The State Department has awarded the following five grants since September 1:

An $18,000 grant to the Albanian-based non-governmental organization (NGO) the Institute for Democracy, Media, and Culture* to ensure a “whole-of-society response to cyber incidents and misinformation.” The associated program began on September 1, 2023.

A $14,500 grant to Paraguay’s American Cultural Center [Centro Cultural Paraguayo Americano] that will be used to implement workshops that “seek to combat misinformation and promote responsible digital citizenship.” The associated program began on September 1, 2023.

A $15,000 grant to the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at Udayana University to “raise digital literacy among selected amcors communities, journalists, and social media influencers to combat misinformation, pre-2024 general election.” The associated program is due to start on October 1, 2023.

A $50,000 grant to New York University to complete the implementation of a speaker series that supports “countering misinformation.” The associated program is due to start on October 1, 2023.

A $50,000 grant to the non-profit Digital Rights Nepal*** “to create a sustainable network of youth to promote digital rights, safer internet use and a collective resilience towards misinformation and disinformation.” The associated program is due to start on October 2, 2023.

***Digital rights are the new Internet Freedom (think Arab Spring).

Skeptical Notes:

What is the National ‘Day of Hate?’ Police warn Jewish communities to be vigilant this weekend

February 25, 2023February 25, 2023 Ms. Cat

According to the Counter Extreme Project (CEP), an international policy organization that tracks extremist groups, several neo-Nazi groups have been sharing plans for the day through Telegram posts. They identified the National Socialist Movement as one of the organizers.

Several extremist groups have said they are participating in the event, including the Goyim Defense League, whose leader, Jon Eugene Minadeo II [Handsome Truth] recently moved to Florida from California, according to the ADL.

…

Plans circulated online within various extremist groups call for flyer distributions, banner drops, protests and graffiti, according to the ADL.

Related:

I see the Biden Administration adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism, soon! I hope that I’m wrong!

U.S. Press Starts To Figure Out College TikTok Bans Are A Dumb Performance

January 24, 2023January 24, 2023 Ms. Cat

U.S. Press Starts To Figure Out College TikTok Bans Are A Dumb Performance

One, the bans are generally designed to agitate a xenophobic base and give the impression the GOP is “doing something about China.” But the party that couldn’t care less about rampant corruption or privacy violations isn’t doing much of anything meaningful to thwart China. In fact, letting adtech, telecom, and app companies run rampant with little oversight runs contrary to any such goal.

Two, the bans distract the public and press from our ongoing failure on consumer privacy and security issues. Banning TikTok, but doing nothing about the accountability optional free for all that is the adtech and data-hoovering space, doesn’t actually fix anything. China can just obtain the same data from a universe of other international companies facing little real oversight on data collection.

Three, the ban is really just about money. Trump gave the game away with his proposal that TikTok be chopped up and sold to Oracle and Walmart. That cronyistic deal fell through, but it’s pretty clear that this moral panic is designed to either help TikTok’s competitors (Facebook lobbyists are very active on this front), or force the sale of the most popular app in modern history to GOP-allies. At which point they’ll engage in all the surveillance and influence efforts they pretend to be mad about.

Related:

Exaggerating China’s military spending, St. Louis Fed breaks all statistical rules with misleading graph

January 23, 2023January 23, 2023 Ms. Cat

The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis published a jaw-droppingly misleading graph that portrays China as spending more on its military than the US. In reality, the Pentagon’s budget is roughly three times larger.
Exaggerating China’s military spending, St. Louis Fed breaks all statistical rules with misleading graph