0x815

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Several European consumer watchdogs file complaints against Chinese online platform Temu over "manipulative techniques" breaching EU’s Digital Services Act ( www.beuc.eu )

According to the European consumer protection group BEUC, the Chinese online retailer Temu "fails to provide sufficient traceability of the traders that sell on its platform" and thereby fail "to ensure that the products sold to EU consumers conform to EU law", BEUC said in a release....

0x815 OP ,

In Germany -as anywhere else- there is much more. You may be interested in this, for example:

Which German websites help disseminate pro-Russian narratives (here is the alternative archived link)

After our research on which websites are spreading pro-Russian narratives and talking points that benefit Moscow, we decided to take a closer look at websites in German. During the analysis, we found publications that quote Russian state media, that receive back quotes from them, and that spread claims that could play into the hands of the Kremlin.

[...]

It is clear that Russia is waging a war of propaganda and disinformation against Europe, whereas it is waging a real war against Ukraine, seizing its territories. An analysis of key Kremlin media narratives in different languages reveals that their campaign’s main goal is to force the West to stop supporting Ukraine and make concessions to Putin, probably by giving him the occupied territories and thus recognizing the redrawing of borders in Europe by military means.

News websites that tend to support pro-Russian, Euroskeptic, and anti-American views, as well as those close to the positions of right-wing radical parties, often pick up such narratives. Consciously or unconsciously, such web resources play into the hands of the Kremlin’s agenda. Such news reports are becoming a tool for spreading Russian and pro-Russian influence in Europe.

0x815 OP ,

They may come from one of the sources you list in your comment above :-)

Concerns grow about the wellbeing of Chinese journalists Zhang Zhan after supposed jail release as she failed to make contact with the outside world ( www.theguardian.com )

Zhang Zhan, 40, a lawyer turned citizen journalist, was detained in May 2020 after she travelled to Wuhan to report on the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. Her videos and social media posts drew attention to the government’s stifling of information about the spread of the disease and the harsh lockdowns that were being...

U.S. warned Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) access to dollar system could be curbed over Russia ( www.reuters.com )

TLDR: RBI, the largest Western bank in Russia, has been warned by the U.S. Treasury about financial system access in a letter voicing concerns over its Russian business. Concerns remain even though RBI dropped plans to sell its Russia-business to sanctioned billionaire Deripaska. Austrian finance ministry says it assumes RBI...

U.S. warned Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) access to dollar system could be curbed over Russia ( www.reuters.com )

TLDR: RBI, the largest Western bank in Russia, has been warned by the U.S. Treasury about financial system access in a letter voicing concerns over its Russian business. Concerns remain even though RBI dropped plans to sell its Russia-business to sanctioned billionaire Deripaska. Austrian finance ministry says it assumes RBI...

Lesbian Women Set on Fire in Argentina ( www.hrw.org )

Three lesbian women have died and one more is in critical condition in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after a man threw a Molotov cocktail into their boarding house room on May 6, setting them all on fire. One woman, Pamela Fabiana Cobas, was severely burned and died almost immediately. Her partner, Mercedes Roxana Figueroa, died of...

The coordination network toolkit: a framework for detecting and analysing coordinated behaviour on social media ( link.springer.com )

The authors introduce and evaluate an open-source software package and methodological framework for detecting and analysing coordinated behaviour on social media, namely the Coordination Network Toolkit, utilising weighted, directed multigraphs to capture intricate coordination dynamics....

0x815 OP ,

This is maybe a good idea. What would an emoji analysis tell us about a network? 😃

0x815 OP ,

In addition to whst @taanegl already said:

Hong Kong’s Freedoms: What China Promised and How It’s Cracking Down

Before the British government handed over Hong Kong in 1997, China agreed to allow the region considerable political autonomy for fifty years under a framework known as “one country, two systems.”

In recent years, Beijing has cracked down on Hong Kong’s freedoms, stoking mass protests in the city and drawing international criticism.

Beijing imposed a national security law in 2020 that gave it broad new powers to punish critics and silence dissenters, which has fundamentally altered life for Hong Kongers.

Beijing had been chipping away at Hong Kong’s freedoms since the handover, experts say. Over the years, its attempts to impose more control over the city have sparked mass protests, which have in turn led the Chinese government to crack down further.

In the years following the 2014 protests, Beijing and the Hong Kong government stepped up efforts to rein in dissent, including by prosecuting protest leaders, expelling several new legislators, and increasing media censorship.

"This model acts as a subsidy for Chinese companies": Pakistan's Gwadar port exposes China's Belt and Road failure ( www.dw.com )

Pakistan's Gwadar port was meant to be a shining success for the prestigious China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), part of China's global collection of infrastructure projects and trade networks known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). But almost two decades later, it still sits empty....

Former spy for China's secret police reveals operations targeting dissidents in Australia and overseas ( www.abc.net.au )

The inner workings of China's notorious secret police unit and how it hunts down dissidents living overseas – including in Australia – have been exposed by a former spy in a Four Corners investigation, raising tough questions about Australia's national security....

0x815 OP ,

Yes, there is strong evidence for these practices. Safeguard Defenders, a rights group, published a comprehensive reports on that issues, for example on China's Consular Volunteers (November 2023):

For at least a decade, PRC Embassies and Consulates have been running consular volunteers in countries around the world. These have been seemingly undeclared to most host nations.

[...]

The network runs through United Front-linked associations and individuals and shows the involvement of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office (OCAO), on which a January 2022 Federal Canadian Court decision upheld labeling as an entity that engages in espionage and acts contrary to Canada’s interests with concerns over “OCAO’s interactions with the overseas Chinese communities, the information gathered, and the intended use of the gathered information”.

Everyone interested can find more at https://safeguarddefenders.com and across the web.

China is still harrassing dissidents who fled in the 1990s. And that is increasingly causing friction with democracies over issues of espionage, surveillance and human rights ( www.bbc.com )

Three decades ago, Chinese dissidents were being smuggled out of the country in a secret operation called Yellow Bird - but as one of them tells the BBC, Beijing is still pursuing them....

US warns of Russian hackers targeting operational technology in water systems across North America and Europe ( www.nextgov.com )

The advisory, which also includes French, Canadian and British authorities, says that pro-Russia activists are “targeting and compromising” operational technology platforms that underpin wastewater and water treatment systems, at times posing physical threats to safety....

US warns of Russian hackers targeting operational technology in water systems across North America and Europe ( www.nextgov.com )

The advisory, which also includes French, Canadian and British authorities, says that pro-Russia activists are “targeting and compromising” operational technology platforms that underpin wastewater and water treatment systems, at times posing physical threats to safety....

0x815 OP ,

Yes, but not only in Africa. There's a comprehensive report by Safeguard Defenders from 2022, but you'll find more, just search for something like 'chinese illegal police stations' as already suggested.

Amid fresh warnings that Russia is preparing “violent acts of sabotage” in Europe and NATO states, experts say there is already a significant uptick in what appears to be covert Russian sabotage ( www.france24.com )

Jenny Mathers, a specialist in Russian intelligence services at Aberystwyth University in Wales, said there has been a notable increase in the number and intensity of Russia-linked incidents for the past year, adding that “we are likely to see an acceleration of this trend"....

Amid fresh warnings that Russia is preparing “violent acts of sabotage” in Europe and NATO states, experts say there is already a significant uptick in what appears to be covert Russian sabotage ( www.france24.com )

Jenny Mathers, a specialist in Russian intelligence services at Aberystwyth University in Wales, said there has been a notable increase in the number and intensity of Russia-linked incidents for the past year, adding that “we are likely to see an acceleration of this trend"....

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