Prof. Dr. Bischara Ali Egal
It’s time to change the way we talk and think about Africa. Africa is poor, but we can try to help its people. It’s a simple statement, repeated through a thousand images, newspaper stories and charity appeals each year, so that it takes on the weight of truth. When we read it, we reinforce assumptions and stories about Africa that we’ve heard throughout our lives. We reconfirm our image of Africa. Try something different. Africa is rich, but we steal its wealth. That’s the essence of a report (pdf) from several campaign groups released today. Based on a set of new figures, it…
Military’s ‘sock puppet’ software creates fake online identities to spread pro-American propaganda The US military is developing software that will let it secretly manipulate social media sites by using fake online personas to influence internet conversations and spread pro-American propaganda. A Californian corporation has been awarded a contract with United States Central Command (Centcom), which oversees US armed operations in the Middle East and Central Asia, to develop what is described as an “online persona management service” that will allow one US serviceman or woman to control up to 10 separate identities based all over the world. The project has been likened…