Something to be aware of when encountering viral French riot videos online. Especially when loaded with right wing narratives and talking points, as they are on X. Make note of the accounts pushing this campaign for future review.
Russian intelligence services have a documented history of exploiting civil unrest to destabilize governments, deepen political divisions and undermine public confidence in democratic institutions.
Warnings of possible Russian hybrid attacks came days and weeks ahead of protests in France. Large demonstrations provide opportunities for sabotage, provocations and other forms of interference to take place amid existing unrest, making it harder for authorities to distinguish politically motivated violence from coordinated foreign operations.
Riots and violent confrontations can be exploited to increase tensions between demonstrators and police. A single violent incident can trigger a wider confrontation, provoke a heavy police response and undermine public support for otherwise peaceful demonstrations. Russian operatives do not need to control a protest movement to exploit it.
Kremlin-linked influence networks can then circulate selective footage, misleading claims and fabricated accounts of the violence. The same incident can be presented to different audiences in contradictory ways: protesters are portrayed as violent extremists, while police and government officials are accused of authoritarian repression. Both narratives encourage hostility and distrust.
This is where the GRU and Russia's wider influence apparatus become relevant. Russian military intelligence has been implicated in sabotage and other covert operations across Europe, while Kremlin-linked online networks have conducted coordinated campaigns to manipulate political debate. Physical disruption and online amplification can reinforce each other, although evidence is needed to establish whether they are coordinated in any particular incident.
The timing of warnings before major demonstrations matters because authorities must prepare for the possibility of deliberate interference without treating legitimate protesters as suspects. Provocateurs can take advantage of crowded streets, existing tensions and the presence of large numbers of police officers. Any resulting violence may initially be attributed to protesters, regardless of who was responsible.
Prolonged unrest also strains policing resources, consumes government attention and diverts political debate from other issues, including France's military and diplomatic support for Ukraine.
Images of burning vehicles, street clashes and damaged infrastructure can be circulated internationally to portray France and its European allies as unstable. These images are particularly useful to Russian propaganda when presented without context or when isolated incidents are made to appear representative of an entire protest movement.
Russia does not need to organise demonstrations to benefit from them. It can exploit legitimate grievances, amplify isolated violence and encourage opposing groups to blame one another.
The protests in France may have entirely legitimate causes. That does not prevent Russian intelligence services from attempting to exploit them. But warnings of possible hybrid attacks are not, by themselves, evidence that Russian operatives have infiltrated the demonstrations or caused specific incidents.
I'm pretty sure we were all duped by Elon. The way I see it, his support for MAGA started long before his actual announcement for supporting Trump, and I'm pretty sure he was already planning to use Twitter as a political tool when he bought it.
Elon is not stupid. He may be silly and socially awkward, but not stupid. He also has a ton of advisors who probably told him that Twitter/X would bleed money, especially the way he's running it. But buying a social media platform, removing all guardrails and supercharging it with relatively good AI like Grok made it a powerful tool for social manipulation.
MAGA and Musk know that the Kremlin supports them, so there's zero reasons to curb foreign influence operations on X. Let them roam free and wreak havoc among Trump's adversaries. 44 billion is nothing compared to what Elon gets from tax cuts and new deals while working under Trump.
But what's their end game now that Trump is the president and they most probably control the Senate and the House, too? Lemme theorize:
As Project 2025 outlines, Trump's (and now Elon's) main adversary is China. Trump has stated that he's planning to launch a trade war against Beijing, and this would affect Tesla's businesses, too. The Tesla gigafactory in Shanghai could be in trouble, and the raw materials required for building electric vehicles could become more challenging without China.
So what's the alternative? Russia, of course! They have plenty of raw materials and Elon was planning to launch a Tesla plant in Russia already back in 2021. Recently, we learned that Musk has been in contact with Vladimir Putin since late 2022, as has Trump.
Trump allies like Vivek Ramaswamy have also been saying that “Our goal should not be for Putin to lose,” that the US involvement in Ukraine is strengthening the Russia-China military alliance, and that this can be only prevented by giving Putin what he wants.
So, I think that Trump and Musk will eventually throw Ukraine under the bus, abandon their allies in Europe, lift sanctions against Russia and actually start collaborating with the Kremlin.
I really hope I'm wrong.
I'm pretty sure we were all duped by Elon. The way I see it, his support for MAGA started long before his actual announcement for supporting Trump, and I'm pretty sure he was already planning to use Twitter as a political tool when he bought it.
Elon is not stupid. He may be silly and socially awkward, but not stupid. He also has a ton of advisors who probably told him that Twitter/X would bleed money, especially the way he's running it. But buying a social media platform, removing all guardrails and supercharging it with relatively good AI like Grok made it a powerful tool for social manipulation.
MAGA and Musk know that the Kremlin supports them, so there's zero reasons to curb foreign influence operations on X. Let them roam free and wreak havoc among Trump's adversaries. 44 billion is nothing compared to what Elon gets from tax cuts and new deals while working under Trump.
But what's their end game now that Trump is the president and they most probably control the Senate and the House, too? Lemme theorize:
As Project 2025 outlines, Trump's (and now Elon's) main adversary is China. Trump has stated that he's planning to launch a trade war against Beijing, and this would affect Tesla's businesses, too. The Tesla gigafactory in Shanghai could be in trouble, and the raw materials required for building electric vehicles could become more challenging without China.
So what's the alternative? Russia, of course! They have plenty of raw materials and Elon was planning to launch a Tesla plant in Russia already back in 2021. Recently, we learned that Musk has been in contact with Vladimir Putin since late 2022, as has Trump.
Trump allies like Vivek Ramaswamy have also been saying that “Our goal should not be for Putin to lose,” that the US involvement in Ukraine is strengthening the Russia-China military alliance, and that this can be only prevented by giving Putin what he wants.
So, I think that Trump and Musk will eventually throw Ukraine under the bus, abandon their allies in Europe, lift sanctions against Russia and actually start collaborating with the Kremlin.
I really hope I'm wrong.
25 settembre, due anni di governo Meloni, “Facciamo la storia“. Quale storia, sul piano del diritto?
- più norme, più reati, meno libertà e nessuna valutazione preventiva circa il fatto che tutto ciò potrà funzionare;
- una proliferazione dei decreti omnibus, in violazione del principio di omogeneità previsto dalla legge, e con assoluta noncuranza dei richiami del Presidente della Repubblica e del Comitato per la legislazione;
- l’attuazione dell’autonomia differenziata, con una cristallizzazione delle disparità regionali, come attesta la stessa commissione Cassese;
- un tentativo di premierato, che sbilancia i poteri a favore il capo dell’esecutivo, a danno di quelli del Parlamento e del presidente della Repubblica;
- accordi con paesi africani ai quali il governo fa fare il lavoro sporco verso i migranti (respingimento, violazione di diritti umani e altro), salvo vantarsi della riduzione degli arrivi.
Le modalità espressive di infimo livello, che prima erano limitate alle esternazioni sui social e ora sono state sdoganate come linguaggio istituzionale, non riguardano il piano del diritto. Ma le cito lo stesso.
Today at #MetaConnect we announced support for immersive PWAs in the Quest browser. Soon you will be able to deploy your #WebXR site to the #Meta Horizon store like any other app.
Here is some preliminary documentation: https://t.co/8vevfYc170
Mi sono segnato i nomi degli europarlamentari "di sinistra" che hanno votato contro l'Ucraina, oggi.
Sappiano che gli sarà chiesto conto, da noi elettori di sinistra, del loro voto che aiuta il fascista Putin.
E sappiano che inviteremo la gente a non votarli. Faremo casino.
Today, Apple is shipping WebXR on Safari for Vision Pro in production for all users. Yes ***today*** 👏
Now all major browsers have adopted the WebXR standard. Culmination of a decade of work 🏆
Tons of work still to do to on
board every single dev into the 3D Web.
@la_Biennale Build bridges? Your country is illegally occupying a sovereign country and slaughtering its people. But regarding movies, where are the real great filmmakers from Russia like Sokurov? Are they still denying him to exit Russia? Is he still banned? Shame. Just propaganda movies.
Nell'ultimo episodio di "𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬" ho intervistato Stefania Garassini, giornalista, e docente presso @Unicatt. Insieme abbiamo ricostruito la storia di #Virtual.
🍿
https://t.co/WkluZdPFl7
🔊New paper out!
A. Boem, L. Turchet, 2024, "Selection as Tapping: An evaluation of 3D input techniques for timing tasks in musical Virtual Reality". International Journal of Human-Computer Studies.
Link below ⬇️
#VR#HCI#NIME
We compared five techniques for selection in #VR for timing tasks, such as synchronizing to a beat. Understanding the limitations and opportunities of input techniques is fundamental for creating immersive musical applications.
@lastknight Gli adoratori della Russia di Putin sono la evil version dei weeboos, ovvero i fanatici del Giappone, che credono sia quello di anime e manga, e quindi magico e perfetto. Anche se mi risultano fastidiose tutte e due le categorie, solo una adora gli spargitori di sangue...vero
Per l’Ucraina abbiamo speso 1,4 miliardi in quasi due anni, per il bonus facciate e 110 abbiamo speso più di 8 miliardi in un mese, a settembre. Ma senza dubbio se scarichiamo Kyiv in Italia voleranno gli stipendi e il sistema pensionistico diverrà sostenibilissimo
Our group from @UniTrento_DISI will present several papers, posters, and demos at the 4th International Symposium on the Internet of Sounds in Pisa (IT). My contribution is "Musical #Metaverse Playgrounds: exploring the design of shared #virtual sonic experiences on web browsers"
Vorrei ricordarvi che in #Iran vengono uccise donne di tutte le età perché non portano il velo. Perché cantano e ballano.
Perché vogliono vivere la vita che vogliono.
L’Iran finanzia #Hamas, è alleato di #Russia e #Cina.
Fate il vostro gioco e decidete da che parte stare.