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This blog is open to any who wish to comment on Australian society, the state of the environment or political shenanigans at Federal, State and Local Government level.
On 7 April 2022 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation announced that all the then current members of the Parliament of Australia were banned from entering Russian territory.
Presumably because Russian President Vladimir Putin was responding to Australia's sanctions on Russia since 2014 in relation to Russia's aggression towards Ukraine.
This entry ban apparently remains in place for those named sitting MPs and Senators remaining in the Australian Parliament in 2024.
Which means that the NSW Northern Rivers region has two banned MPs - the Members for Richmond and Page.
7 April 2022 18:54
Foreign Ministry statement on personal sanctions on senior officials and MPs of Australia
755-07-04-2022
Obediently following the policy set by the collective West, Canberra has fallen into a Russophobic frenzy and introduced sanctions against Russia’s senior leadership and practically all members of parliament. In response, on April 7, 2022, Russia added to its stop list members of the Australian National Security Committee, House of Representatives, Senate and regional legislative assemblies. They are denied entry into the Russian Federation.
This step comes in response to the unfriendly actions by the current Australian Government, which is prepared to support any actions aimed at containing Russia.
Subsequent announcements will expand the sanctions blacklist to include Australian military, entrepreneurs, experts and media figures who contribute to negative perceptions of our country. We will resolutely oppose every anti-Russia action – from the introduction of new personal sanctions to restrictions on bilateral economic ties, which is doing damage to bilateral economic relations.
Below is the list of Australian citizens who are denied entry into the Russian Federation.
1 Scott Morrison, Prime Minister
2 Barnaby Joyce, Deputy Prime Minister
3 Karen Andrews, Minister for Home Affairs
4 Simon Birmingham, Minister for Finance
5 Patrick Gorman, MP, House of Representatives
6 Luke Gosling, MP, House of Representatives
7 Peter Dutton, Minister for Defence
8 Michaelia Cash, Attorney-General
9 Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affairs
10 Joshua Frydenberg, Treasurer
11 Anthony Albanese, MP, House of Representatives
12 John Alexander, MP, House of Representatives
13 Katrina Allen, MP, House of Representatives
14 Anne Aly, MP, House of Representatives
15 Kevin Andrews, MP, House of Representatives
16 Bridget Archer, MP, House of Representatives
17 Adam Bandt, MP, House of Representatives
18 Angie Bell, MP, House of Representatives
19 Sharon Bird, MP, House of Representatives
20 Christopher Bowen, MP, House of Representatives
21 Russell Broadbent, MP, House of Representatives
22 Scott Buchholz, MP, House of Representatives
23 Anthony Burke, MP, House of Representatives
24 Linda Burney, MP, House of Representatives
25 Josh Burns, MP, House of Representatives
26 Mark Butler, MP, House of Representatives
27 Terri Butler, MP, House of Representatives
28 Anthony Byrne, MP, House of Representatives
29 James Chalmers, MP, House of Representatives
30 Darren Chester, MP, House of Representatives
31 Lisa Chesters, MP, House of Representatives
32 George Christensen, MP, House of Representatives
33 Jason Clare, MP, House of Representatives
34 Sharon Claydon, MP, House of Representatives
35 Elizabeth Coker, MP, House of Representatives
36 David Coleman, MP, House of Representatives
37 Julie Collins, MP, House of Representatives
38 Patrick Conaghan, MP, House of Representatives
39 Vincent Connelly, MP, House of Representatives
40 Patrick Conroy, MP, House of Representatives
41 Mark Coulton, MP, House of Representatives
42 Dugald Dick, MP, House of Representatives
43 Mark Dreyfus, MP, House of Representatives
44 Damian Drum, MP, House of Representatives
45 Maria [Justine] Elliot, MP, House of Representatives
46 Warren Entsch, MP, House of Representatives
47 Trevor Evans, MP, House of Representatives
48 Jason Falinski, MP, House of Representatives
49 Joel Fitzgibbon, MP, House of Representatives
50 Paul Fletcher, MP, House of Representatives
51 Nicolle Flint, MP, House of Representatives
52 Michael Freelander, MP, House of Representatives
53 Andrew Gee, MP, House of Representatives
54 Steven Georganas, MP, House of Representatives
55 Andrew Giles, MP, House of Representatives
56 David Gillespie, MP, House of Representatives
57 Ian Goodenough, MP, House of Representatives
58 Helen Haines, MP, House of Representatives
59 Garth Hamilton, MP, House of Representatives
60 Celia Hammond, MP, House of Representatives
61 Andrew Hastie, MP, House of Representatives
62 Alexander Hawke, MP, House of Representatives
63 Christopher Hayes, MP, House of Representatives
64 Julian Hill, MP, House of Representatives
65 Kevin Hogan, MP, House of Representatives
66 Luke Howarth, MP, House of Representatives
67 Gregory Hunt, MP, House of Representatives
68 Edham Husic, MP, House of Representatives
69 Stephen Irons, MP, House of Representatives
70 Stephen Jones, MP, House of Representatives
71 Robert Katter, MP, House of Representatives
72 Gerardine Kearney, MP, House of Representatives
73 Craig Kelly, MP, House of Representatives
74 Matt Keogh, MP, House of Representatives
75 Peter Khalil, MP, House of Representatives
76 Catherine King, MP, House of Representatives
77 Madeleine King, MP, House of Representatives
78 Andrew Laming, MP, House of Representatives
79 Michelle Landry, MP, House of Representatives
80 Julian Leeser, MP, House of Representatives
81 Andrew Leigh, MP, House of Representatives
82 Sussan Ley, MP, House of Representatives
83 David Littleproud, MP, House of Representatives
84 Gladys Liu, MP, House of Representatives
85 Nola Marino, MP, House of Representatives
86 Richard Marles, MP, House of Representatives
87 Fiona Martin, MP, House of Representatives
88 Kristy McBain, MP, House of Representatives
89 Emma McBride, MP, House of Representatives
90 Michael McCormack, MP, House of Representatives
91 Melissa McIntosh, MP, House of Representatives
92 Brian Mitchell, MP, House of Representatives
93 Robert Mitchell, MP, House of Representatives
94 Ben Morton, MP, House of Representatives
95 Daniel Mulino, MP, House of Representatives
96 Peta Murphy, MP, House of Representatives
97 Shayne Neumann, MP, House of Representatives
98 Edward O'Brien, MP, House of Representatives
99 Llewellyn O'Brien, MP, House of Representatives
100 Brendan O'Connor, MP, House of Representatives
101 Kenneth O'Dowd, MP, House of Representatives
102 Clare O'Neil, MP, House of Representatives
103 Julie Owens, MP, House of Representatives
104 Antony Pasin, MP, House of Representatives
105 Alicia Payne, MP, House of Representatives
106 Gavin Pearce, MP, House of Representatives
107 Graham Perrett, MP, House of Representatives
108 Fiona Phillips MP, House of Representatives
109 Keith Pitt, MP, House of Representatives
110 Tanya Plibersek, MP, House of Representatives
111 Charles Porter, MP, House of Representatives
112 Melissa Price, MP, House of Representatives
113 Rowan Ramsey, MP, House of Representatives
114 Armanda Rishworth, MP, House of Representatives
115 Stuart Robert, MP, House of Representatives
116 Michelle Rowland, MP, House of Representatives
117 Joanne Ryan, MP, House of Representatives
118 Rebekha Sharkie, MP, House of Representatives
119 Devanand Sharma, MP, House of Representatives
120 William Shorten, MP, House of Representatives
121 Julian Simmonds, MP, House of Representatives
122 Anthony Smith, MP, House of Representatives
123 David Smith, MP, House of Representatives
124 Warren Snowdon, MP, House of Representatives
125 Anne Stanley, MP, House of Representatives
126 Zali Steggall, MP, House of Representatives
127 James Stevens, MP, House of Representatives
128 Michael Sukkar, MP, House of Representatives
129 Meryl Swanson, MP, House of Representatives
130 Angus Taylor, MP, House of Representatives
131 Daniel Tehan, MP, House of Representatives
132 Susan Templeman, MP, House of Representatives
133 Matthew Thistlethwaite, MP, House of Representatives
134 Phillip Thompson, MP, House of Representatives
135 Kate Thwaites, MP, House of Representatives
136 Alan Tudge, MP, House of Representatives
137 Maria Vamvakinou, MP, House of Representatives
138 Albertus van Manen, MP, House of Representatives
139 Ross Vasta, MP, House of Representatives
140 Andrew Wallace, MP, House of Representatives
141 Timothy Watts, MP, House of Representatives
142 Anne Webster, MP, House of Representatives
143 Anika Wells, MP, House of Representatives
144 Lucy Wicks, MP, House of Representatives
145 Andrew Wilkie, MP, House of Representatives
146 Joshua Wilson, MP, House of Representatives
147 Richard Wilson, MP, House of Representatives
148 Timothy Wilson, MP, House of Representatives
149 Jason Wood, MP, House of Representatives
150 Kenneth Wyatt, MP, House of Representatives
151 Terry Young, MP, House of Representatives
152 Antonio Zappia, MP, House of Representatives
153 Trent Zimmerman, MP, House of Representatives
154 Eric Abetz, Senator
155 Alex Antic, Senator
156 Wendy Askew, Senator
157 Tim Ayres, Senator
158 Catryna Bilyk, Senator
159 Andrew Bragg, Senator
160 Slade Brockman, Senator
161 Carol Brown, Senator
162 Matthew Canavan, Senator
163 Kim Carr, Senator
164 Claire Chandler, Senator
165 Anthony Chisholm, Senator
166 Raff Ciccone, Senator
167 Richard Colbeck, Senator
168 Dorinda Cox, Senator
169 Perin Davey, Senator
170 Patrick Dodson, Senator
171 Jonathon Duniam, Senator
172 Don Farrell, Senator
173 Mehreen Faruqi, Senator
174 David Fawcett, Senator
175 Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, Senator
176 Katy Gallagher, Senator
177 Nita Green, Senator
178 Stirling Griff, Senator
179 Karen Grogan, Senator
180 Pauline Hanson, Senator
181 Sarah Hanson-Young, Senator
182 Sarah Henderson, Senator
183 Hollie Hughes, Senator
184 Jane Hume, Senator
185 Kristina Keneally, Senator
186 Kimberley Kitching, Senator
187 Jacqui Lambie, Senator
188 Sue Lines, Senator
189 Jenny McAllister, Senator
190 Malarndirri McCarthy, Senator
191 Susan McDonald, Senator
192 James McGrath, Senator
193 Bridget McKenzie, Senator
194 Nick McKim, Senator
195 Andrew McLachlan, Senator
196 Sam McMahon, Senator
197 Greg Mirabella, Senator
198 Jim Molan, Senator
199 Deborah O`Neill, Senator
200 Matt O`Sullivan, Senator
201 James Paterson, Senator
202 Rex Patrick, Senator
203 Hellen Polley, Senator
204 Louise Pratt, Senator
205 Gerard Rennick, Senator
206 Linda Reynolds, Senator
207 Janet Rice, Senator
208 Malcolm Roberts, Senator
209 Anne Ruston, Senator
210 Paul Scarr, Senator
211 Zed Seselja, Senator
212 Tony Sheldon, Senator
213 Ben Small, Senator
214 Dean Smith, Senator
215 Marielle Smith, Senator
216 Jordon Steele-John, Senator
217 Glenn Sterle, Senator
218 Amanda Stoker, Senator
219 Lidia Thorpe, Senator
220 Anne Urquhart, Senator
221 David Van, Senator
222 Jess Walsh, Senator
223 Larissa Waters, Senator
224 Murray Watt, Senator
225 Peter Whish-Wilson, Senator
226 Penny Wong, Senator
227 Matthew Guy, legislative assembly member
228 Steve Dimopoulos, legislative assembly member
This was followed by the promised additional banning lists, as it appears that along with the US, UK, Canada, New Zealand, Japan and the EU, Australia continues to irritate Vladimir Putin.
21 July 2022 19:17
Foreign Ministry statement on introducing personal sanctions on representatives of Australia’s law enforcement agencies, border force and defence sector contractors
1514-21-07-2022
In response to the official Canberra’s adoption of sanctions in line with the Australian version of the Magnitsky Act, the Russian Federation has added 39 people from law enforcement agencies, the border force and Australia’s defence sector contractors to the national stop list.
The names of the blacklisted people are as follows:.....
All 39 names can be found on the Russian Foreign Ministry website at
https://mid.ru/en/press_service/spokesman/official_statement/1823204/
21 June 2023 18:24
Foreign Ministry statement on the introduction of personal sanctions against Australian citizens
1217-21-06-2023
In response to the politically motivated sanctions against Russian individuals and legal entities introduced by the Australian government as part of the Russophobic campaign by the collective West, entry to Russia is closed indefinitely for additional 48 Australians from among contractors of the military-industrial complex, journalists and municipal deputies who are creating the anti-Russian agenda in that country. Their names are as follows:.....
All 48 names can be found on the Russian Foreign Ministry website at
https://mid.ru/en/press_service/spokesman/official_statement/1890258/
17 April 2024 11:23
Foreign Ministry statement on personal sanctions on members of Australia’s municipal councils
703-17-04-2024
In response to the politically motivated sanctions imposed on Russian private individuals and legal entities by the Government of Australia as part of the collective West’s Russophobic campaign, the decision has been made to indefinitely deny entry to Russia to 235 Australian nationals who are members of municipal councils actively promoting the anti-Russia agenda in their country. The complete list of individuals affected by this measure follows below.
Given that official Canberra shows no sign of renouncing its anti-Russia position and the continued introduction of new sanctions, we will further update the Russian stop list accordingly.....
All 235 names can be found on the Russian Foreign Ministry website at
https://mid.ru/en/press_service/spokesman/official_statement/1944697/
The Me Too Movement began in the United States around 2006 and in 2017 the #meetoo hashtag went viral when actress Alyssa Milano tweeted ‘me too’ in the United States and in Australia journalist Tracy Spicer invited women to tell their story after the Weinstein scandal broke.
This my friends sums it all up, women’s lives today, tomorrow and everyday 👇🏻#MakeItStop#March4Justice @march4justiceau
— Janine Hendry @_Janine_Hendry on Threads | Insta (@janine_hendry) April 15, 2024
pic.twitter.com/hUP5HKASkl
Now the sexual assaults/rapes......
2022
Sexual Assault Reported To PoliceIn 2019 there were 26,892 victims of sexual assault in Australia, an increase of 2% from the previous year. This was the eighth consecutive annual increase and the highest number for this offence recorded in a single year. After accounting for population growth, the victimisation rate has also increased annually over this eight-year period from 83 to 106 victims per 100,000 persons.
For victims of sexual assault in 2019:
Well this month attention has turned from AI being used to create multiple fake bird species and celebrity images or Microsoft's using excruciatingly garish alternative landscapes to promote its software - the focus has shifted back to AI being used by bad actors in global and domestic political arenas created during election years.
Nature, WORLD VIEW, 9 April 2024:
Political candidates are increasingly using AI-generated ‘softfakes’ to boost their campaigns. This raises deep ethical concerns.
By Rumman Chowdhury
Of the nearly two billion people living in countries that are holding elections this year, some have already cast their ballots. Elections held in Indonesia and Pakistan in February, among other countries, offer an early glimpse of what’s in store as artificial intelligence (AI) technologies steadily intrude into the electoral arena. The emerging picture is deeply worrying, and the concerns are much broader than just misinformation or the proliferation of fake news.
As the former director of the Machine Learning, Ethics, Transparency and Accountability (META) team at Twitter (before it became X), I can attest to the massive ongoing efforts to identify and halt election-related disinformation enabled by generative AI (GAI). But uses of AI by politicians and political parties for purposes that are not overtly malicious also raise deep ethical concerns.
GAI is ushering in an era of ‘softfakes’. These are images, videos or audio clips that are doctored to make a political candidate seem more appealing. Whereas deepfakes (digitally altered visual media) and cheap fakes (low-quality altered media) are associated with malicious actors, softfakes are often made by the candidate’s campaign team itself.
How to stop AI deepfakes from sinking society — and science
In Indonesia’s presidential election, for example, winning candidate Prabowo Subianto relied heavily on GAI, creating and promoting cartoonish avatars to rebrand himself as gemoy, which means ‘cute and cuddly’. This AI-powered makeover was part of a broader attempt to appeal to younger voters and displace allegations linking him to human-rights abuses during his stint as a high-ranking army officer. The BBC dubbed him “Indonesia’s ‘cuddly grandpa’ with a bloody past”. Furthermore, clever use of deepfakes, including an AI ‘get out the vote’ virtual resurrection of Indonesia’s deceased former president Suharto by a group backing Subianto, is thought by some to have contributed to his surprising win.
Nighat Dad, the founder of the research and advocacy organization Digital Rights Foundation, based in Lahore, Pakistan, documented how candidates in Bangladesh and Pakistan used GAI in their campaigns, including AI-written articles penned under the candidate’s name. South and southeast Asian elections have been flooded with deepfake videos of candidates speaking in numerous languages, singing nostalgic songs and more — humanizing them in a way that the candidates themselves couldn’t do in reality.
What should be done? Global guidelines might be considered around the appropriate use of GAI in elections, but what should they be? There have already been some attempts. The US Federal Communications Commission, for instance, banned the use of AI-generated voices in phone calls, known as robocalls. Businesses such as Meta have launched watermarks — a label or embedded code added to an image or video — to flag manipulated media.
But these are blunt and often voluntary measures. Rules need to be put in place all along the communications pipeline — from the companies that generate AI content to the social-media platforms that distribute them.
What the EU’s tough AI law means for research and ChatGPT
Content-generation companies should take a closer look at defining how watermarks should be used. Watermarking can be as obvious as a stamp, or as complex as embedded metadata to be picked up by content distributors.
Companies that distribute content should put in place systems and resources to monitor not just misinformation, but also election-destabilizing softfakes that are released through official, candidate-endorsed channels. When candidates don’t adhere to watermarking — none of these practices are yet mandatory — social-media companies can flag and provide appropriate alerts to viewers. Media outlets can and should have clear policies on softfakes. They might, for example, allow a deepfake in which a victory speech is translated to multiple languages, but disallow deepfakes of deceased politicians supporting candidates.
Election regulatory and government bodies should closely examine the rise of companies that are engaging in the development of fake media. Text-to-speech and voice-emulation software from Eleven Labs, an AI company based in New York City, was deployed to generate robocalls that tried to dissuade voters from voting for US President Joe Biden in the New Hampshire primary elections in January, and to create the softfakes of former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan during his 2024 campaign outreach from a prison cell. Rather than pass softfake regulation on companies, which could stifle allowable uses such as parody, I instead suggest establishing election standards on GAI use. There is a long history of laws that limit when, how and where candidates can campaign, and what they are allowed to say.
Citizens have a part to play as well. We all know that you cannot trust what you read on the Internet. Now, we must develop the reflexes to not only spot altered media, but also to avoid the emotional urge to think that candidates’ softfakes are ‘funny’ or ‘cute’. The intent of these isn’t to lie to you — they are often obviously AI generated. The goal is to make the candidate likeable.
Softfakes are already swaying elections in some of the largest democracies in the world. We would be wise to learn and adapt as the ongoing year of democracy, with some 70 elections, unfolds over the next few months.
COMPETING INTERESTS
The author declares no competing interests.
[my yellow highlighting]
Charles Stuart University, Expert Alert, media release, 12 April 2024, excerpt:
Governments must crack down on AI interfering with elections
Charles Darwin University Computational and Artificial Intelligence expert Associate Professor Niusha Shafiabady.
Like it or not, we are affected by what we come across in social media platforms. The future wars are not planned by missiles or tanks, but they can easily run on social media platforms by influencing what people think and do. This applies to election results.
“Microsoft has said that the election outcomes in India, Taiwan and the US could be affected by the AI plays by powers like China or North Korea. In the world of technology, we call this disinformation, meaning producing misleading information on purpose to change people’s views. What can we do to fight these types of attacks? Well, I believe we should question what we see or read. Not everything we hear is based on the truth. Everyone should be aware of this.
“Governments should enforce more strict regulations to fight misinformation, things like: Finding triggers that show signs of unwanted interference; blocking and stopping the unauthorised or malicious trends; enforcing regulations on social media platforms to produce reports to the government to demonstrate and measure the impact and the flow of the information on the matters that affect the important issues such as elections and healthcare; and enforcing regulations on the social media platforms to monitor and stop the fake information sources or malicious actors.”
The Conversation, 10 April 2024:
Election disinformation: how AI-powered bots work and how you can protect yourself from their influence
AI Strategist and Professor of Digital Strategy, Loughborough University Nick Hajli
Social media platforms have become more than mere tools for communication. They’ve evolved into bustling arenas where truth and falsehood collide. Among these platforms, X stands out as a prominent battleground. It’s a place where disinformation campaigns thrive, perpetuated by armies of AI-powered bots programmed to sway public opinion and manipulate narratives.
AI-powered bots are automated accounts that are designed to mimic human behaviour. Bots on social media, chat platforms and conversational AI are integral to modern life. They are needed to make AI applications run effectively......
How bots work
Social influence is now a commodity that can be acquired by purchasing bots. Companies sell fake followers to artificially boost the popularity of accounts. These followers are available at remarkably low prices, with many celebrities among the purchasers.
In the course of our research, for example, colleagues and I detected a bot that had posted 100 tweets offering followers for sale.
Using AI methodologies and a theoretical approach called actor-network theory, my colleagues and I dissected how malicious social bots manipulate social media, influencing what people think and how they act with alarming efficacy. We can tell if fake news was generated by a human or a bot with an accuracy rate of 79.7%. It is crucial to comprehend how both humans and AI disseminate disinformation in order to grasp the ways in which humans leverage AI for spreading misinformation.
To take one example, we examined the activity of an account named “True Trumpers” on Twitter.
The account was established in August 2017, has no followers and no profile picture, but had, at the time of the research, posted 4,423 tweets. These included a series of entirely fabricated stories. It’s worth noting that this bot originated from an eastern European country.
Research such as this influenced X to restrict the activities of social bots. In response to the threat of social media manipulation, X has implemented temporary reading limits to curb data scraping and manipulation. Verified accounts have been limited to reading 6,000 posts a day, while unverified accounts can read 600 a day. This is a new update, so we don’t yet know if it has been effective.
Can we protect ourselves?
However, the onus ultimately falls on users to exercise caution and discern truth from falsehood, particularly during election periods. By critically evaluating information and checking sources, users can play a part in protecting the integrity of democratic processes from the onslaught of bots and disinformation campaigns on X. Every user is, in fact, a frontline defender of truth and democracy. Vigilance, critical thinking, and a healthy dose of scepticism are essential armour.
With social media, it’s important for users to understand the strategies employed by malicious accounts.
Malicious actors often use networks of bots to amplify false narratives, manipulate trends and swiftly disseminate misinformation. Users should exercise caution when encountering accounts exhibiting suspicious behaviour, such as excessive posting or repetitive messaging.
Disinformation is also frequently propagated through dedicated fake news websites. These are designed to imitate credible news sources. Users are advised to verify the authenticity of news sources by cross-referencing information with reputable sources and consulting fact-checking organisations.
Self awareness is another form of protection, especially from social engineering tactics. Psychological manipulation is often deployed to deceive users into believing falsehoods or engaging in certain actions. Users should maintain vigilance and critically assess the content they encounter, particularly during periods of heightened sensitivity such as elections.
By staying informed, engaging in civil discourse and advocating for transparency and accountability, we can collectively shape a digital ecosystem that fosters trust, transparency and informed decision-making.
Alfred Lubrano
As the presidential campaign slowly progresses, artificial intelligence continues to accelerate at a breathless pace — capable of creating an infinite number of fraudulent images that are hard to detect and easy to believe.
Experts warn that by November voters in Pennsylvania and other states will have witnessed counterfeit photos and videos of candidates enacting one scenario after another, with reality wrecked and the truth nearly unknowable.
“This is the first presidential campaign of the AI era,” said Matthew Stamm, a Drexel University electrical and computer engineering professor who leads a team that detects false or manipulated political images. “I believe things are only going to get worse.”
Last year, Stamm’s group debunked a political ad for then-presidential candidate Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis ad that appeared on Twitter. It showed former President Donald Trump embracing and kissing Anthony Fauci, long a target of the right for his response to COVID-19.
That spot was a “watershed moment” in U.S. politics, said Stamm, director of his school’s Multimedia and Information Security Lab. “Using AI-created media in a misleading manner had never been seen before in an ad for a major presidential candidate,” he said.
“This showed us how there’s so much potential for AI to create voting misinformation. It could get crazy.”
Election experts speak with dread of AI’s potential to wreak havoc on the election: false “evidence” of candidate misconduct; sham videos of election workers destroying ballots or preventing people from voting; phony emails that direct voters to go to the wrong polling locations; ginned-up texts sending bogus instructions to election officials that create mass confusion.....
Malicious intent
AI allows people with malicious intent to work with great speed and sophistication at low cost, according to the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
That swiftness was on display in June 2018. Doermann’s University of Buffalo colleague, Siwei Lyu, presented a paper that demonstrated how AI-generated deepfake videos could be detected because no one was blinking their eyes; the faces had been transferred from still photos.
Within three weeks, AI-equipped fraudsters stopped creating deepfakes based on photos and began culling from videos in which people blinked naturally, Doermann said, adding, “Every time we publish a solution for detecting AI, somebody gets around it quickly.”
Six years later, with AI that much more developed, “it’s gained remarkable capacities that improve daily,” said political communications expert Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center. “Anything we can say now about AI will change in two weeks. Increasingly, that means deepfakes won’t be easily detected.
“We should be suspicious of everything we see.”
AI-generated misinformation helps exacerbate already-entrenched political polarization throughout America, said Cristina Bicchieri, Penn professor of philosophy and psychology.
“When we see something in social media that aligns with our point of view, even if it’s fake, we tend to want to believe it,” she said.
To battle fabrications, Stamm of Drexel said, the smart consumer could delay reposting emotionally charged material from social media until checking its veracity.
But that’s a lot to ask.
Human overreaction to a false report, he acknowledged, “is harder to resolve than any anti-AI stuff I develop in my lab.
“And that’s another reason why we’re in uncharted waters.”
Hi! My name is Boy. I'm a male bi-coloured tabby cat. Ever since I discovered that Malcolm Turnbull's dogs were allowed to blog, I have been pestering Clarencegirl to allow me a small space on North Coast Voices.
A false flag musing: I have noticed one particular voice on Facebook which is Pollyanna-positive on the subject of the Port of Yamba becoming a designated cruise ship destination. What this gentleman doesn’t disclose is that, as a principal of Middle Star Pty Ltd, he could be thought to have a potential pecuniary interest due to the fact that this corporation (which has had an office in Grafton since 2012) provides consultancy services and tourism business development services.
A religion & local government musing: On 11 October 2017 Clarence Valley Council has the Church of Jesus Christ Development Fund Inc in Sutherland Local Court No. 6 for a small claims hearing. It would appear that there may be a little issue in rendering unto Caesar. On 19 September 2017 an ordained minister of a religion (which was named by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in relation to 40 instances of historical child sexual abuse on the NSW North Coast) read the Opening Prayer at Council’s ordinary monthly meeting. Earlier in the year an ordained minister (from a church network alleged to have supported an overseas orphanage closed because of child abuse claims in 2013) read the Opening Prayer and an ordained minister (belonging to yet another church network accused of ignoring child sexual abuse in the US and racism in South Africa) read the Opening Prayer at yet another ordinary monthly meeting. Nice one councillors - you are covering yourselves with glory!
An investigative musing: Newcastle Herald, 12 August 2017: The state’s corruption watchdog has been asked to investigate the finances of the Awabakal Aboriginal Local Land Council, less than 12 months after the troubled organisation was placed into administration by the state government. The Newcastle Herald understands accounting firm PKF Lawler made the decision to refer the land council to the Independent Commission Against Corruption after discovering a number of irregularities during an audit of its financial statements. The results of the audit were recently presented to a meeting of Awabakal members. Administrator Terry Lawler did not respond when contacted by the Herald and a PKF Lawler spokesperson said it was unable to comment on the matter. Given the intricate web of company relationships that existed with at least one former board member it is not outside the realms of possibility that, if ICAC accepts this referral, then United Land Councils Limited (registered New Zealand) and United First Peoples Syndications Pty Ltd(registered Australia) might be interviewed. North Coast Voices readers will remember that on 15 August 2015 representatives of these two companied gave evidence before NSW Legislative Council General Purpose Standing Committee No. 6 INQUIRY INTO CROWN LAND. This evidence included advocating for a Yamba mega port.
A Nationals musing: Word around the traps is that NSW Nats MP for Clarence Chris Gulaptis has been talking up the notion of cruise ships visiting the Clarence River estuary. Fair dinkum! That man can be guaranteed to run with any bad idea put to him. I'm sure one or more cruise ships moored in the main navigation channel on a regular basis for one, two or three days is something other regular river users will really welcome. *pause for appreciation of irony* The draft of the smallest of the smaller cruise vessels is 3 metres and it would only stay safely afloat in that channel. Even the Yamba-Iluka ferry has been known to get momentarily stuck in silt/sand from time to time in Yamba Bay and even a very small cruise ship wouldn't be able to safely enter and exit Iluka Bay. You can bet your bottom dollar operators of cruise lines would soon be calling for dredging at the approach to the river mouth - and you know how well that goes down with the local residents.
A local councils musing: Which Northern Rivers council is on a low-key NSW Office of Local Government watch list courtesy of feet dragging by a past general manager?
A serial pest musing: I'm sure the Clarence Valley was thrilled to find that a well-known fantasist is active once again in the wee small hours of the morning treading a well-worn path of accusations involving police, local business owners and others.
An investigative musing: Which NSW North Coast council is batting to have the longest running code of conduct complaint investigation on record?
A fun fact musing: An estimated 24,000 whales migrated along the NSW coastline in 2016 according to the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and the migration period is getting longer.
A which bank? musing: Despite a net profit last year of $9,227 million the Commonwealth Bank still insists on paying below Centrelink deeming rates interest on money held in Pensioner Security Accounts. One local wag says he’s waiting for the first bill from the bank charging him for the privilege of keeping his pension dollars at that bank.
A Daily Examiner musing: Just when you thought this newspaper could sink no lower under News Corp management, it continues to give column space to Andrew Bolt.
A thought to ponder musing: In case of bushfire or flood - do you have an emergency evacuation plan for the family pet?
An adoption musing: Every week on the NSW North Coast a number of cats and dogs find themselves without a home. If you want to do your bit and give one bundle of joy a new family, contact Happy Paws on 0419 404 766 or your local council pound.