From the 50 Cent Party to Spamouflage Dragon: how China conducts online propaganda wars

At the onset of 2010’s, massive protests shook the Northern African and Middle East regions like it hadn’t occurred in a long time. In what would be later dubbed Arab Spring, autocrats trembled at the sight of ferocious citizens demanding decent standards of living and a rupture from the miseries of the past. From Tunisia to Egypt, from Syria to Bahrein, the youth took on the streets to oust long-lived regimes; and it did so by making intensive use of social media.

Information Warfare

The digital information sphere is becoming the main military battleground. Great Power competition is shifting more and more in intensity and scale into the digital world. The reasons for this are manyfold.

Disinformation and beyond: how the virus of QAnon spread to Europe

Gathering galvanized proselytes on popular image boards and online platforms, the QAnon quasi-religious conspiracy theory has eventually made its way to Europe. But what exactly is QAnon and why should it matter to us?

Luck of the Irish Puts All Europeans in Danger

Global internet companies move to Ireland for many reasons. For one it has some of the EUs lowest corporate tax-rates and all kinds of legal tricks to lower them even further. Ireland benefits immensely from these companies. Apple recently won an appeal against the European commission that would have forced it to pay Ireland almost 13€billion in back taxes. What was so bizarre about this ruling is that Ireland was very happy to have lost this windfall, because it makes more money by companies moving to its jurisdiction with the knowledge that they will save billions in taxes. Equally, it boasts a well-educated English-speaking population and one unbeatable advantage, the Irish Data Protection Commission (IDPC).

The history of disinformation: how the tools of political warfare and deception evolved

Lying and distorting facts to gain personal or political advantage has characterized human history at least since classical antiquity. While we do not possess evidence that early societies engaged in these practices as well, it is safe to assume that some individuals may have spread disinformation and rumours to secure support or damage the opponents since the dawn of mankind.

Double-Edged Technology

Freedom flourishes in nations where governments are held accountable by its people through the guarantee of basic rights and strong democratic institutions. Such democratic states are in decline for the 13th consecutive year. The reasons for this are manifold and complex. Technology, however, is one major cause that can turn a democracy, with a functioning opposition; a civil society and basic rights and freedoms into a hellish autocracy.

A Leaders Meeting undeserving of the European Union

Monday’s leaders meeting between China and the EU was a lose-lose deal for the European Union.

China’s threat against the Czech Republic

Dear Mr.Borrell,