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Lindsay P. Gorman Profile picture
Lindsay P. Gorman
@LindsayPGorman
Managing Director & Senior Fellow @GMFTech. 🧪💡@deepsciventures. Prev: @WhiteHouse @MarkWarner @SecureDemocracy. Recovering quantum physicist. China/cyber/AI.
Oct 31, 2022 • 13 tweets • 12 min read
Heading into the midterms, nearly 30 percent of major-party candidates in Senate races and 1/5 in House races now have #TikTok accounts. Natsec concerns remain.

🚨New report out from me and Nash Miller @SecureDemocracy, and covered by @washingtonpost.🧵
securingdemocracy.gmfus.org/candidates-tik… I told @Cat_Zakrzewski,“It’s very clear that TikTok is not ready for the onslaught of political content...And there’s a question whether TikTok — being owned by a Chinese company — can ever really be ready for handling U.S. political content responsibly.”
washingtonpost.com/technology/202…
Sep 28, 2022 • 12 tweets • 7 min read
Tomorrow, the International Telecommunication Union votes on its next Secretary General in Bucharest, Romania.

US officials from @POTUS to @ABlinken to @StateCDP have taken an unprecedented interest in the vote of a technical body.

The internet’s future is at stake. 🧵 US candidate @DoreenBogdan is running on a platform of a “Trusted, Connected Digital Future” against Russia’s Rashid Ismailov, a former Telecom Minister and Huawei VP who is likely to support the emerging autocratic view of the future internet.
Sep 26, 2022 • 8 tweets • 6 min read
The Biden admin and #TikTok have drafted a preliminary agreement to resolve national security concerns but face hurdles over the terms, as the platform negotiates to keep operating in the United States without major changes to its ownership structure.
nytimes.com/2022/09/26/tec… I've written previously about what the threats of #TikTok are to democratic societies for @SecureDemocracy.

There are two main ones:
1⃣ Data exfiltration
2⃣ Information manipulation

So far, policy efforts such as via #CFIUS have focused chiefly on 1⃣ .
securingdemocracy.gmfus.org/qa-with-lindsa… Image
May 21, 2021 • 14 tweets • 14 min read
To outcompete autocrats, democracies need affirmative strategies & a positive vision for emerging technology.

Over the last 10 months ASD partnered w/@ISDglobal @Demos @SNFAgoraJHU on *The Good Web Project* to articulate a vision for an Internet compatible w/liberal democracy.🧵 Image Democratic tech cooperation is on the rise, from the Quad 🇦🇺🇮🇳🇯🇵🇺🇸Critical & Emerging Tech Working Group, to the proposed EU-US Trade & Tech Council.🇪🇺🇺🇸

Many initiatives rightly seek to unite democracies to contest the rise of techno-authoritarianism.
securingdemocracy.gmfus.org/future-interne…
Jan 18, 2021 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
Parler back up thanks to Russian DDoS protection software DDoS-Guard IP.

Fun fact: DDoS-Guard IP also hosts the official website for Hamas. It remains to be seen how much the platform will reconstitute itself, but the foreign influence implications of a Russia-based host of Americans’ speech are deeply troubling.
Oct 27, 2020 • 22 tweets • 11 min read
Beijing is making a concerted push to lead the Future Internet, across infrastructure, application, and governance domains.

It's time for democracies to push back.

In a new report, I detail this effort and provide 47 recs for the US, Europe, & allies.
securingdemocracy.gmfus.org/future-interne… As @washingtonpost writes, "The report from the Alliance for Securing Democracy at the German Marshall Fund lays out steps U.S. officials need to take to compete with China in the race for emerging technologies" @Joseph_Marks_ @TonyaJoRiley

Let's dig in!
washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/…
Sep 21, 2020 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
Reflecting a bit further on this 'proposal' from Hu Xijin, a world where there are no truly multinational companies, only companies with different value systems adapting to the control and the value systems of their host countries is an inherently authoritarian one. (1/x) It's in line with the digital sovereignty agenda China & Russia have been promoting at the UN.

And the idea that there are no universal human rights, only local laws. That one nation's laws are as valid as the next, whether or not they use technology to oppress... (2/x)
Sep 21, 2020 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
Never a good sign when Chinese media is touting and promoting the TikTok restructuring as a model for what should happen globally.

What's clear is that the US has bumbled its way into a precedent the consequences of which it hasn't anticipated. (h/t @EBKania for flagging!) Chinese state media stating that the new TikTok Global will be 100% owned by Bytedance.

Seems to contradict what we know of the deal (80% Bytedance ownership).

Bottom line is that according to PRC, it will still have control over TikTok. What has been accomplished?
Sep 20, 2020 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
A fascinating irony in today's Magistrate ruling against the WeChat ban:

It appears that China's bans of *other* apps may be providing some First Amendment protection for WeChat in the United States.

Here's how: Image The 1A argument made against the ban hinges on the idea that WeChat is the only viable communication platform for Chinese-Americans in the US.

So removing WeChat infringes on speech.

But WeChat's uniqueness is partly due to China's own bans of other communication apps.
Sep 19, 2020 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
Wow. In the “is-it-the-lesser-of-two-evils?” option, it appears the Bytedance-Oracle deal is a go.

The questions are in what form?

Who retains ownership over TikTok’s data and algorithms?

Is that entity incentivized to put US national security over business in China? Here are the details.

— Bytedance will retain majority stake & control over assets & algorithm
— The new TikTok Global will donate $5B to an “education fund” (Trump’s ‘cut’)
—Headquartered in Texas & hiring “at least” 25,000
—Oracle to review source code.
trib.al/urUoOP1
Sep 18, 2020 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
In a Commerce-driven process, the Trump Admin moves towards TikTok and WeChat bans, starting by blocking downloads and upgrades from the Google and Apple libraries.

US companies will also have to stop using WeChat for payments. Some thoughts:
google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc… Via Sec. Ross, looks like a complete ban on TikTok wont take effect until post election and there might still be a way for a deal before that deadline.

This move signals that the proposed Bytedance-Oracle merger is insufficient — as I told @TonyaJoRiley washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/…
Sep 9, 2020 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Yikes. A senior DHS official alleges in a whistleblower complaint that he was told to stop providing intelligence analysis on the threat of Russian interference in the 2020 elections, in part because it “made the President look bad.”
google.com/amp/s/www.wash… Acting Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis Brian Murphy also alleges that acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf told him to stop producing intelligence assessments on Russia and shift the focus on election interference to China and Iran.
Sep 4, 2020 • 16 tweets • 8 min read
Should Chinese diplomats be banned on Twitter?

I'll be leading a 30-minute debate next week (9/10) between two @ipacglobal members: the US's @RepGallagher (R-WI) and European Parliamentarian @MiriamMLex on this very question.

A brief thread on why this matters. (1/) Image Since the start of the Hong Kong protests in April 2019, we've seen a massive uptick in Chinese state messaging on Twitter.

Accounts connected to Chinese embassies, consulates, and ambassadors have increased by more than 250 percent. (2/) Image
Aug 29, 2020 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Ummmm... so much wrong in this one tweet. A New Yorker story about a WIRED conversation funded by Huawei and promoted on Twitter. Image Understanding the US-China tech race, presented by Wired and Huawei. Image
Aug 16, 2020 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Trump taking aim at another Chinese tech giant -- this time, Alibaba, whose main business is outside the information space. "Because China bans our companies" is not a valid security rationale that credibly separates the United States from Xi's authoritarian China. Interestingly, Alibaba's US business has grown significantly over the last year, and especially during the COVID-19 pandemic as more buyers are turning online.
marketwatch.com/story/alibaba-…
Aug 11, 2020 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
France is using data privacy authorities to investigate TikTok. It’s far past time that the United States arm itself with similar tools and jump on the badwagon of universally applied standards around data. Note that it’s possible to do so while at the same time recognizing the unique national security concerns with authoritarian information apps — especially around information manipulation which doesn’t seem to be taken up here.euobserver.com/opinion/148635
Aug 7, 2020 • 4 tweets • 3 min read
Great overview here from @vmanancourt & @LauKaya on how the TikTok conversation is playing out in Europe.

Bottom line: lack of clarity on who is leading data investigations and no talk of a ban. google.com/amp/s/www.poli… Includes thoughts from our @euobs op-ed on TikTok’s entry into the EU Code of Practice on Disinformation and the risks of whitewashing political censorship. @NKovalcikova @kristineberz
euobserver.com/opinion/148635
Aug 7, 2020 • 11 tweets • 4 min read
Wow. The EO against Bytedance is likely just backstopping the urgency of a sale. But taking action against Tencent has major implications, including for how members of the Chinese diaspora communicate with relatives back home... Moreover, unlike w/#TikTok where there was an entire CFIUS review process, it’s not clear at all that this #WeChat move has been thought through.

They are different apps, w/different user bases, different types of communication, & different levels of popularity around the world.
Aug 5, 2020 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Interesting. Trump admin announces new 5-part internet initiative for Clean Carrier, Clean Store, Clean Apps, Clean Cloud, Clean Cable.

“Building a Clean fortress around our citizens’ data will ensure all of our nations’ security” is the wrong framing.
state.gov/announcing-the… But since this initiative is run out of the @StateDept, where are the multilateral commitments that may be key to taking some of these steps in a responsible way that doesn’t emulate the authoritarian actors we seek to guard against?
Jul 21, 2020 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
In the cyber realm, in addition to hack-and-leak operations we’re familiar with from 2016 in the US and 2017 in France, the UK #RussiaReport identifies two additional concerning areas of Russian cyber activity to interfere in democracies. (Thread)
scribd.com/document/46988… 1. “Cyber pre-positioning” activity on the Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) of the UK and other nations.

“The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has advised that there is *** Russian cyber intrusion into the UK’s CNI – particularly marked in the *** sectors.”
Jul 12, 2020 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
Agree with @BethanyAllenEbr and @xu_xiuzhong that this is a terrible explanation "on the TikTok stuff."

There's a chasm of difference btw your data being held by a US company selling standing desks and by an authoritarian govt bent on cracking down on political speech. 1/ Facebook complies w/U.S. law enforcement *subpeonas* bc they are the laws that as a society we have decided on. We can read them and if we don't like them, we can change them. But the 1st amendment guarantees that in the US, govt can't use that data to stifle speech. 2/