NEW RESOURCES

NiemanLab: Here are two new tools to help track Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “The German investigative nonprofit Correctiv just launched a tracker to monitor worldwide sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. It’s available in English and German and updated several times a day.”

Global Investigative Journalism Network: Investigating Russia Around the World: A GIJN Instant Toolkit. “Russia’s war against Ukraine has sparked an explosion of interest in what Moscow is up to around the world. With that in mind, GIJN has assembled a kind of starter-toolkit to help journalists track Russian assets, political interference, and disinformation in their countries. From oligarch planes to sanctions trackers, you’ll find over 30 useful sites here. We’ve also included some of the best tools we’ve seen for following Russia’s war on Ukraine. This is a work-in-progress, so be sure to send us your comments and additions.”

CityNews Toronto: New database compiles and connects women of colour content creators. “CineFAM, founded by award-winning filmmaker Frances-Anne Solomon, champions women and non-binary people of colour in media through various initiatives, including an annual film festival, a short film challenge and a feature film incubator. At the beginning of Women’s History Month on March 1, the organization added a much-needed resource to their roster of programs — the Women of Colour Content Creators Database.” The database appears to be Canada-specific.

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Business Insider: TikTok suspends all live-streaming and content sharing in Russia in response to the country’s new controversial ‘fake news’ law. “TikTok has suspended all live-
streaming and content sharing in Russia in response to the country’s ‘fake news’ law, a policy passed Friday that threatens imprisonment for sharing what authorities there consider to be false information.”

Billboard: BTS Earns Three New Social Media Guinness World Records. “Thanks to the loyal ARMY and pop fans worldwide, the boy band collected three new social media records in the last month, according to Guinness World Records’ official website. BTS now boasts the record for most followers on Instagram for a music group. As of February 2022, they reached 60,151,959 followers on the social media platform.”

CNET: Russian Internet Takes a Hit as Cogent Disconnects Backbone Network. “The move doesn’t mean Russia has no internet access, but it does mean a major traffic conduit is gone. Cogent operates more than 100,000 miles’ worth of fiber optic links between and within cities in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa. Cogent’s Russian cutoff is a new step toward a ‘splinternet,’ a fragmented internet infrastructure that some online powers worry will weaken the utility of the globe-spanning communication technology.”

USEFUL STUFF

MakeUseOf: How to Access the News on Tor. “A number of leading news outlets maintain websites on the Tor network, allowing anyone to access information and news from around the world, regardless of location, censorship, or otherwise. So, here’s how you can use Tor to access all manner of news websites, no matter where you are.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

Daily Beast: Putin’s Henchmen Rage About Getting Trolled With ‘Endless Photos’ of Dead Russian Troops. “While Russian President Vladimir Putin is raining bombs on Ukrainian cities, his top propagandists are most concerned about getting bombarded with text messages and losing the information war to Ukraine. On Thursday’s episode of The Evening With Vladimir Soloviev, state TV propagandist Vladimir Soloviev complained that he and editor-in-chief of RT Margarita Simonyan are being terrorized by unknown individuals, receiving endless calls and texts about Russia’s military activities in Ukraine. He griped: ‘Margarita and I can show our telephones to demonstrate that we’re getting a thousand calls and texts per hour.'”

ABC News: Memes become weapons in Ukraine-Russia conflict. “Typically used for fun on social media, memes out of Ukraine are serious business amid Russia’s attack. In fact, history and media experts who spoke with ABC News said the social media posts about Ukraine’s resistance against Russian forces are war tools.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Missouri Independent: Parson digs in against evidence absolving reporter he accused of being a ‘hacker’. “Gov. Mike Parson on Thursday once again refused to accept the conclusions of an investigation by the highway patrol and Cole County prosecutor surrounding a reporter who uncovered a security flaw in a state website. Speaking to a gathering of reporters and editors in the governor’s mansion for Missouri Press Association Day, Parson restated his accusation that a reporter from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch stole the personal information of teachers.”

CNN: Activists pushed the IRS to drop facial recognition. They won, but they’re not done yet. “Facial recognition has emerged as a hot-button issue where activists who oppose it see a chance to win. Even as the technology has proliferated and been embraced by law enforcement, lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle have expressed serious concerns about its deployment. And while most legislation regarding its usage has been passed at a more local level, this recent decision by a federal agency could mean more widespread limitations are achievable — or so the activists hope.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Mashable: The intriguing link between depression and misinformation. “Efforts to tamp down misinformation typically don’t focus on mental health but instead emphasize the legitimate role of social media, polarization, and political identity. Until the last few years, researchers hadn’t explored the connection; even [Dr. Roy] Perlis was surprised at how little had been written about it.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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