media influencers play in modern societies, and are using them as
weapons against unprepared Western democracies.
Both autocratic regimes have passed strict laws regulating the online presence
of social media personalities while at the same paying foreign influencers in
covert operations designed to subvert and influence foreign societies and
elections.
China passed a law at the end of last year mandating that social media
influencers and bloggers with over 500,000 followers must list their legal
names on their profiles.
Similarly, in Russia, the Kremlin passed a law this year requiring any online
personality with over 100,000 followers to register with the country's internet
watchdog by the start of next year.
The two countries now have firm control over their social media landscape
through the new laws, as well as their national firewall and internet
censorship systems.
The crackdown is both the normal response from two paranoid autocratic regimes
fearing they might lose control of their societies, but also a means of
self-defense.
On the flipside, both countries have used opaque networks of companies to pay
and weaponize influencers in
other countries to promote their political
agendas."
Via Violet Blue’s
Cybersecurity Roundup: December 24, 2024
https://www.patreon.com/posts/cybersecurity-24-118516160
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics