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Society

Mongolia Is Late To The Internet, And Falling Prey To Digital Fraud

The internet is a new experience for many in the country. That makes people easy prey.

DALANZADGAD — After a lifetime spent tending to cattle in the Mongolian countryside, Sainaa Tserenjigmed settled in the provincial capital of Dalanzadgad and began dreaming of a house of her own.

To build it, she would need a loan of 30 million Mongolian togrogs ($8,800), an amount that seemed out of reach until Sainaa stumbled across a comment on Facebook offering low-interest loans without guarantors. Her interest was piqued.

It was early 2018 and the internet was still a brave new world for Sainaa. The previous year, she’d bought herself a small, white smartphone and her son installed internet at home. “Facebook seemed new and strange, so I started digging tirelessly,” she says. Soon, she was using the platform to watch videos, keep up with the news and communicate with her family and friends.

The person offering loans on Facebook had a foreign-sounding name but his online persona seemed trustworthy to Sainaa and he had many friends, lots of whom were Mongolians. She reached out, expressing a desire to take out a loan.

The response was quick, she says, and the subsequent correspondence unusually friendly. Sainaa was instructed to transfer $120 as a processing fee to receive the first tranche of money. To speed up the process, she decided to schedule four separate transactions in different amounts via Western Union, two to three days apart, amounting to $1,000 in total — more than twice the average monthly salary in Mongolia at the time.

But the person kept asking for more money.

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Biohack Your Brain? New Neurotechnology Products Raise Serious Privacy Questions

A new flood of consumer-facing neuroscience-driven products, including those using electroencephalograms (EEGs) raise complicated questions about data privacy and beyond.

The past few decades of neuroscience research have produced a wide array of technologies capable of measuring human brain activity. Functional magnetic resonance imaging, implanted electrode systems, and electroencephalograms, or EEGs, among other techniques, have helped researchers better understand how our brains respond to and control our bodies’ interactions with the world around us.

Now some of these technologies — most notably, EEG — have broken out of the lab and into the consumer market. The earliest of these consumer-facing neurotechnology devices, relatively simple systems that measured electrical signals conducted across the skull and scalp, were marketed mostly as focus trainers or meditation aids to so-called “biohackers” seeking to better themselves through technology.

However, tech industry giants have lately taken notice, and they are exploring inventive new ways to make use of the inner electrical conversations in our brains.

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"Team Jorge" Is A Warning: The Internet Could Kill Democracy — And Quicker Than You Think

The revelations of a clandestine digital operation that provides services to destabilize nations and manipulate opinion are a wake-up call for democratic states to take urgent action, including the need to hold Big Tech accountable.

-Analysis-

PARIS — Since the Brexit referendum and the election of Donald Trump, we know that the age of the Internet has now taken manipulation of public opinion to industrial capacity. Thus the lesson of the “Team Jorge” affair — revealed yesterday by a global consortium of journalists — is not that these practices exist: it’s that they are scaling up.

What is at stake here is no more or no less than the survival of our democratic societies. Yes, our democracies are far from perfect, but are now clearly threatened by practices of clandestine purchase of influence, large-scale digital manipulation, and destabilization of assorted nature.

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Eyes On U.S. — California, The World Is Worried About You

As an Italian bestseller explores why people are fleeing the Golden State, the international press also takes stock of unprecedented Silicon Valley layoffs. It may be a warning for the rest of the world.

-Analysis-

For as long as we can remember, the world has seen California as the embodiment of the American Dream.

Today, this dream may be fading — and the world is taking notice.

A peek at the Italian list of non-fiction best-sellers in 2022 includes California by Francesco Costa, a book that looks to explain why 340,000 people moved out of the state last year, causing a drop in its population for the first time ever.

To receive Eyes on U.S. each week in your inbox, sign up here.

Why are all these people leaving a state that on paper looks like the best place in the world to live? Why are stickers with the phrase “Don't California my Texas” attached to the back of so many pick-up trucks?

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In The News
Laure Gautherin, Renate Mattar, Sophia Constantino and Anne-Sophie Goninet

U.S. Midterm Results, New North Korea Missile, Huge Facebook Layoffs

👋 Adishatz !*

Welcome to Wednesday, where the expected Republican midterm victory wave turns out to be more of a ripple, Zelensky remains defiant as battles intensify in Donetsk, and 2,300 year-old bronze statues are found in pristine condition in Tuscany. Meanwhile, Chinese-language media The Initium has rare testimonies from workers forced to flee China’s huge Foxconn factory, for fear of being trapped inside by COVID orders.

[*Occitan, France]

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Geopolitics
Laura Scofield and Matheus Santino

New Probe Finds Pro-Bolsonaro Fake News Dominated Social Media Through Campaign

Ahead of Brazil's national elections Sunday, the most interacted-with posts on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Telegram and WhatsApp contradict trustworthy information about the public’s voting intentions.

SÂO PAULO — If you only got your news from social media, you might be mistaken for thinking that Jair Bolsonaro is leading the polls for Brazil’s upcoming presidential elections, which will take place this Sunday. Such a view flies in the face of what most of the polling institutes registered with the Superior Electoral Court indicate.

An exclusive investigation by the Brazilian investigative journalism agency Agência Pública has revealed how the most interacted-with and shared posts in Brazil on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Telegram and WhatsApp share data and polls that suggest victory is certain for the incumbent Bolsonaro, as well as propagating conspiracy theories based on false allegations that research institutes carrying out polling have been bribed by Bolsonaro’s main rival, former president Luís Inácio Lula da Silva, or by his party, the Workers’ Party.

Agência Pública’s reporters analyzed the most-shared posts containing the phrase “pesquisa eleitoral” [electoral polls] in the period between the official start of the campaigning period, on August 16, to September 6. The analysis revealed that the most interacted-with and shared posts on social media spread false information or predicted victory for Jair Bolsonaro.

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In The News
Lisa Berdet, Chloé Touchard, Lila Paulou and Bertrand Hauger

Ukraine’s Double Anniversary, U.S. Strikes In Syria, Pub Extinction

👋 Jó napot!*

Welcome to Wednesday, where Ukraine celebrates Independence Day exactly six months into the war with Russia, the U.S. military targets militia-held areas in eastern Syria, and it may be “last orders” time for a great many UK pubs. Meanwhile, São Paulo-based Agência Pública uncovers efforts by Trump supporters to get Jair Bolsonaro reelected in Brazil.

[*Hungarian]

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Economy
Yuri Litvinenko and Valeria Lebedeva

Instagram Nyet! Russian Influencers Lose Mojo On Homegrown Platforms

It's a different kind of "migration" indeed, from Instagram to VKontakte, after U.S. social media were banned in Russia. It's yet another kind of difficulty for Russians trying to continue with daily life.

MOSCOW — Since the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, access to international digital platforms and social networks within Russia has become virtually impossible. Facebook and Instagram were banned in late March, the activities of their parent company Meta were declared extremist and blocked, and Twitter was quickly added later to the hit list.

Stay up-to-date with the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war, with our exclusive international coverage.

The platforms themselves also set restrictions: in particular, YouTube prevented the ability to monetize content in Russia, Meta blocked certain advertisers' accounts, and TikTok limited the download of new videos and access to foreign content.

All this has resulted in another mass migration since the start of the war: this time, of a different sort. Russians who earn their living through Western social media must now move their online activity to domestic Russian platforms.

Expectations and Reality

Russian social networks have been busy boasting a growing audience. A representative of VKontakte, the Russian Facebook equivalent, told Kommersant that in March, the daily number of users in the Russian Federation increased by 9% and the total monthly audience in the country amounted to 72 million, the first time it ever exceeded 50 million. Other networks such as Odnoklassniki and Gazprom-Media, which owns the Yappy short-video service, have claimed similar growth.

The transition of the Facebook and Instagram audience to Russian platforms was facilitated not only by its unilateral blockage, but also by the lack of clarity regarding the consequences for those who continued to use the sites via VPN.

The decision of the Moscow Court on Meta states that judicial protection measures do not limit the use of social networks by users who are not involved in prohibited activities. The wording raised major questions, though. The office of the Prosecutor General was asked for clarifications as lawyers wanted to understand whether individuals and legal entities can be held administratively and criminally liable for posting links to Meta resources, “liking” posts, using platform symbols, as well as using the messaging tools that have become integrated into daily life.

No clarification has yet been given.

Lost In Translation

Mediascope notes that the Telegram messaging platform is growing the fastest of all Russian social channels: its average daily coverage has grown from 25% (for the period February 21–27) to 34% (April 11–15). The platform accounts for a significant portion of news content consumption, according to Mediascope.

The coverage of VKontakte has not changed so noticeably - from 38% to 41%, while Odnoklassniki has hardly changed at all. In comparison, the average Instagram reach fell from 32% to 12% and Facebook from 8% to 2%,

But for influencers, the change is not as easy as it seems at first glance. Indeed, Epicstars Communications Director Anastasia Yermoshina said that popular bloggers with an audience of more than 1 million subscribers will not be able to quickly transfer them to new platforms.

The Russian services themselves aren't ready to accept users from Facebook or Instagram.

When switching from Instagram to other social networks, bloggers can lose around 15-20% of the "legacy" audience.

As a result, neither bloggers nor advertisers “can immediately adapt to all the changes and are in no hurry to leave their usual platforms,” Ekaterina Bibik, head of Admitad Affiliate in Russia, emphasizes. Nor are the Russian services themselves yet ready to accept users from Facebook or Instagram.

Kirill Lubnin, vice-president of the CROS agency for strategy and development notes another issue. Users of VKontakte and Odnoklassniki discuss politics and topical issues less than people on Facebook and Instagram who bypass their blocking.

There is a lot of consumer and entertainment content on VK social networks, as well as "content with a regional or territorial reference," he noted. Russian social networks when compared to Instagram, are less aimed at the audiences of Moscow and St. Petersburg, and instead appeal to more rural ones.

Differences in user preferences are largely related to how the platforms were positioned in the early stages of development, Kirill Borisov explains: “Aesthetic content has a greater response on Instagram than on other platforms, since the philosophy of “sharing photos” is still alive.”

\u200bScreen of a smartphone displaying the logos of the social networks

Screen of a smartphone displaying the logos of the apps VKontakte, Twitter, RT News, Facebook, Instagram and Telegram.

Fernando Gutierrez-Juarez/dpa/ZUMA

Telegram Is Different

The move to Russian platforms comes with another challenge. Here, the tools for advertisers are still geared towards groups: “In order to become commercially successful, a blogger has to create communities. For many, this is a new practice.”

The hype simply won’t last.

Originally conceived by the founder Pavel Durov as a means of secure messaging, Telegram has become something closer to a social media platform with the addition of “groups” and “channels”. This format, though, remains entirely different to that of Instagram, and bloggers who don't readjust their habits could be at risk of having their followers turn off notifications and therefore drop in audience reach.

While some influencers are taking the move in their stride, attempting to master Russian social networks as quickly as possible and avoid severe drops in earnings, others consider attempts to replace Western social networks with others as doomed to failure. Influencers “may try to build their following on the new platforms," says Yermoshina, "but in the long run, the hype simply won’t last."

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Economy
Raphaël Balenieri

Don't Let The Metaverse Become Just Another Club For The Wealthy

Metaverses are introducing ownership and rarity to the internet for the first time in its history. It is already generating billions of dollars in transactions, but the risk is that it becomes a club exclusively for the wealthy.

-Analysis-

PARIS — Gas, electricity, paper… The prices of everything are soaring. But this is nothing compared with what is happening in the metaverse, a place of a multitude of new, virtual and immersive universes, populated with 3D avatars.

In The Sandbox, a metaverse launched in 2012 by two Frenchmen and backed by the Japanese conglomerate Softbank, the prices of virtual lands (more than 166,000 of them exist on the platform) compete with real estate prices in Paris, London or Hong Kong. A user called “EnzoFar” recently put his land for sale … for 66,666 Ethers (a top cryptocurrency, along with Bitcoin), or more than $227 million at the current exchange rate.

Others have done even better. Since their creation by four friends in 2021, the 10,000 unique virtual apes of the Bored Ape Yacht Club have generated what equates to $1.5 billion in transactions. Justin Bieber, Paris Hilton, Snoop Dogg and Eminem have all succumbed to the craze and bought their own.

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Society
Laure Gautherin & Shaun Lavelle

Meet The Russian VIPs Defying Putin To Say No To War

Russian pop starts, artists and athletes are speaking out against the war in Ukraine, with some already suffering the consequences.

Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine is proving more difficult than he envisaged on the battlefield. But since last Thursday's invasion, there are increasing signs of domestic anger of his attack of a neighboring country where many have friends and family.

Stay up-to-date with the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war, with our exclusive international coverage. Sign up to our free daily newsletter.

In addition to repeated public protests in cities across the country in defiance of a ban on anti-government opposition, Russians are seeing some of the country's most prominent personalities speak out against the war on Ukraine. They join an international chorus of celebrities condemning the war, including Monday night at this year’s Screen Actors Guild Awards, where prize winners sent messages of support to both Ukrainians and their fellow entertainers in Russia who are speaking out even at the risk of arrest and an end to their career.

From pop singers to artists and athletes, here are some of the Russian VIPs using their platform to oppose Putin's war.

Vladimir Urin

Vladimir Urin

Vladimir Urin

Emile Alain Ducke/DPA via ZUMA Press


Vladimir Urin is the head of Russia’s cultural pride: the Bolshoi Theater. He has been a President Putin loyalist… until now. Urin has joined a group of artists who signed an appeal to stop “the special operation in Ukraine”. The message was posted on Facebook by Maria Revyakina, director of the Art Theater of Moscow. “We call for preservation of the highest value — human life.”

Vladimir Urin’s team also helped choreographer Alexei Ratmansky, former artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet, to quickly leave Russia.

Alexei Ratmansky

Alexei Ratmansky

Alexei Ratmansky

Facebook/Alexei Ratmansky


Though Russian born, Alexei Ratmansky grew up in Kyiv, where his family is still based today. Now living in the U.S. he was preparing a new ballet at the Bolshoi in Moscow. As soon as the news of the invasion spread, he chose to flee the city along with his wife and international crew. “I doubt I would go if Putin is still president,” he told The New York Times when asked if he could go back to finish his projects.

Elena Kovalskaya

Elena Kovalskaya

Elena Kovalskaya

Facebook/Elene Kovalskaya


Elena Kovalskaya has been the director of the Meyerhold Center, a theater known for its experimental take on the sixth art, in Moscow since 2020 after serving as its artistic director for seven years. On Facebook, she announced her resignation from the state-financed theater in an act of protest over the war. “It’s impossible to work for a murderer and receive your salary from him,” she wrote on Facebook.

Oxxymiron

Oxxxymiron

Oxxxymiron

Facebook/Oxxxymiron


Miron Yanovich Fyodorov, aka Oxxxymiron, is a very popular hip-hop artist. In protest against Putin’s invasion and assault on Ukraine, he announced on Instagram the indefinite cancelation of six sold out concerts in Moscow and St. Petersburg. “I cannot entertain you when Russian missiles are falling on Ukraine,” he said. “I know that most people in Russia are against this war, and I am confident that the more people would talk about their real attitude to it, the faster we can stop this horror.” Born in Leningrad, raised in Germany and the U.K., he has opposed the regime on many occasions, such as in 2019 when he organized the Get Jailed for a Text protest.

Valery Meladze

Valery Meladze is one of Russia’s most famous pop singers. On Instagram, the 56 year-old star called for an end to the war. “Something happened today that could and should never have happened {..} Now I’m begging you to stop military action and sit down to negotiate,” he says in his video. “People must be able to negotiate. For this we have a language, for this we have been given all the abilities. People must not die. This must be stopped.”

Fedor Smolov

Fedor Smolov

Fedor Smolov

Massimo Insabato/Mondadori Portfolio via ZUMA Press


Fedor Smolov is a soccer player for Dynamo Moscow. He was the first on the Russian national team to publicly condemn the attack on Ukraine. A few hours after the beginning of the Russian move towards Ukraine, he posted on Instagram a black screen captioned in Russian “No to war!!!” followed by a broken heart and a Ukrainian flag.

As a consequence of Vladimir Putin’s invasion, the UEFA's Champions League stripped Saint Petersburg off its role as host of the final set for May 28. The game will be held at the Stade de France in Paris instead.

Alex Ovechkin

Alex Ovechkin warming up on ice before a match

Alex Ovechkin

Kostas Lymperopoulos/CSM via ZUMA Wire


Alex Ovechkin is an ice hockey star who plays in the US as Washington Capitals’ winger. After days of silence, he addressed the invasion during a press conference. The athlete said he had family and "lots of friends in Russia and Ukraine" and that he was hoping for peace. "Please, no more war," Ovechkin concluded. As a vocal pro-Putin celebrity, his position regarding Russia’s move was under scrutiny. This opinion was both acclaimed and deemed as too little too late, especially since he still hasn’t changed his Instagram profile picture where he poses with the Russian President doing a V sign.

Danill Medvedev

Danill Medvedev

Danill Medvedev

Prensa Internacional via ZUMA Wire


Freshly crowned world number one tennis player and winner of the US Open last year, Danill Medvedev spoke on the day of the invasion, calling for peace. "By being a tennis player, I want to promote peace all over the world,” he said during a press conference, right after winning his match at the Mexico Open. “It's just not easy to hear all this news. I'm all for peace.”

Andrey Rublev

Andrey Rublev

Andrey Rublev

Oscar J. Barroso/AFP7 via ZUMA Press Wire


A day after Danill Medvedev, World No. 7 Andrey Rublev also took a stand against war. After his win on the courts in Dubai, he wrote the message "No war please" on a camera lense. "In these moments you realize that my match is not important. It's not about my match, how it affects me. Because what's happening is much more terrible," Rublev later said during an interview. "You realize how important it is to have peace in the world and to respect each other no matter what and to be united... We should take care of our earth and of each other. This is the most important thing."

Ivan Urgant

Ivan Urgant on his show

Ivan Urgant

Instagram/Andrey Rublev


Ivan Urgant is an evening talk-show host on the popular state-owned TV station, Channel One. To oppose the war, he posted a black square on Instagram with the caption “Fear and pain. No to war.” His show has not been broadcasted since, but the channel's spokesperson insisted the decision had nothing to do with his Instagram post. Officially, Urgant’s program and others were removed to be replaced by news and political shows “because of the current situation”.

Boris Akunin

Boris Akunin in 2012

Boris Akunin in 2012

Igor Kubedinov/ZUMAPRESS.com


Best-selling thriller author Boris Akunin – the pen name of Grigori Chalvovitch Tchkhartichvili – fled Russia in 2014, when it became clear to him his country’s regime was evolving towards a “dictatorship”. One of Russia’s most famous and prolific writers and historians, he has criticized Putin on many occasions. On the day of the invasion, he wrote on his Facebook: “The madness has prevailed. People are dying, blood is spilling. Russia is ruled by a mentally abnormal dictator, and what is most terrible, it submissively follows his paranoia.”

Daria Zhukova

Daria Zhukova in 2011

Daria Zhukova in 2011

Future-Image/ZUMAPRESS.com


Daria Zhukova is a prominent contemporary art collector who can be counted among Russia’s famous oligarchs. In 2008, she and her then-partner billionaire Roman Abramovich – owner of Chelsea FC – opened the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art. In a statement published on its website, the institution announced that it would stop all activities and put on hold every exhibitions that were programmed “until the human and political tragedy that is unfolding in Ukraine has ceased.” “We are categorically opposed to any and all actions that sow division and create isolation. We see ourselves as part of a wider world undivided by war,” the statement reads.

Sofia Abramovich

Sofia Abramovich

Sofia Abramovich

Instagram/Sofia Abramovich


Meanwhile, Roman Abramovich’s daughter Sofia, a student and professional horseback rider in the UK, also took a stand against the invasion of Ukraine, clearly mentioning the name of Vladimir Putin, which is rare. She posted an Instagram story insisting that the Russian people do not support his stance on Ukraine.


As for Roman Abramovich, after handing over "stewardship and care" of Chelsea to the club's charitable foundation, he would currently be in Gomel, Belarus, to take part in negotiations with Russia, reports the Jerusalem Post. He responded to Kyiv’s call for Russian mediators and is “trying to help”, says his spokesperson.

Danila Kozlovsky

Danila Kozlovsky

Danila Kozlovsky

Instagram/Danila Kozlovsky


Former model turned actor and director, Danila Kozlovsky found fame in Hollywood by acting in Vampire Academy or more recently Vikings. On Instagram, he first posted a quick message expressing his disagreement with the attack on Ukraine. His post, a black square, was captioned “Fear and shame… Agree! Stop! NO WAR”. Later on, he shared a deeper analysis of his own complicity-by-passivity to the conflict that had started years ago. “I didn’t see, didn’t understand or didn’t want to see and understand... I was indifferent, interested exclusively in my life, when it was necessary to call for reason and peace by all means. I naively thought that all this would end and that they would definitely agree at the top, because smart people are sitting.”

Evgeny Lebedev

Evgeny Lebedev

Evgeny Lebedev

Ash Knotek/Snappers via ZUMA Press


Evgeny Lebedev is a British-Russian media magnate and a member of the House of Lords. Son of billionaire and former KGB agent Alexander Lebedev, he wrote in the Evening Standard — which he owns — a direct call to Vladimir Putin for an end to the war. “Please, Mr Putin, stop this war,” he begs. “As a Russian citizen, I implore you to stop sending Russian soldiers to kill their brothers and sisters in Ukraine.” Coming from an oligarch, this stance is particularly revealing of the concern now shaking Russian VIPs abroad. Lebedev is also the owner of The Independent which has relaunched its Refugees Welcome campaign calling on the UK to welcome refugees from Ukraine without the need for visas.

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In The News
Jane Herbelin and Anne-Sophie Goninet

Ukraine Lockstep, Meta vs. Europe, Farewell Ye Olde Pub

👋 Szia!*

Welcome to Tuesday, where the West shows unity on Ukraine, Meta threatens to pull Facebook and Instagram from Europe, and it’s last orders for England’s oldest pub. French daily Les Echos’ correspondent Frédéric Schaeffer slides down the ski slopes in China, where the Olympics have boosted the development of winter sports.

[*Hungarian]

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Future
Raphaël Suire

The Metaverse Will Make All That's Bad With The Internet Worse

The change of Facebook's name to Meta is a hint to the general public of where social media and digital sovereignty risks taking us in a future "virtual" world.

-OpEd-

PARIS — The first bricks of the internet emerged in post-World War II California at the crossroads of a double ideology: military and libertarian, based on the virtues of decentralization. It was all about inventing a network infrastructure that was resilient to targeted attacks. It also allowed for individuals to be emancipated through a new set of capabilities, including in communication, interaction and learning, facilitated through a microcomputer.

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