Russia focusing on American social media stars to covertly influence voters

Straits Time,

WASHINGTON – Russia is increasingly turning to American social media stars to covertly influence voters ahead of the 2024 presidential election, according to US officials and recently unveiled criminal charges.

“What we see them doing is relying on witting and unwitting Americans to seed, promote and add credibility to narratives that serve these foreign actors’ interest,” a senior intelligence official said in a briefing on Sept 6. “These foreign countries typically calculate that Americans are more likely to believe other Americans’ views.”

The approach is widely viewed by American security agencies as one of Russia’s preferred tactics this cycle in order to make their foreign psychological operations appear more authentic.

Broadly, these missions typically seek to anger Americans, highlight societal divisions and emphasise partisan talking points while questioning the US government’s effectiveness and role in global security, experts say.

“We’re focusing on these tactics because the American public should know that content that they read online, especially on social media, could be foreign propaganda, even if it appears to be coming from fellow Americans,” another senior US intelligence official said in a July briefing with reporters on election security.

“In short, foreign influence actors are getting better at hiding their hand and using Americans to do it,” he added.

On Sept 4, the Justice Department revealed criminal charges against two former employees of Russian media outlet Russia Today, or RT, who they say were covertly funding an American political media company.

The indictment outlines an alleged scheme where the Russians sent about US$10 million (S$13 million) to two media business owners, Lauren Chen and Liam Donovan, who then paid American conservative influencers to create videos and social media posts.

Some of the commentators had, at different times, shared anti-Ukraine content, which aligned with the effort’s priorities. Chen and Donovan did not respond to a request for comment.

Nippon Ishin calls on Hyogo leader to resign

The Japan Times,

Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito, accused of workplace bullying, saw his political support base vanish Monday after Nippon Ishin no Kai submitted a letter calling on him to resign from his post.

Nippon Ishin’s move is expected to be a fatal blow for Saito, as he had the party’s support when he was elected as governor as an independent.

Following Nippon Ishin’s letter, all five parliamentary groups in the Hyogo Prefectural Assembly have called for Saito to step down as governor. The other four are the Liberal Democratic Party, Komeito, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Japanese Communist Party.

Daisuke Katayama, a Nippon Ishin Upper House lawmaker who heads the party’s Hyogo chapter, submitted the party’s letter to Vice Gov. Yohei Hattori on Monday afternoon, urging Saito to resign and seek a mandate through a fresh gubernatorial election.

“We call on Gov. Saito to resign from his position and seek the public’s judgment regarding his stance and explanations,” the letter stated. “We strongly hope that Gov. Saito will make a wise decision from a big picture perspective.”

At a news conference Monday in Tokyo, Nippon Ishin Secretary-General Fumitake Fujita said that although the work of an investigative panel has not concluded, testimonies from various parties involved have made it clear that Saito bears “certain levels” of responsibility.

While Saito has asserted his innocence and expressed his determination to continue as governor, it is a fact that he has caused a stagnation in the work of the prefectural administration, Fujita said.

“Resigning and holding an election to regain the support of the prefectural residents is one of the options available to politicians, and I believe this would be an appropriate course of action,” he said.

Saito has said that he will push forward with important budgets and projects while he deals with the panel’s investigation.

So far, attempts by former Vice Gov. Yasutaka Katayama, who resigned at the end of July, and Nippon Ishin’s co-chairman and Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura to persuade Saito to resign have failed.

The LDP has urged him to step down and plans to formally submit a petition demanding Saito’s resignation on Thursday. If Saito does not resign, parties in the prefectural assembly are likely to submit a binding no-confidence motion against the governor, or a nonbinding resolution urging him to resign.

Should the no-confidence motion pass, Saito can either dissolve the assembly within 10 days, or he would simply lose his post after that point. If another no-confidence motion passes in a newly elected assembly, Saito would immediately lose his post without having the authority to dissolve the assembly a second time.

Death at hospital highlights staffing

Waikato Times,

A woman left to die at Waikato Hospital has shone a light on staffing shortages in the emergency department, a situation that NZ Nurses Organisation delegate Tracy Chisholm says is putting lives at risk every day.

Hospital management, however, say they’ve beefed up staffing since the woman’s death and have implemented changes to avoid making the same mistakes again.

Her comments come after the Waikato Times revealed that a Coronial inquiry into the 2023 death of Barbara Tomelty at the hospital deemed her death “preventable”.

Coroner Ian Telford also revealed that she was “not subject to any effective form of clinical monitoring around the time she died”.

On the night Tomelty was admitted, the emergency department was “five RNs [registered nurses] short, four sick and one roster gap”.

He said that while the staffing levels were not seen as a contributory factor, “this inquiry has found that the nursing ratio was far lower than recommended”.

“At the time of the critical event, the nurse-to-patient ratio that night was lower than the ratio recommended by the New Zealand Nurses Organisation and the College of Emergency Nurses New Zealand”.

Chisholm said it’s not an anomaly and the hospital has been “chronically understaffed” for a long time.

“This puts the lives of patients at risk every day, so someone dying due to not being treated on time was inevitable,” she said.

New Zealand Resident Doctors Association (NZRDA) national secretary Dr Deborah Powell has also claimed that patient safety is at risk at the hospital.

Chisholm said the chronic understaffing was resulting in “overwhelming workloads” and burnout among staff.

“People aren’t getting – can’t access or afford – the care they need in the community and this overflows into the ED, making the current situation really difficult.”

She also said the staffing issues could not be resolved without additional Government cash for the health sector.

According to Health NZ/Te Whatu Ora Waikato group director operations Michelle Sutherland, however, there has been a “significant” boost to emergency department staff.

“In terms of staffing, as part of our ongoing recruitment processes, we have significantly increased the number of nurses in ED, to ensure the best care for our patients.”

Sutherland said their head of ED had met with Tomelty’s family and “sincerely apologised”.

Driving a wedge between members

Otago Daily Times,

MEMBERS at one of New Zealand’s most exclusive golf clubs are disappointed at having to stump up almost $300,000 or be forced out.

An ‘‘information package’’ detailing a major redevelopment and a new member ownership model at Sir Michael Hill’s private golf club, The Hills, in Arrowtown, was obtained by the Otago Daily Times yesterday. The Hills director Jim Rohrstaff said the equity ownership model under which The Hills will be redeveloped had received an ‘‘overwhelmingly positive’’ response from existing members.

“Our vision is to create a world­class golf and lifestyle community and feedback to date indicates the majority of our members are extremely excited by the opportunity to share in ownership of the new club and course.”

The information package informed existing members the new club’s founding shareholders were issuing three million investor shares and, for $295,000, existing members could obtain 10,000 investor shares from the initial offer. Investors had no voting rights, nor any right to receive notice of, or attend, any shareholding meetings.

However, upon payment of the $295,000, existing members could tick a box indicating they would like to be considered for membership, it said.

The ODT understands not all existing members were offered the opportunity to invest, or apply for membership, that some who received the offer were displeased by it, and that some members had resigned their memberships as a result.

Some felt that potential overseas members were being prioritised over New Zealanders. According to the club documents, membership for New Zealand residents was $17,900 plus GST for the 2025­26 season and $14,900 plus GST for international members, the information package said.

Former All Blacks coach Laurie Mains said yesterday he was not taking up the opportunity to continue as a member. ‘‘I’m disappointed with the new model. Mainly because of the time that the course will be under reconstruction.