Should China’s TikTok be banned in democracies?

By some measures, TikTok is the most downloaded social media app in the world. Yet even as it wins millions of users, democratic governments worry about the company’s ties to the government of the country of its origin: The People’s Republic of China.

Governments bodies in Australia and in like minded democracies overseas have taken to banning the app over fear of who has access to the data.

https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/should-tiktok-be-banned/id1436450976?i=1000601927363

Where is @chrizap on Twitter?

I’ve been locked out of my account. Since Twitter no longer employs many humans there is no one to review my case. So for now, look for me on LinkedIn, Post, my blog’s Twitter account (short for “Cold War mentality”), or even here on WordPress.

But the @chrizap account does exist…

Russians in Australia working against Putin’s imperialism

Until the full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year, much of the success of Russia under President Vladimir Putin has been due to the skilful spreading of Kremlin narratives to the world, frequently via the Russian diaspora.

But not all Russians abroad toe the propaganda line. A group in Australia has taken matters into its own hands, just as the Kremlin’s behaviour has become more undemocratic and threatening.

They formed the Svoboda Alliance – “Svoboda” is the Russian word for freedom. It has called on the “Australian government to expel Russian diplomats for their lies and propaganda”.

“Our organisation is helping Russians who were afraid to raise their voices,” said Russia-born, Melbourne-based President of Svoboda Alliance Victoria Evgeniya Manakova. “We show we’re not afraid of the Russian regime.”

At The Age/Sydney Morning Herald

Pax Mafioso: The geopolitical side to REvil’s ransom attack on Australian insurer Medibank

The ransom attack on Medibank involving the personal information of nearly 10 million Australians has exposed another front in the geopolitical confrontation between Russia and the world.

The criminal gang REvil’s hacking, ransom and release of personal details of Medibank’s customers serves a secondary strategic goal of the Kremlin by “punishing” businesses in Western allies.

Story here: