Lemdro.id

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/52281603

Archived

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China’s authoritarian government is deploying AI at scale to censor, control and monitor its population, says Fergus Ryan, a Senior Analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), where he specialises in how. His research includes a major study on China’s AI ecosystem and its human rights impacts, as well as investigations into China’s use of foreign influencers.

As these tools grow more sophisticated and are exported abroad, the implications for civic space extend far beyond China’s borders.

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[Chinese] tech giants are building multimodal large language models (LLMs) such as Alibaba’s Qwen and Baidu’s Ernie Bot, which censor and reshape descriptions of politically sensitive images. Hardware companies including Dahua, Hikvision and SenseTime supply the camera networks that feed into these systems.

The state is building what amounts to an AI-driven criminal justice pipeline. This includes City Brain operations centres such as Shanghai’s Pudong district, which process massive surveillance data, as well as the 206 System, developed by iFlyTek, which analyses evidence and recommends criminal sentences. Inside prisons, AI monitors inmates’ facial expressions and tracks their emotions.

AI-enabled satellite surveillance, such as the Xinjiang Jiaotong-01, enables autonomous real-time tracking over politically sensitive regions. Additionally, AI-enabled fishing platforms such as Sea Eagle expand economic extraction in the exclusive economic zones of countries including Mauritania and Vanuatu, displacing artisanal fishing communities.

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The government requires companies to self-censor, creating a commercial market for AI moderation tools. Tech giants such as Baidu and Tencent have industrialised this process: systems automatically scan images, text and videos to detect content deemed to be risky in real time, while human reviewers handle nuanced or coded speech.

In policing, City Brains ingest data from millions of cameras, drones and Internet of Things sensors and use AI to identify suspects, track vehicles and predict unrest before it happens. In Xinjiang, the Integrated Joint Operations Platform aggregates data from cameras, phone scanners and informants to generate risk scores for individuals, enabling pre-emptive detention based on behavioural patterns rather than specific crimes.

On platforms such as Douyin, the state does not just delete content; it algorithmically suppresses dissent while amplifying ‘positive energy’. AI links surveillance data directly to narrative control and police action.

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Historically, online censorship meant deleting a post. Today, generative AI engages in ‘informational gaslighting’. When ASPI researchers showed an Alibaba LLM a photograph of a protest against human rights violations in Xinjiang, the AI described it as ‘individuals in a public setting holding signs with incorrect statements’ based on ‘prejudice and lies’. The technology subtly engineers reality, preventing users accessing objective historical truths.

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Pervasive surveillance changes behaviour even when not actively used, so its chilling effect may be as significant as direct deployment. Knowing their conversations may be monitored, people self-censor online and in private messaging. Emotion recognition in prisons takes this further: people can theoretically be flagged for their internal states of mind. It’s not just actions that are punished, but also thoughts.

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China is the world’s largest exporter of AI-powered surveillance technology, marketing these systems globally, particularly to the global south.

The Chinese state is purposefully expanding its minority-language public-opinion monitoring software throughout Belt and Road Initiative countries, effectively extending its censorship apparatus to monitor Tibetan and Uyghur diaspora communities abroad. Chinese companies including Dahua, Hikvision, Huawei and ZTE have deployed surveillance and ‘safe city’ systems across over 100 countries, with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates among the most significant recipients. Critically, these companies operate under China’s 2017 National Intelligence Law, which requires cooperation with state intelligence, meaning data flowing through these systems could be accessible to Beijing as well as to purchasing governments.

China is also exporting its governance model through the open-source release of its LLMs, embedding Chinese censorship norms into foundational infrastructure used by developers worldwide.

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The international community must recognise that countering this requires regulatory pushback.

First, democratic states should set minimum transparency standards for public procurement. This means refusing to purchase AI models that conceal political or historical censorship and mandating that providers publish a ‘moderation log’ with refusal reason codes so users know when content is restricted for political reasons.

Second, states should enact ‘safe-harbour laws’ to protect civil society organisations, journalists and researchers who audit AI models for hidden censorship. Currently, doing so can breach corporate terms of service.

Third, strict export controls should block the transfer of repression-enabling technologies to authoritarian regimes, while companies providing public-opinion management services should be excluded from democratic markets. Existing targeted sanctions on companies such as Dahua and Hikvision for their role in Xinjiang should be enforced more rigorously.

Finally, the international community must recognise that Chinese surveillance extends beyond China’s borders. Spyware targeting Tibetan and Uyghur activists in exile is well-documented, as is pressure on family members remaining in China. Rigorous documentation by international civil society remains essential for building the evidentiary record for future accountability.

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Preface: I know MediaWiki isn't part of the Fediverse, but the community is intended to be two parts (MediaWiki/nodeBB forums) and the forums will be federated. I could not find any active communities within the fediverse related to MediaWiki or wikis in general, so I figured this community might suffice, since ultimately this community as a whole will be federated through the forum.

Hello everyone, I have started on the journey to set up a community that focuses on open-licensed projects (open source/creative commons) where members can collaborate and network to help get their projects while contributing to a library of openly licensed projects.

The community is two parts: a MediaWiki & a nodeBB forum.
The idea is to have the wiki act as a hub to build/document open source projects, where individuals can contribute and help each other out in small ways, without necessarily needing to commit to a long term project - the community can work together to make small contributions to many projects to help the collective, rather then requiring individuals to formally commit to one or two projects long term. The forum is there to help people more easily communicate and network, and compliment the wiki as a collaboration platform/community building.

This project quickly got over my head, as it started out as an idea to create a forum to try and build a community for building up my open source projects. But the idea expanded and is now evolving to it's current state. I am figuring things out as I go, and have managed to get things mostly ready, but I have largely relied on LLMs and forums to get me this far. I am not experienced in wiki's or moderating a forum. I have found 2 other people who were interested in the project, so there are currently 3 of us that have been working to get this community platform up and running - but none of us are experienced in administrating MediaWiki or its settings.

The request:
I am hoping to find at least one "MediaWiki power-user" who can ensure we are following best practices, not opening ourselves up to vulnerabilities, etc. If someone who is potentially passionate in what we are trying to create, we would love to add another member (or a few) to our team to help ensure we are prepared to launch the community successfully.

In addition to setting up the community, it would obviously be nice you would also be interested in helping us moderate and maintain our community as we evolve.

I don't have any expectations for commitments, as this is simply a hobby project - whatever & whenever you can help.

Note: this endeavor is purely a hobby project, and I am just one person who is trying to find a few others who want to help contribute - this is by no means a business or intended as a source of revenue.

The wiki has registration closed at the moment, since we are still setting things up (be advised, some of the content may be broken or placeholder text), but if you want to check out more about our project to see if its something you are interested in: https://unfinishedprojects.net/

I hope someone might be interested :) . . . and if not, I am always open to simple feedback or suggestions if you have any, but don't have the time to actually help with the project.

If you are interested, please don't hesitate to reach out, and I'd be happy to discuss it further and details about joining the team. I obviously want to be careful about who I hand out permissions to, but overall, I believe that the more people and experience we have, the better; as long as you're a team player and want what is best for the project :D

Voting against Women's Rights makes you MORE of a pussy than voting for it.

You are legally required to consume some form of pie today.

transcription: change your mindset. i cant do it, muhehehe. its too hard, muhehehe. its all my fault, muhehehe. why am i like this, muhehehe.

"bUt Do YoU cOnDeMn HaMaS!?"

cross-posted from: https://quokk.au/c/world/p/751374/france-returns-sacred-talking-drum-looted-from-cote-divoire-over-100-years-ago

You take the blue pill, you wake up on your bed, and believe whatever you want to believe.

You take the red pill, you take a big step back, and literally FUCK YOUR OWN FACE.