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<ul><li>Facebook moderators broke their non disclosure agreements (NDAs) disclosing the disturbing state of affairs to the Verge.</li><li>The employees shared details of the unhygienic conditions, sexual harassment and fights breaking out in the offices. </li><li>Cognizant told Business Insider India, "Cognizant works hard to ensure a safe, clean and supportive work environment for all of our associates."</li></ul>Nail clippings on the desk, a single bathroom in the entire office that's smeared with feces and fights breaking out between employees — this is the<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/19/18681845/facebook-moderator-interviews-video-trauma-ptsd-cognizant-tampa"> state of affairs</a> at the worst performing <keyword id="7636749" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="facebook-moderation">Facebook moderation</keyword> site in North America operated by the professional services firm Cognizant. This is not the worst the employees face -- they are already burdened with continuously watching and filtering some of the worst content that is uploaded on the site, as its <keyword id="7781056" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="moderation-guidelines">moderation guidelines</keyword> change on a daily basis. Theft and harassment The moderators have broken their non-disclosure agreements (NDA) to talk about the disturbing state of affairs to <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/19/18681845/facebook-moderator-interviews-video-trauma-ptsd-cognizant-tampa">the Verge</a>. They disclosed how one man passed away at his desk during the job, and two others filed sexual harassment cases. Theft too is a common at an office which is unhygienic to say the least. One moderator described, to the Verge, how he had to watch a video of two teenagers beating up an iguana over and over again because, as per Facebook's policies, it couldn't remove the content so that the authorities could catch the perpetrators. Instead, the video continued to repeat and there was no action taken by law enforcement. The stock of Cognizant, which is listed on Wall Street, fell 2% midday on June 19 before recovering slightly. Business Insider's queries to Facebook on the story remain unanswered. The story will be updated with the response, if any. Who's to blame? Facebook <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/facebooks-secret-rulebook-for-content-moderation-just-leaked-online-and-some-of-its-directives-could-contradict-indian-laws-report/articleshow/67288862.cms">lofty moderation guidelines </a>have been called into question before as well by the New York Times expose on the company's moderation training documents. And though it never kept a close eye on its partners, the office is ultimately operated by Cognizant. The company spokesperson told Business Insider India, "Cognizant strives to create a safe and empowering workplace for its employees around the world. Like any large employer, Cognizant routeinly and professionally responds to and addresses general world place and personnel issues in its facilities." They add, "Our Tampa facility is no different. Cognizant works hard to ensure a safe, clean and supportive work environment for all of our associates." Despite this assertion, employees at the Tampa facility told Verge that the company lost no opportunity to make the workers feel that they were disposable. They were even lured from less intensive jobs with promises of bigger paychecks and regular schedules that were never delivered. Stress and trauma The extent of the problem is highlighted by the fact that the Facebook moderation facility in Florida has never consistently hit the 98% accuracy required by its own policies. It normally averages out at around 92%, according to documents seen by the Verge. Background checks are also reportedly lax with employees who have a history of depression and anxiety, looking over the worst that Facebook has to offer. Even without any prior issues, the less than ideal conditions of the workplace along with the pressure of watching Facebook content that led employees to act out in paranoia. Some are even suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the Verge reported. Cognizant is not the only Facebook contractor to come under fire of sub-optimal working conditions. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/05/08/inside-facebook-second-class-workers-who-do-hardest-job-are-waging-quiet-battle/?noredirect=on&amp;utm_term=.a68bc48919bc">Moderators at Accenture</a> too also complained about inadequate counseling support and excessive micromanagement using their access to Facebook Workplace — an internal communications system at Facebook. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/facebook-is-reportedly-bringing-in-local-it-firms-to-moderate-fake-news-in-india/articleshow/67344852.cms">Facebook is reportedly bringing in local IT firms to moderate fake news in India</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/facebook-new-one-strike-policy-fails-to-address-unavailability-vague/articleshow/69351776.cms">Why Facebook's new ‘one strike' policy isn't enough to address its moderation problems</a>

Facebook and Cognizant get smeared by whistleblowers who exposed an office of horrors with stories of death, theft and dirt

<ul><li>Facebook is giving away its photo and video matching technology to help other developers identify <keyword id="2918083" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="harmful-content">harmful content</keyword>.</li><li>Both technologies are available for free on GitHub.</li><li>The impetus to make the technology open source is to fight the increasing problem of child porn online.</li></ul>Facebook is giving away its photo and video matching technology on <a href="https://github.com/facebook">GitHub</a> so that it can be used to identify harmful content. This can help the social media giant earn back some of the brownie points that its lost over the past year. The two technologies, which are now opensource, can detect identical or nearly identical <keyword id="3956681" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="photos-and-videos">photos and videos</keyword>, respectively. The company claims that the software can help smaller developers, non-profit groups and industry partners to identify abusive content like child exploitation, terrorist propaganda and graphic violence. "For those who already use their own or other content matching technology, these technologies are another layer of defence and allow hash-sharing systems to talk to each other, making the systems that much more powerful," shared Antigone Davis, Global Head of Safety in a statement on Thursday. Fighting child exploitation on social media The explosion of social media has also resulted in an increase in child pornography. Earlier this year in India, the popular video sharing app, TikTok, was banned by a local court for '<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tiktok-ban-in-india-for-hosting-porn/articleshow/68720430.cms">encouraging</a>' child pornography. An <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/probe-finds-child-pornography-in-indian-whatsapp-groups/articleshow/67430347.cms?from=mdr">investigation</a> by AntiToxin Technologies, a Israeli tech firm, also revealed that there are WhatsApp groups and users circulating childpornography globally, hiding behind the app's encryption. Regaining user trust Facebook hasn't had the easiest time in the market since the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/facebook-approved-fake-political-ads-paid-for-by-cambridge-analytica/articleshow/66447635.cms">Cambridge Analytica scandal</a> came to light last year. User trust was breached when a whistleblower revealed that the political consulting firm had harvested data from millions of Facebook profiles for advertising. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) leveled a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/The-FTCs-5-billion-fine-for-Facebook-is-so-meaningless-it-will-likely-leave-Mark-Zuckerberg-wondering-what-he-cant-get-away-with/articleshow/70200184.cms">$5 billion settlement</a> against the social networking giant last month after concluding their investigation into the matter. More recently, Facebook '<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-uploaded-1-5-million-users-email-contacts-without-permission-2019-4?r=US&amp;IR=T">unintentionally uploaded</a>' the email contacts of 1.5 million new Facebook users since 2016. The company however claims that they have since deleted the information. A safer internet Building on Microsoft's generous contribution of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/facebook-is-scanning-your-photos-for-explicit-images-of-children-too/amp_articleshow/39851677.cms">PhotoDNA</a> to fight child exploitation 10 years ago and the more recent launch of Google "Content Safety API", the Facebook's announcement is part of an industry-wide commitment to building a safer internet. Known as 'PDQ' and 'TMK+PDQF', these technologies are part of a suite of tools used at Facebook to detect harmful content. The technologies create an efficient way to store files as short digital hashes that can determine whether two files are the same or similar, even without the original image or video. Hashes can also be more easily shared with other companies and non-profit organisations, said Facebook. (with IANS inputs) See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/facebook-pay-for-user-data-on-study-from-facebook-the-research-app/articleshow/69756443.cms">Facebook will now pay you if you give access to your phone's data</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/facebook-has-confirmed-that-libra-isnt-coming-to-india-as-government-shies-away-from-private-cryptocurrencies/articleshow/70173729.cms">Facebook has confirmed that Libra isn't coming to India as government shies away from 'private' cryptocurrencies</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/facebook-cognizant-exposed-by-a-verge-whistleblowers-report/articleshow/69877536.cms">Facebook and Cognizant get smeared by whistleblowers who exposed an office of horrors with stories of death, theft and dirt</a>

Facebook is giving away its technology to fight child porn and regain user trust

New Delhi, Feb 13 () Proxy advisory firm InGovern on Thursday said a battle for control of fraud-hit CG Power and Industrial Solutions Ltd has led to value destruction for minority shareholders of the company. The company had in August last year said that an investigation instituted by its board had found major governance and financial lapses, including some assets being provided as collateral and the money from the loans siphoned off by "identified company personnel, both current and past, including certain non-executive directors". It fired promoter chairman Gautam Thapar on August 29. "The investigative authorities are looking into allegations on (i) usage of funds and land assets from the company by promoter-connected entities, (ii) borrowings against the assets of the company for the benefit of other group companies, (iii) vendor transactions with promoter-connected entities," InGovern said in a statement. It said an analysis of the issues at the firm reveals that "a battle for the boardroom and battle for corporate control has led to value destruction for minority shareholders of the company." "However, could these transactions have happened without Board approvals, and without the knowledge of key management personnel and auditors? Where these Board approvals shared with SEBI in their investigations? What role did promoters, executive directors, the managing director &amp; CEO and independent directors play in this?," it asked. It said the roles of various stakeholders -- the board, key management personnel, internal auditors, bankers to the company, lenders to holding company, statutory auditors, promoters and other group companies -- need to be examined. It went on to allege that private equity firm KKR India may have had a role in the unfolding of events at CG Power. "KKR India had a debt exposure to the holding company Avantha Holdings which the latter was unable to repay fully. This may be why the relations went downhill between KKR India and the promoter of CG Power, Gautam Thapar. "It seems that upon request by Avantha Holdings to convert the debt into equity, KKR India asked for the appointment of Narayan Seshadri initially as a consultant but later as an Independent Director. Seshadri has close business interests with KKR India," it said. Seshadri and KKR India did not immediately respond to e-mails sent for comments. According to Thapar, the events at CG Power have been orchestrated by the lenders as KKR India wanted to oust the promoters and take control of the company. InGovern said banks and NBFCs seem to have been fully cognizant of the situation in CG Power and other group companies and yet continued to fund and increase group company exposures against guarantees of the listed company. "Would the banks have curtailed the bank limits of CG Power as other group companies were in stress?," it asked. "What role did KKR play in the entire saga? Did the default of loan to holding company trigger these series of events that led to control of management, the boardroom and eventually the company by KKR? Why didn't the Board look into the conflict of interest of Mr. Narayan Seshadri who was appointed as an independent director?" Stating that overall it was a huge loss of value for minority shareholders, it said all elements of corporate governance seem to have failed minority shareholders -- key management personnel, independent directors, statutory auditors, internal auditors, banks, NBFC lenders and whistleblowers. "SEBI and other regulators need to investigate this matter holistically on the role played by all stakeholders. Regulators need to investigate whether a battle for corporate control has played out in this manner," it added. ANZ ABM

Boardroom battle to control CG Power has led to value destruction for shareholders: InGovern

<ul><li><keyword id="6354576" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="facebook">Facebook</keyword> is rolling out its Ad Archive globally starting with Ukraine, Argentina, Singapore and Canada. </li><li>The social network's 'transparency tool' is already present in 50 countries around the world but it still vulnerable to manipulation. </li><li>In the past, the labeling of political ads and verification of sponsorship has been found to be lacking. </li></ul>Facebook, the Mark Zuckerberg-owned social networking giant, is going global with its transparency tools. The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/facebook-will-now-show-who-exactly-is-paying-to-swing-peoples-votes-through-online-political-advertising/articleshow/66230157.cms">Facebook Ad Library</a>, which was already in place for around 50 countries — <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/lok-sabha-election2019-facebook-political-ad-spend-led-by-the-bjp/articleshow/69238537.cms">including</a> India — will now be in place for every country where Facebook has presence according to a new post on the <a href="https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2019/06/offering-greater-transparency/">Facebook blog</a>. "We believe that transparency leads to increased accountability and responsibility over time – not just for Facebook but advertisers as well," Sarah Schiff, the Product Manager at Facebook, wrote in the company's blog post. This means that not only will users be privy to the who is behind the ads on Facebook but advertisers will also have get authorised and add disclaimers to political ads. Loopholes remain The method isn't quite as full proof as Facebook would like to have you believe. In an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/facebook-approved-fake-political-ads-paid-for-by-cambridge-analytica/articleshow/66447635.cms">experiment that Business Insider ran last year</a>, Facebook approved ads that were 'paid for' by Cambridge Analytica even though the company is now defunct and was banned from Facebook at the time. Even <a href="https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/wj9mny/facebooks-political-ad-tool-let-us-buy-ads-paid-for-by-mike-pence-and-isis">Vice</a> has reported that the social networking platform's political advertising tool can be manipulated, where the publication was able to successfully run an ad sponsored by the Islamic State. During the European election, a Dutch digital rights organisation <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-06/facebook-didn-t-uphold-political-ads-policy-rights-group-says">claimed</a> that it could easily buy and target political posts at voters in other countries, in spite of the social media giant's stated policies geared at preventing foreign interference in the elections. Even as recently as during the Indian Lok Sabha Election 2019, it was found that the massive amount of ad labels were actually being put in place by actual humans using the company's 'five dimensions.' Experts told <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/technology/users-privacy-at-risk-facebook-labels-posts-manually-in-india-119050600092_1.html">Business Standard</a> that this process, though necessary, may be putting user privacy at risk. And, the rules don't change "The authorization process will not change in countries where we've previously launched, and people who previously authorized will not need to reauthorize," Shiff wrote on Facebook's blog. Despite the many loopholes of the system, Facebook has no plans of upgrading the authorisation process just yet. Starting today, the Facebook Ad Library is going to be initiating its roll out in the Ukraine, Singapore, Canada and Argentina. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/facebook-cognizant-exposed-by-a-verge-whistleblowers-report/articleshow/69877536.cms">Facebook and Cognizant get smeared by whistleblowers who exposed an office of horrors with stories of death, theft and dirt</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/facebook-pay-for-user-data-on-study-from-facebook-the-research-app/articleshow/69756443.cms">Facebook will now pay you if you give access to your phone's data</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/facebook-and-google-could-be-forced-to-tell-you-how-much-your-data-is-worth-under-new-us-legislation/articleshow/69925821.cms">Facebook and Google could be forced to tell you how much your data is worth under new US legislation</a>

Facebook is taking its political ad library global as Zuckerberg tries to show that he's not taking sides

<ul><li>YouTube, the video sharing platform, has been spotted testing a feature that hides the comments section of a video by default. </li><li><keyword id="15313" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Madonna">Madonna</keyword> and <keyword id="121898" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Selena-Gomez">Selena Gomez</keyword> recently stopped using social media on account of their negative impact. </li><li>Social networks have woken up to the problem and each has its own solution of how to tackle it. </li></ul>The anonymity of the internet can lead to some harsh criticism on social networking sites like Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. To limit the negativity, these platforms are trying new ways to shield users and creators from the worst of it. YouTube is currently <a href="https://9to5google.com/2019/06/20/youtube-comments-button-android-test/">testing a new feature</a> that automatically hides the comments section of videos on Android phones. The feature has only been spotted in India so far. Yet, it shows that social media giants care about people’s feelings. Comments haven’t disappeared altogether but there’s one extra step — clicking a separate button involved — before you can actually view them. It doesn’t keep bad comments away but if you’re on YouTube only to watch videos and don’t particularly care about the comments — which are, more often than not, less than positive — then this change is something that will work in your favour. ‘Internet is Evil’ Celebrities like Selena Gomez and Madonna have quit Instagram and other social networks, citing the adverse effect that the platform was starting to have on their lives. Madonna told <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/9298491/madonna-slams-social-media/">the Sun</a>, that Instagram was making her ‘feel bad’ while Gomez — the third most followed person on Instagram — spoke at <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-48627814">Cannes</a> about how Instagram would make her ‘depressed’ and she eventually had to delete it from her phone altogether. <div type="image" title="4544ba0c7e24a90f2756b42b1a9da92d_edited" msid="69889942" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Madonna&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>

 Pete Davidson, a comedian on Saturday Night Live and Ariana Grande’s ex-fiance, said, “The internet is evil and it doesn’t make me feel good,” in an Instagram post when negative comments flooded his account after his break up with Grande. Kelly Marie Tran, the actress who played Rose Tico in the latest installment of Star Wars, deleted her account last year after facing harassment from racist fans of the franchise. There’s a long list of celebrities who have quit using social media because of the unnecessary flak that they have had to face — mostly in the form of trolls and online harassment. All hands on deck The problem of trolls and negative comments monopolizing feeds isn’t a platform specific problem, but one that plagues all of social media. While YouTube is trying to go about solving the problem by rolling up the comments section, TIkTok, the video sharing mobile app by Bytedance, has a different approach. In order to keep the hate away, users can now apply custom comment filters to their videos. <div type="image" title="tiktok_event" msid="69890011" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;TikTok&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>

 Essentially as a TikTok user, you can choose words or phrases that you don’t want to see in the comments section or you can select a group of pre-approved people who will be allowed to comment on the video. Facebook is also trying its hand at <a href="https://www.techradar.com/news/facebook-is-tweaking-how-it-ranks-public-comments-so-the-worst-ones-get-hidden">tweaking the public comments</a> section on posts so that the worst of them don’t show up right on top based on certain ‘integrity signals’ like how many interactions a particular comment generated. One cannot take hate away from the Internet, but social media giants can try and shield their users from it. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/instagrams-plan-to-ban-accounts-doesnt-account-for-trolls-and-haters/articleshow/69251922.cms">Instagram's new rules to ban trolls have the same old problem</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tiktok-arrest-suicide-and-accidental-death-result-of-digital-addication/articleshow/69826567.cms">A fresh wave of bad news haunts TikTok</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/facebook-cognizant-exposed-by-a-verge-whistleblowers-report/articleshow/69877536.cms">Facebook and Cognizant get smeared by whistleblowers who exposed an office of horrors with stories of death, theft and dirt</a>

YouTube's new feature is proof that social networks are scared of losing more celebs like Madonna and Selena Gomez

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy, one of the top voices on foreign policy in Congress, said that America's reputation might never recover from the consequences of President <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-donald-trump-bio-age-family-key-positions-2019-4">Donald Trump's</a> Syria retreat.</li><li>Trump abandoned Kurdish forces who bore the brunt of the US-led campaign against ISIS to a Turkish military assault.&#xa0;</li><li>Turkey invaded last Wednesday, and the consequences have been disastrous.&#xa0;</li><li>"It might be impossible" to repair America's reputation, Murphy told Insider. "We might not be able to recover from this."</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy did not mince his words when asked about the damage President <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-donald-trump-bio-age-family-key-positions-2019-4">Donald Trump</a> has dealt to America's reputation by abandoning US-allied Kurdish forces in Syria to a Turkish military invasion.&#xa0;"It might be impossible" to repair America's reputation, Murphy told Insider on Tuesday. He added: "We might not be able to recover from this."Murphy said that combined with the Ukraine scandal currently engulfing the Trump administration, the president's Syria retreat may have permanently undermined US credibility in the Middle East and beyond.&#xa0;"Nobody is going to want to do business with the US if they think they're going to be made into a political pawn for the president's reelection operation, or they're going to be double-crossed," Murphy said.&#xa0;Murphy, who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and is an increasingly prominent voice in global affairs, went on to say, "I can't imagine a worse one-two punch for American credibility than the Ukraine scandal and the abandonment of the Kurds."Read more:&#xa0;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-abandoning-kurds-syria-didnt-help-during-wwii-allies-2019-10">Trump defends abandoning the Kurds by saying they didn't help the US in WWII</a>The Ukraine scandal is centered around a whistleblower complaint that accuses Trump of abusing the power of his office by urging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, over baseless allegations. The complaint has sparked in impeachment inquiry into Trump in the House.Amid all of this, Trump pulled US troops from northeast Syria. In doing so, Trump effectively abandoned Kurdish forces who bore the brunt of the US-led campaign against ISIS - losing approximately 11,000 fighters along the way - to a Turkish assault.Trump's Syria retreat was announced on October 6 after a phone call between him and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Within three days, Turkey invaded.&#xa0;The consequences of Trump's decision and Turkey's incursion into Syria have been <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trumps-syria-retreat-has-caused-nightmare-everyone-warned-him-about-2019-10">swift and disastrous:</a> ISIS is regrouping, Russia has won a major geopolitical victory, and there's an escalating humanitarian crisis in Syria that threatens to spill over into neighboring countries and further destabilize a fragile region. <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/more-160-000-have-fled-northern-syria-turkish-offensive-continues-n1066196">Over 160,000 people have been displaced</a> since the incursion began, and there are <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/atrocities-in-turkish-incursion-may-point-to-war-crimes-2019-10">already reports of war crimes</a> committed by Turkish-backed Syrian Arab fighters against the Kurds.&#xa0;The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have called Trump's decision a "stab in the back" and they've now turned to US adversaries in Damascus and Moscow for protection. Meanwhile, US forces who served alongside the Kurds against ISIS have referred to Trump's decision as a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/13/world/middleeast/kurds-syria-turkey-trump.html">"stain on the American conscience."</a><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div><h2>'We're a laughing stock. We're the butt of jokes'</h2>"We're a laughing stock. We're the butt of jokes. Nobody is going to want to partner with us now," Murphy said on Tuesday. "And I don't know that a Democratic president can recover from this. It's just devastating what President Trump has done to American credibility."Murphy is not alone in worrying that Trump has inflicted irrevocable damage to America's credibility.&#xa0;Shortly the Syria retreat was announced, Brett McGurk, who resigned in late 2018 as Trump's special envoy on the fight against ISIS, told MSNBC: "The value of a handshake from the United States of America, whether from the president or from diplomats...is depreciating by the week. Nobody can believe anything we say...This major decision was taken without any consultation."&#xa0;Echoing these sentiments, former Defense Secretary and ex-CIA director Leon Panetta on Wednesday said: "Every part of this decision has weakened the US. Most importantly, it has undercut our credibility in the world. There isn't an ally that we've around the world that doesn't now distrust us and worry about whether or not we will stand by our word."<h2>'We've got a real crisis on our hands as ISIS licks their lips'</h2>The Turkish invasion has led the US and the Kurds to suspend operations against ISIS.Since the incursion began, ISIS has claimed responsibility for at least two attacks in Syria and hundreds of ISIS-related prisoners escaped from a camp in the northern part of the country over the weekend. The Kurds had been detaining roughly 11,000 ISIS militants, but now their attention is on repelling the Turkish assault.&#xa0;"The huge risk to the US and our allies in Europe is that ISIS reconstitutes itself," Murphy said of the situation. "We've stopped the fight against ISIS, and they are likely going to have their ranks swelled by detainees that have escaped or will escape."Murphy said there's no reason to trust Turkey, Russia, or Assad's government when it comes to holding ISIS prisoners.&#xa0;"I think we've got a real crisis on our hands as ISIS licks their lips," Murphy added. "This was the worst possible time to give ISIS the boost, because they were already in the middle of regrouping - especially in Iraq."Trump has offered a slew of inconsistent and ahistorical defenses to his decision, including that the Kurds <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-abandoning-kurds-syria-didnt-help-during-wwii-allies-2019-10">did not help the US during World War II.</a>In the course of about a week, Trump went from rejecting the notion he abandoned the Kurds while calling them <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1181553630354259968?s=20">"special people and wonderful fighters"</a> to stating that the situation has "nothing to do" with the US and that the Kurds are <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-defends-disastrous-syria-retreat-by-calling-kurds-no-angels-2019-10">"no angels."</a><h2>'US troops are running for their life right now'</h2>Trump has also defended his decision by making the case he's moving to end "endless wars."&#xa0;Murphy on Tuesday conceded that keeping US troops in northern Syria is not a long-term solution to issues in the region, but maintained that Trump's approach only exacerbated problems."It's not outrageous to come up with a plan to withdraw troops out of Syria, what's outrageous is to do it with no plan," Murphy said."Everybody knew that eventually we were going to pull these troops out, but these troops were supposed to be there to give us the space in order to create a diplomatic solution so that the Kurds could live in safety in northeast Syria."Read more:&#xa0;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/veterans-of-isis-fight-lament-trumps-policy-in-syria-2019-10?utmSource=twitter&amp;utmContent=referral&amp;utmTerm=topbar&amp;referrer=twitter">Veterans who fought ISIS say Trump's 'betrayal' of a crucial ally was 'a total slap in the face'</a>Murphy said it's "appalling" that Trump didn't even try to negotiate a political solution in northeast Syria, and that he didn't give any warning to the Kurds or US forces. He added: "Remember, it's not just the Kurds who are running for their life, US troops are running for their life right now because he pulled this out of a hat without warning to anybody eight days ago."Last Friday, US troops in northern Syria <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2019/10/12/us-forces-say-turkey-was-deliberately-bracketing-american-forces-with-artillery-fire-syria/">came under fire from Turkish artillery.</a> No Americans were hurt, but the Pentagon subsequently announced the US would move to withdraw remaining US forces in the area on top of the small group pulled out of northeast Syria. The situation has placed strains on relations between the US and Turkey, who are both NATO members, and in turn has created tensions within the historic alliance.&#xa0;When asked whether he thought Trump was cognizant of the potential consequences of his Syria retreat before moving forward with the decision, including the benefits to Russia, Murphy said, "Who knows? Who knows what he knows and what he doesn't know."<div></div><div></div>

A top senator says Trump's Syria retreat and the Ukraine scandal may have damaged America's credibility forever

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDHrI4CtAdw">screenshot</a>Edward Snowden during a recent interview on German television</div></div></div>As the international press continues to publish disclosures on the National Security Agency, attention has begun to shift slightly to the figure who stole 1.7 million national security documents.
Edward Snowden's whereabouts in Russia, how he attained asylum there, or what the real public interest is of leaking information about Swedish and Norwegian espionage against the government of Vladimir Putin are now prompting questions about the term "whistleblower".
Rep. Mike Rogers, Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, provocatively told NBC's "Meet the Press" last week, "I believe there's a reason he ended up in the hands, the loving arms, of an FSB agent in Moscow."
Snowden denies he's a Russian spy, calling the charge "<a href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2014/01/snowden-calls-russian-spy-story-absurd.html">absurd</a>." Sen. Dianne Feinstein <a href="http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/feinstein-no-proof-snowden-russian-spy">says</a> that she has "no information" to substantiate such an allegation. Meanwhile, John Schindler, a former NSA analyst and now a professor at the Naval War College, says that Snowden is better described as a "<a href="http://20committee.com/2013/11/05/russian-intelligence-is-behind-the-snowden-show-german-intelligence/">defector</a>."
Edward Lucas certainly doesn't believe that Snowden is any kind of whistleblower.
In his new e-book, titled "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Snowden-Operation-Greatest-Intelligence-ebook/dp/B00I0W61OY">The Snowden Operation: Inside the West's Greatest Intelligence Disaster</a>,"Lucas, the international editor of The Economist and the author of "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Deception-Edward-Lucas-ebook/dp/B00746TV4O/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1391005603&amp;sr=1-2&amp;keywords=deception%3A+spies%2C+lies">Deceptions: Spies, Lies and How Russia Dupes the West</a>," makes the case that not only are Snowden's disclosures about the NSA wildly mischaracterized in the media, but that the former Booz Allen Hamilton contractor's avowed motives for stealing U.S. national security secrets do not scan.
As Lucas wrote this week in an essay for <a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/01/edward-snowden-nsa-snow-job-102740.html#.UukPzXmpxBU">Politico</a>, "[Whistleblowers] must have clear and convincing evidence of abuse. Publishing the information must not pose a disproportionate threat to public safety. And the leak must be as limited in scope and scale as possible. Snowden failed all three of these tests."
So what does Lucas believe is the true story behind the conventionally accepted one about the greatest intelligence breach in U.S. history?
The Interpreter's editor-in-chief Michael Weiss interviewed Lucas about his new e-book via email.
Michael Weiss: Chapter Five of your book, "Our Man in Hawaii," is one of the most interesting, and also the likeliest to get you into trouble with the die-hard Snowdenistas. You make a very compelling albeit admittedly speculative case that Snowden, while he was working for the CIA under the cover of attache at the U.S. mission to the UN in Geneva, he would have been an attractive recruit for Russian intelligence. He exhibited signs of disillusionment with his work on the Ars Technica forum, for instance, the use of which was itself a stark break with CIA protocol. How likely is it that the Chekists spotted him, and if they did, what methods might they have used to lure him into their fold, with or without his cognizance or consent?
Edward Lucas: To me this is the most likely explanation of what happened. We know that the Russians target people like Snowden. The actions he took are the sort of thing they would very much like. Now he's in Moscow where we can't ask him about it. If they did approach him, they would have concentrated chiefly on developing and exploiting his psychological weaknesses, massaging his ego and corroding his bonds of loyalty to his employer. Once he was fully detached psychologically from the NSA, they would have put him in touch with someone from the Wikileaks or hacker milieu. The effect from their point of view would be like a chemical reaction. No need to do anything much, just stand back and watch.
MW: You refer to ???????? ???????????, or KGB "active measures" and say that the NSA releases thus far bear all the hallmarks of this form of tradecraft. Explain what these are and how they work.
EL: Traditional espionage is about gathering intelligence. There is a big difference between that and special operations (blowing things up, killing people and generally making things happen). However big intelligence services (CIA, MI6 and Russians) sometimes do both. Russians are particularly good at this. They use classic intelligence means to discover weaknesses, and then "active measures" to exploit them. Sources and active agents would normally be run in parallel in order to preserve operational security. So if Snowden's job was to steal and leak, then we should assume that other Russian agents in the NSA are there to fulfill other intelligence requirements.
MW: Several journalists who've covered this story claim that their own US intelligence sources deny that Snowden was ever run by the Russians or even that the FSB/SVR played a role landing him in the country. And Snowden and his defenders vehemently deny that he gave up any secrets to the Kremlin owing to his own digital security safeguards. This contrasts sharply with what Russian security service experts such as Andrei Soldatov, or, indeed, former employees such as Oleg Kalugin and Yuri Felshtinsky all say publicly about how Russian intelligence works. What do you make of this disparity in assessments? Is the CIA trying to save face by leaking false information to the media?
EL: I just don't know. I have no special inside knowledge of this. I assume that the aim of the agencies now is to spread confusion in order to minimize the damage. If so, they are doing a good job.
MW: What's the role of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks in the Snowden saga, and what is their connection to the Russian government?
EL: The connection between Assange and Russia, and between Wikileaks and the Snowdenistas. It deserves a lot more scrutiny.
MW: Who is Jacob Appelbaum and what's his involvement in all this?
EL: Ditto. I have repeatedly approached Appelbaum for comment but not received any reply. From his public appearances he seems to be the most politically extreme of the leading Snowdenistas.
MW: One of the enduring mysteries of how and when Snowden started stealing national security secrets is when journalists Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras first made contact with Snowden or when they began receiving documents from him. You cite our own Cathy Fitzpatrick's catalogue of five different dates given by Greenwald for when this occurred. Then there was Poitras' interesting disclosure to the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/magazine/laura-poitras-snowden.html?pagewanted=all&amp;_r=0">New York Times Magazine</a> that she herself didn't want to say when she got Snowden's documents for fear of any subsequent legal consequences this might entrain. What legal consequences can she mean? And what do you make of the variable and furtive nature of this timeline?
EL: I assume that some of them are worried about potential prosecution and not being able to travel freely. But the evasiveness about the first contact between Snowden and his friends is one of the main oddities in the case. I hope that further investigation will bring some results.
MW: One thing that seems very fascinating yet unexamined by most observers: Where has Lindsey Mills, Snowden's now ex-girlfriend, gone off to? If she's still in the U.S., then presumably she'll have been questioned by U.S. authorities about Snowden's movements and behavior in the months leading up to his flight to Hong Kong. Is her disappearance from public life (she shut down her blog after the story broke) an indication of anything to you?
EL: I assume that Ms. Mills has been cooperating fully with the authorities. In her shoes, I would be furious with the way I was treated. Her parents have said that she was left penniless and stranded by what any normal person would term Snowden's callous and cowardly disappearance. I tried to reach her for comment but did not receive a response.
Russian news, analysis, and translations can be found at <a href="http://www.interpretermag.com/">InterpreterMag.com</a>.

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