May 28, 2019 - Technology

Facebook bars deceptive accounts tied to Iran

Facebook announced Tuesday it had removed 51 accounts, 36 pages, 7 groups and 3 Instagram accounts that it said originated in Iran and were responsible for "coordinated inauthentic behavior."

Why it matters: The announcement comes as tensions between the U.S. and Iran have escalated in the wake of the Trump administration's withdrawal from a multinational agreement aimed at controlling Iran's nuclear program.

Details: The cybersecurity firm FireEye, which Facebook said first flagged the operation, issued a report that detailed "inauthentic social media accounts posing as everyday Americans that were used to promote content from inauthentic news sites."

  • "In addition to utilizing fake American personas that espoused both progressive and conservative political stances," according to FireEye, "some accounts impersonated real American individuals, including a handful of Republican political candidates that ran for House of Representatives seats in 2018."

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Zach Dorfman of the Aspen Institute
4 mins ago - Politics & Policy

The national security risks hiding in Trump's debts

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

The blockbuster New York Times report on President Trump’s taxes reveals that the president is $421 million in debt, with more than $300 million coming due during Trump’s potential second term — and the identities of the president’s creditors remain unknown.

Why it matters: If some, or all, of this debt is held by foreign actors, it raises serious national security implications.

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Zachary Basu
7 mins ago - World

House report: U.S. intelligence agencies have failed to adapt to China threat

Xi Jinping and other Chinese politicians and delegates listen to the national anthem duirng the closing of the 19th Communist Party Congress in 2017. Photo: Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

The House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday released a report finding that the U.S. intelligence community has failed to adapt to the growing threat from China, arguing that it will struggle to compete on the global stage for decades to come if it does not implement major changes.

The big picture: The 200-page report, based on thousands of analytic assessments and hundreds of hours of interviews with intelligence officers, determined that the intelligence community's focus on counterterrorism after 9/11 allowed China "to transform itself into a nation potentially capable of supplanting the United States as the leading power in the world."

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Ursula Perano
Updated 10 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Tim Scott says Trump "misspoke" when he told Proud Boys to "stand by"

Photo: Bonnie Cash/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) told reporters on Wednesday that he believes President Trump "misspoke" when he told the far-right "Proud Boys" group to "stand back and stand by" in response to a question about condemning white supremacy at the first presidential debate.

Catch up quick: Moderator Chris Wallace asked Trump on Tuesday, "Are you willing, tonight, to condemn white supremacists and militia groups and to say that they need to stand down?" Trump asked who specifically he should condemn, and then responded, "Proud Boys, stand back and stand by. But I'll tell you what, somebody's got to do something about antifa and the left."

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