Russian Disinformation, Canadian Big Tech, WideOpenWest Sale, Broadband Emerging Leaders
Facebook has found Russian espionage and disinformation campaigns on its platform.
T.J. York
April 8, 2022 – A report released by Facebook on Thursday found that government-affiliated hackers from Russia and Belarus attempted to use the platform for cyber espionage and disinformation campaigns that targeted Ukrainians.
The efforts targeted the Ukrainian telecom industry, defense and energy sectors, tech platforms, journalists and activists.
One such campaign was found to be linked to the Belarusian KGB, and Belarus-affiliated hacking group Ghostwriter was found attempting to hack dozens of Ukrainian military personnel’s Facebook accounts.
Ghostwriter hackers target individuals using phishing emails and gain access to their social media accounts.
Last week, a released Google report found that Russian-based hackers attempted to penetrate the networks of NATO, U.S.-based nongovernmental organizations and several Eastern European countries’ militaries.
The Washington Post recently reported that Russian military spy service was behind a hack that compromised Ukrainian military communications at the beginning of invasion by Russia.
Canada law on social media news buys
Canada’s government announced Tuesday a new legislative proposal which would compel social media platforms to pay news publishers for the use of stories on social sites.
Countries such as Australia, Spain and France presently require social media to negotiate with news publishers and pay for content, with countries like the UK potentially adopting similar legislation soon.
Canadian publishers have long lobbied for such a policy that is now being proposed under the “Online News Act”.
The law would be most similar to Australia’s framework of regulation, which unlike Spain and France establishes an arbitration system potentially imposing binding rulings on the amounts publishers must be paid for news content should required negotiations fail between publishers and social media companies.
Additionally, Australia requires that before updating algorithms that may influence traffic to news websites at least 14 days of notice must be given.
WideOpenWest looking at next steps
Colorado-based broadband provider WideOpenWest Inc. is exploring options such as the potential for a sale, BNN Bloomberg reported Thursday.
The move comes as cable operators have continued to draw increasing interest from private equity and infrastructure investors.
News of potential sale led the company, which does business as Wow!, to see shares jump as much as 13%.
In regular New York trading shares gained 12% to $20, their highest close in nearly three months, and market capitalization advanced to $1.76 billion.
As of December 31, WideOpenWest counted 532,900 subscribers across Georgia, Alabama, Michigan, Florida, Tennessee and South Carolina.
Pew’s Kathryn de Wit presented Benton award
In a ceremony on Wednesday, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society presented its Broadband Emerging Leader Award to Kathryn de Wit, project director of the Broadband Access Initiative at The Pew Charitable Trusts.
“Thank you for making space at the table and I can’t wait to see where we go from here,” de Wit tweeted in response to receiving the award, thanking those who she says paved the way before her.
