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Tag: Email and messaging

  • Microsoft says state-backed Russian hackers accessed emails of senior leadership team members

    Microsoft says state-backed Russian hackers accessed emails of senior leadership team members

    BOSTON — State-backed Russian hackers broke into Microsoft’s corporate email system and accessed the accounts of members of the company’s leadership team, as well as those of employees on its cybersecurity and legal teams, the company said Friday.

    In a blog post, Microsoft said the intrusion began in late November and was discovered on Jan. 12. It said the same highly skilled Russian hacking team behind the SolarWinds breach was responsible.

    “A very small percentage” of Microsoft corporate accounts were accessed, the company said, and some emails and attached documents were stolen.

    A company spokesperson said Microsoft had no immediate comment on which or how many members of its senior leadership had their email accounts breached. In a regulatory filing Friday, Microsoft said it was able to remove the hackers’ access from the compromised accounts on or about Jan. 13.

    “We are in the process of notifying employees whose email was accessed,” Microsoft said, adding that its investigation indicates the hackers were initially targeting email accounts for information related to their activities.

    The Microsoft disclosure comes a month after a new U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rule took effect that compels publicly traded companies to disclose breaches that could negatively impact their business. It gives them four days to do so unless they obtain a national-security waiver.

    In Friday’s SEC regulatory filing, Microsoft said that “as of the date of this filing, the incident has not had a material impact” on its operations. It added that it has not, however, “determined whether the incident is reasonably likely to materially impact” its finances.

    Microsoft, which is based in Redmond, Washington, said the hackers from Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence agency were able to gain access by compromising credentials on a “legacy” test account, suggesting it had outdated code. After gaining a foothold, they used the account’s permissions to access the accounts of the senior leadership team and others. The brute-force attack technique used by the hackers is called “password spraying.”

    The threat actor uses a single common password to try to log into multiple accounts. In an August blog post, Microsoft described how its threat-intelligence team discovered that the same Russian hacking team had used the technique to try to steal credentials from at least 40 different global organizations through Microsoft Teams chats.

    “The attack was not the result of a vulnerability in Microsoft products or services,” the company said in the blog. “To date, there is no evidence that the threat actor had any access to customer environments, production systems, source code, or AI systems. We will notify customers if any action is required.”

    Microsoft calls the hacking unit Midnight Blizzard. Prior to revamping its threat-actor nomenclature last year, it called the group Nobelium. The cybersecurity firm Mandiant, owned by Google, calls the group Cozy Bear.

    In a 2021 blog post, Microsoft called the SolarWinds hacking campaign “the most sophisticated nation-state attack in history.” In addition to U.S. government agencies, including the departments of Justice and Treasury, more than 100 private companies and think tanks were compromised, including software and telecommunications providers.

    The main focus of the SVR is intelligence-gathering. It primarily targets governments, diplomats, think tanks and IT service providers in the U.S. and Europe.

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  • Microsoft says state-backed Russian hackers accessed emails of senior leadership team members

    Microsoft says state-backed Russian hackers accessed emails of senior leadership team members

    BOSTON — State-backed Russian hackers broke into Microsoft’s corporate email system and accessed the accounts of members of the company’s leadership team, as well as those of employees on its cybersecurity and legal teams, the company said Friday.

    In a blog post, Microsoft said the intrusion began in late November and was discovered on Jan. 12. It said the same highly skilled Russian hacking team behind the SolarWinds breach was responsible.

    “A very small percentage” of Microsoft corporate accounts were accessed, the company said, and some emails and attached documents were stolen.

    A company spokesperson said Microsoft had no immediate comment on which or how many members of its senior leadership had their email accounts breached. In a regulatory filing Friday, Microsoft said it was able to remove the hackers’ access from the compromised accounts on or about Jan. 13.

    “We are in the process of notifying employees whose email was accessed,” Microsoft said, adding that its investigation indicates the hackers were initially targeting email accounts for information related to their activities.

    The Microsoft disclosure comes a month after a new U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rule took effect that compels publicly traded companies to disclose breaches that could negatively impact their business. It gives them four days to do so unless they obtain a national-security waiver.

    In Friday’s SEC regulatory filing, Microsoft said that “as of the date of this filing, the incident has not had a material impact” on its operations. It added that it has not, however, “determined whether the incident is reasonably likely to materially impact” its finances.

    Microsoft, which is based in Redmond, Washington, said the hackers from Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence agency were able to gain access by compromising credentials on a “legacy” test account, suggesting it had outdated code. After gaining a foothold, they used the account’s permissions to access the accounts of the senior leadership team and others. The brute-force attack technique used by the hackers is called “password spraying.”

    The threat actor uses a single common password to try to log into multiple accounts. In an August blog post, Microsoft described how its threat-intelligence team discovered that the same Russian hacking team had used the technique to try to steal credentials from at least 40 different global organizations through Microsoft Teams chats.

    “The attack was not the result of a vulnerability in Microsoft products or services,” the company said in the blog. “To date, there is no evidence that the threat actor had any access to customer environments, production systems, source code, or AI systems. We will notify customers if any action is required.”

    Microsoft calls the hacking unit Midnight Blizzard. Prior to revamping its threat-actor nomenclature last year, it called the group Nobelium. The cybersecurity firm Mandiant, owned by Google, calls the group Cozy Bear.

    In a 2021 blog post, Microsoft called the SolarWinds hacking campaign “the most sophisticated nation-state attack in history.” In addition to U.S. government agencies, including the departments of Justice and Treasury, more than 100 private companies and think tanks were compromised, including software and telecommunications providers.

    The main focus of the SVR is intelligence-gathering. It primarily targets governments, diplomats, think tanks and IT service providers in the U.S. and Europe.

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  • Man accused of texting death threats to Ramaswamy faces similar charges involving 2 more candidates

    Man accused of texting death threats to Ramaswamy faces similar charges involving 2 more candidates

    CONCORD, N.H. — A New Hampshire man who was released from jail after he was accused of sending text messages threatening to kill a presidential candidate now faces two more charges that he threatened the lives of different candidates.

    Tyler Anderson, 30, of Dover, was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday on three counts of sending a threat using interstate commerce. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Jan. 5.

    A message seeking comment was sent to his lawyer.

    Anderson was arrested on Dec. 9 and was released Dec. 14. A federal judge set forth several conditions for his release, including that he avoid contact with any presidential candidate and their political campaigns. Anderson, who is receiving mental health treatment, must also take all of his prescribed medications. Guns in his home, belonging to a roommate, must be removed.

    The U.S. Attorney’s office did not name the candidates. When Anderson was arrested, a spokesperson for Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said that the texts were directed at his campaign. According to court documents, Anderson received a text message from the candidate’s campaign notifying him of a breakfast event in Portsmouth. The campaign staff received two text messages in response. One threatened to shoot the candidate in the head, the other threatened to kill everyone at the event and desecrate their corpses.

    Anderson had told the FBI in an interview that he had sent similar texts to “multiple other campaigns,” according to a court document.

    The latest charges say similar texts were sent to two different candidates before the Ramaswamy messages, on Nov. 22 and Dec. 6.

    On Nov. 22, a campaign received texts threatening to “impale” and “disembowel” a candidate. On Dec. 6, texts were sent to another candidate’s campaign with threats to shoot the candidate in the head and conduct a mass shooting.

    A court document filed when Anderson was arrested included a screenshot of texts from Dec. 6 threatening a mass shooting in response to an invitation to see a candidate “who isn’t afraid to tell it like it is.” Republican Chris Christie calls his events “Tell it Like It Is Town Halls.”

    A spokesperson for the Christie campaign had thanked law enforcement officials for addressing those threats.

    Each charge provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.

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  • Some Seattle cancer center patients are receiving threatening emails after last month's data breach

    Some Seattle cancer center patients are receiving threatening emails after last month's data breach

    Some patients of a Seattle-based cancer center are receiving threatening emails following a data breach last month

    ByThe Associated Press

    December 9, 2023, 2:36 PM

    SEATTLE — Some patients of a Seattle-based cancer center received threatening emails following a data breach last month.

    Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center officials said a Nov. 19 hack hit a portion of the health care system’s clinical network, possibly leaking patient data.

    This week, some former and current patients received threatening emails claiming names, Social Security numbers, medical history and other data of more than 800,000 patients had been compromised, The Seattle Times reported.

    Emails shared with the newspaper claimed the stolen data of recipients would be sold.

    Christina VerHeul, the center’s associate vice president of communications, said she couldn’t speculate how many people were affected but said an investigation is ongoing.

    After last month’s hack, the center took its clinical network offline, notified federal law enforcement and brought in a forensic security firm to investigate, she said.

    The center encouraged patients to keep a close eye on bank statements and credit reports.

    The center directed those who received suspicious or threatening calls or emails to report them to the FBI, block senders and delete messages. If the message demands a ransom, do not pay it, the center instructed.

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  • Google will start deleting ‘inactive’ accounts in December. What you need to know

    Google will start deleting ‘inactive’ accounts in December. What you need to know

    NEW YORK — Have a Google account you haven’t used in a while? If you want to keep it from disappearing, you should sign in before the end of the week.

    Under Google’s updated inactive account policy, which the tech giant announced back in May, accounts that haven’t been used in at least two years could be deleted. Accounts deemed inactive could be erased beginning Friday.

    If you have an account that’s deemed “inactive” and at risk for deletion, you should receive notices from Google sent to the email affiliated with that account and its recovery address (if one exits). But if you’re still catching up on this new policy — and want to ensure that your content on Google Drive, Docs, Gmail and more is saved — here’s what you need to know.

    In May’s announcement, Google credited its inactive account update to security issues.

    Accounts that haven’t been used for a long time are more likely to be compromised, the company said — noting that “forgotten or unattended accounts” typically have old passwords, often lack two-factor authentication and receive fewer security checks. As a result, these accounts could be hijacked and used for spam or other malicious content, as well as identity theft.

    The easiest way to keep your Google account active (and thus prevent it from being deleted) is to sign in at least once every two years.

    Other actions that fulfill account activity requirements include sending or scrolling through emails, using Google search and watching YouTube videos (YouTube is owned by Google) all while signed into your Google account. Existing subscriptions set up through your Google account, including profiles for third-party apps and publications, can also account for activity.

    Preserving content on Google Photos requires a specific sign-in. As previously announced by Google, Photos content may be similarly deleted after two years of inactivity — meaning you should open the application every so often to keep images from going into the trash.

    Only personal Google accounts that haven’t been used for two years or more will be impacted under this inactive account update. Accounts made for organizations, like schools or companies, will not be affected, Google says.

    Per Google’s online policy, other exceptions include Google accounts that manage active minor accounts, accounts containing a gift card balance as well as those that have been used to purchase Google products, apps or subscriptions that are ongoing.

    As of May’s announcement, Google also said there were no plans to delete accounts with YouTube videos. The Associated Press reached out to Google Monday to confirm that’s still the case.

    Beyond keeping your Google account active, there’s a few tools to help manage and backup your data.

    Google Takeout, for example, allows users to download and export account data outside of Google at any time. And its Inactive Account Manager lets you choose what would happen to your account and data if it becomes inactive — including options to send select files to trusted contacts or delete the account entirely. Google’s online policy also says the company can work with immediate family to close the account of a deceased loved one and/or provide some account content — without sharing login credentials — on a case-by-case basis.

    Google asks users to provide and update a recovery email for their account — which is also helpful for sending inactive account notices and other communications.

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  • WhatsApp enters sports in deal with F1 team Mercedes. Channels feature to offer exclusive content

    WhatsApp enters sports in deal with F1 team Mercedes. Channels feature to offer exclusive content

    LAS VEGAS — WhatsApp has chosen the Mercedes Formula One team for its first sports sponsorship, a multi-year agreement that will give followers of the eight-time world champion exclusive team content and in-race updates through the Meta-owned private messaging service.

    The deal announced Friday is the first of its kind for WhatsApp, which connects over two billion people globally and is heavily used outside of the United States. While Americans tend to use iMessage through their Apple phones, WhatsApp is utilized most everywhere else and had become the main tool of communication for the Mercedes team.

    Team principal Toto Wolff told The Associated Press it is not unheard of for him to receive messages in WhatsApp group chats from Mercedes board members questioning strategy during races.

    “I’m trying to turn the phone upside down so I’m not seeing the board members texting me, ‘What the hell is the strategy department thinking?’” Wolff told AP. “It’s quite fun. Sometimes.”

    The partnership will highlight the new WhatsApp Channels broadcast feature, which Mercedes began using in September. The team has amassed 656,000 followers ahead of Saturday night’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.

    “We’ve been amazed at how the Mercedes team relies on WhatsApp to keep the organization running,” said Will Cathcart, head of WhatsApp. “I’m proud we’ll work together to reveal how WhatsApp brings their team together and fans closer to the action.”

    The broadcast feature enables Mercedes to share behind-the-scenes experiences and insights, in-race updates and content that highlights drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell that cannot be found elsewhere.

    The broadcast channel allows for reactions to posts, but there is no commenting, which makes for a feed without toxicity or random arguments.

    Facebook bought WhatsApp for $19 billion in 2014 and it has become an integral property for Meta, which includes Facebook and Instagram among its other apps. It is Meta’s fastest-growing service in the 18-to-35 demographic, spokesman Vispi Bhopti said.

    “Our internal studies tell us that we are seeing the fastest growth in the United States with young people, particularly in cities like Miami, New York, Los Angeles and Seattle,” Bhopti told AP.

    WhatsApp allows both longform and bite-sized content, a storytelling area it has explored already with a film about NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo and another featuring the Afghan Youth Women’s national soccer team.

    For Mercedes, Wolff finds WhatsApp invaluable.

    He said he can go an entire day without ever speaking to a single team member because he’s able to communicate with the entire company through WhatsApp channels. It’s also his main line of communication to two of his children, who are students at the University of Southern California.

    Wolff told AP the entire Mercedes organizations relies on WhatsApp for coordination, collaboration, communication in-race and is an outlet for organizational support throughout the 24-race season.

    “It brings the team closer together. It also helps accelerate the speed of communication and decision-making across the organization,” Wolff said. “Our sport is all data driven and I am getting screenshots in real time on what is happening in the car, temperatures, or over-limits. This is literally much bigger, faster and efficient than email or any other messaging service.”

    ___

    AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

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  • A third-generation Israeli soldier has been missing for over a week. Her family can only wait.

    A third-generation Israeli soldier has been missing for over a week. Her family can only wait.

    A 19-year-old Israel Defense Forces soldier assured her mother that she was busy but OK in a text message roughly three hours after the Hamas attack started lasted Saturday morning

    ByMICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press

    October 15, 2023, 10:56 AM

    This photo provided by Eyal Eshel shows his daughter Roni Eshel, an Israel Defense Forces soldier who was stationed at a military base near the Gaza border when Hamas attacked on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. “I love you so much,” Eshel told her mother in a text about three hours after the attack started. Her parents haven’t heard from her since. (Courtesy of Eyal Eshel via AP)

    The Associated Press

    Roni Eshel, a 19-year-old Israel Defense Forces soldier, was stationed at a military base near the Gaza border when Hamas attacked last Saturday. Although she didn’t answer her phone when her mother called to check on her that morning, she later texted to say that she was busy but OK.

    “I love you so much,” Eschel told her mother, Sharon, about three hours after the attack started.

    Her parents haven’t heard from her since. More than a week later, Eshel’s family is desperate to know happened to their daughter. Her father, Eyal Eshel, describes the wait for news as “hell.”

    “I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to think, actually. Where is she? What is she eating? If it’s cold for her? If it’s hot? I don’t know nothing,” Eyal Eshel said.

    The IDF hasn’t publicly released any names of hostages. Her father says IDF has told them she is considered missing; he believes she has been kidnapped.

    “Otherwise, where is she?” he asked.

    Eshel grew up in a small village north of Tel Aviv. She reported for military service two weeks after finishing school. She was three months into her second year of mandatory military service.

    “It’s part of our life here in Israel,” her father says.

    Roni Eshel was in a communications unit at a base near Nahal Oz. She had returned to the base from a brief vacation on the Wednesday before the attack.

    Eshel was proud to be a third generation of her family to join the Israeli military. Her father, uncle and grandfather also served.

    “She was very happy to serve the country,” her father said.

    Her father said she has planned to travel and enroll in a university after completing her two years of service. But he can’t think about her future while she’s missing. Eyal Eschel says he isn’t sleeping, eating or working while he waits.

    “I’m not ashamed to ask (for) help. Please help us,” he said.

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  • Google brings its AI chatbot Bard into its inner circle, opening door to Gmail, Maps, YouTube

    Google brings its AI chatbot Bard into its inner circle, opening door to Gmail, Maps, YouTube

    Google is introducing its artificially intelligent chatbot named Bard to other members of its digital family — including Gmail, Maps and YouTube — as it seeks to ward off competitive threats posed by similar technology run by Open AI and Microsoft

    ByMICHAEL LIEDTKE AP technology writer

    September 18, 2023, 8:11 PM

    FILE – Various Google logos are displayed on a Google search, Monday, Sept. 11, 2023, in New York. On Tuesday, Sept. 19, Google announced that it is introducing its artificially intelligent chatbot, Bard, to other members of its digital family, including Gmail, Maps and YouTube, as part of the next step in its effort to ward off threats posed by similar technology run by Open AI and Microsoft. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

    The Associated Press

    Google is introducing Bard, its artificially intelligent chatbot, to other members of its digital family — including Gmail, Maps and YouTube — as it seeks ward off competitive threats posed by similar technology run by Open AI and Microsoft.

    Bard’s expanded capabilities announced Tuesday will be provided through an English-only extension that will enable users to allow the chatbot to mine information embedded in their Gmail accounts as well as pull directions from Google Maps and find helpful videos on YouTube. The extension will also open a door for Bard to fetch travel information from Google Flights and extract information from documents stored on Google Drive.

    Google is promising to protect users’ privacy by prohibiting human reviewers from seeing the potentially sensitive information that Bard gets from Gmail or Drive, while also promising that the data won’t used as part of the main way the Mountain View, California, company makes money — selling ads tailored to people’s interests.

    The expansion is the latest development in an escalating AI battle triggered by the popularity of OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot and Microsoft’s push to infuse similar technology in its Bing search engine and its Microsoft 365 suite that includes its Word, Excel and Outlook applications.

    ChatGPT prompted Google to release Bard broadly in March and then start testing the use of more conversational AI within its own search results in May.

    The decision to feed Bard more digital juice i n the midst of a high-profile trial that could eventually hobble the ubiquitous Google search engine that propels the $1.7 trillion empire of its corporate parent, Alphabet Inc.

    In the biggest U.S. antitrust case in a quarter century, the U.S Justice Department is alleging Google has created its lucrative search monopoly by abusing its power to stifle competition and innovation. Google contends it dominates search because its algorithms produce the best results. It also argues it faces a wide variety of competition that is becoming more intense with the rise of AI.

    Giving Bard access to a trove of personal information and other popular services such as Gmail, Google Maps and YouTube, in theory, will make them even more helpful and prod more people to rely in them.

    Google, for instance, posits that Bard could help a user planning a group trip to the Grand Canyon by getting dates that would work for everyone, spell out different flight and hotel options, provide directions from Maps and present an array of informative videos from YouTube.

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  • Google brings its AI chatbot Bard into its inner circle, opening door to Gmail, Maps, YouTube

    Google brings its AI chatbot Bard into its inner circle, opening door to Gmail, Maps, YouTube

    Google is introducing its artificially intelligent chatbot named Bard to other members of its digital family — including Gmail, Maps and YouTube — as it seeks to ward off competitive threats posed by similar technology run by Open AI and Microsoft

    ByMICHAEL LIEDTKE AP technology writer

    September 18, 2023, 8:11 PM

    FILE – Various Google logos are displayed on a Google search, Monday, Sept. 11, 2023, in New York. On Tuesday, Sept. 19, Google announced that it is introducing its artificially intelligent chatbot, Bard, to other members of its digital family, including Gmail, Maps and YouTube, as part of the next step in its effort to ward off threats posed by similar technology run by Open AI and Microsoft. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

    The Associated Press

    Google is introducing Bard, its artificially intelligent chatbot, to other members of its digital family — including Gmail, Maps and YouTube — as it seeks ward off competitive threats posed by similar technology run by Open AI and Microsoft.

    Bard’s expanded capabilities announced Tuesday will be provided through an English-only extension that will enable users to allow the chatbot to mine information embedded in their Gmail accounts as well as pull directions from Google Maps and find helpful videos on YouTube. The extension will also open a door for Bard to fetch travel information from Google Flights and extract information from documents stored on Google Drive.

    Google is promising to protect users’ privacy by prohibiting human reviewers from seeing the potentially sensitive information that Bard gets from Gmail or Drive, while also promising that the data won’t used as part of the main way the Mountain View, California, company makes money — selling ads tailored to people’s interests.

    The expansion is the latest development in an escalating AI battle triggered by the popularity of OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot and Microsoft’s push to infuse similar technology in its Bing search engine and its Microsoft 365 suite that includes its Word, Excel and Outlook applications.

    ChatGPT prompted Google to release Bard broadly in March and then start testing the use of more conversational AI within its own search results in May.

    The decision to feed Bard more digital juice i n the midst of a high-profile trial that could eventually hobble the ubiquitous Google search engine that propels the $1.7 trillion empire of its corporate parent, Alphabet Inc.

    In the biggest U.S. antitrust case in a quarter century, the U.S Justice Department is alleging Google has created its lucrative search monopoly by abusing its power to stifle competition and innovation. Google contends it dominates search because its algorithms produce the best results. It also argues it faces a wide variety of competition that is becoming more intense with the rise of AI.

    Giving Bard access to a trove of personal information and other popular services such as Gmail, Google Maps and YouTube, in theory, will make them even more helpful and prod more people to rely in them.

    Google, for instance, posits that Bard could help a user planning a group trip to the Grand Canyon by getting dates that would work for everyone, spell out different flight and hotel options, provide directions from Maps and present an array of informative videos from YouTube.

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  • In rural Zimbabwe, a group of grandmothers counters alleged election intimidation, bias on WhatsApp

    In rural Zimbabwe, a group of grandmothers counters alleged election intimidation, bias on WhatsApp

    DOMBOSHAVA, Zimbabwe — Four grandmothers wearing bright yellow headscarves, T-shirts and skirts huddled around a cellphone in Zimbabwe’s rural Domboshava area. They cackled at a video showing a troop of mischievous baboons ripping up ruling party election posters with the face of the president on them.

    With a swish and a click, 64-year-old Elizabeth Mutandwa posted the video on a couple of community WhatsApp groups, and followed it up with some election campaign information from the party she supports in next week’s election — the main opposition Citizens Coalition for Change.

    The grandmothers say they and their fellow opposition supporters are facing intimidation from followers of the long-ruling ZANU-PF party and a biased state-run media that restricts their options. But they have found a way to counter that with the use of WhatsApp group chats.

    “Let’s share this one with our own people. It’s good content,” said Mutandwa of the baboon video, once her giggles had subsided.

    She then got up and walked several kilometers (miles) wearing the yellow colors of her party to a rally addressed by opposition leader Nelson Chamisa, the man she hopes will finally bring change to Zimbabwe after 43 years.

    The ruling ZANU-PF party has been in government ever since the southern African nation won independence from white minority rule in 1980, and Mutandwa was a young woman in her early 20s.

    A couple of hundred others attended the Domboshava opposition rally alongside Mutandwa to hear presidential candidate Chamisa speak.

    But with national elections just days away, many more stayed at home, afraid of being threatened, intimidated, or maybe even attacked by ruling party activists for daring to show support for Chamisa and his party, Mutandwa said. Others hadn’t even heard about the rally because the state-run TV and radio channels they mostly rely on for information rarely cover opposition events.

    President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who came to power in a coup in 2017, is seeking re-election Wednesday. Chamisa will challenge him again, having lost to Mnangagwa in a very close and disputed contest in 2018.

    The 80-year-old leader has warned his supporters against engaging in violence in the buildup to the Aug. 23 vote. That plea came days after an opposition party supporter was killed, allegedly at the hands of ruling party activists, in the first deadly violence of the election buildup.

    Even though Mnangagwa replaced long-ruling autocrat Robert Mugabe in that popular coup, he’s been accused of weaponizing the police and the courts to stifle opposition in the same way Mugabe did. Chamisa and international rights groups claim opposition party figures and supporters are often targeted with harassment, violence and intimidation.

    Some rural folks like Mutandwa have found a way to combat the threats and the media bias they also see, but which often go unnoticed deep in the rural areas where the majority of the country’s 15 million people live, and where the opposition’s reach is limited.

    “Everyone around here knows we are opposition activists, so some people are too afraid to openly associate with us,” said Mutandwa. “But it’s not a problem anymore. We talk to them through WhatsApp and they can participate in the campaign from the safety of their homes.”

    The way Mutandwa and her group of grannies are using cellphones and the internet to cut through the propaganda ahead of elections represents a shift from past rural election campaigns, said Rejoice Ngwenya, a strategic communications specialist in Zimbabwe. While cellphone and internet access was widespread in the cities, opposition parties previously could only use rallies, community meetings, or sometimes even funerals, to reach rural voters and share their message.

    Mutandwa now gets Citizens Coalition for Change information straight to her smartphone. And she spreads the word, too, among the 10 or so WhatsApp groups the four grandmothers in Domboshava administer. She needed a couple of lessons from one of her grandsons to get going on WhatsApp, she said.

    WhatsApp and other messaging apps are having a “high impact” in rural areas in the buildup to these elections, according to Ngwenya.

    “Everybody has a cellphone,” he said. “They are not necessarily state of the art, but that they can be used to send a message is an appeal.”

    The four grandmothers are going up against a ruling party machine, though.

    European Union observers compiled a report on the use of state media — the domninant outlets — following the last general election in Zimbabwe five years ago. It said that state-controlled public television dedicated 85% of its coverage to Mnangagwa’s ZANU-PF during the election period. Just over 80% of coverage went to the governing party on one popular public radio station monitored by the mission.

    During this election campaign, Mnangagwa and his party have dominated TV and radio again, and have also been sending bulk text messages to millions of people with campaign information and notifications of ZANU-PF rallies that Chamisa’s opposition party, and the grannies, simply can’t match.

    Their hope for long-awaited change in their country lies more in word of mouth — or word of message — with Mutandwa hoping, but not really knowing for sure, that her WhatsApp posts are re-posted and shared multiple times. She said people are yearning for change, even in rural areas once ZANU-PF’s strongholds, but are still afraid.

    “We are not afraid, but we know that others are,” she said as she tossed some grain to her chickens in her dusty yard. “At least we are able to communicate with some of them and the ones we reach can spread the word to others.”

    ___

    Associated Press Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

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  • In rural Zimbabwe, a group of grandmothers counters alleged election intimidation, bias on WhatsApp

    In rural Zimbabwe, a group of grandmothers counters alleged election intimidation, bias on WhatsApp

    DOMBOSHAVA, Zimbabwe — Four grandmothers wearing bright yellow headscarves, T-shirts and skirts huddled around a cellphone in Zimbabwe’s rural Domboshava area. They cackled at a video showing a troop of mischievous baboons ripping up ruling party election posters with the face of the president on them.

    With a swish and a click, 64-year-old Elizabeth Mutandwa posted the video on a couple of community WhatsApp groups, and followed it up with some election campaign information from the party she supports in next week’s election — the main opposition Citizens Coalition for Change.

    The grandmothers say they and their fellow opposition supporters are facing intimidation from followers of the long-ruling ZANU-PF party and a biased state-run media that restricts their options. But they have found a way to counter that with the use of WhatsApp group chats.

    “Let’s share this one with our own people. It’s good content,” said Mutandwa of the baboon video, once her giggles had subsided.

    She then got up and walked several kilometers (miles) wearing the yellow colors of her party to a rally addressed by opposition leader Nelson Chamisa, the man she hopes will finally bring change to Zimbabwe after 43 years.

    The ruling ZANU-PF party has been in government ever since the southern African nation won independence from white minority rule in 1980, and Mutandwa was a young woman in her early 20s.

    A couple of hundred others attended the Domboshava opposition rally alongside Mutandwa to hear presidential candidate Chamisa speak.

    But with national elections just days away, many more stayed at home, afraid of being threatened, intimidated, or maybe even attacked by ruling party activists for daring to show support for Chamisa and his party, Mutandwa said. Others hadn’t even heard about the rally because the state-run TV and radio channels they mostly rely on for information rarely cover opposition events.

    President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who came to power in a coup in 2017, is seeking re-election Wednesday. Chamisa will challenge him again, having lost to Mnangagwa in a very close and disputed contest in 2018.

    The 80-year-old leader has warned his supporters against engaging in violence in the buildup to the Aug. 23 vote. That plea came days after an opposition party supporter was killed, allegedly at the hands of ruling party activists, in the first deadly violence of the election buildup.

    Even though Mnangagwa replaced long-ruling autocrat Robert Mugabe in that popular coup, he’s been accused of weaponizing the police and the courts to stifle opposition in the same way Mugabe did. Chamisa and international rights groups claim opposition party figures and supporters are often targeted with harassment, violence and intimidation.

    Some rural folks like Mutandwa have found a way to combat the threats and the media bias they also see, but which often go unnoticed deep in the rural areas where the majority of the country’s 15 million people live, and where the opposition’s reach is limited.

    “Everyone around here knows we are opposition activists, so some people are too afraid to openly associate with us,” said Mutandwa. “But it’s not a problem anymore. We talk to them through WhatsApp and they can participate in the campaign from the safety of their homes.”

    The way Mutandwa and her group of grannies are using cellphones and the internet to cut through the propaganda ahead of elections represents a shift from past rural election campaigns, said Rejoice Ngwenya, a strategic communications specialist in Zimbabwe. While cellphone and internet access was widespread in the cities, opposition parties previously could only use rallies, community meetings, or sometimes even funerals, to reach rural voters and share their message.

    Mutandwa now gets Citizens Coalition for Change information straight to her smartphone. And she spreads the word, too, among the 10 or so WhatsApp groups the four grandmothers in Domboshava administer. She needed a couple of lessons from one of her grandsons to get going on WhatsApp, she said.

    WhatsApp and other messaging apps are having a “high impact” in rural areas in the buildup to these elections, according to Ngwenya.

    “Everybody has a cellphone,” he said. “They are not necessarily state of the art, but that they can be used to send a message is an appeal.”

    The four grandmothers are going up against a ruling party machine, though.

    European Union observers compiled a report on the use of state media — the domninant outlets — following the last general election in Zimbabwe five years ago. It said that state-controlled public television dedicated 85% of its coverage to Mnangagwa’s ZANU-PF during the election period. Just over 80% of coverage went to the governing party on one popular public radio station monitored by the mission.

    During this election campaign, Mnangagwa and his party have dominated TV and radio again, and have also been sending bulk text messages to millions of people with campaign information and notifications of ZANU-PF rallies that Chamisa’s opposition party, and the grannies, simply can’t match.

    Their hope for long-awaited change in their country lies more in word of mouth — or word of message — with Mutandwa hoping, but not really knowing for sure, that her WhatsApp posts are re-posted and shared multiple times. She said people are yearning for change, even in rural areas once ZANU-PF’s strongholds, but are still afraid.

    “We are not afraid, but we know that others are,” she said as she tossed some grain to her chickens in her dusty yard. “At least we are able to communicate with some of them and the ones we reach can spread the word to others.”

    ___

    Associated Press Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

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  • In rural Zimbabwe, a group of grandmothers counters alleged election intimidation, bias on WhatsApp

    In rural Zimbabwe, a group of grandmothers counters alleged election intimidation, bias on WhatsApp

    DOMBOSHAVA, Zimbabwe — Four grandmothers wearing bright yellow headscarves, T-shirts and skirts huddled around a cellphone in Zimbabwe’s rural Domboshava area. They cackled at a video showing a troop of mischievous baboons ripping up ruling party election posters with the face of the president on them.

    With a swish and a click, 64-year-old Elizabeth Mutandwa posted the video on a couple of community WhatsApp groups, and followed it up with some election campaign information from the party she supports in next week’s election — the main opposition Citizens Coalition for Change.

    The grandmothers say they and their fellow opposition supporters are facing intimidation from followers of the long-ruling ZANU-PF party and a biased state-run media that restricts their options. But they have found a way to counter that with the use of WhatsApp group chats.

    “Let’s share this one with our own people. It’s good content,” said Mutandwa of the baboon video, once her giggles had subsided.

    She then got up and walked several kilometers (miles) wearing the yellow colors of her party to a rally addressed by opposition leader Nelson Chamisa, the man she hopes will finally bring change to Zimbabwe after 43 years.

    The ruling ZANU-PF party has been in government ever since the southern African nation won independence from white minority rule in 1980, and Mutandwa was a young woman in her early 20s.

    A couple of hundred others attended the Domboshava opposition rally alongside Mutandwa to hear presidential candidate Chamisa speak.

    But with national elections just days away, many more stayed at home, afraid of being threatened, intimidated, or maybe even attacked by ruling party activists for daring to show support for Chamisa and his party, Mutandwa said. Others hadn’t even heard about the rally because the state-run TV and radio channels they mostly rely on for information rarely cover opposition events.

    President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who came to power in a coup in 2017, is seeking re-election Wednesday. Chamisa will challenge him again, having lost to Mnangagwa in a very close and disputed contest in 2018.

    The 80-year-old leader has warned his supporters against engaging in violence in the buildup to the Aug. 23 vote. That plea came days after an opposition party supporter was killed, allegedly at the hands of ruling party activists, in the first deadly violence of the election buildup.

    Even though Mnangagwa replaced long-ruling autocrat Robert Mugabe in that popular coup, he’s been accused of weaponizing the police and the courts to stifle opposition in the same way Mugabe did. Chamisa and international rights groups claim opposition party figures and supporters are often targeted with harassment, violence and intimidation.

    Some rural folks like Mutandwa have found a way to combat the threats and the media bias they also see, but which often go unnoticed deep in the rural areas where the majority of the country’s 15 million people live, and where the opposition’s reach is limited.

    “Everyone around here knows we are opposition activists, so some people are too afraid to openly associate with us,” said Mutandwa. “But it’s not a problem anymore. We talk to them through WhatsApp and they can participate in the campaign from the safety of their homes.”

    The way Mutandwa and her group of grannies are using cellphones and the internet to cut through the propaganda ahead of elections represents a shift from past rural election campaigns, said Rejoice Ngwenya, a strategic communications specialist in Zimbabwe. While cellphone and internet access was widespread in the cities, opposition parties previously could only use rallies, community meetings, or sometimes even funerals, to reach rural voters and share their message.

    Mutandwa now gets Citizens Coalition for Change information straight to her smartphone. And she spreads the word, too, among the 10 or so WhatsApp groups the four grandmothers in Domboshava administer. She needed a couple of lessons from one of her grandsons to get going on WhatsApp, she said.

    WhatsApp and other messaging apps are having a “high impact” in rural areas in the buildup to these elections, according to Ngwenya.

    “Everybody has a cellphone,” he said. “They are not necessarily state of the art, but that they can be used to send a message is an appeal.”

    The four grandmothers are going up against a ruling party machine, though.

    European Union observers compiled a report on the use of state media — the domninant outlets — following the last general election in Zimbabwe five years ago. It said that state-controlled public television dedicated 85% of its coverage to Mnangagwa’s ZANU-PF during the election period. Just over 80% of coverage went to the governing party on one popular public radio station monitored by the mission.

    During this election campaign, Mnangagwa and his party have dominated TV and radio again, and have also been sending bulk text messages to millions of people with campaign information and notifications of ZANU-PF rallies that Chamisa’s opposition party, and the grannies, simply can’t match.

    Their hope for long-awaited change in their country lies more in word of mouth — or word of message — with Mutandwa hoping, but not really knowing for sure, that her WhatsApp posts are re-posted and shared multiple times. She said people are yearning for change, even in rural areas once ZANU-PF’s strongholds, but are still afraid.

    “We are not afraid, but we know that others are,” she said as she tossed some grain to her chickens in her dusty yard. “At least we are able to communicate with some of them and the ones we reach can spread the word to others.”

    ___

    Associated Press Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

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  • As free press withers in El Salvador, pro-government social media influencers grow in power

    As free press withers in El Salvador, pro-government social media influencers grow in power

    SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — Douglas Guzmán’s TikTok feed was dotted with workout routines and videos showcasing his favorite parts of his country.

    That changed about a year ago, as rights groups, civil society and even some officials criticized El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele for violating human rights in his crackdown on criminal gangs, and said that his unconstitutional bid for re-election would corrode the country’s democracy.

    Within days of Bukele announcing his bid for a second five-year term, Guzmán’s feed was plastered with videos describing Bukele as the “future liberator of Latin America” and slick montages of the leader’s “mega-prison” for accused gangsters.

    Views on the social media influencer’s videos skyrocketed. The 39-year-old member of Bukele’s party said he found a new mission: counteracting negative press from independent media about his populist president.

    “(Journalists) don’t know anything. All they do is sit at their desks and watch as President Bukele … makes a massive effort to save thousands of lives. But they don’t see that because they’ve never cared about the lives of Salvadorans,” Guzmán said. “That’s why we’re here. To show the true reality.”

    Guzmán is part of an expanding network of social media personalities acting as a megaphone for the millennial leader. At the same time Bukele has cracked down on the press, his government has embraced those influencers. As the president seeks to hold onto power, he has harnessed that flood of pro-Bukele content slowly turning his Central American nation into an informational echo chamber.

    “A news organization doing an investigation can’t compare to the sounding board that these influencers have because they flood your social media with the government’s narrative,” said Roberto Dubon, a communications strategist and congressional candidate for Bukele’s former party, FMLN. “What you have is an apparatus to spread their propaganda.”

    Bukele, a 42-year-old leader often donning a backwards baseball cap, worked years in political advertising before social media became a key to his rise to power five years ago. Since, his approval ratings have soared to 90%, according to a June CID Gallup poll. Bukele’s modern political messaging, charisma and brutal crackdown on the country’s gangs only continue to win him fans domestically and abroad even in the midst of controversy.

    By doing so, Bukele is using a playbook increasingly utilized by 21st century autocrats, said Seva Gunitsky, a political scientist at the University of Toronto.

    Social media was once hailed as the ultimate democratic tool to organize protests, even revolutions, across the world. Now, governments from Russia to Uganda are now using it to control the narrative.

    “They use this tool of liberation technology to actually prolong and strengthen their rule,” Gunitsky said. Such governments use influencers because their content “doesn’t look as much like propaganda and is more about shaping the narrative in more subtle ways.”

    Under Bukele, El Salvador constructed a sophisticated communications machine. It locked down access to information out of line with official messaging and hired teams of former journalists to produce blockbuster-quality videos showcasing security forces taking on the nation’s gangs. The government also mimicked Russia, building an army of tech-savvy contractors – or “trolls” – to create fake social media accounts, spread falsities and harass critics.

    At the same time his message of a strong-handed response to gang violence rippled across the region, gaining traction in other nations struggling with crime across Latin America and Caribbean.

    With it, an “entire industry” has been born as influencers latch onto the president’s image, said Oscar Picardo, director of investigations at El Salvador’s Universidad Francisco Gavidia.

    A study by Picardo’s university and local investigative outlet Factum examined 69 pro-Bukele YouTube accounts, which collectively have more followers than the population of El Salvador. They found many accounts – which make money through view and subscriber counts – can earn up to tens of thousands of dollars a month, far greater than El Salvador’s average salary. That content is devoured both within El Salvador, and by many of the 2.3 million Salvadorans living in the United States.

    The cluster of accounts pumped out nearly 32 hours of pro-Bukele content in a single day in May, the study found. Almost always mirroring government language, 90% of the videos analyzed contained false or misleading information.

    One account, Noticias Cuscatlecas, may earn much as $400,000 annually posting videos of violent attacks from alleged gang members layered over chilling music, UFG and Factum calculated.

    The channel often concludes videos with the same message: “(Bukele) devised a plan to exterminate this cancer from society, and the incredible thing is that he is succeeding. Now the people no longer live in fear.”

    On TikTok, one video declares “God chose Bukele as president of El Salvador.” On YouTube, personalities dressed as TV anchors attack human rights groups and journalists. They feature Bukele’s critics bursting into flames while claiming their channel “brings you the latest news”. Others sit down for an exclusive interview with the president.

    In April, the president of El Salvador’s congress Ernesto Castro announced he was opening the assembly to YouTubers and social media influencers to “inform with objectivity.”

    “The right to inform and be informed is a power not just in the hands of media companies,” Castro wrote on Twitter.

    Requests by the AP for interviews with Bukele and his cabinet throughout his more than four years in office have been declined or ignored. Two people with knowledge of the inner workings of Bukele’s media machine declined to speak to the AP out of fear of the government.

    For Guzmán and others, the access was empowering, enabling them to grow their audiences. Since, Guzmán has been offered access to other large events like the inauguration of Central American and Caribbean Games, something experts say Bukele used to show a friendly face to the world.

    Press credentials hung around the TikToker’s neck and he brimmed with pride in a government press box, standing among other selfie stick-wielding influencers.

    “Us being here, accredited, I feel like I am a part of this,” Guzmán said, eyes crinkling with a broad smile.

    Around him, others took turns interviewing each other and bragged about how many people were connected to their feeds. One man wearing a Hawaiian shirt leapt over rows of bleachers to get a better signal. When Bukele walked on stage to give a speech, Guzmán and others chanted “Re-election!”

    El Salvador’s government is not the first to open its doors to social media personalities, but researchers and critics says the atmosphere created in El Salvador marks a particular risk as other leaders in the region seek to mimic Bukele.

    Picardo, the UFG investigator, said such accounts post a deluge of content when the government is trying to publicize something, like the leader’s experiment with Bitcoin, its gang crackdown or the Games.

    The researcher warned their increasingly hostile tone acts as a harbinger for further deteriorating press freedoms, echoing State Department alarms of a “villainization” of journalists by Bukele.

    Oscar Martínez’s award-winning news organization El Faro is among those facing attacks and harassment for its intensive investigation of Bukele, including audio evidencing that Bukele’s administration negotiated with gangs in order to dip violence.

    The government opened a case against El Faro for tax evasion, something the news site called “ completely baseless.” Phones of dozens of journalists were hacked with Pegasus spyware, regularly used by governments to spy on opponents.

    In April, El Faro announced it would move its center of operations to Costa Rica due to escalating harassment.

    He worries their investigations is being drowned out by the flood of disinformation, and said if Bukele stays in power in the upcoming elections, it will put reporters in El Salvador “much more at risk.”

    “At that moment, Bukele is going to decide to get rid of any obstacle he has within the country, and the main obstacle he has right now is the free press,” Martínez said.

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  • As free press withers in El Salvador, pro-government social media influencers grow in power

    As free press withers in El Salvador, pro-government social media influencers grow in power

    SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — Douglas Guzmán’s TikTok feed was dotted with workout routines and videos showcasing his favorite parts of his country.

    That changed about a year ago, as rights groups, civil society and even some officials criticized El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele for violating human rights in his crackdown on criminal gangs, and said that his unconstitutional bid for re-election would corrode the country’s democracy.

    Within days of Bukele announcing his bid for a second five-year term, Guzmán’s feed was plastered with videos describing Bukele as the “future liberator of Latin America” and slick montages of the leader’s “mega-prison” for accused gangsters.

    Views on the social media influencer’s videos skyrocketed. The 39-year-old member of Bukele’s party said he found a new mission: counteracting negative press from independent media about his populist president.

    “(Journalists) don’t know anything. All they do is sit at their desks and watch as President Bukele … makes a massive effort to save thousands of lives. But they don’t see that because they’ve never cared about the lives of Salvadorans,” Guzmán said. “That’s why we’re here. To show the true reality.”

    Guzmán is part of an expanding network of social media personalities acting as a megaphone for the millennial leader. At the same time Bukele has cracked down on the press, his government has embraced those influencers. As the president seeks to hold onto power, he has harnessed that flood of pro-Bukele content slowly turning his Central American nation into an informational echo chamber.

    “A news organization doing an investigation can’t compare to the sounding board that these influencers have because they flood your social media with the government’s narrative,” said Roberto Dubon, a communications strategist and congressional candidate for Bukele’s former party, FMLN. “What you have is an apparatus to spread their propaganda.”

    Bukele, a 42-year-old leader often donning a backwards baseball cap, worked years in political advertising before social media became a key to his rise to power five years ago. Since, his approval ratings have soared to 90%, according to a June CID Gallup poll. Bukele’s modern political messaging, charisma and brutal crackdown on the country’s gangs only continue to win him fans domestically and abroad even in the midst of controversy.

    By doing so, Bukele is using a playbook increasingly utilized by 21st century autocrats, said Seva Gunitsky, a political scientist at the University of Toronto.

    Social media was once hailed as the ultimate democratic tool to organize protests, even revolutions, across the world. Now, governments from Russia to Uganda are now using it to control the narrative.

    “They use this tool of liberation technology to actually prolong and strengthen their rule,” Gunitsky said. Such governments use influencers because their content “doesn’t look as much like propaganda and is more about shaping the narrative in more subtle ways.”

    Under Bukele, El Salvador constructed a sophisticated communications machine. It locked down access to information out of line with official messaging and hired teams of former journalists to produce blockbuster-quality videos showcasing security forces taking on the nation’s gangs. The government also mimicked Russia, building an army of tech-savvy contractors – or “trolls” – to create fake social media accounts, spread falsities and harass critics.

    At the same time his message of a strong-handed response to gang violence rippled across the region, gaining traction in other nations struggling with crime across Latin America and Caribbean.

    With it, an “entire industry” has been born as influencers latch onto the president’s image, said Oscar Picardo, director of investigations at El Salvador’s Universidad Francisco Gavidia.

    A study by Picardo’s university and local investigative outlet Factum examined 69 pro-Bukele YouTube accounts, which collectively have more followers than the population of El Salvador. They found many accounts – which make money through view and subscriber counts – can earn up to tens of thousands of dollars a month, far greater than El Salvador’s average salary. That content is devoured both within El Salvador, and by many of the 2.3 million Salvadorans living in the United States.

    The cluster of accounts pumped out nearly 32 hours of pro-Bukele content in a single day in May, the study found. Almost always mirroring government language, 90% of the videos analyzed contained false or misleading information.

    One account, Noticias Cuscatlecas, may earn much as $400,000 annually posting videos of violent attacks from alleged gang members layered over chilling music, UFG and Factum calculated.

    The channel often concludes videos with the same message: “(Bukele) devised a plan to exterminate this cancer from society, and the incredible thing is that he is succeeding. Now the people no longer live in fear.”

    On TikTok, one video declares “God chose Bukele as president of El Salvador.” On YouTube, personalities dressed as TV anchors attack human rights groups and journalists. They feature Bukele’s critics bursting into flames while claiming their channel “brings you the latest news”. Others sit down for an exclusive interview with the president.

    In April, the president of El Salvador’s congress Ernesto Castro announced he was opening the assembly to YouTubers and social media influencers to “inform with objectivity.”

    “The right to inform and be informed is a power not just in the hands of media companies,” Castro wrote on Twitter.

    Requests by the AP for interviews with Bukele and his cabinet throughout his more than four years in office have been declined or ignored. Two people with knowledge of the inner workings of Bukele’s media machine declined to speak to the AP out of fear of the government.

    For Guzmán and others, the access was empowering, enabling them to grow their audiences. Since, Guzmán has been offered access to other large events like the inauguration of Central American and Caribbean Games, something experts say Bukele used to show a friendly face to the world.

    Press credentials hung around the TikToker’s neck and he brimmed with pride in a government press box, standing among other selfie stick-wielding influencers.

    “Us being here, accredited, I feel like I am a part of this,” Guzmán said, eyes crinkling with a broad smile.

    Around him, others took turns interviewing each other and bragged about how many people were connected to their feeds. One man wearing a Hawaiian shirt leapt over rows of bleachers to get a better signal. When Bukele walked on stage to give a speech, Guzmán and others chanted “Re-election!”

    El Salvador’s government is not the first to open its doors to social media personalities, but researchers and critics says the atmosphere created in El Salvador marks a particular risk as other leaders in the region seek to mimic Bukele.

    Picardo, the UFG investigator, said such accounts post a deluge of content when the government is trying to publicize something, like the leader’s experiment with Bitcoin, its gang crackdown or the Games.

    The researcher warned their increasingly hostile tone acts as a harbinger for further deteriorating press freedoms, echoing State Department alarms of a “villainization” of journalists by Bukele.

    Oscar Martínez’s award-winning news organization El Faro is among those facing attacks and harassment for its intensive investigation of Bukele, including audio evidencing that Bukele’s administration negotiated with gangs in order to dip violence.

    The government opened a case against El Faro for tax evasion, something the news site called “ completely baseless.” Phones of dozens of journalists were hacked with Pegasus spyware, regularly used by governments to spy on opponents.

    In April, El Faro announced it would move its center of operations to Costa Rica due to escalating harassment.

    He worries their investigations is being drowned out by the flood of disinformation, and said if Bukele stays in power in the upcoming elections, it will put reporters in El Salvador “much more at risk.”

    “At that moment, Bukele is going to decide to get rid of any obstacle he has within the country, and the main obstacle he has right now is the free press,” Martínez said.

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  • EU opens antitrust investigation against Microsoft over Office and videoconferencing Teams bundling

    EU opens antitrust investigation against Microsoft over Office and videoconferencing Teams bundling

    The European Union is opeing a formal antitrust investigation targeting Microsoft into the software company’s Teams messaging and videoconferencing app over concerns that its bundling with its Office productivity sofware suite gives it an unfair edge o…

    ByRAF CASERT Associated Press

    The logo for Microsoft, and a scene from Activision “Call of Duty – Modern Warfare,” are shown in this photo, in New York, Wednesday, June 21, 2023. Microsoft reports earnings on Tuesday July 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

    The Associated Press

    BRUSSELS — The European Union announced Thursday that it opened a formal antitrust investigation targeting Microsoft into the software company’s Teams messaging and videoconferencing app over concerns that its bundling with its Office productivity software suites gives it an unfair edge over competitors.

    The European Commission, the 27-nation bloc’s top competition enforcer, said that it would carry out its in-depth investigation “as a matter of priority.”

    The investigation stems from a complaint filed in 2020 by Slack Technologies, which makes popular workplace messaging software.

    Slack, owned by business software maker Salesforce, alleged that Microsoft was abusing its market dominance to eliminate competition — in violation of EU laws — by illegally combining Teams with its Office productivity software suite.

    “Remote communication and collaboration tools like Teams have become indispensable for many businesses in Europe. We must therefore ensure that the markets for these products remain competitive,” said Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s antitrust commissioner.

    “This is why we are investigating whether Microsoft’s tying of its productivity suites with Teams may be in breach of EU competition rules.”

    Opening such an investigation in no way determines the outcome of the inquiry itself, the EU Commission said.

    And only last week, the German alfaview video conferencing company added its own complaint, arguing that such bundling gives the American Big Tech juggernaut an unmatched competitive advantage “that is not justified by performance and that competitors like alfaview cannot match.”

    The EU has led the way in ratcheting up scrutiny for Big Tech companies over worries that they have become too dominant.

    When Brussels has looked into Microsoft’s recent deals, however, the company has prevailed.

    The EU approved Microsoft’s plan to buy video game maker Activision Blizzard for $69 billion, after the company offered to automatically license popular Activision titles like “Call of Duty” for cloud gaming platforms.

    Microsoft also has won EU clearance to buy video game company Zenimax and speech recognition company Nuance.

    ___

    Kelvin Chan contributed to this report from London.

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  • Samsung unveils foldable smartphones in a bet on bending device screens

    Samsung unveils foldable smartphones in a bet on bending device screens

    SEOUL, South Korea — Samsung Electronics on Wednesday unveiled two foldable smartphones as it continues to bet on devices with bending screens, a budding market that has yet to fully take off because of high prices.

    The clamshell-designed Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Galaxy Z Fold 5, a larger device that opens and folds like a book, will be available for pre-orders starting July 26 in certain markets including the United States and South Korea.

    Built with 6.7-inch and 7.6-inch main screens, the phones have bigger displays than Samsung’s previous folding devices and are equipped with more advanced cameras, providing crisper visuals and more features for work, text and video chats, movies and games, the company said. Designed to be compact and easy to carry, the Flip 5 is also built with a 3.4-inch cover screen that allows it to be used folded in half.

    The phones, which run on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor chips, are slightly sleeker and lighter than their predecessors but designed to be more durable and shock-resistant.

    All that technology comes with hefty price tags. In the United States, Flip 5 will start at around $1,000 while the Fold 5 is set at $1,800.

    Samsung, a South Korean technology giant that’s also a major producer of computer memory chips, has been the longest provider of folding phones, releasing its first devices in 2019.

    The company announced the new phones at a lavish product event in South Korea’s capital, Seoul, choosing one of the markets where folding phones are closer to being mainstream products than novelties.

    There’s optimism in the industry that the global market for foldable phones is beginning to grow at a faster pace with other vendors like Google, Motorola and Huawei now providing competition to Samsung.

    According to Counterpoint, a technology market research firm, global shipments of foldable phones will approach 19 million units in 2023, which would mark a 45% increase from 2022, mainly fueled by rising consumer demands in China.

    The shipments may exceed 100 million units by 2027, Counterpoint said in a report released Wednesday, although that projection was based on a presumption that Apple would eventually release a foldable iPhone, sometime around 2025. Apple, which closely competes with Samsung for the top spot in global smartphone shipments, has yet to confirm any plans for foldable devices.

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  • Be wary of scams as Amazon Prime Day kicks off, experts warn

    Be wary of scams as Amazon Prime Day kicks off, experts warn

    NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon Prime Day is here. And, once again, experts are warning consumers of scams.

    Scams targeting online shoppers — often by impersonating companies like Amazon and other major retailers — are nothing new. But phishing attempts increase amid busy spending seen during significant sales events — from Black Friday to, of course, Prime Day, according to the Better Business Bureau.

    “This is a huge moment on the retail calendar,” Josh Planos, vice president of communications and public relations at the Better Business Bureau, told The Associated Press. “And because of that, it represents an enormous opportunity for a scammer, con artist or even just an unethical business or organization to capitalize on the moment and separate folks from their hard-earned money.”

    Prime Day, a two-day discount event, kicks off on Tuesday and runs through Wednesday. In guidance published last week, the Better Business Bureau reminded consumers to watch out for lookalike websites, too-good-to-be-true social media ads, unsolicited emails or calls and more near Prime Day and other sales events this month beyond Amazon’s.

    Scott Knapp, director of worldwide buyer risk prevention at Amazon, identifies two scams that the company has seen in recent years around Prime Day: Prime membership and order confirmation hoaxes.

    Last year, for example, people reported getting unsolicited calls or emails saying that there was something wrong with their Prime membership. Then, they were asked for payment information, like a credit card, and sometimes login credentials as well, Knapp explained — adding that Amazon “or any reputable business” wouldn’t ask for those details in that way.

    Urging consumers to confirm an order they didn’t place is also a common tactic at this time of year, he adds. Scammers might pick something expensive, like a smartphone, to get attention — and again ask for payment information or send a malicious link.

    “We sell a lot of stuff and people know the (Amazon) name,” Knapp told the AP. “Bad actors try to take advantage of that.”

    Of course, there’s loads of additional scams out there — it’s hard to identify more specifics for this year’s Prime Day before it begins. Still, experts add, scams will often iterate year after year.

    “Typically, the bones remain the same,” Planos said, pointing to repeating fake delivery scams, email phishing and more. “It’s always a ploy to separate consumers from (their) personal and payment information.”

    But online hoaxes are also constantly evolving to become more sophisticated, Planos and others warn. That means images might look more legit, text messages may sound more convincing and fake websites are starting to look very similar to your typical shopping destinations.

    Artificial intelligence is also “starting to leak in,” Knapp said. “But they still follow the same approaches. It’s just now a machine is maybe populating the email or text.”

    According to February data from the Federal Trade Commission, consumers reported losing about $8.8 billion to fraud in 2022, a 30% jump from 2021. Online shopping scams was the second most-reported form of fraud, following imposter scams, the FTC said.

    Both the FTC and Better Business Bureau provide consumers with tips to avoid scams year-round. Guidance includes blocking unwanted messages, not giving financial information to unsolicited callers and checking links before clicking — secure websites, for example, will have “HTTPS” in the URL, Planos notes, never “HTTP.”

    Scammers will often pressure you to act immediately, experts say. It’s important to pause and trust your gut. Experts also urge consumers to report scams to regulators.

    Beyond scams that impersonate companies or retailers, it’s also important to be cautious of counterfeit products and fake reviews which can be found on the sites of retailers you might trust. Just because you’re shopping on Amazon, for example, doesn’t mean you’re buying from Amazon, as the online shopping giant, like eBay, Walmart and others, has vast third-party marketplaces.

    The quality and look of counterfeit products has significantly increased over recent years, Planos notes, making the activity difficult to police. A good rule of thumb is looking at the price tag — if the product is being sold for less than 75% of its year-round market rate “that’s a pretty big red flag,” he adds.

    Sketchy sellers can show up on different platforms, including sites like Amazon, “all the time” Planos said, urging consumers to check out businesses at the Better Business Bureau’s website. Like other scams, counterfeit products may increase around high spending periods like the holidays or, again, near sales events like Prime Day.

    Amid increasing pressure to tackle counterfeit products, Amazon has reported getting rid of millions of phony products over recent years, and blocked billions of bad listings from making it on to its site. In 2022, the company said more than 6 million counterfeit items were “identified, seized and appropriately disposed of.”

    In a statement sent to The Associated Press on Monday, the Seattle-based e-commerce giant said it had “zero tolerance” for both counterfeit products and fake reviews, noting that the company blocked over 200 million suspected fake reviews in 2022.

    Customers can also report fake reviews and other scams on Amazon’s website, Knapp said. For “rare” cases when a customers purchase “an item that Amazon detects to be counterfeit,” the company added, “we proactively contact the customer, inform them that they purchased a counterfeit product and we fully refund their purchase.”

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  • Be wary of scams as Amazon Prime Day kicks off, experts warn

    Be wary of scams as Amazon Prime Day kicks off, experts warn

    NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon Prime Day is here. And, once again, experts are warning consumers of scams.

    Scams targeting online shoppers — often by impersonating companies like Amazon and other major retailers — are nothing new. But phishing attempts increase amid busy spending seen during significant sales events — from Black Friday to, of course, Prime Day, according to the Better Business Bureau.

    “This is a huge moment on the retail calendar,” Josh Planos, vice president of communications and public relations at the Better Business Bureau, told The Associated Press. “And because of that, it represents an enormous opportunity for a scammer, con artist or even just an unethical business or organization to capitalize on the moment and separate folks from their hard-earned money.”

    Prime Day, a two-day discount event, kicks off on Tuesday and runs through Wednesday. In guidance published last week, the Better Business Bureau reminded consumers to watch out for lookalike websites, too-good-to-be-true social media ads, unsolicited emails or calls and more near Prime Day and other sales events this month beyond Amazon’s.

    Scott Knapp, director of worldwide buyer risk prevention at Amazon, identifies two scams that the company has seen in recent years around Prime Day: Prime membership and order confirmation hoaxes.

    Last year, for example, people reported getting unsolicited calls or emails saying that there was something wrong with their Prime membership. Then, they were asked for payment information, like a credit card, and sometimes login credentials as well, Knapp explained — adding that Amazon “or any reputable business” wouldn’t ask for those details in that way.

    Urging consumers to confirm an order they didn’t place is also a common tactic at this time of year, he adds. Scammers might pick something expensive, like a smartphone, to get attention — and again ask for payment information or send a malicious link.

    “We sell a lot of stuff and people know the (Amazon) name,” Knapp told the AP. “Bad actors try to take advantage of that.”

    Of course, there’s loads of additional scams out there — it’s hard to identify more specifics for this year’s Prime Day before it begins. Still, experts add, scams will often iterate year after year.

    “Typically, the bones remain the same,” Planos said, pointing to repeating fake delivery scams, email phishing and more. “It’s always a ploy to separate consumers from (their) personal and payment information.”

    But online hoaxes are also constantly evolving to become more sophisticated, Planos and others warn. That means images might look more legit, text messages may sound more convincing and fake websites are starting to look very similar to your typical shopping destinations.

    Artificial intelligence is also “starting to leak in,” Knapp said. “But they still follow the same approaches. It’s just now a machine is maybe populating the email or text.”

    According to February data from the Federal Trade Commission, consumers reported losing about $8.8 billion to fraud in 2022, a 30% jump from 2021. Online shopping scams was the second most-reported form of fraud, following imposter scams, the FTC said.

    Both the FTC and Better Business Bureau provide consumers with tips to avoid scams year-round. Guidance includes blocking unwanted messages, not giving financial information to unsolicited callers and checking links before clicking — secure websites, for example, will have “HTTPS” in the URL, Planos notes, never “HTTP.”

    Scammers will often pressure you to act immediately, experts say. It’s important to pause and trust your gut. Experts also urge consumers to report scams to regulators.

    Beyond scams that impersonate companies or retailers, it’s also important to be cautious of counterfeit products and fake reviews which can be found on the sites of retailers you might trust. Just because you’re shopping on Amazon, for example, doesn’t mean you’re buying from Amazon, as the online shopping giant, like eBay, Walmart and others, has vast third-party marketplaces.

    The quality and look of counterfeit products has significantly increased over recent years, Planos notes, making the activity difficult to police. A good rule of thumb is looking at the price tag — if the product is being sold for less than 75% of its year-round market rate “that’s a pretty big red flag,” he adds.

    Sketchy sellers can show up on different platforms, including sites like Amazon, “all the time” Planos said, urging consumers to check out businesses at the Better Business Bureau’s website. Like other scams, counterfeit products may increase around high spending periods like the holidays or, again, near sales events like Prime Day.

    Amid increasing pressure to tackle counterfeit products, Amazon has reported getting rid of millions of phony products over recent years, and blocked billions of bad listings from making it on to its site. In 2022, the company said more than 6 million counterfeit items were “identified, seized and appropriately disposed of.”

    In a statement sent to The Associated Press on Monday, the Seattle-based e-commerce giant said it had “zero tolerance” for both counterfeit products and fake reviews, noting that the company blocked over 200 million suspected fake reviews in 2022.

    Customers can also report fake reviews and other scams on Amazon’s website, Knapp said. For “rare” cases when a customers purchase “an item that Amazon detects to be counterfeit,” the company added, “we proactively contact the customer, inform them that they purchased a counterfeit product and we fully refund their purchase.”

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  • Apple App Store – Top Apps

    Apple App Store – Top Apps

    Top Free iPhone Apps (US):

    1. Temu: Shop Like a Billionaire, Temu

    2. Max: Stream HBO, TV, & Movies,WarnerMedia Global Digital Services, LLC

    3. CapCut – Video Editor, Bytedance Pte. Ltd

    4. Instagram, Instagram, Inc.

    5. YouTube: Watch, Listen, Stream, Google LLC

    6. TikTok, TikTok Ltd.

    7. WhatsApp Messenger, WhatsApp Inc.

    8. Google Maps, Google LLC

    9. Facebook, Meta Platforms, Inc.

    10. Gmail – Email by Google, Google LLC

    Top Paid iPhone Apps (US):

    1. Minecraft, Mojang

    2. Geometry Dash, RobTop Games AB

    3. Shadowrocket, Shadow Launch Technology Limited

    4. Earn to Die 2, Not Doppler

    5. Heads Up!, Warner Bros.

    6. HotSchedules, HotSchedules

    7. Five Nights at Freddy’s, Clickteam, LLC

    8. Bloons TD 6, Ninja Kiwi

    9. Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, Clickteam, LLC

    10. Papa’s Freezeria To Go!, Flipline Studios

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  • Why are people in Britain talking about Boris Johnson’s WhatsApp messages?

    Why are people in Britain talking about Boris Johnson’s WhatsApp messages?

    LONDON — Critics accuse the British administration of running “government by WhatsApp” because of the popularity of the messaging app with politicians and officials.

    So it feels inevitable that a tussle over WhatsApp messages is at the heart of Britain’s official inquiry into how the country handled the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Thousands of messages exchanged during the pandemic between then Prime Minister Boris Johnson and government ministers, aides and officials form key evidence for the investigation chaired by retired judge Heather Hallett. The Conservative government, now led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, wants to be able to edit the messages before handing them over, saying some are personal and irrelevant to the inquiry. It has filed a legal challenge against Hallett’s order to surrender the unredacted messages.

    WHAT IS THE INQUIRY INVESTIGATING?

    More than 200,000 people have died in Britain after testing positive for COVID-19, one of the highest tolls in Europe, and the decisions of Johnson’s government have been endlessly debated. Johnson agreed in late 2021 to hold an investigation after pressure from bereaved families.

    Hallett’s inquiry is due to scrutinize the U.K.’s preparedness for a pandemic, how the government responded and whether the “level of loss was inevitable or whether things could have been done better.”

    Public hearings are scheduled to begin June 13 and last until 2026, with the former prime minister and a host of senior officials due to give evidence.

    WHAT’S UP WITH WHATSAPP?

    The Meta-owned messaging service has become a favorite communications tool among U.K. government officials and the journalists who cover them. It’s easy to use for both individual and group chats, and its end-to-end encryption offers users a sense of security that messages will be private.

    That confidence has sometimes proved misguided. Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who helped lead Britain’s response to the virus, gave tens of thousands of his messages to a journalist who was helping him write a memoir. The journalist passed them to a newspaper, which splashed embarrassing details in a series of front-page stories.

    Hallett has asked to see messages exchanged between Johnson and more than three dozen scientists and officials over two years from early 2020. She also wants to see Johnson’s notebooks and diaries from the same period.

    WHAT’S THE GOVERNMENT’S POSITION?

    The government of Sunak, who took office after Johnson resigned amid scandals in mid-2022, argues that some of the messages are “unambiguously irrelevant” to the COVID-19 inquiry. It says publishing them would be “an unwarranted intrusion into other aspects of the work of government,” and into individuals’ “legitimate expectations of privacy and protection of their personal information.”

    On Thursday, the government’s Cabinet Office filed court papers seeking to challenge Hallett’s order for the documents. The next step will be a hearing at the High Court in the coming weeks.

    Many lawyers think the government will lose the challenge. Under the terms of the inquiry, agreed upon with the government at the outset, Hallett has the power to summon evidence and question witnesses under oath.

    “The government has an uphill task,” Jonathan Jones, a former head of the government legal service, wrote in a blog post for the Institute for Government. “The likelihood is that the court will say the inquiry chair should be the one to decide how she goes about it, and what material she needs to see for that purpose.”

    WHAT DOES BORIS JOHNSON SAY?

    Johnson has a history of friction with successor Sunak, whose resignation from the government in July 2022 helped topple Johnson from power.

    Johnson has distanced himself from the government’s stance by saying he is happy to hand over his messages. On Friday, he said he has sent the WhatsApp messages directly to Hallett’s inquiry.

    But — in another twist — they cover only part of the requested period. Johnson hasn’t passed on any messages from before April 2021. That period includes the early days of the pandemic — when the government made fateful and still-contested decisions — as well as three periods of national lockdown and the dates of rule-breaking parties in government buildings that led to scores of people, including Johnson, being fined by police.

    Johnson says the messages are on a phone he was ordered to stop using after journalists noticed that his number had been publicly available online for 15 years.

    Johnson says the security services told him to quit using the phone and never to turn it on again. He told Hallett on Friday that he had “asked the Cabinet Office for assistance in turning it on securely so that I can search it for all relevant material. I propose to pass all such material directly to you.”

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