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  1. 2022 Twiplomacy World Leader Power Ranking (Twiplomacy) 2022 has been a year of change for world leaders and #Twitter. As longstanding analysts of #DigitalDiplomacy, we’ve kept a watchful eye to understand who and what drives influence on Twitter 2. The Supply of Disinformation Will Soon Be Infinite (The Atlantic) Disinformation campaigns used to require a lot of human effort, but artificial intelligence will take them to a whole new level. 3. Semi-State Actors in Cybersecurity (Book by Florian J. Egloff) In Semi-State Actors in Cybersecurity, Florian J. Egloff argues that political relations in cyberspace fundamentally involve concurrent collaboration and [...]

  1. Report: Stronger digital voices from Africa: Building African digital foreign policy and diplomacy (Diplo) This study provides a snapshot of Africa’s digital diplomacy by examining the holistic representations of national and continental interests in the digital realm. In addition to the role of official diplomacy, this study also looks at the roles of tech developers, businesses, local communities, and others with the necessary skills and expertise for participation in international digital policy. 2. An AI named Cicero can beat humans in Diplomacy, a complex alliance-building game. Here's why that's a big deal (UNSW Sydney) Now, before you get too [...]

  1. Through the Meme Looking Glass (Diplomatic Courier) In his latest book review, Joshua Huminski analyzes “Meme Wars” by Joan Donovan, Emily Dreyfuss, and Brian Friedberg, which explores why and how fringe figures online became normalized and the long-term consequences of that normalization. 2. What is hybrid balancing? (International Affairs) Ryuta Ito explains why hybrid balancing is important for understanding China’s Indo-Pacific strategy. 3. New Zealand passes plain language bill to jettison jargon (The Guardian) New Zealand has bid its farewell to grandiloquent memos and sesquipedalian documents, passing a new law to banish jargon and complex language from its bureaucracy. [...]

  1. Inside the Twitter Meltdown (Platformer) Elon is speaking. VPs are resigning. Is bankruptcy next? 2. Distract and Divert: How World Leaders Use Social Media During Contentious Politics (Article by Pablo Barberá and Anita R. Gohdes) How do leaders communicate during domestic crises? We provide the first global analysis of world leader communication on social media during social unrest. We develop a theory of leaders’ digital communication strategies, building on the diversionary theory of foreign policy, as well as research on the role of democratic institutions in explaining elite responsiveness. 3. A New Toolkit for Communicating Climate Action (Diplomatic Courier) [...]

  1. Countering an Authoritarian Overhaul of the Internet (Freedom House) At home and on the international stage, authoritarians are on a campaign to divide the open internet into a patchwork of repressive enclaves. More governments than ever are exerting control over what people can access and share online by blocking foreign websites, hoarding personal data, and centralizing their countries’ technical infrastructure. As a result of these trends, global internet freedom has declined for a 12th consecutive year. 2. How Elon Musk is changing Twitter (Vox) Elon Musk has only been in charge of Twitter since late October. But already, he’s [...]

  1. Big Tech Goes to War (Foreign Affairs) To Help Ukraine, Washington and Silicon Valley Must Work Together. 2. Pro-Kremlin influencers reignite Zelenskyy “green screen” theory (DFRlab) The narrative recycles old footage of the Ukrainian president recording a hologram to allege he fled the country. 3. How Quantum Theories Took Over TikTok (Slate) At first glance, the video seems like an ordinary news recap. “So today the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to scientists,” says TikTok creator Sami Moog. Then things get really trippy. “Your imagination literally makes up your own personal quantum field and it constructs every single [...]

  1. How Ukraine is winning the social media war (BBC News) After almost eight months, the war in Ukraine hangs in the balance. Ukrainian counter-offensives continue to make progress, while Russian forces are still pressing elsewhere. But on the internet, it's a very one-sided affair. 2. 'It's Time To Ignore' The Traps: Disinformation Expert Says Kremlin's 'Empty Threats' Have Paralyzed West (RFE/RL) Jakub Kalensky of the European Center of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats (Hybrid CoE), a Helsinki think tank established by the European Union and NATO, says allowing worst-case fears of Russian President Vladimir Putin's actions to steer responses [...]

  1. New Working Paper: Analyzing Russia’s Selfie Diplomacy (Blog by Ilan Manor) The Working paper begins by discussing why nostalgia is such a common sentiment in todays’ world, arguing that nostalgia is an attempt to force logic onto an incoherent world. Next, the working paper examines the Selfie and asserts that the Selfie is the most nostalgic form of photograph. The working paper then defines and examines ‘Selfie Diplomacy’, or diplomats’ use of social media to create a national self-portrait. Finally, the working paper offers analysis of Russia’s Selfie diplomacy during 2020 while arguing that this Selfie was steeped in [...]