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In an intriguing new article from the New York Times, online influence and specialists Stephen Lee Myers and Stuart A. Thomson unpack the disturbing new world of deep fakes in the spread of disinformation. I remember learning about this new phenomenon years ago and how it was predicted to be weaponized in future foreign influence operations. That said, I find it haunting how many times I’ve still been deceived by AI. When considering how little the general public knows about this threat to our democracy, it raises flags about our preparedness against these disrupters.
In the piece, Myers and Thomson share several videos that went viral before sources uncovered that they were in fact, counterfeit. And just as Mark Twain famously said: “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” For those paying attention, that quote is in fact not from Mark Twain, but has been famously misattributed to him. The author is actually unknown.
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Living in an internet age with instant access to information comes with an historic ability to learn more than we’ve ever been able to, while leaving us vulnerable to monumental deception. Knowledge has become democratized, leaving new portals open to mass disinformation, conspiracies, and harmful lies. The American Founders were wise in their belief that direct democracy inherently threatens democracy itself, and that gatekeepers were necessary to keep society intact.
As we move into this new generation of AI, we must be vigilant in our discernment and intake of online information. At American Values Coalition, we strive to help in that process and simplify the complexities for our audience. Just like any new technology or change that comes with society, counter-programming rises up like the white blood cells in our body to compete with and disarm the dangers. Until these institutional checks on deep fakes are established, it’s important to be educated about the dangers of cyberspace. This is one tangible step we can all take towards fighting division and combating lies in this age of disinformation.
What We’re Reading
GBH: Immigrants kept from Faneuil Hall citizenship ceremony as feds crackdown nationwide
Immigrants approved to be naturalized went to Faneuil Hall Thursday — known as the country’s cradle of liberty — for that long-awaited moment to pledge allegiance to the United States. But instead, as they lined up, some were told by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials that they couldn’t proceed due to their countries of origin.
The same situation is playing out at naturalization events across the country as USCIS directed its employees to halt adjudicating all immigration pathways for people from 19 countries deemed to be “high risk”.
The xxxxxx: Chaos is Coming
But now I think we’re at a moment of a real break and a real discontinuity—and the beginning of a return to, I think the best way to put it is, “normal” international relations. Normal international relations are a very dangerous situation. We sort of take for granted the degree of peace that we’ve enjoyed over the past eight decades, the degree of prosperity, etc. And we sort of think that’s the norm.
POLITICO: Children groomed for murder through video games, Europol warns
Criminal networks are “weaponizing children” to commit torture and murder by recruiting them through multiplayer video games and smartphones — and parents often have no idea what’s happening, the boss of Europe’s law enforcement agency warns.
These groups now pose the greatest single criminal threat to the European Union because they destabilize society by targeting children and destroying families, said Catherine De Bolle, executive director of Europol.
Amnesty International: Torture and enforced disappearances in the Sunshine State: Human Rights Violations at “Alligator Alcatraz” and Krome in Florida
This report presents Amnesty International’s findings from a research trip to southern Florida in September 2025, to document the human rights impacts of federal and state migration and asylum policies on mass detention and deportation, access to due process, and detention conditions since President Trump took office on 20 January 2025. In particular, it focuses on detention conditions at the Krome North Service Processing Center (Krome) and the Everglades Detention Facility, also known as “Alligator Alcatraz”.
National Review: The Online Right’s Conspiracy Faction Keeps Getting Crazier
A new survey from the Manhattan Institute indicates that the GOP is made up of two factions; the smaller but still sizable faction of new Republicans is not only not all that conservative in their policy preferences — in fact, on issue after issue, they’re pretty progressive — but significant numbers believe that 9/11 was an inside job, that stories of the Holocaust are exaggerated, and that the moon landing was faked.
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