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<ul><li><keyword id="440631" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Niue">Niue</keyword>, a <keyword id="9841236" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="tiny-island-nation">tiny island nation</keyword> in the Pacific, is launching proceedings with <keyword id="10444052" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="internet-overseer-icann">internet overseer ICANN</keyword> to reclaim the .nu top-level domain.</li><li>The .nu domain has never been in the hands of the Niuean people, with control currently resting with <keyword id="10444053" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="the-internet-foundation-of-sweden">the Internet Foundation of Sweden</keyword> (IIS), the body in charge of that country’s .se space.</li><li>“This is the big one,” says Pär Brumark, the Swedish domains expert who is leading a delegation on behalf of Niue to claim its space.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/">Visit Business Insider Australia’s homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>This article was originally published in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/niue-nu-internet-domain-reclaim-2020-12">BI Australia</a> by Jack Kerr. A tiny island microstate has today launched proceedings that could have profound repercussions for who controls the internet. The Government of Niue, a tiny island 2,400 kilometres northeast of <keyword id="22501" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="New-Zealand">New Zealand</keyword>, has demanded a “redelegation” of its national webspace, .nu, from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (<keyword id="50359" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="ICANN">ICANN</keyword>), the supranational non-profit that coordinates top-level domains to ensure the stable operation of the internet. It’s a battle that’s almost as old as Hotmail – and if fights over internet governance had weight divisions, then this would be a heavyweight card. “This is the big one,” said Pär Brumark, the Swedish domains expert who is leading a delegation on behalf of the tiny Pacific island. His pro-bono team of professors and legal academics from major Scandinavian universities have, he says, constructed the most detailed analysis of problems with ICANN rules and their allegedly poor implementation ever to be undertaken. “We’ll lay it all out. It’s a proof of concept of how fucked up the system is.” Countries were each allocated a national webspace (or top-level domain) during the 1990s, in a relatively loose arrangement that was intended to ensure it was operated by that country’s internet community. In <keyword id="6355478" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="australia">Australia</keyword>, for example, the nation’s top-level domain is run by the .au <keyword id="10444055" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="domain-administration">Domain Administration</keyword> (auDA). It’s a member-based nonprofit based in Melbourne, and their custodianship of this significant national resource – which provides a trusted space for Australian e-commerce, and had a turnover of almost $14 million in the first six months of this year – is endorsed by the Commonwealth. Another Pacific nation, Tuvalu, receives $5 million per year from the registry that runs its popular .tv top-level domain. That’s roughly how it’s supposed to work – notwithstanding auDA’s <a href="https://www.afr.com/technology/infighting-continues-at-domain-name-authority-auda-20180427-h0zcng">own internal dramas over the years</a>. For microstates like Niue, however, it has been a totally different experience. “No one even made a phone call to the Government of Niue when [the initial delegation] happened,” Brumark said. “And they’ve basically been ignored ever since.” For reasons which are still unclear, but which likely stem from Niue’s isolation and small size, control of the .nu webspace was originally handed to a magazine editor from Massachusetts <a href="https://www.post-gazette.com/business/tech-news/2006/03/29/On-a-tiny-island-catchy-Web-name-sparks-a-battle/stories/200603290178">named Bill Semich</a>. He would soon boast that .nu was “the fastest growing top-level domain name on the Internet”, thanks largely to its popularity in northern European countries, where ‘nu’ translates as ‘now’. While Niue signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Semich around that time, it quickly backtracked, claiming it did not understand what it was agreeing to or the financial benefit control of the webspace could confer. Toke Talagi, the long-serving Premier of Niue who passed away earlier this year, deemed the situation a form of “neo-colonialism”, while Brumark has dubbed it “digital colonisation”. But Semich has denied any legal or moral wrongdoing. He said that part of the profit he gained from controlling the .nu top-level domain was used to get the remote island connected to the internet, and his IUS-N Foundation said it continues to make significant contributions to maintain the island’s internet and telecommunication needs, as well as funding community projects. But Niue tore up the original deal in 2000, and passed legislation calling for a formalised agreement, which did not eventuate. In 2013, the <keyword id="10444054" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="internet-foundation">Internet Foundation</keyword> of Sweden (IIS), the body in charge of that country’s .se space, became the technical manager of .nu. To Nieuans, this meant their national digital territory had essentially been placed under the control of another country. “It is unprecedented in the history of the internet that the appointed national ccTLD (country-code top-level domain) manager of one nation … takes over a foreign, by national law protected, ccTLD management of another,” the Niueans write in their redelegation request, which will be formally submitted to ICANN around midday Niuean time. It says the IIS has been operating the .nu space “in breach of its own founding charter and in absence of the Swedish-law-required permission from the applicable Swedish Governmental Authority.” The case will also argue the current arrangement is a breach of the Niue’s Digital Communication Amendment Act – as well as the IIS’s founding charter and the Accountability Framework agreed to between ICANN and IUS-N. “The business arrangement … constitutes a severe and present threat to the stability and the security of the local internet community as well as the global internet community.” Niue is currently also pursuing a case in the Swedish legal system to claim ten of millions of dollars generated by the sale of .nu web addresses. Redelegations – where control of a top-level domain is transferred to another, more appropriate body – have been actioned before by ICANN. But this is “by far the most long-lasting ongoing case and it will be the most thorough redelegation investigation in history,” said Brumark “We have needed 20 volunteers, including professors and academics, to make this happen. Niue could not afford to even investigate this issue, let alone run a redelegation. There are too many gatekeepers in ICANN that would try to keep them out. “If I had known this would take thousands of hours and twenty lawyers, would I have gone into this? Probably not. But the people of Niue have become my close friends. And I want to get justice for them.” If he loses, there is the option to go one step further and seek justice in the court system of California, where ICANN is based. But Brumark said that won’t be necessary. “No, because we will be successful. We have internal papers, we have everything. “We are putting them in a situation where it would be extremely difficult to rule against Niue, because that would set a precedent that would complicate their policy system too much. “It would be a stain on ICANN.” SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/whatsapp-pay-strengthens-its-upi-offering-ties-up-with-sbi-icici-bank-hdfc-bank-and-axis-bank/articleshow/79754660.cms">WhatsApp Pay strengthens its UPI offering — ties up with SBI, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/defense/news/india-inaugurates-new-railway-line-with-bangladesh-to-save-its-chickens-neck-from-china-on-vijay-diwas/articleshow/79750869.cms">After 55 years, India will inaugurate a new railway line with Bangladesh to save its ‘Chicken’s Neck’ from China</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/pubg-mobile-india-may-not-launch-until-march-next-year/articleshow/79751618.cms">PUBG Mobile India may not launch until March next year, says a report citing sources</a>

A tiny island nation is clashing with ICANN to own its space on the web

Indians are proud to belong to the world’s biggest <keyword id="6354914" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Democracy">democracy</keyword>, but do we enjoy extensive freedom online? Not to a great extent, going by the annual <keyword id="169089" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Web-Index">Web Index</keyword> ranking, where countries are tested against a series of parameters that measure how the World Wide Web empowers people and contributes to <keyword id="518920" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="socio-economic-development">socio-economic development</keyword>. This year, <keyword id="23050" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sweden">Sweden</keyword> takes the top spot out of the 81 countries in the list while <keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="India">India</keyword> has been ranked 56th with an Index score of 32.4, ahead of neighbours China (ranked 57th with a score of 31.1) and Pakistan (77th with 10.4). The bottom two countries are Ethiopia and Yemen. 
 Incidentally, China has the <keyword id="1951187" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Largest-Internet-user-base">largest Internet user base</keyword> in the world – a little over 300 million. The US comes 2nd with an estimated 207 million users while India has the <keyword id="1951188" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Third-largest-Internet-population">third-largest Internet population</keyword> of around 200 million and counting. As per the I-Cube 2013 report, the number of <keyword id="414255" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="internet-users-in-India">Internet users in India</keyword> is expected to rise 18.53% to reach 243 million by June 2014. 
 The Web Index is a composite measure that sums up in a single (average) number the extent of ‘freedom’ and ‘utility’ of the Web in various countries. The ranking was started in 2012 by the <keyword id="1947701" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="World-Wide-Web-Foundation">World Wide Web Foundation</keyword>, an organisation set up by the <keyword id="1537311" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Web-inventor">Web inventor</keyword> Sir <keyword id="251605" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Tim-Berners-Lee">Tim Berners-Lee</keyword> in 2009. 
 The indexing has got bigger this year and 20 more countries have been added, bringing the total number to 81. Several criteria have been taken into account and scores have been given for universal access, education &amp; awareness, access &amp; affordability, <keyword id="1951195" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Communications-infrastructure">communications infrastructure</keyword>, <keyword id="1951196" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Relevant-content">relevant content</keyword>, <keyword id="1951197" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Web-use">Web use</keyword>, <keyword id="1746818" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Content-Creation">content creation</keyword>, freedom &amp; openness, <keyword id="1951189" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Freedom-of-the-Web">freedom of the Web</keyword>, impact &amp; empowerment, <keyword id="1951201" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Political-impact">political impact</keyword>, social &amp; <keyword id="506859" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Environmental-Impact">environmental impact</keyword> and <keyword id="589977" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="economic-impact">economic impact</keyword>. 
 Sweden has bagged the top spot for the second consecutive year (94.4 in universal access, 90.1 in relevant content, 86.1 in freedom &amp; openness and 92.2 in impact &amp; empowerment), followed by <keyword id="6356961" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Norway">Norway</keyword>, the UK, the US and <keyword id="22501" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="New-Zealand">New Zealand</keyword>. <keyword id="49968" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Denmark">Denmark</keyword>, <keyword id="6374076" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Finland">Finland</keyword>, <keyword id="55091" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Iceland">Iceland</keyword>, <keyword id="6354785" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="France">France</keyword> and the <keyword id="105814" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Republic-of-Korea">Republic of Korea</keyword> occupy the next five slots. It is not surprising that the US has got the lowest score under ‘freedom,’ following the <keyword id="6423563" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Snowden">Snowden</keyword> debacle. The country has also dropped two places from last year’s list. 
 Ranked at 30th, <keyword id="3746" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Mexico">Mexico</keyword> is the best emerging market country while the <keyword id="3750" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Philippines">Philippines</keyword> is the highest-ranked developing nation at the 38th spot. But except for <keyword id="10331" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Morocco">Morocco</keyword> (ranked 54th in the Index), none of the developing nations achieved the 50% connectivity target of the UN World Summit on the Information Society. In <keyword id="12925" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Africa">Africa</keyword>, fewer than 20% people are using the Internet. 
 
As for category leaders, Iceland ranks highest in access, the UK tops in relevant content, Norway leads in terms of freedom &amp; openness and the US comes first for impact &amp; empowerment. 
 
How is India faring? If you are wondering why India has not made it to the ‘Top 10’, here is a score breakdown for greater insight. The country has got 28.6 for access, 22.6 for relevant content, 49.5 for freedom &amp; openness and 31.2 for impact &amp; empowerment. While scores in the first two categories are bound to improve with deeper Internet penetration and <keyword id="1951206" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Scaling-up">scaling up</keyword> of services across the country, impact &amp; empowerment can only happen when the burgeoning user base can actually leverage the numerous benefits of the Internet. 
 “This may happen in the near future as the Internet/Web-based industries are gearing up fast, sensing a really huge opportunity here,” observes a US and India-based <keyword id="6357097" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="venture-capital">venture capital</keyword> firm. 
 But what may worry one most is the score under freedom &amp; openness – 49.5 compared to Sweden’s 86.1 and Norway’s ‘perfect’ 100. According to a <keyword id="6355629" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword> report published earlier this year, India made an average of 13 requests a day to Google for <keyword id="1951212" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Access-to-personal-details">access to personal details</keyword> of <keyword id="177767" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Web-users">Web users</keyword> during 2012. This was only second to the US, which made 45 requests a day on an average – the highest for any country. The US made a total of 16,407 requests to Google during 2012, followed by 4,750 from India, 3,239 from France, 3,083 from <keyword id="87" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Germany">Germany</keyword>, 2,883 from the UK and 2,777 from Brazil. 
 
Interestingly, China has scored 5.3 for freedom &amp; openness while Pakistan’s score for freedom &amp; openness stands at 9.8. 
 Commenting on the trend, Sir Tim Berners-Lee said, “One of the most encouraging findings of this year’s Web Index is how the Web and <keyword id="6354632" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Social-media">social media</keyword> are increasingly spurring people to organise, take action and try to expose wrongdoing in every region of the world. But some <keyword id="6386287" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="governments">governments</keyword> are threatened by this, and a growing tide of <keyword id="6354565" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="surveillance">surveillance</keyword> and <keyword id="6425075" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Censorship">censorship</keyword> now threatens the future of democracy. Bold steps are needed now to protect our fundamental <keyword id="1850840" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="rights-to-privacy">rights to privacy</keyword> and <keyword id="1951220" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Freedom-of-opinion">freedom of opinion</keyword> and association online.” 
 
Key findings from Web Index 2013 
Targeted censorship of Web content by governments is widespread across the globe. Moderate to extensive blocking or filtering of politically sensitive content was reported in over 30% of Web Index countries during the past year. 
 
Legal limits on <keyword id="1951228" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Government-snooping">government snooping</keyword> online urgently need review. Around 94% of countries in the Web Index do not meet best practice standards for checks and balances on <keyword id="1951229" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Government-interception">government interception</keyword> of electronic communications. 
 
The Web and social media are leading to real-world change. 
In 80% of the countries studied, the Web and social media had played a role in public mobilisation in the past year, and in half of these cases, had been a major catalyst. 
 
Rich countries do not necessarily rank highly in the Web Index. 
The Philippines, with a per capita income of $4,410 per year, is more than 10 places ahead of Qatar, the world’s richest country, with an average income over 20 times greater than the Philippines. Saudi Arabia is overtaken by 10 of the sub-Saharan African countries. Switzerland, the world’s third wealthiest nation, is only one place ahead of Estonia. The study shows that once countries surpass a GDP threshold of $12,000 per capita, the link between wealth and Web Index rank weakens significantly. 
 
The rights and priorities of <keyword id="624" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Women">women</keyword> are poorly served by the Web in the majority of countries researched. Locally relevant information on topics such as reproductive health, <keyword id="6360589" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="domestic-violence">domestic violence</keyword> and inheritance remain largely absent from the Web in most countries. Only 56% of Web Index countries were assessed as allocating ‘significant’ resources to ICT training programmes targeting women and men equally. 
 
Image: Wikimedia Commons

When Measuring Internet Freedom, India Ranks Better Than China, Pakistan

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Spotify is now worth more than $8.5 billion following a massive $526 million funding round, <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/06/10/spotify-raises-526-million-amid-battle-with-apple/">The Wall Street Journal reports</a>. The funding round comes as Spotify gears up to face a considerable new threat - the launch of Apple's new music streaming service, Apple Music.The new funding round, coming just days after the formal announcement of Apple Music, will help bolster Spotify's defences against Apple's coming onslaught.There were reports that the company was raising funds, likely at a valuation of more than $8 billion - but the final total is higher than <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/report-spotify-is-worth-8-billion-2015-5">previously anticipated</a>.The round was reportedly closed on Tuesday, and now brings the total invested in Spotify up to more than $1 billion. The streaming service now has 23 investors, including Coca-Cola, Goldman Sachs Group, and Kleiner Perkins Caulfield and Byers. Launched in Sweden in 2008, Spotify is considered the industry leader, with a valuation (following this most recent round) twice that of internet radio competitor Pandora. It boasts 60 million users, of which 15 million are paid subscribers (the rest use a free, ad-supported model). But Apple is throwing its vast weight behind its new service, announced at its WWDC developer conference on Monday, and reportedly hopes to net 100 million paid users. Here's the full list of investors, <a href="http://tech.eu/brief/teliasonera-spotify-funding/">via a report in Tech.eu</a>:<ul><li>Abu Dhabi Investment Council</li><li>Accel Partners</li><li>Baillie Gifford</li><li>Coca-Cola</li><li>Creandum</li><li>D.E Shaw</li><li>Digital Sky Technologies</li><li>Discovery Capital Management</li><li>Fidelity Investments</li><li>Founders Fund</li><li>Goldman Sachs Group</li><li>GSV Capital</li><li>Halcyon Asset Management</li><li>Kleiner Perkins Caulfield and Byers</li><li>Landsdowne Partners</li><li>Li Ka Shing Foundation</li><li>Northzone Ventures</li><li>Rinkelberg Capital</li><li>Senvest Capital</li><li>Technology Crossover Ventures</li><li>P.Schoenfeld Asset Management</li><li>TeliaSonera</li><li>Wellington Partners</li></ul>Here's how Ek initially responded to the launch of Apple Music is a now-deleted tweet:<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>This is a developing story, check back for updates. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-watch-drop-test-2015-4">Here's what happens when you drop an Apple Watch face down on cement</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="91amNydDp_pZTzYqJEZwyhFbtRDgzN2O" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

Spotify raises half a billion dollars to go to war with Apple

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image">KlarnaAdalberth will remain on Klarna's board.</div></div></div>Niklas Adalberth, one of the original founders of the billion-dollar Swedish payments Klarna, has decided to step down from his role as deputy CEO.<a href="http://digital.di.se/artikel/grundaren-niklas-adalberth-lamnar-klarna#">Swedish publication Digital reports</a> that Klarna staff learned of Adalberth's decision on Thursday morning.A spokesperson from Klarna confirmed to Business Insider that Adalberth is leaving the company:"Niklas has made the decision to continue to contribute to Klarna by remaining an active board member and long-term owner, and will step down from his operational responsibilities.""Niklas is a fundamental part of the trio that founded Klarna, which now consists of 1200 employees on 18 markets serving more than 50 000 merchants. Niklas will focus on social entrepreneurship and the world is lucky to have him."His decision means that CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski will be the only one of Klarna's original founders to remain. Former CFO and fellow founder Victor Jacobsson left Klarna in 2012 but has remained on the company's board of directors.Adalberth told Digital that he has spent a third of his life at Klarna, and is now ready to try new things. He will first take a long-awaited holiday, then start focusing on non-profit work."I have some ideas that are too exciting to not try. I think I learned a lot about tech and to build a company. [I want to] get that know-how into a world that does not have as much. I think I can do good," he said."I do not want to die with a bag of money in my account and I do not want my children to grow up with a bag of money in their account," he added.Klarna lets any retailer <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/swedish-payment-company-klarna-thinks-it-can-save-newspapers-2015-5">put the equivalent of Amazon's "buy with one click" button on its site</a>. It processes an incredible 30% of all online purchases in Sweden, and processed $9 billion (£5.74 billion) worth of transactions globally in 2014. <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/swedish-payments-firm-klarna-launches-in-us-2015-9">It also just launched in the US with 10 American companies including Overstock.com.</a>The company was valued at $1.4 billion (£912 million) in 2014, and has attracted money from Silicon Valley's renowned <a href="http://www.sequoiacap.com/us/klarna/info">venture capital fund Sequoia Capital</a>. In August, venture capital firm Northzone, mutual fund Wellington Management Co. and foundation Wellcome Trust bought about $80 million (£52 million) worth of stock in a secondary offering that valued the company at $2.25 billion. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/animated-map-global-fiber-optic-internet-cables-2015-9">Animated map reveals the 550,000 miles of cable hidden under the ocean that power the internet</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="1iNHI3dzr1l7P_ZGDpqWJC3kUle6Dsan" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

The deputy CEO of Swedish payments company Klarna is leaving the company

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">Thomson ReutersRussian President Vladimir Putin attends the Business Russia Congress in Moscow</div></div></div>One of the biggest stories of the 2016 presidential campaign was the hacking and release of internal emails from the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta.And now, the highest echelons of the US security apparatus have a suspect for who was behind the email hacks: Russia.The CIA and FBI have both discovered that, by releasing damaging information about the Democrats, the Russian government sought to undermine the US elections to some end.The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/fbi-cia-russia-hacking-2016-12">CIA says it was in an effort to elect Donald Trump, while the FBI has been more cautious</a>.Regardless of the country's intention, these accusations are real, and if true, they are a threat to the integrity of our media and our democracy. However, to anyone paying attention to how aggressively the Russian government has tried to shape media around the world for the last decade, they are not surprising.In fact, the Kremlin has built an ideological foundation and media infrastructure around what it has come to consider a global media war.<h2>Spreading Russian influence</h2>In 2005 the Russian government launched TV network <a href="http://globalmediawars.com/">RT, or Russia Today</a>. The Kremlin-backed news channel is now available all around the world in English, Spanish, Arabic, and German. It exists to advance the agenda of the Russian government and expand its influence across the globe.Part of that agenda is discrediting the US system in order to show people that it's no better than Russia's, an idea that's filtered down to the alt-right - who call Russia a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-connections-to-the-alt-right-2016-11">"model civilization"</a> - and seems apparent in the world views of Breitbart's Steve Bannon and conspiracy theory jockeys like Alex Jones.Russia isn't shy about countering US (or global) media. In interviews with RT reporters and editors, I've been told that in 2008 - after President George W. Bush voiced his concern over Russia's incursion into Georgia - the channel's mandate changed from inviting people to enjoy Russian culture, to showing the world that the United States is not a shining city on a hill, as President Reagan described it in the 1980s.The Kremlin believes it's justified in spreading misinformation all over the world - especially in the US - because it's actually a tit-for-tat.The country considers RT a counter to media outlets the US set up all over the world during the Cold War, like Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Liberty. The Russians blamed those outlets for inspiring dissidents in Eastern Europe to rise up against late-Cold War Soviet-backed governments.The US outlets are run by a federal agency called the Broadcasting Board of Governors, but have been left largely ignored since the end of the Cold War. Their work was put on a political back burner, so to speak.But Russia did not forget, especially not a Russia helmed by former KGB agent Vladimir Putin.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9pos-2H7cw&amp;feature=youtu.be">YouTube/RT</a>A producer of Ukraine Today accused the Russian government and media of lying about Russia's incursion into the country. It was news, to say the least.</div></div></div><h2>A conspiracy to spread conspiracies</h2>For years I've spent time in and out of Columbia University's School of Journalism as a student and as an adjunct professor investigating and/or teaching about Russia Today and outlets like it, including <a href="https://sputniknews.com/">Sputnik</a>. Ultimately I've come to understand that the Kremlin thinks that spreading its messaging is morally equivalent to the US exporting the value of a free press.Russia's aim is to spread chaos to appear strong in contrast to its geopolitical foes. It does this through a mix of pointing out legitimate issues with the American government and the country's society, by printing outright lies and promoting conspiracy theories, and by spreading a million half-truths about what's going on - so many half-truths, that people lose faith in who and what to believe.You may recognize some of these tactics in our current media landscape.The Kremlin has been using the same strategy to confuse its own people, according to Peter Pomerantsev, a former Russian television producer who testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last year."In order to woo viewers the Kremlin has utterly blurred the lines between fact and fiction. Kremlin 'current affairs' programs are filled with spectacular scare-stories about Russian children crucified by Ukrainian militias or US conspiracies to ethnically cleanse East Ukraine. In a context where no one 'believes' any media, all that matters is that the 'news' is sensationalist and cinematic," Pomerantsev told the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee in November 2015.This is why fake news is such an important piece, and distinctly Russian feature, of this game. Crazy conspiracy theories like pizza-gate, the story that Democratic leaders run a child sex ring out of a DC Pizza shop, are just the thing to stir passions and create distrust among the credulous. They're meant to weaken trust in institutions and generate a sense of enmity between parties and people, all while sowing doubt about the boundary between real and fake news. Donald Trump and his associates only advance the Kremlin's cause when they spread these stories, or even just when they describe the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/10/26/putin-wins-when-trump-says-u-s-elections-are-rigged-so-do-all-dictators/?utm_term=.3219854bf0a5">US system as being "rigged."</a><h2>The Troll War</h2>This media war also involves using social media to counter US influence all over the world. For years analysts have tried to track the activity of pro-Russian internet trolls, and not just in the US. Last August, pro-Russia trolls started spreading false news stories all over Sweden, while that country was considering signing a deal with NATO, Russia's greatest foe. Officials told <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/29/world/europe/russia-sweden-disinformation.html?_r=0">the New York Times</a> that Swedish people all over the country "got scared" because they were not used to seeing such blatant untruth all over social media. European and American intelligence experts traced the vitriol back to Russia, and the aggression only pushed Sweden closer to NATO.RT, which is constantly <a href="http://rtwatchcuj.tumblr.com/post/118857165278/rt-expert-compares-nato-commander-to-dr">beating a drum against NATO</a>, called Sweden's reaction <a href="https://www.rt.com/news/344461-sweden-nato-troops-deal/">"anti-Russia hysteria."</a>This summer the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/07/magazine/the-agency.html">New York Times Magazine</a> found that many Russian trolls, headquartered in St. Petersburg, were posing as Donald Trump supporters on the internet, creating fake conservative accounts. There are obvious reasons why Russia would prefer Trump to Clinton, especially when it comes to this battle over media consumption. The former Secretary of State spoke out against Russia's aggression in this space as early as 2010, saying the US was losing the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6sYB5d1Bu4">"information war" around the world.</a>Russia, you see, had created a media army and it has never been afraid to use it.This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/inventors-killed-inventions-titanic-marie-curie-hang-glide-2016-11">7 inventors who were killed by their own inventions</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="VsMGYwMDE6fvg6irQt8i2KueCbxtIwrO" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

This is how Russia thinks about fake news and media manipulation

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<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">APJulian Assange addressing supporters outside Ecuador's London embassy in May 2017.</div></div></div><ul><li>A leaked trove of Twitter messages sent by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was obtained by The Intercept.</li><li>They cover a host of issues from 2016 Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton to Russian geopolitics.</li><li>Highlights from the release are below.</li></ul> More than 11,000 private Twitter messages between WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and some of his closest supporters have just been released.The messages, which were obtained by <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/02/14/julian-assange-wikileaks-election-clinton-trump/">The Intercept</a>, were all sent to a group of around 10 individuals that Assange had dubbed the "WikiLeaks Task Force."The messages were exchanged over the course of more than two years from May 2015 through November 2017, and while they cover a wide range of issues from Assange's thoughts on Russian <keyword id="6358883" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Politics">politics</keyword> to his disdain for 2016 Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, they do not delve into some of the most pressing questions about WikiLeaks' involvement with the campaign of President Donald Trump. The group was in contact with the campaign at various points leading up to the November 2016 election, and was responsible for leaks of the Clinton campaign's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/wikileaks-algorithm-dnc-julian-assange-podesta-emails-new-yorker-2017-8">internal emails</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/wikileaks-hillary-clinton-private-speeches-released-2016-10">speech transcripts</a>.The messages were leaked by a former WikiLeaks volunteer known as Hazelpress. He articulated his reasoning for the disclosure to The Intercept."At this point, considering the power exercised by WikiLeaks, [disclosing] literally anything Assange says is in the public interest," Hazelpress said. "WikiLeaks purports to be a neutral transparency organization."The messages paint a picture of a man desperate to paint WikiLeaks as a beleaguered organization existing within a hostile environment, and one who is willing to support a Trump presidency in order to achieve broader socio-political goals. They also reveals Assange's misogyny, as well as hints of anti-Semitism. Behind this though, the messages do reveal that years after WikiLeaks gained notoriety, Assange remains as committed as ever to his anti-state secrecy agenda.<h2>On Hillary Clinton:</h2><ul><li>From November 19, 2015: "We believe it would be much better for GOP to win. Dems+Media+liberals woudl [sic] then form a block to reign in their worst qualities. With Hillary in charge, GOP will be pushing for her worst qualities., dems+media+neoliberals will be mute. She's a bright, well connected, sadistic sociopath. </li><li>Also from November 19, 2015: "Her role in the war in Libya is what should bring her down, however, the GOP is too close to others who have benefitted to exploit this, it seems. that Hillary helped to sew the foundation for ISIS against pentagon generals advice seems huge. But the GOP resolutely ignores it. Hillary so so much slime on her shirt it is now hard to dirt stick"</li><li>From March 2, 2016: "Perhaps Hillary will have a stroke."</li><li>From March 3, 2016: "HC in whitehouse with her bloodlutt and amitions [sic] of empire with hawkish liberal-interventionist appointees like [Anne-Marie] Slaughter and digital expansionists such as Google integrated into the power structure. Then the republicans and trump in opposition constantly saying she's weak and not invading enough."</li></ul><h2>On Russia:</h2><ul><li>From June 13, 2015: "It runs an independent foreign policy and its arms sales are the only thing that keep a semblance of independence for smaller states. Russia is absolutely terrified. Kalingrad, Crimea, and its only foreign naval base, Syria are all under threat and are not protected by Russia's strategic depth. Meanwhile the US hacks the hell out of it, and attempts to forment an orange revolution in an explicitly states policy of regime change. Consequently the Kremlin in deeply paranoid of everyone, including foreign funded NGO's and invading 'western' cultural practices, like gays and the internet… US next generation weapons are serious advancements. It's play in Ukraine was in Russia's sister country. and so the Russian ruling class… are terrified the same thing could happen to them."</li></ul>Note: Assange is referring to the 2004-2005 anti-corruption <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/russia-fsu/2005-03-01/ukraines-orange-revolution">Orange Revolution</a> in Ukraine that shook Eastern Europe.<h2>On making WikiLeaks and Assange look like victims:</h2><ul><li>From November 27, 2015: "Please troll this BBC idiot: [link to journalist Chris Cook's Twitter account] Our interest is in having inflamitory [sic] tweets from him about [Julian Assange and WikiLeaks] that we can use in legal cases to show that a toxic climate exists the UK… The guy clearly has a thin skin and thinks a lot of his clique, which means he can't see how his tweets are dangerous for him."</li><li>From August 18, 2015, in reference to the rape case against him: "Money, influence, glamour for women helping women imprison men. It may not be your type of feminism, but they don't cae [sic]."</li></ul><h2>On women, sexuality, and transgender issues:</h2><ul><li>From November 25, 2015: "We just find it completely amazing that all the cliterati of London have entirely avoided what is the clearest, most grotesque, most significant and highly newsworthy violation of women in the UK in the last decade."</li><li>From October 1, 2015, in reference to Clinton asking what the vulgar acronym FUBAR meant: "It's amusing that she'd never heard the phrase before even through the Monica 90s. WikiLeaks took Hillary's FUBAR virginity."</li><li>From May 3, 2015, in reference to transgender whistleblower Chelsea Manning: "if they want to tour the statue accross [sic] localities that are conservative, it makes sense to not draw attention to the sex issue. They probably thought Bradley Chelsea Manning was a good way of getting the popular name in, and the new one, and not getting diverted. But thats going to happen regardless thanks to statist fake radicals. The gender issue really is vulgar."</li><li>From May 16, 2015: "Manning does have a Y chromosome and male genitalia."</li></ul><h2>On Jewish people:</h2><ul><li>From August 23, 2016, in reference to AP reporter Raphael Satter: "He's always ben a rat. But he's jewish and engaged with the ((()))) issue."</li></ul>Note: The parentheses Assange mentions are related to a neo-Nazi campaign to brand Jewish Twitter users. Many people began using the parentheses as a show of solidarity with branded users.WikiLeaks rose to international fame when they published a trove of documents in 2010 that had been leaked to them by Chelsea Manning, who was then a US army private.During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump praised the pro-transparency organization, on <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-jr-was-in-contact-with-wikileaks-during-the-2016-election-2017-11">numerous occasions</a>, and the group made <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-jr-wikileaks-messages-twitter-dm-2017-11">frequent contact</a> with Donald Trump Jr. to ask him to promote leaks they published. At several public events and on Twitter, the older Trump complied."Very little pick-up by the dishonest media of incredible information provided by WikiLeaks," he <a href="https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/786201435486781440">tweeted</a> in October 2016. "So dishonest! Rigged system!"On one particular occasion, Assange asked the younger Trump to have his father <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/wikileaks-donald-trump-jr-julian-assange-ambassador-australia-2017-11">convince the government of Australia</a> to make him their ambassador to the US. Assange, a native Australian, is currently holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, and recently received <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/julian-assange-granted-citizenship-in-ecuador-2018-1">Ecuadorian citizenship</a> after being granted asylum in the embassy. There remains a warrant out for his arrest in the UK for rape allegations levied against him in Sweden.You can view more excepts published <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4378830-Excerpts-From-Private-WikiLeaks-Twitter-Group.html#document/p1">here</a>. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/president-trump-theresa-may-davos-false-rumour-2018-1">President Trump tells Theresa May not to believe the 'false rumour' that he doesn't 'have great respect for everything you're doing'</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

Over 10,000 private Twitter messages from WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange have been leaked - read Assange's thoughts on Hillary Clinton, Russia, and Chelsea Manning

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