Category Archives: Cyberwarfare

‘Julian Assange Is Free’: WikiLeaks Founder Strikes Plea Deal With US

“We thank all who stood by us, fought for us, and remained utterly committed in the fight for his freedom,” said WikiLeaks. “Julian’s freedom is our freedom.”

By Common Dreams. Published 6-24-2024

*Free Julian Assange protest in Raleigh, NC April 2021. Photo: Anthony Crider/flickr/CC*

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Monday reached a deal with the U.S. government, agreeing to plead guilty to one felony related to the disclosure of national security information in exchange for his release from Belmarsh Prison in the United Kingdom.

A related document was filed in federal court in the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. commonwealth. Under the plea agreement, which must still be approved by a judge, the Department of Justice (DOJ) will seek a 62-month sentence, equal to the time that the 52-year-old Australian has served in the U.K. prison while battling his extradition to the United States.

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‘Truly Shameful’: Pentagon Ran Secret Anti-Vax Campaign Against China at Height of Covid Pandemic

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“I don’t think it’s defensible,” an infectious disease specialist at Dartmouth said of the clandestine effort.

By Jake Johnson. Published 6-14-2024 by Common Dreams

*Photo:Covid-19 vaccination*/*flickr*/CC

A Reuters investigation published Friday revealed that the Pentagon ran a “clandestine operation” aimed at discrediting China’s coronavirus vaccines and treatments, a campaign that U.S. public health experts and others condemned as a cynical ploy that endangered lives for political purposes.

According to Reuters, the Pentagon’s secretive campaign was designed to counter what the U.S. “perceived as China’s growing influence in the Philippines,” a country that was ravaged by Covid-19. The virus, which killed millions of people globally, was first detected in Wuhan, China in late 2019.

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China turns to private hackers as it cracks down on online activists on Tiananmen Square anniversary

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By Christopher K. Tong, University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Published 5-31-2024 by The Conversation.

Every year ahead of the June 4 commemoration of the Tiananmen Square massacre, the Chinese government tightens online censorship to suppress domestic discussion of the event.

Critics, dissidents and international groups anticipate an uptick in cyber activity ranging from emails with malicious links to network attacks in the days and weeks leading up to the anniversary.

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Pentagon Urged to Just Say No to AI-Powered Killer Robots

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“The Department of Defense should declare its opposition to the development and deployment of autonomous weapons.”

By Jessica Corbett. Published 3-26-2024 by Common Dreams

*Predator B Drone. Photo: Jonathan Cutrer/flickr/CC*

The watchdog group Public Citizen on Tuesday led a letter urging Pentagon leaders “to clarify that the Replicator Initiative will not involve the development and deployment of autonomous weapons systems,” also known as “killer robots.”

Last September, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks “asserted that the development of all-domain, attributable autonomy systems (ADA2) is an essential way for the Pentagon to maintain its comparative cutting-edge and keep up with the technological advancements of other states,” notes the letter, which was addressed to her and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

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Feds ‘All F—king Tied Up in Knots’ Over How to Handle Election Threats

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Top CIA, DHS, DOJ, and FBI officials recently gathered to discuss simulations on deepfakes and violence at the polls—and, as one journalist put it, “the results weren’t encouraging.”

By Jessica Corbett. Published 2-9-2024 by Common Dreams

*Photo: Public Policy Institute of California/Facebook*

Just nine months away from the U.S. general election, reporting published Friday by CNN suggests the federal government is poorly prepared to respond to “nightmare scenarios,” from violence at the polls to disinformation created with artificial intelligence.

One U.S. official familiar with a previously unreported meeting at the White House Situation Room in December told CNN‘s Sean Lyngaas that in terms of a coordinated federal response to an election-related threat, “we’re all f—king tied up in knots.”

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FCC Announces New Rule to Confront Deepfake Robocalls

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While welcoming the rule, one advocate said it is “not enough to safeguard citizens and our elections.”

By Julia Conley. Published 2-8-2024 by Common Dreams

Just over two weeks after New Hampshire voters were inundated with artificial intelligence-generation robocalls featuring U.S. President Joe Biden’s fake voice telling them not to vote in their state’s primary, the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday announced what one adocate called a “desperately needed” rule declaring such calls are illegal under federal law.

The FCC unanimously voted to adopt the declaratory ruling, saying calls like those made in New Hampshire are “artificial” under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).

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‘Day of Disruption’: Tens of Thousands of Israelis Protest Imminent ‘Judicial Coup’

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“We are going to show them that the power of the people is stronger than that of the people in power,” said one demonstrator.

By Brett Wilkins. Published 7-11-2023 by Common Dreams

At least tens of thousands of Israelis on Tuesday took to the streets, shutting down highways, and marching through the country’s main international airport in a “day of disruption” after the nation’s far-right governing coalition advanced a deeply controversial overhaul of the legal system critics condemn as a “judicial coup.”

Demonstrators thronged the highways leading to cities including Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Haifa, pitching tents, blocking roadways, and hanging banners from overpasses.

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Experts Urge Action to Mitigate ‘Risk of Extinction From AI’

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It “should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war,” says a new statement signed by dozens of artificial intelligence critics and boosters.

By Kenny Stancil. Published 5-30-2023 by Common Dreams

A growing number of experts are calling for a pause on advanced AI development and deployment. Graphic: deepak pal/fickr/CC

On Tuesday, 80 artificial intelligence scientists and more than 200 “other notable figures” signed a statement that says “mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.”

The one-sentence warning from the diverse group of scientists, engineers, corporate executives, academics, and other concerned individuals doesn’t go into detail about the existential threats posed by AI. Instead, it seeks to “open up discussion” and “create common knowledge of the growing number of experts and public figures who also take some of advanced AI’s most severe risks seriously,” according to the Center for AI Safety, a U.S.-based nonprofit whose website hosts the statement.

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Bipartisan US Bill Aims to Prevent AI From Launching Nuclear Weapons

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“As we live in an increasingly digital age, we need to ensure that humans hold the power alone to command, control, and launch nuclear weapons—not robots,” said co-sponsor Sen. Ed Markey.

By Brett Wilkins Pubished 4-26-2023 by Common Dreams

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jacob Puente of the 912th Aircraft Mainenance Squadron secures an AGM-183A air-launched rapid-response hypersonic air-to-ground missile to a B-52 Stratofortress bomber at Edwards Air Force Base in Kern County, California on August 6, 2020. (Photo: Giancarlo Casem/USAF)

In the name of “protecting future generations from potentially devastating consequences,” a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday introduced legislation meant to prevent artificial intelligence from launching nuclear weapons without meaningful human control.

The Block Nuclear Launch by Autonomous Artificial Intelligence Act—introduced by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Reps. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), Don Beyer (D-Va.), and Ken Buck (R-Colo.)—asserts that “any decision to launch a nuclear weapon should not be made” by AI.

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Experts Demand ‘Pause’ on Spread of Artificial Intelligence Until Regulations Imposed

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“Businesses are deploying potentially dangerous AI tools faster than their harms can be understood or mitigated,” Public Citizen warns. “History offers no reason to believe that corporations can self-regulate away the known risks.”

By Kenny Stancil. Published 4-18-2023 by Common Dreams

“Until meaningful government safeguards are in place to protect the public from the harms of generative AI, we need a pause.”

So says a report on the dangers of artificial intelligence (AI) published Tuesday by Public Citizen. Titled Sorry in Advance! Rapid Rush to Deploy Generative AI Risks a Wide Array of Automated Harms, the analysis by researchers Rick Claypool and Cheyenne Hunt aims to “reframe the conversation around generative AI to ensure that the public and policymakers have a say in how these new technologies might upend our lives.”

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Occupy World Writes

The Movement Continues – Globally

Category Archives: Cyberwarfare

Pentagon Urged to Just Say No to AI-Powered Killer Robots

“The Department of Defense should declare its opposition to the development and deployment of autonomous weapons.”

Bipartisan US Bill Aims to Prevent AI From Launching Nuclear Weapons

“As we live in an increasingly digital age, we need to ensure that humans hold the power alone to command, control, and launch nuclear weapons—not robots,” said co-sponsor Sen. Ed Markey.

Experts Demand ‘Pause’ on Spread of Artificial Intelligence Until Regulations Imposed

“Businesses are deploying potentially dangerous AI tools faster than their harms can be understood or mitigated,” Public Citizen warns. “History offers no reason to believe that corporations can self-regulate away the known risks.”