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Way to kick HBO while its down.

As if the Time Warner-owned cable network didnt have enough problems to worry about with cyberattacks, a notorious hacking group took over the companys Twitter and Facebook accounts Wednesday night.

Hi, OurMine are here, we are just testing your security ,HBO team please contact us to upgrade the security ourmine .org -> Contact, read a message on both social platforms at approximately 8 p.m. PT.

OurMine is well known for taking over Twitter accounts of a wide range of media accounts in recent years including Netflix, Marvel and Google. The damage doesnt seem to ever extend beyond just demonstrating the groups ability to take over the account.

In addition to taking over the main accounts at HBO, the Twitter account for Game of Thrones was also exploited. HBO managed to scrub the offending tweets shortly after they were posted.

Its unlikely the OurMine attack is coordinated with the anonymous hacker currently embroiled in a weeks-long standoff with the network that has resulted in the leakage of unaired HBO episodes, Game of Thrones script and some internal documents.

An HBO spokesman declined to comment.

OurMine wasnt the only problem HBO dealt with Wednesday. Episode six of Game of Thrones was leaked to internet piracy sites, four days ahead of Sundays premiere. It was inadvertently published by HBO Nordic and HBO Espaa services.

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HBO Social Media Accounts Hacked (EXCLUSIVE) - Variety

The Internet and social media did not create white supremacist movements in the United States, such as the hate groups that rallied in Charlottesville, Va., last weekend to deadly results. Nor did the Internet create Donald Trump, who defended the Nazi protesters as very fine people. Trump was a demagogue long before he became @realDonaldTrump on Twitter. And there was plenty of fake news before there was Facebook.

The rise of what we might call cheap speech has, however, fundamentally altered both how we communicate and the nature of our politics, endangering the health of our democracy. The path back to a more normal political scene will not be easy.

In the old days, just a handful of TV networks controlled the airwaves, and newspapers served as gatekeepers for news and opinion content. A big debate back in the 1980s and earlier was how to enable free expression for those who did not own or work for a media company and wanted to get a message out.

In 1995, UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh wrote a remarkably prescient Yale Law Journal article looking ahead to the coming Internet era. In Cheap Speech and What It Will Do, Volokh foresaw the rise of streaming music and video services such as Spotify and Netflix, the emergence of handheld tablets for reading books, the demise of classified advertising in the newspaper business, and more generally how technology would usher in radical new opportunities for readers, viewers and listeners to custom design what they read, saw and heard, while at the same time undermining the power of intermediaries including publishers and bookstore owners.

David Swanson / TNS

Alex Jones from infowars.com at Settlers Landing during the Republican National Convention in Cleveland on Monday, July 18, 2016. (David Swanson/Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS) ** OUTS - ELSENT, FPG, TCN - OUTS **

Alex Jones from infowars.com at Settlers Landing during the Republican National Convention in Cleveland on Monday, July 18, 2016. (David Swanson/Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS) ** OUTS - ELSENT, FPG, TCN - OUTS ** (David Swanson / TNS)

To Volokh, these changes were exciting and democratizing. But 22 years later, the picture of what the cheap-speech boom has wrought seems considerably darker. No doubt the Internet has dramatically lowered the costs of obtaining information and spurred the creation and consumption of content from radically diverse sources. Anyone with an idea can now get it out on Facebook, Twitter or any number of other sites accessible to anyone in the world with an Internet connection. And cheap speech has been a boon to those fighting oppressive regimes around the world, as truthful messages and relevant information can spread despite government censorship efforts.

Less positively, cheap speech has undermined mediating and stabilizing institutions of American democracy, including newspapers and political parties, with negative social and political consequences.

The newspaper business has been decimated. In 2001, approximately 411,800 people were employed in the journalism industry. By 2016, that number had fallen below 174,000. Between 2000 and 2015, newspaper print advertising revenue declined from $60 billion to $20 billion a year. As a 2009 Columbia Journalism Review report concluded, What is under threat is independent reporting that provides information, investigation, analysis, and community knowledge, particularly in the coverage of local affairs.

In place of media scarcity, we now have a media fire hose. Because the barrier to entry is so low virtually nonexistent its easy for both domestic and foreign sources to spread falsehoods and propaganda for political or pecuniary purposes. People no longer rely on Walter Cronkite to tell them the way it is or for the Los Angeles Times to screen out the kooks. Instead, Macedonian kids make money and the Russian government makes trouble inventing news stories like Hillary Clinton is a murderer, or Trump was endorsed by the Pope.

Since fake news websites look just like legitimate sites when links are shared on Facebook, email or otherwise, even readers who want to distinguish truth from fiction may have a hard time. The problem is compounded by polarization: People share stories that reinforce what they are already inclined to believe. The echo chamber may make us less tolerant and less able to recognize falsehoods.

Fake news is far from the only problem associated with cheap speech. The demise of local newspapers sets the stage for an increase in corruption among state and local officials. Without newspapers watching, as the Los Angeles Times did in its Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of corruption in Bell, chicanery can flourish.

Cheap speech is also hastening the irrelevancy of political parties by facilitating direct communication between politicians and voters. Social media, for instance, provided Trump a vehicle to get around the GOP in launching his unorthodox campaign. Now that hes president, social media allows him to circumvent not only the media but also his staff as he lies to the public.

Social media can help activists overcome collective action problems to identify fellow travelers and stage peaceful protests, or violent and hateful ones. It should have come as no surprise that the organizers of the Charlottesville rally promoted it heavily on social media and then used the fallout to look for more recruits.

What can be done?

As Trumps presidency should make obvious, we do not want the government to have the power to ban speech it dislikes what the White House considers fake news. 1st Amendment protections rightfully would prevent such legislation, anyway.

Still, in the era of cheap speech, some shifts in 1st Amendment doctrine seem desirable to assist citizens in ascertaining the truth. The courts should not stand in the way of possible future laws aimed at requiring social media sites to identify and police false political advertising, for instance.

Of course a new conservative Supreme Court is more likely to make things worse than better. It might hold, for example, that it violates the 1st Amendment to bar fake campaign news distributed over social media by foreign governments. Or it might strike down laws that help voters figure out who is paying for political activity (under the dubious argument that transparency measures violate a right to anonymity).

Ultimately, nongovernmental actors may be best suited to counter the problems created by cheap speech. Tech companies such as Facebook, Google and Twitter can assist audiences in ferreting out the truth. Consumer pressure may be necessary to get there, but it is not clear if consumers or shareholders will have the power to move dominant market players who do not want to be moved.

Subsidies for (especially local) investigative reporting can also help the problems of corruption and boost the credibility of newspapers as well as other supports for civil society. But nothing is certain to work in these precarious times.

It seems cheap speech, despite its undeniable benefits, has come with a steep price for our democracy.

Richard L. Hasen is the Chancellors Professor of Law and Political Science at UC Irvine. This is adapted from a forthcoming law review article, Cheap Speech and What It Has Done (to American Democracy).

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook

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Speech in America is fast, cheap and out of control - Los Angeles Times

Mosquito, Malaria agent

The National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) has urged the media to collaborate with it on malaria control, care and prevention in Nigeria.

According to the organization, collaboration with Health Writers Association of Nigeria (HEWAN) would help to achieve the programmes strategic plan of ensuring total elimination of malaria in Nigeria by 2020.

The National Coordinator of NMEP, Dr Audu Mohammed, made the call on Friday during a Media Chat on Malaria organised by HEWAN, Lagos Chapter, in collaboration with the body.

The theme of the media parley is Management of Malaria in Pregnancy.

Mohammed, represented by Dr Joel Akilah, Head of Integrated Vector Management in NMEP, said that the importance of the meeting could not be overemphasised because malaria was a major public health concern in Nigeria

This is especially when considered against the backdrop of the negative effects of malaria attacks on our social and economic development as a result of absenteeism from schools, offices and farms.

Over 90 per cent of Nigerians are at risk of malaria while children under-five and pregnant women are seen to be more vulnerable to this disease, hence the focus of this discussion.

He said: Although Nigeria has made giant strides in the fight against malaria, a lot of work still needs to be done to eliminate malaria in Nigeria.

READ: Climate change programme to improve peoples lives in northern states

There has been reduction in the prevalence of malaria from 42 per cent (according to the Malaria Indicator Survey MIS 2010) to 27 per cent (MIS 2015).

Improvement in the uptake of Intermittent Preventive Treatment in Pregnancy (IPTp) from13 per cent (NMIS 2010) to 19 per cent (NMIS 2015) by pregnant women who received at least two doses of SP has been documented.

However, uptake of 19 per cent SP is relatively low if Nigeria must eliminate incidences of malaria in pregnancy and its adverse effects, he said.

According to the NMEP boss, malaria is a problem that requires a multi-pronged approach and the belief is that the media is central to solving this challenge.

It is for this reason we have invited you all as partners in the fight against malaria to interact together to build synergy to create the needed awareness.

There is also the need for sensitisation of the populace, especially pregnant women on the importance of early Ante-Natal Care (ANC) attendance and uptake of the quality intervention (IPT) to prevent malaria in pregnancy

As such, it is necessary for the media to be equipped with adequate information as well as be aware of current policies, community mobilisation and partners involvement in malaria elimination, he said.

Mrs Itohowo Uko, the Head of Advocacy, Communication and Social Mobilisation in NMEP, said that Malaria in Pregnancy had grave consequences, especially as it accounted for 11 per cent of maternal deaths.

Malaria in Pregnancy can occur with or without symptoms; it can cause anaemia, lead to miscarriages, still births, pre-term and low birth weight babies and in unfortunate situations, death.

Uko said: However, the NMEP has a Prevention of Malaria in Pregnancy (MIP) strategy.

This strategy advocates using Focused Antenatal Care (ANC), IPTp, regular and appropriate use of Long Lasting Insectide Nets (LLINs) in addition to early diagnosis and prompt treatment of malaria in pregnant women.

It is our belief, however, that the media need to be equipped with the right and correct information, particularly in health-related areas to be able to provide such information.

Also, Dr Tolu Arowolo of the WHO re-emphasied the importance of early Antenatal Care (ANC), saying that booking and administering of IPTp are critical in preventing malaria during pregnancy.

IPTp is based on the assumption that every pregnant woman living in an area of high malaria transmission has malaria in her blood stream or placenta, whether or not she has symptoms of malaria.

A pregnant woman is supposed to receive a minimum of three doses of SP before delivery.

They should also sleep under LLINs because it is also an intervention against malaria, she said.

Arowolo said that good nutrition was also critical during pregnancy as it helped to nourish the mother and foetus, as well as boost the immune system.

Dr Bartholomew Odio, a gynaecologist, urged people, especially pregnant women to always request for testing before the treatment of malaria fever.

Odio, who is the Malaria Technical Advisor with Jhpiego Nigeria, an affiliate organisation to John Hopkins University, U.S, advised them to always demand to know the drugs that were given to them.

Mr Timothy Obot, representing the Head, Monitoring and Evaluation in NMEP, said that there had been a lot of commendable strategies deployed to prevent, appropriately diagnosis and treat malaria.

He said that there were huge gaps in appropriate knowledge about the causes, diagnosis, treatment and prevention, thereby necessitating the need to bridge the information gap.

READ: Most Nigerians consume water from unwholesome sources Minister

He urged the media to take the lead in providing investigated and researched evidence of the efficacy of recommended malaria prevention strategies.

Responding, Mrs Chioma Obinna, President, HEWAN, commended the NMEP for its strategic policies and activities toward the elimination of malaria in the country.

It is important that NMEP is collaborating with the media in the fight to eliminate malaria because the media had the power to reach out to the masses.

People depend on the media to give them information about what is happening in the society and we are obliged to give them timely and accurate messages too.

With this collaboration, there will be smoother synergy in getting the right perspective and information on issues relating to malaria from the right sources for onward dissemination to Nigerians.

HEWAN members through their different platforms, will also effectively communicate to pregnant women and healthcare givers the need to prevent or effectively manage malaria, she said.

Also, Mr Sola Ogundipe, a seasoned health journalist applauded NMEP for the initiative.

He said that eliminating malaria in Nigeria, especially in pregnancy was achievable through commitment and collaboration with all stakeholders, as well as Nigerians themselves.

There are different areas to be addressed when it comes to malaria and its elimination in the country.

These challenges also have possible measures and solutions; given the right information the media will do their best to communicate these to the public.

Deaths from malaria as well as deaths as a result of Malaria in Pregnancy can be reduced to the barest minimum and HEWAN will join in this cause, Ogundipe said.

See the original post here:
Malaria control: NMEP urges media collaboration in care and prevention - P.M. News

Guy Miles was not a model citizen. In 1998, hed broken the conditionsfor parole (he had been incarcerated on charges of stealing cars from a valet parking service) by moving to Nevada from California. Thinking he was still concealing his true whereabouts, he traveled back to California to meet with his parole officer there, andhewas subsequently arrested.

But his arrest was not for theparole violation, instead it was for bank robbery. Two eyewitnesses to a robbery in Orange County, California, identifiedMiles as one of the robbers. Despite compelling evidence of Miles innocence, he was convicted and sentenced to 75 years in prison. In 2013, however, more evidence (including a confession from a co-defendant in Miles trial) that implicated two other men was uncovered whichremoved Miles from the scene of the crime. His appeal is still awaiting a court decision in California.

Even in the age of DNA evidence and advanced forensics science, the claims of an eyewitness still carry a lot of weightin court, in the media and in our heads. But reversals of convictions due to later evidence, and revelations of eyewitness misidentifications continue to mount. Of the first 130 convictions that were ever overturned by later DNA evidence, 78 percent of the caseswere initially decidedviamisidentification by witnesses, according to the Innocence Project. In addition, studies have shown that one-third of identified perpetrators were instead fillers deliberately put in a police lineup; these fillers had nothing whatsoever to do with the crime.

So, is eyewitness testimony worth anything? While the latest headlines and court cases might indicate no, neuroscientists and criminal justice scholars say that eyewitnesses can have value, as long as we have a solid understanding of how the brain takes in visual or audio memories and how those memories can change over time.

George Zimmerman

There are many ways eyewitness testimony and memory can change. In the famous trial of neighborhood watch coordinator George Zimmerman, accused of second-degree murder in the shooting death of a young black man named Trayvon Martin, eyewitness testimonywas inconsistent:

For many neuroscientists, the value of eyewitness testimony depends on timing when testimony was collected, as well as how well the eyewitness truly saw what was happening at the time of the crime.

A lot of howpersonal accounts arecreated depend on how the brain stores memories. Richard Wise, a University of North Dakota forensic psychologist, told Scientific American:

To reconstruct a memory, the eyewitness draws upon several sources of information, only one being his or her actual recollection. To fill in gaps in memory, the eyewitness relies upon his or her expectation, attitudes, prejudices, bias, and prior knowledge. Furthermore, information supplied to an eyewitness after a crime (i.e., post-event information) by the police, prosecutor, other eyewitnesses, media, etc., can alter an eyewitnesss memory of the crime.

To understand how memories can be filled in, changed and otherwise affected, its become important to know how both theeyes and brain work.

The eye, of course, takes in light through the lens and aligns images to the retina. Then, images are picked up and transmitted to the brain, via the optic nerve. At that point, things can get complicated. The brains various regions code information, and decide where it should be stored, or how it should be reacted to. This process can result in a number of optical illusions. These illusions, or false

An MC Escher print

images, include spots that arise when the eyes focused on very bright lights, optic migraines that produce shadows or other (nonexistent) light changes, or cognitive illusions, which occur when the eye records one image, but the brain encodes (or remembers) another. Prints by MC Escher, or pictures that seem to alternatively show an image of a horse and a tree exemplify this type of illusion.

These illusions can affect how a witness remembers somethinglikea crime and memories can be changed by much more than illusions. A U.S. National Research Council analysis on eyewitness testimony reported in 2014 that:

Factors such as viewing conditions, duress, elevated emotions, and biases influence the visual perception experience. Perceptual experiences are stored by a system of memory that is highly malleable and continuously evolving, neither retaining nor divulging content in an informational vacuum. As such, the fidelity of our memories to actual events may be compromised by many factors at all stages of processing, from encoding to storage and retrieval.

Timing of the eventmay be another issue with eyewitness testimony. Ahead of Zimmermans acquittal at trial, several witnesses changed their story from their initial impressions, but this was not isolated to the Zimmerman case. Scientists have started looking at how certain a witness was of his or her first impressions of a crime; often, if theyre not certain at first, they can later be coaxed (either by their brains or a prosecutor) into greater certainty, even if that certainty is wrong. Conversely, knowing a witness certaintyduring the initial investigative interview can help put that memory into some context.

To remedy these issues, psychologists have teamed up with the US Justice Department (which set up procedures for handling eyewitness accounts only in 1999) and criminal prosecutors to determine how eyewitness evidence is handled. These included procedures that mimic scientific studies, including a warning to witnesses that a suspect may not be in a police lineup, and double-blind situations in which a detective cannot influence a witness memory.

But the National Research Council report indicated that far more needed to be done, particularlyon the research side. The reportcriticized inadequate collaboration between police, courts and researchers, cited a lack of transparency of research methods on eyewitness handling, and found a lack of reproducibility with data reporting.

So for now, in eyewitness testimony, what you see isnt necessarily what you get. But at least now science canshow us how what we see changes what we get.

Andrew Porterfield is a writer and editor, and has worked with numerous academic institutions, companies and non-profits in the life sciences. BIO. Follow him on Twitter @AMPorterfield.

More here:
Can we trust the eyes of those who witness crimes? - Genetic Literacy Project

(Updated with statements from Google and Gab.)

Gab, the conservative social network that has acted as a haven for people banned from the usual platforms, has been removed from the Google Play Store for violating the companys hate speech policy, the company announced on Twitter. Apple rejected it from the App Store in June for similar reasons.

That policy is pretty straightforward: We dont allow apps that advocate against groups of people based on their race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, nationality, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity.

Its not clear what specifically Gab did that warranted its being kicked off the store, but presumably it would have to be at the level of the app itself, not just someone idly venting hatred on the service. After all, theres plenty of hate speech on Twitter and YouTube, but those apps are still available despite a crackdown this week following the events in Charlottesville. Perhaps its a question of volume.

In a statement, Google didnt get too specific, but indicated it was a lack of moderation:

In order to be on the Play Store, social networking apps need to demonstrate a sufficient level of moderation, including for content that encourages violence and advocates hate against groups of people. This is a long-standing rule and clearly stated in our developer policies. Developers always have the opportunity to appeal a suspension and may have their apps reinstated if theyve addressed the policy violations and are compliant with our Developer Program Policies.

This doesnt mean Google has blocked the app entirely it cant do that. You just cant download it from the Play Store any more. It should still function fine and users will be able to sideload it if they like, and Gabs Twitter account indicates theyre working on making that easy.

Gab is aimed at people interested in Western values, individual liberty, and the free exchange of ideas looking to avoid the special interests pushing a very specific agenda in tech. If that dog whistle isnt loud enough, the investment page lists readers of Breitbart, Drudge and Infowars as the target demographic.

It was founded by Andrew Torba, who in December was removed from Y Combinators alumni network (which he had joined after taking part in the program) for his behavior among the other founders there.

I asked Torba whether there had been any recent changes or warnings that might explain the ban. He wrote back:

No there have not been any major changes. We have had an app on the Play Store for months. This is targeted. We have been very consistent with promoting free and lawful expression and speech for everyone for over a year now. We have a diverse community (and also a diverse team that includes our Muslim Co-Founder and Indian CCO) of 225,000 people from around the world. What you should be writing about is Silicon Valleys war on free speech and individual liberty online. This is the beginning of the alt tech revolution.

Read more:
Alt-social network Gab booted from Google Play Store for hate speech - TechCrunch