Global Media News

Russian Marketing Group Uses Twitter Bots to Disrupt 2017 German Election

    Russia is no stranger to meddling in the elections of other nations. One aim of Russian government-funded media is to change the political discourse around the globe. These actions can be seen by Russian advertising on U.S. social media during the 2016 election.

    Recently, a group of Russians posing as a marketing group have been using Twitter bots to disrupt the 2017 German election. BuzzFeed News investigated this group of 30 members whose use of Twitter bots help to promote hashtags supporting the Alternative for Germany party (AfD). Headed by Frauke Petry, the AfD is a far-right political party that supports nationalism, populism and is heavily anti-immigration.

    This groups use of bots draws up many questions about their ties to the Russian government and the AfD. It's not clear whether the group is actually a marketing or political group. Alexander, who answered to BuzzFeed reporter Jenny, denied any ties to a political party. On the popular Russian social networking site, VK, Alexander told Jenny how his team uses Twitter bots to boost AfD related tweets in exchange for money. For pro-AfD posts, Alexander charges 15,000 euros and 2,000 euros for retweets. Below is a retweet of an official AfD post the day of the election by one of Alexander's bots.

    When these pro-AfD posts and retweets generated by Twitter bots get a lot of attention, these posts trend and in turn spark political conversation on Twitter. Another source that discovered the use of Russian Twitter bots to interfere with the German election is The Digital Forensics Research Lab. This organization found that these bots were spreading "false claims about election fraud in the final hours of the (German) campaign." This organization monitors bot activity and is located in Washington, D.C. 

    Germans are becoming more aware of Russian attempts to disrupt both German politics and media. Handelsblatt Global, an “English-language edition of Germany's leading business and financial daily,” mentions in an article about the relationship between Russians and Germans, “Following a high-profile but failed attempt by Russian propaganda to spread fake news in Germany last year and suspicions that Russia interfered in the recent American and French elections, Germans appear to be growing more vigilant about Russian disinformation." Russian involvement in the political discourse of other countries aiming to change the political landscape of Europe is becoming more apparent to European citizens.

    Russian government seeks to improve the image of Russia amongst the German population, which has a low opinion of Russian culture. German organization Körber also revealed in a survey that “60 percent of Russians see similarities between Russian and German values, only 11 percent of Germans do.” This recent Russian involvement in the affairs of other countries can add to new tensions between the Russian and German people.

Uber Car Service Fights Against ‘Ban’ in Germany.

Uber, “Everyone’s Private Driver”.  The slogan represents the car service company all too well. Once you have a smart phone, you then have the ability to hail a Cadillac Escalade and then be escorted around a city as if you were Barrack Obama. Not only can anyone use Uber, but anyone with a license can drive for Uber as well.  Uber is combining smart phone technology and taxis to change transportation. Private car services and taxis are now losing business to the new company. Claims are being made that Uber drivers don’t have as many restrictions or have to obtain as many permits as the other companies.  Germany is now placing a ban on Uber drivers. Is Uber so successful because there aren’t as many limitations, or is the company just changing the game of the car service industry for the better?

            You can access and Uber driver in over 100 major cities and over 30 countries around the world. Paris, New York City, London, you name it and Uber most likely has base there. But in Berlin, Germany a ban is being placed on the usage of Uber. The Frankfurt court claims that uber doesn’t have the necessary legal permits to work in the city.  While the case is being resolved in court, Uber was told that if they decide to continue operating, and lose the case then they could potentially be charged 300,000$ per ride they provided during the ban.

            This isn’t the first time the American company had a ban placed on it in Germany’s court system. In April a similar case was over turned. Now that the demand for Uber is growing more popular, other car service companies are making stronger attempts to have them play by the rules.

            ‘‘Anyone who is willing to play by the rules is welcome in the market,’’ a Herman Waldner quote published in a NY Times article. He is the owner of one of Berlin’s leading taxi companies.  That is the biggest complaint from other car service companies; they just want uber to have the same regulations and to create fair competition.

            Uber claims its services are insured and that the drivers and riders wellbeing is a major concern. But it hasn’t seemed to stop the protestors yet. All precautions are taken and now it is a measure of survival of the fittest.

           

Taxi drivers protesting against Uber in Berlin.

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-29027803

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/08/14/uber-to-fight-ban-in-berlin/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

 

Turkish Media left out of Neo-Nazi Trial

The NationalTurk, a Turkish media news website is reporting that the Turkish Media has been denied media coverage of the upcoming Neo-Nazi trial. A Neo-Nazi terrorist cell is charged with murdering 10 people, 8 of which were of Turkish origin. Turkey's prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu has appealed to the German courts to push them to let Turkey cover the trial. Hürriyet Daily News is saying that 50 seats were available for media personnel at a first come first serve basis, but for some reason Turkish media was denied coverage. 

The terrorist responsible for the killings is named Beate Zschaepe. The women is said to be the "heart of the Neo-Nazi cell." She is acused of killing 10 different people between 2000-2007. The trial is set to take place on April 17th.

Kemal Yurtnac, president of the Overseas Turks and Relative Societies  said he hopes the people responsible for the denial of turkish media coverage  would “soon acknowledge their mistakes.” 

Thelocal.de is reporting that a german journalist by the name of Michael Konken has stated that he thinks that Turkish media should be allowed to cover the trial, and says that  "We would make a huge fuss if this were to happen the other way around." Meaning if no German journalists were allowed in a courtroom with a foreign case pertaining to a German citizen it would be a big fuss.

I think this is a major issue, because its denying people of Turkey freedom of the press. We take that for granted here in the United States, but in other nations around the world in this case Turkey, they are being denied this right. This is a major issue in my opinion because Turkish people should be able to see updates on this trial, but it seems they wont be able too because of the denied media coverage.

 

Global Media News Webcast #3: February 14, 2013

Media News from the UK and Western Europe!

Global Media News for February 14, 2013

Global Media News is a weekly webcast covering media news from around the world.  GMN is a production of  Media Studies students from the SUNY College @ Old Westbury. 

This week on Global Media News:   "Media News from Belgium, Germany & the UK"

• Racist Tweet Backlash: Social Media Racism in UK Football
• Social Media Crime & the Law in the UK
• My Internet Stuggle:  Neo-Fascism Online in Germany
• Should the EU Regulate Journalism?  The UK Says No!
• Tomorrowland:  Belgium's Musical Media Fest

Next week on GMN:   Media News from Eastern Europe and the Russia.

Listen to our webcast streaming live next Thursday @ 11am EST.

Can't listen live? Our next webcast of the season will be posted by 2:00pm, Thursday, February  21, 2013.

Subscribe Now!