Networks News: 9 August 2025 - 17 August 2025

Unmasking Russia’s Troll Farm Empire: Inside the Kremlin’s Global Disinformation Machine
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Unmasking Russia’s Troll Farm Empire: Inside the Kremlin’s Global Disinformation Machine

The Internet Research Agency (IRA), Russia’s flagship troll farm, is based in St. Petersburg and was founded around 2013, growing to about 400 staff by 2015 working 12-hour shifts. IRA staff operated under strict quotas: 5 political posts, 10 non-political posts, and
August 17, 2025

Technology News

  • AI deepfakes push victims into jail as evidence goes unchecked
    January 9, 2026, 3:48 AM EST. Melissa Sims says her ex-boyfriend used AI-generated texts to frame her, landing her in a Florida jail for a bond violation after she called police during an argument. The texts disparaged him and were not verified, prosecutors later dropped the bond violation, and she went to trial on a battery charge eight months after the initial incident. Judges and experts warn that AI-generated deepfakes-texts, video and images-pose a growing risk to the justice system, with detection tools lagging behind. Drexel's Rob D'Ovidio notes the difficulty of spotting synthetic material; he demonstrated with an AI-generated photo and several detectors giving divergent results. Officials urge a framework and more due diligence before charging, while Sims' case shows the real-world harms of unverified evidence.