US officials announce the takedown of an AI-powered Russian bot farm

US officials and their allies have identified and taken down an artificial intelligence-powered Russian bot farm comprised of almost 1,000 accounts, which spread disinformation and pro-Russian sentiments on X. The Justice Department has revealed the the scheme that was made possible by software was created by a digital media department within RT, a Russian state-controlled media outlet. Its development was apparently led by RT's deputy editor-in-chief back in 2022 and was approved and funded by an officer at Russia's Federal Security Service, the main successor of the KGB.  In a cybersecurity advisory issued by the FBI, intelligence officers from the Netherlands and cybersecurity authorities from Canada, they specifically mentioned a tool called "Meliorator," which can create "authentic appearing social media personas en masse," generate text messages as well as images and mirror disinformation from other bot personas. Authorities have seized two domains that the operation used to create email addresses that were necessary to sign up for accounts on X, formerly known as Twitter, which served as home to the bots.  The Justice Department, however, is still in the midst of finding all 968 accounts used by the Russian actors to disseminate false information. X has shared information with authorities on all the identified accounts so far and has already suspended them. As The Washington Post has noted, the bots slipped through X's safeguards, because they can copy-paste OTPs... Continue reading at 'Engadget'

[ Engadget | 2024-07-10 05:40:34 UTC ]

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‘This is not your grandfather’s Patch’: Lookout Local wants to be the modern local news of Santa Cruz

Launching a digital media company looking to take over the role of local newspapers is a tricky undertaking, even without calculating a looming recession. The post ‘This is not your grandfather’s Patch’: Lookout Local wants to be the modern local news of Santa Cruz appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2020-08-17 04:01:53 UTC ]
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Hero's welcome for Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai after release on bail

Apple Daily founder and pro-democracy activist returns to office following arrest under national security lawThe Hong Kong pro-democracy figure and media mogul Jimmy Lai received a hero’s welcome as he returned to his newspaper after being arrested on allegations of foreign collusion, while... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-08-12 09:31:31 UTC ]
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Arabic Literature and Antiquarian Bookshops: A Conversation with Richard van Leeuwen, by Alex Crayon

Interviews Richard van Leeuwen is a senior lecturer in Islamic studies at the University of Amsterdam. This year, he won the 2020 Sheikh Zayed Book Award in the Arabic Culture in Other Languages category for his book The Thousand and One Nights and... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2020-08-10 20:32:46 UTC ]
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Snap Inc. Wants Businesses to ‘Meet the Snapchat Generation’

"Meet the Snapchat Generation," Snap Inc.'s first-ever global business-to-business marketing campaign, is going live Monday across print, broadcast and digital media channels in the U.S., Canada and Australia. The campaign will be extended to the U.K. oh Aug. 17 and to the rest of Europe, as... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2020-08-03 04:00:52 UTC ]
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How a Better Understanding of the Digital Media Supply Chain Can Give Brands a Leg Up

Chris Kane's job is to take a look at a brand's digital ad buys to see where there are overlaps that can be eliminated to improve the efficiency of the entire strategy. But in order to do that, brands have to understand exactly what they're buying through each exchange. Kane, founder and... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2020-07-29 21:03:28 UTC ]
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TikTok Names Sandie Hawkins as Its Head of U.S. Advertising

Sandie Hawkins, a former Adobe executive, joined TikTok as its new advertising chief in the United States. Hawkins, who was named gm of global business solutions for the social video app and parent company ByteDance, previously was vp and head of Americas for Adobe Advertising Cloud and CRO at... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2020-07-28 21:26:52 UTC ]
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Wave.tv Secures $32 Million to License, Acquire Sports Media Brands

With most live sports on hold for the past several months, sports media publishers have had to stretch their imaginations to find interesting stories to show and tell. Wave.tv, a digital media company built around working with license holders to repackage archival sports, hopes to invest more in... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2020-07-22 14:00:38 UTC ]
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Staff Union, Lifehacker EIC Rebuke G/O Media Over Firing of Travel Writer

The editor-in-chief of Lifehacker and a union representing staffers at the site each blasted parent company G/O Media on Friday over the abrupt firing of the site's travel writer—the latest in a long string of public disputes between management and staff at the one-year-old digital media... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2020-07-20 16:06:59 UTC ]
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One of Tampa Bay's largest marketing firms is officially public

Digital Media Solutions, a Clearwater-based technology marketing firm and one of the largest marketing firms in Tampa Bay, is officially public. This marks the completion of its reverse merger valued at $757 million with Leo Holdings Corp. Leo changed its name Digital Media Solutions Inc.... Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal

[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2020-07-17 16:47:40 UTC ]
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S4 Capital Hopes to Raise $126 Million to Further Expand Through Mergers

Martin Sorrell's S4 Capital proposed a new share offering today in hopes of raising $126 million (or 100 million euros) to further its expansion through mergers and acquisitions. The disclosure was made as part of S4 Capital's latest trading update where the company, which houses digital media... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2020-07-15 20:58:21 UTC ]
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Medill Selects Jeremy Gilbert of Washington Post as Knight Chair in Digital Media Strategy

Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications has selected Jeremy Gilbert (BSJ00, MSJ00), director of strategic initiatives Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2020-07-07 17:10:58 UTC ]
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How Digital Media Can Stay One Step Ahead of the Diversity Revolution

June 2020's upheaval around racial justice has been at times painful, at times empowering and hopeful, and at times humbling. In the professional sphere, there's not an industry that hasn't felt the impact of the latest iteration of the Black Lives Matter movement. That's why this year's... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2020-06-24 21:33:03 UTC ]
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Barstool Sports CEO on Why Advertisers Shouldn’t Be Scared of the Edgy Platform

Dave Portnoy launched Barstool Sports in 2003 as a print publication about sports gambling and fantasy sports projections. In the later 2000s, it became a company known for raunchy blog posts and throwing paint parties for college students at bars. Fast-forward to 2020, and it's one of the most... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2020-06-23 22:10:32 UTC ]
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Pasco County opens third business incubator to connect entrepreneurs

Pasco County is looking to further cement itself in the startup community, this time by opening a third business incubator space. The SMARTstart program, which is through the Pasco County EDC, announced it will open the incubator this fall. The space, called SMARTstart at the Grove, will... Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal

[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2020-06-23 18:32:03 UTC ]
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Is the Facebook Ad Boycott an Opportunity for Publishers?

In less than one week, a campaign by a coalition of civil rights groups aimed at encouraging businesses to pause advertising on Facebook's platforms has already achieved some tangible results. Last Thursday, the digital ad agency 360i, a Dentsu Group subsidiary whose clients include Burberry,... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2020-06-23 18:20:35 UTC ]
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Digital Media Companies are Likely to Wait Even Longer for Payments

Payment terms are stretching longer and late payments are becoming more prevalent in the digital media industry—trends that were already Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2020-06-18 16:48:48 UTC ]
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This new nonprofit trains people for digital media jobs after leaving prison

Twelve formerly incarcerated fellows will learn how to produce videos, podcasts, and other digital media in Second Chance Studio’s yearlong program. For someone who’s just gotten out of prison, it can often be nearly impossible to land a job, both because of the bias of hiring managers and... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2020-06-18 06:00:14 UTC ]
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‘The money is just not showing up’: Digital media companies are likely to wait even longer for payments

The average payment terms in the digital media space is 59 days, up from 49 days last year. The post ‘The money is just not showing up’: Digital media companies are likely to wait even longer for payments appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2020-06-18 04:01:34 UTC ]
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How to make the direct sales process easier and quicker

In 2017, we came to a realization: Our jobs should be easier. We worked on opposite ends of the advertising and media buying process. Lynn came from the buy side as a digital media manager at Macy’s, who had also previously handled agency work. Mollie was on the sales side, working at AdTheorent... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2020-06-11 15:19:00 UTC ]
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How Cookies Work and Why They’re Going Away

Cookies have been the workhorse of digital media for more than two decades. They form the foundation of the web, helping us stay logged in to sites, and they've ushered in the personalized shopping experience as well as tailored advertising. We get recommendations because the cookies that... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2020-06-08 11:00:32 UTC ]
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