Vente Venezuela, the party of María Corina Machado, is connected to the National Democratic Institute and the Atlas Network via the Liberal Network for Latin America (RELIAL) and Liberal International. Edmundo González is just a stand-in for her.
15-07-2024: The East African nation of Kenya was rocked by deadly protests mainly composed of youth during June, ostensibly in response to the Kenyan parliament’s Finance Bill 2024. By the end of the month around 30 protestors had lost their lives, despite forcing the government to withdraw the Bill, which contained some $2.7 billion in tax hikes.[1] The protests were mainly composed of “Gen Z” youth (those born during the late 90s and early 2000s) which gives the impression of young people fighting for their future. Kenya has a population of some 50 million, with 5 million inhabiting the capital Nairobi, and 4 million in the city of Mombasa on the shores of the Indian Ocean. Those aged between 15 and 29 make up roughly 30% of the population,[2] meaning such protests can draw in larger number than is generally the case in the ageing populations of the West. In the wake of the violence, Uasin Gishu Governor Jonathan Bii urged the Gen Z protestors to give dialogue with President William Ruto a chance. Despite goons and looters infiltrating the protests and causing mayhem, Bii conceded that the protestors have genuine issues that need to be addressed.[3]
Kenya had been praised to the heavens by the West in yesteryear: it was a beacon of hope and prosperity; East Africa’s most prosperous nation; a success story of capitalism and “development”; and (most important of all) a bulwark of the West amidst encroaching Chinese influence on the continent.
“RIPLEY (voice-over): Chinese state media is using A.I.-enhanced videos on TikTok, altering the reporter’s voice and face. A disclosure on screen for just a few seconds, easy to miss.
[01:39:52]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Under China’s jurisdiction.
RIPLEY: The video is pushing Beijing’s narrative on the South China Sea.
Is this a threat to democracy?
FELIPE SALVOSA II, JOURNALISM PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS: Most definitely. I think China has found a more cost-effective way to get its message across.
RIPLEY: Turning today’s digital landscape into a battleground for truth, where seeing is no longer believing.
Every time I do a story about these deepfake videos, what strikes me is the quality keeps improving. Our researcher (INAUDIBLE) spent hours putting these through algorithms to determine with 99 percent accuracy whether these videos are real, whether they’re fake, whether the voice has been altered, the face has been altered. Who on social media has time for that and a lot of people don’t take the time which experts say is dangerous, particularly in democracies when people are watching these videos and then potentially using the information they hear to make decisions about how to vote.
As Congress debates major new funding to support the Ukrainian war effort, U.S. taxpayer dollars are already flowing to outlets such as the New Voice of Ukraine, VoxUkraine, Detector Media, the Institute of Mass Information, the Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine and many others. Some of this money has come from the $44.1 billion in civilian-needs foreign aid committed to Ukraine. While the funding is officially billed as an ambitious program to develop high-quality independent news programs; counter malign Russian influence; and modernize Ukraine’s archaic media laws, the new sites in many cases have promoted aggressive messages that stray from traditional journalistic practices to promote the Ukrainian government’s official positions and delegitimize its critics.
The recent “protests” against Orban in Budapest were a storm in a teacup. Although less than 0.01 percent of Hungary’s population participated, they made the front pages in the mainstream press. What was behind them? Eurocrats’ fear of Orban’s chairmanship at the EU Council of Ministers, which starts in July, and his call for dialogue with Russia.
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