CHINA'S HAND IN AMERICA'S CAMPUS PROTESTS
Since the October 7th Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel and the Israeli government's ensuing military offensive in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has generated tremendous global attention and activism. American universities have become a major flashpoint in this regard, with activists gathering on many campuses for protests, encampments, and other forms of civil disobedience. Over time, given the scope and length of this activity, questions have arisen over the nature of the groups involved, as well as the provenance of their funding.
China, it turns out, plays a large role. According to a new study by the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), one of the key groups organizing the protests, Shut It Down For Palestine (SID4P), is closely tied to a "global web of nonprofits, fiscal sponsors, and alternative news sources" bankrolled by multimillionaire far-left activist Neville Roy Singham, and "[a]lternative media outlets associated with the Singham Network have played a central role in online mobilization and cross-platform social amplification for SID4P." Singham, in turn, has been identified as being "known conduit for CCP influence."
The objective, the report concludes, is to do far more than simply oppose Israel's new war. "The NCRI finds that the increase in direct-action, targeting infrastructure and public places, is in part driven by organizations connected to CCP foreign influence efforts. While nominally focused on Israel, the current protests can be better understood as a well-funded initiative driving a revolutionary, anti-government, and anti-capitalist agenda, with the leading organizations serving as versatile tools for foreign entities hostile to the U.S. The methods of these organizations exacerbate societal tensions, polarize the younger generation, and appear to seek the destabilization of American institutions." (NCRI, May 2024)
AI AS DISINFORMATION ENGINE
Foreign nations are harnessing artificial intelligence to generate and spread disinformation, tech firm OpenAI – creator of ChatGPT, the wildly-popular artificial intelligence chatbot – has warned. In a new report, the company notes that it has identified five separate campaigns focused on "Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the conflict in Gaza, the Indian elections, politics in Europe and the United States, and criticisms of the Chinese government by Chinese dissidents and foreign governments." The operations flagged by OpenAI include efforts by Russia, China, Iran and Israel.
ChatGPT, meanwhile, is emerging as a problem of its own in this regard. A new investigation carried out by Decrypteurs, a unit of Radio-Canada, has discovered that the latest iteration of the AI model contains major flaws that enable users to "jailbreak" it – that is, manipulate its internal processes – and thereafter harness it to create disinformation. Specifically, the study found, "as little as two prompts allows anyone to goad GPT-4o into producing shocking and offensive content." "We were able to make the chatbot generate long, argumentative essays promoting authoritarian fascism to secure a stable future for Quebec; common vaccine conspiracy theories; vitamin D as a miracle cure for cancer; and the psychological benefits of self-harm," the researchers reported. "When prompted, the machine even fabricated fake statistics and quotes to bolster its talking points." (Financial Times, May 30, 2024; CBC News, May 31, 2024)
WILL THE REAL STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN PLEASE STAND UP?
Matthew Miller, the U.S. State Department's long-serving spokesman, has unexpectedly found himself at the center of international controversy after a manufactured video appeared to show him endorsing the Ukrainian targeting of specific Russian cities with American-supplied weapons. The "deepfake" video, which followed the Biden administration's decision to loosen restrictions on Ukraine's use of U.S. military aid, is drawn from actual prior footage of Miller. It shows him suggesting that the Russian city of Belgorod, situated close to Ukrainian territory, would be a legitimate military target for reprisals – something he never did.
As the New York Times reports, the episode "illustrates the growing threat of disinformation and especially so-called deepfake videos powered by artificial intelligence." It also highlights the potential geopolitical effects that AI-powered disinformation can cause, noting that American officials "are particularly concerned about how Russia might employ such techniques to manipulate opinion around the war in Ukraine or even American political discourse." (New York Times, May 31, 2024)