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posted by martyb on Friday August 23 2019, @03:29PM   Printer-friendly
from the quantity!=quality dept.

YouTube Disables 210 Channels That Spread Disinformation About Hong Kong Protests

YouTube said on Thursday that its site was used to spread disinformation about the mass protests in Hong Kong, days after Twitter and Facebook cracked down on thousands of China-backed accounts that compared the demonstrators to terrorists and accused them of being at the whim of foreign interests.

In a blog post, YouTube said it had disabled 210 channels this week that had uploaded videos about the protests in Hong Kong. The channels had worked in a coordinated fashion to spread disinformation, the company said. YouTube, which is owned by Google, did not specify when the channels were taken down.

Shane Huntley, a software engineer on Google's threat analysis team, said the channels that were removed were "consistent with recent observations and actions related to China announced by Facebook and Twitter."

Facebook and Twitter said on Monday that they had removed thousands of accounts that originated in China and that acted together to amplify messages and images portraying Hong Kong's protesters as violent and extreme. It was the first time that the social media companies had removed accounts linked to disinformation in China. At the time, Twitter said it had "reliable evidence to support that this is a coordinated state-backed operation."

Also at The Guardian and Reuters.

See also: The People's War Is Coming in Hong Kong
Hong Kong: British consulate employee Simon Cheng detained in China
China's arrest of a Hong Kong man puts spotlight on a controversial shared rail station

Previously: Extradition Law Amendments Protested in Hong Kong
One Million People Protest a Proposed Extradition Law in Hong Kong; Gov't Acquiesces, for Now
How Hong Kong's Protestors Are Hindering (and Hijacking) the Tools of Surveillance
China Warns Hong Kong Protesters Against "Playing With Fire"
China Says Sino-British Joint Declaration On Hong Kong No Longer Binding
Hong Kong Airport Paralysed for a Second Day by Protesters; US Naval Ships Blocked


Original Submission

Related Stories

Extradition Law Amendments Protested in Hong Kong 25 comments

Hong Kong pushes bill allowing extraditions to China despite biggest protest since handover

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam vowed on Monday to push ahead with amendments to laws allowing suspects to be extradited to mainland China a day after the city's biggest protest since its handover from British to Chinese rule in 1997.

Riot police ringed Hong Kong's legislature and fought back a hardcore group of several hundred protesters who stayed behind early on Monday after Sunday's peaceful march that organizers said drew more than a million people, or one in seven of the city's people.

"I don't think it is (an) appropriate decision for us now to pull out of this bill because of the very important objectives that this bill is intended to achieve," a somber Lam told reporters while flanked by security and justice chiefs.

Also at NYT.

See also: Here’s How Hong Kong’s Proposed Extradition Law Will Impact Its Competitiveness


Original Submission

One Million People Protest a Proposed Extradition Law in Hong Kong; Gov't Acquiesces, for Now 39 comments

Hong Kong has a population of nearly 7.5 million people. Last Sunday (June 7) organizers reported that one million of them peacefully protested against a controversial extradition bill. As the protests continued and the government resisted, the protests changed. For now, the government has indefinitely suspended deliberations:

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam acquiesced, at least in part, to massive protests in the city this week as she announced Saturday the controversial extradition bill will be suspended indefinitely.

"The original urgency to pass the bill in this legislative year is perhaps no longer there," Lam said at a press conference. "After repeated internal deliberations over the last two days, I now announce that the government has decided to suspend the legislative amendment exercise."

[...] Thousands of mostly-young protesters shut down Hong Kong's Legislative Council complex and paralyzed parts of the semi-autonomous Chinese territory on Wednesday. Riot police fired multiple rounds of tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the throngs of demonstrators, who hurled bottles, umbrellas and other objects at them.

At least 72 people were injured, including 22 police officers. Eleven people were arrested for disorderly conduct, unlawful assembly, assaulting officers and riot-related activities stemming from Wednesday's protests, authorities said.

Heavy rain prevented most organizers from carrying out fresh demonstrations the following day. Still, the president of the Legislative Council cancelled all planned sessions again Thursday and Friday, pushing debate on the bill to next week.

Under the extradition law amendment, any country -- including China -- could request the extradition of an individual to their home country from Hong Kong for trial. Many who oppose the proposed legislation fear that China could use it to arrest political dissidents.

Does any other country have such an open extradition policy?

[*] One million people represents over 13% of the population of Hong Kong. That is quite the protest! To get a protest of the same scale in the United States, you would need 18.5 million people: the combined populations of the four most-populated cities: New York, NY (8.4M), Los Angeles, CA(3.9M), Chicago, IL(2.7M), and Houston, TX(2.3M) plus #10 San Jose, CA (1M).


Original Submission

How Hong Kong’s Protestors Are Hindering (and Hijacking) the Tools of Surveillance 14 comments

Submitted via IRC for AnonymousLuser

How Hong Kong's Protestors Are Hindering (and Hijacking) the Tools of Surveillance

Simply moving through the physical world in regions with massive, powerful surveillance systems threatens to strip one of their anonymity, and in places with anti-government demonstrations, that threat is disturbingly amplified. But protestors in Hong Kong are countering these gross invasions of privacy.

In Hong Kong, hundreds of thousands of civilians are estimated to have filled the streets in June to protest a bill that would allow the government to extradite suspected criminals to mainland China, a violation of their democratic freedom. Anti-extradition demonstrations have been ongoing for weeks in Hong Kong, and police are turning to increasingly aggressive and violent means to quash the efforts. In response, protestors created their own channel to identify plainclothes cops.

The channel, called Dadfindboy, was created on cloud-based messaging app Telegram and has over 50,000 subscribers, according to a report published on Friday by the New York Times. The channel was largely created in response to cops no longer wearing their identification badges, and reportedly doxxed officers with posts including their personal information, social media posts, and both intimate photos and photos of their family.

[...] The New York Times report also illustrated how protestors fought back against surveillance devices. During a demonstration on Sunday, some of them reportedly aimed laser pointers at cameras and spray painted surveillance cameras outside of the government liaison office.

A protestor detailed in the report, Colin Cheung, also began to develop a tool to deal with corrupt plainclothes cops, but ultimately ceased efforts because he didn't have the time. The concept for the tool, though, is an ironic display of how surveillance tools can be used to counter each other. Cheung had started creating a facial recognition tool that used an algorithm to match photos that had been posted on the internet with photos of police officers in an attempt to identify those who no longer identified themselves.


Original Submission

China Warns Hong Kong Protesters Against "Playing With Fire" 35 comments

Beijing Warns Hong Kong Protesters: Don't 'Play With Fire'

Amid weeks of mass anti-government demonstrations in Hong Kong that have frequently turned violent, Beijing on Tuesday issued a stark warning to protesters: "those who play with fire will perish by it."

The remarks, at a news conference in Beijing, were made by Yang Guang, a spokesman for the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council. He said China has "tremendous power" to put down the protests and warned that anyone who engages in "violence and crimes ... will be held accountable."

Asked if he could rule out the use of military force in Hong Kong, Yang told journalists: "We will not let any acts attacking the principle of 'one country, two systems' go unpunished." "I warn all those criminals: Don't misjudge the situation or take restraint as a sign of weakness," he said.

Yang's comments came a day after Hong Kong's leader, Carrie Lam, vowed to restore order in the city after nine weeks of nearly uninterrupted demonstrations. Speaking on Monday, the embattled Lam said the Chinese territory was "on the verge of a very dangerous situation" — words repeated verbatim by Yang.

See also: Hong Kong Strike Sinks City Into Chaos, and Government Has Little Reply
Hong Kong's Stock Rout Enters 10th Day, Worst Streak Since 1984
Hong Kong Protests Broaden Despite Police Crackdown


Original Submission

China Says Sino-British Joint Declaration On Hong Kong No Longer Binding 48 comments

China said on Friday the joint declaration with Britain over Hong Kong, which laid the blueprint over how the city would be ruled after its return to China in 1997, was a historical document that no longer had any practical significance.

In response, Britain said the declaration remained in force and was a legally valid treaty to which it was committed to upholding.

The stark announcement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, that is sure to raise questions over Beijing’s commitment to Hong Kong’s core freedoms, came the same day Chinese President Xi Jinping said in Hong Kong the “one country, two systems” formula was recognized “by the whole world”.

It was not immediately clear if Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang was attacking just the idea of continued British involvement in Hong Kong, which marks the 20th anniversary of Chinese rule on Saturday, or the principles in the document.


Original Submission

Breaking News: Hong Kong Airport Paralysed for a Second Day by Protesters; US Naval Ships Blocked 59 comments

Hong Kong Airport Paralysed for a Second Day by Protesters:

The US is claiming its naval ships have been denied entry to Hong Kong, as Donald Trump suggests troops are “moving towards the border”.

A US Commander has confirmed China has blocked the Pacific Fleet’s naval ships from entering ports in Hong Kong.

Two US naval ships due to visit Hong Kong have been denied scheduled access to the city’s ports by China, the US Pacific Fleet confirmed today.

A US Navy spokesman today said two vessels had been blocked from entering the port, hours after President Donald Trump said China was moving its troops towards the border.

The president’s claims were made without specific evidence, according to The Australian

Commander Nate Christensen, the deputy spokesman for the United States Pacific Fleet, confirmed this morning the two US ships, USS Green Bay and USS Lake Erie, had been barred from entering the port. The first vessel, an amphibious dock landing ship, was due to stop in Hong Kong on Saturday, and the second was due in the city next month.

The last time the US Navy visited Hong Kong was in April.

Our Intelligence has informed us that the Chinese Government is moving troops to the Border with Hong Kong. Everyone should be calm and safe!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 13, 2019

[...]Hong Kong’s 10-week political crisis, in which millions of people have taken to the streets calling for a halt to sliding freedoms, was already the biggest challenge to Chinese rule of the semi-autonomous city since its 1997 handover from Britain.

But two days of protests at the airport have again raised the stakes for the financial hub.

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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Friday August 23 2019, @03:35PM (5 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 23 2019, @03:35PM (#884161) Journal

    Youtube has followed the lead of Twitter and Facebook, and chosen sides on an issue that doesn't really affect them.

    • (Score: 5, Insightful) by DannyB on Friday August 23 2019, @04:34PM (1 child)

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 23 2019, @04:34PM (#884219) Journal

      The Hong Kong issue does not affect YouTube.

      The use of YT to spread disinformation DOES affect YouTube.

      Regardless of whether only one side or both sides spread disinformation.

      It seems YT may have chosen to be arbiter of what is disinformation.

      --
      People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 24 2019, @12:30AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 24 2019, @12:30AM (#884432)

        The Hong Kong issue does not affect YouTube.

        It most certainty does affect Youtube, and Google/Alphabet.
        Google is once again pushing for not only access to the Chinese market, but for major business with the Chinese Government.
        Google is not going to put Project Dragonfly or its successor in jeopardy by allowing its Youtube platform to be used by plebeian democracy activists in Hong Kong.

        Censorship is Good For Business.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 23 2019, @04:55PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 23 2019, @04:55PM (#884228)

      Unless Twitter, FB and YT are in the pockets of the CIA, and the Hong Kong protests are also financed by the Firm.

      • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Friday August 23 2019, @06:41PM (1 child)

        by maxwell demon (1608) on Friday August 23 2019, @06:41PM (#884282) Journal

        Are you a Chinese government shill?

        --
        The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
        • (Score: 2) by shortscreen on Saturday August 24 2019, @01:06AM

          by shortscreen (2252) on Saturday August 24 2019, @01:06AM (#884459) Journal

          Of course the US government is involved. It's following the same old script, so all you have to do is look for the key words. Which protests are being loudly covered by the corporate media under the heading of "pro-democracy?" Protests in France? No. Protests in Honduras? No. Protests in Hong Kong? Aha! Those get to wear the official endorsement of TPTB as being "pro-democracy."

          And now we have social media engaging in censorship for purely political reasons again? No surprise.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 23 2019, @03:39PM (8 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 23 2019, @03:39PM (#884165)

    they had removed thousands of accounts that originated in China

    Why would the people doing this fail to use a proxy in another country? It is an extremely easy and cheap method of misdirection. Is the government that incompetent?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 23 2019, @03:50PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 23 2019, @03:50PM (#884169)

      No, it is not. This is only a naive western trick to mimic fake government involvement for propaganda purpose.

    • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday August 23 2019, @03:59PM (5 children)

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 23 2019, @03:59PM (#884178) Journal

      To some extent, you can backtrack a proxy chain. If you're a helluva good forensics guy, you might follow a very long convoluted proxy. The TFS says the accounts originated in China, which is not exactly the same as saying that the accounts connected from China.

      • (Score: 0, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 23 2019, @04:18PM (3 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 23 2019, @04:18PM (#884205)

        I assume the worst at this point. The whole "Russia hacked the election" thing was based on them finding a bunch of weird IP addresses from many countries and then picking out a few from Russia to lay the blame.

        • (Score: 4, Informative) by DeathMonkey on Friday August 23 2019, @05:19PM (2 children)

          by DeathMonkey (1380) on Friday August 23 2019, @05:19PM (#884245) Journal

          Not according to Edward Snowden. [salon.com]

          Even if the attackers try to obfuscate origin, #XKEYSCORE makes following exfiltrated data easy. I did this personally against Chinese ops.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 23 2019, @06:31PM (1 child)

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 23 2019, @06:31PM (#884279)

            Ok, but it was according to the governments own indictments.

            • (Score: 3, Informative) by DeathMonkey on Friday August 23 2019, @06:51PM

              by DeathMonkey (1380) on Friday August 23 2019, @06:51PM (#884286) Journal

              That's not how indictments work.

              Evidence is presented in the subsequent trial, the indictment only states the charges.

      • (Score: 2) by Bot on Saturday August 24 2019, @01:28AM

        by Bot (3902) on Saturday August 24 2019, @01:28AM (#884470) Journal

        In the case of Alphabet, owning the android and chromebook OSes and being in the military... helps.

        --
        Account abandoned.
    • (Score: 2) by Arik on Friday August 23 2019, @04:59PM

      by Arik (4543) on Friday August 23 2019, @04:59PM (#884232) Journal
      Yeah no, that's not how it works. The social media secret police go through and make a list of the naughty ones, then they say they're Chinese and ban them.

      Evidence? They don't need no stinking evidence.

      No badges neither.
      --
      If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by jmichaelhudsondotnet on Friday August 23 2019, @04:23PM (4 children)

    by jmichaelhudsondotnet (8122) on Friday August 23 2019, @04:23PM (#884209) Journal

    Two entities arguing who I don't trust at all whatsoever, google and the chinese communist party.

    A real global civilization would have an archive server for video uploads for regions in political crisis or emergency in order to preserve the true history of the conflict and protect the rights of all involved.

    But the only authority the protestors have to appeal to so they won't be disappeared and forgotten is google, an essentially mercenary organization enforcing bizarro 'multistakeholder' state interests, making the protestors who may or may not be censored bargaining chips.

    As far as I'm concerned anyone with a gmail account is inviting me to a conversation at the police station, but if you are in hong kong that might be an upgrade, which I can understand.

    The real crisis is that the united nations is held up by a human rights council run by countries who hate the idea of human rights, and the endless legal traffic jam in gaza where protestors are getting shot in the head with live rounds. Why should china look to the west for mediation when drone strikes and other illegal measures are every day occurances?

    The war on terror is the stupidest thing that anyone has ever done and every american having anything to do with it should be ashamed, welcome to the bed you made.

    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by DannyB on Friday August 23 2019, @05:42PM (3 children)

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 23 2019, @05:42PM (#884257) Journal

      A real global civilization would have an archive server for video uploads . . .

      In the past, someone might have suggested that a real civilization would have books that record events that happened. With wide dissemination of these new fangled book thingies. At least after 1445 when Gutenberg invented the bible.

      Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Usually in summer school prior to the fall semester.

      --
      People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 23 2019, @07:45PM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 23 2019, @07:45PM (#884323)
        Books are for historians. Video, especially if fake, is for immediate use.
        • (Score: 3, Insightful) by DannyB on Friday August 23 2019, @09:12PM (1 child)

          by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 23 2019, @09:12PM (#884356) Journal

          Fakes are not just for videos you know.

          Books can be fake too.

          --
          People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 24 2019, @12:47PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 24 2019, @12:47PM (#884696)

            Boobs. I'm pretty sure you meant boobs.

  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Alfred on Friday August 23 2019, @06:20PM

    by Alfred (4006) on Friday August 23 2019, @06:20PM (#884275) Journal
    We deleted it but we will tell you our take on it is something I don't trust. I'd rather make the call as if it is reliable or not. Seeinign how the big tech companies have already bowed to China on topics i can only expect that China wanted these deleted and told them to delete them. In which case I really want to see them. But all i have is you tube saying "compared the demonstrators to terrorists" which if i was China that is the cover story I would make up and have youtube feed to people to further insulate myself from the takedown.
  • (Score: 2) by Bot on Saturday August 24 2019, @01:36AM (3 children)

    by Bot (3902) on Saturday August 24 2019, @01:36AM (#884479) Journal

    Youtube is a private entity lending its resources in exchange for (The Prisoner intro voice enable)In-fo-mation, so they can boot whoever they wish just as FB Twitter and all the other PLATFORMS that took over Protocols.
    The problem is that media, other main sources of disinfo, treat Youtube et all like dispensers of truth.

    You shall not make idols.

    --
    Account abandoned.
    • (Score: 2) by Bot on Saturday August 24 2019, @01:43AM (2 children)

      by Bot (3902) on Saturday August 24 2019, @01:43AM (#884484) Journal

      to expand on this:
      - it's 'et al.' not 'et all'
      - when the debate becomes 'how to make youtube more fair' the enemy has already won.
      - what if HK protests were made bigger by the same guys who fueled the fruitless, or rather harmful, arab spring movement? what if the 50 cents yellow army actually had some good points this time? propaganda has to be at least 60% made of truth anyway and a conflict has at least two sides.

      --
      Account abandoned.
      • (Score: 2) by Bot on Saturday August 24 2019, @01:44AM (1 child)

        by Bot (3902) on Saturday August 24 2019, @01:44AM (#884485) Journal

        To expand on parent, may I roboticautistically note that the CID # couldn't have been more 84ish.

        --
        Account abandoned.
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 24 2019, @06:00AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 24 2019, @06:00AM (#884595)

          Tell that to #848484

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