"From North Africa to the Gulf, the UAE has aggressively expanded its counter-revolutionary strategy in the wake of the Arab Spring"
by Andreas Krieg: https://www.middleeasteye.net/big-story/abu-dhabi-built-axis-secessionists-across-region-how 
Sviatoslav #Hnizdovskyi - Trust Ukrainians - They Know Russia Always Breaks Agreements and Ceasefires
Sviatoslav Hnizdovskyi is CEO at OpenMinds. He is an expert at countering #influence operations and #disinformation.
OpenMinds is a cognitive defence tech company countering authoritarian influence in the battle for free and open societies.
In a dangerous & complex world, it’s not enough to be strong. You must also be #smart. As Secy of #State during the Obama admin, I argued for smart #power, integrating the hard power of our military w/the #SoftPower of our #diplomacy, development assistance, economic might & cultural #influence. None of those tools can do the job alone. Together, they make America a #superpower. The #Trump approach is #dumb power.
@nixCraft @sl007 Is it once again "Decline of the West", … er "Decline of the East"? Why can't people learn to come to terms with the ever ongoing #influence of #technology on #culture?
"You need a vision bigger than you've been told is possible!" - Kat Abughazaleh
That's her phrase, not mine! She's 26-year-old Kat bAbughazaleh, and she's running for Congress. In the middle of her announcement video, she stated: "You need a vision bigger than you've been told is possible!"
I'm always a sucker for a good inspirational phrase - and I can also spot the nascent signs of what might be a major trend early on. This might be one of those moments.
Look, I swear to god I'm not working to turn my daily post into a political journal, but the timing of this video yesterday was just too perfect in light of my post earlier that day about the need for the system to get 'youthanized.'
So what's this post about? It's about what might happen when the social media/influencer generation gets aggressively involved in politics. Later in the video, she said this: “I say it’s time to drop the excuses and grow a fucking spine," And then, "We're focused on meeting constituent needs with one simple rule: What if we didn't suck?"
Talk about message clarity!
Watch the video for yourself, and try and tell me that this might not be the early sign of something happening in US politics right now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7OhclGO3CY
And since US politics has a huge impact on whether the future unfolds or not, well, it's in the territory of this daily post. Yesterday, I was listening to The Daily podcast from the New York Times, and one political expert said that the Democrats might be having their own Tea Party moment, what with the anger at aging politicians and all. Maybe this was the moment stuff was thrown in the harbor.
The video is blowing up on social media right now - and no wonder. What we might be seeing right now is the first of a sudden groundswell of today's 20 and 30-year-olds launching themselves into a system that has become geriatric by design
**#Vision** **#Youth** **#Politics** **#Change** **#Influence** **#Future** **#Generation** **#Disruption** **#Leadership** **#Momentum**
#ECR Leaders Demonstrate Unity Ahead of #EuropeanCouncilSummit [Promoted content]: Prominent conservative leaders gathered in #Brussels before the #EuropeanCouncilsummit, emphasizing their commitment to sovereignty, democracy, and national identity. The European Conservatives and Reformists (#ECR) Party's growing #influence is increasingly shaping #Europe's political landscape. https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/opinion/ecr-leaders-demonstrate-unity-ahead-of-european-council-summit/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=dlvr.it
Headline: Russian Malign Influence Campaigns Expand Onto Bluesky
Source: FDD.org
From the article: "The Russian influence operation known as Doppelganger has expanded onto the social media platform Bluesky to spread anti-Ukraine and antisemitic messages, according to a report released by Alliance4Europe on January 27.
"This activity, alongside a slate of other Russian malign influence campaigns emerging on Bluesky over the past few months, indicates that Moscow, which has historically used alternative platforms to reach right-wing audiences, has begun using a similar tactic to target the other side of the aisle. Bluesky is known for hosting an exodus of liberal users from X."
#Russia #BlueSky #Doppelganger
#SocialMedia #Influence #Disinformation
URL for article because thumbnail is not displaying:
Source: @nytimes
From the article: "A Russian organization linked to the Kremlin’s covert influence campaigns posted more than 8,000 political advertisements on Facebook despite European and American restrictions barring companies from doing business with the organization, according to three organizations that track disinformation online.
"The Russian group, the Social Design Agency, evaded lax enforcement by Facebook to place an estimated $338,000 worth of ads aimed at European users over a period of 15 months that ended in October, even though the platform itself highlighted the threat, the three organizations said in a report released on Friday."
#Russia #Meta #SocialMedia #Influence #Disinformation
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/17/business/russia-disinformation-meta.html
Source: @japantimes
From the article: "Russia and China are teaming up to collaborate in the information space and push their worldview onto global audiences.
"It is well-known that Russian and Chinese troll farms are active all over social media. Moscow in particular has long been the world’s leading propaganda expert, as evidenced by its deployment of “active measures” during the Cold War all the way to the current practice of flooding social media with inauthentic accounts and comments."
#China #Russia #SocialMedia #Influence #Disinformation
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2024/12/25/world/russia-china-disinformation-online/
The Globalisation of Celebrity Fashion Influence https://www.inbella.com/958328/the-globalisation-of-celebrity-fashion-influence/ #Celebrities #CelebritiesNews #EndorsementsFibre2Fashion #Fashion #influence #luxury #SocialMedia #streetwear #style #sustainability #trends
Je suis sidéré de la sinophobie que subit le réseau #Tiktok (procédures juridiques, enquêtes...).
Nombre de ses reproches... sont aussi faisables à #Instagram,
qui a plus d'utilisateurs et plus d'ancienneté !
Mais comme nos politiciens, #ministres, autorités d'État ne sont que sur le second, ils ne vont pas scier leur "branche d'influence".
#xénophobie #deuxPoids2Mesures
#présence_web #réseaux_sociaux #influence
#enfants #mineurs #enfance
“The expansion of primary #education in the West was driven not by democratic ideals, but by the state’s desire to control citizens. And to #control them by targeting children at an age when they are very young and susceptible to external #influence and to teach them at that young age that it’s good to respect rules, that it’s good to respect #authority.”
#PoliticalDonations should be allowed *ONLY* from *individual* *citizens* of the country the politician is competing in (*no* companies, #corporations or #politicalactioncommittees should be able to contribute or #influence ). Donations from each individual should be capped to prevent the #superwealthy and #billionaires from having undue influence.
Anything else is a threat to #democracy.
AdNow exposed: How Romania became a test lab for Russian interference in the West
Discover Sonic Youth's enduring impact on contemporary music.
https://buff.ly/NfZun8H
#music, #SonicYouth, #influence, #alternativemusic. #legacy, #guitarinnovation, #noise #experimentation, #feministrock, #cinematic, #soundscapes, #riotgrrrl, #underground, #vibesmgzn
https://www.europesays.com/1892453/ Seven ways of looking at Elon Musk #ElonMusk #ExplainedNewsletter #influence #Musk #Politics #technology #today
Africa: Maps Showing China's Growing Influence in Africa Distort Reality - but Some Risks Are Real: [The Conversation Africa] Global power dynamics in Africa are shifting, with China eclipsing the influence of the US and France. China has become Africa's single largest trading partner. http://newsfeed.facilit8.network/TJKsCK #ChinaInAfrica #AfricaTrade #GlobalPolitics #Influence #EconomicGrowth
Beta-glucan from fungi could help protect against influenza
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-02-beta-glucan-fungi-influenza.html
