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China Launches First Satellites of Constellation to Rival Starlink 

The Long March-2F Y13 rocket, carrying the Shenzhou-13 spacecraft and three astronauts in China's second crewed mission to build its own space station, launches at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center near Jiuquan, Gansu province, China October 16, 2021. (Reuters)
The Long March-2F Y13 rocket, carrying the Shenzhou-13 spacecraft and three astronauts in China's second crewed mission to build its own space station, launches at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center near Jiuquan, Gansu province, China October 16, 2021. (Reuters)
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China Launches First Satellites of Constellation to Rival Starlink 

The Long March-2F Y13 rocket, carrying the Shenzhou-13 spacecraft and three astronauts in China's second crewed mission to build its own space station, launches at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center near Jiuquan, Gansu province, China October 16, 2021. (Reuters)
The Long March-2F Y13 rocket, carrying the Shenzhou-13 spacecraft and three astronauts in China's second crewed mission to build its own space station, launches at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center near Jiuquan, Gansu province, China October 16, 2021. (Reuters)

A Chinese state-owned enterprise on Monday launched the first batch of satellites for a mega-constellation designed to rival US company Space X's Starlink's near-global internet network, a state-backed newspaper reported.

The launch marks an important step in Beijing's strategic goal of creating its own version of Starlink, a growing commercial broadband constellation that has about 5,500 satellites in space and is used by consumers, companies and government agencies.

The competition to occupy Earth's lower orbits also has military implications, with the potential to affect the balance of power between warring countries.

The launch, led by Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST), took place at Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre, one of China's main satellite and missile launch centers, located in the northern province of Shanxi, the China Securities Journal reported.

The launch is part of SSST's "Thousand Sails Constellation" plan, also known as the "G60 Starlink Plan", which began last year and aims to deploy more than 15,000 low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites.

LEO satellites usually operate at altitudes of 300km to 2,000km from the Earth's surface and have the advantage of being cheaper and providing more efficient transmission than satellites at higher orbits.

Starlink, operated by billionaire Elon Musk, has tens of thousands of users in the United States so far and plans to add tens of thousands more satellites to its system, the largest of its kind.

Chinese researchers in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) have over the past two years studied the deployment of Starlink in the war in Ukraine and repeatedly warned about the risks it poses to China, should the country find itself in a military conflict with the United States.

In January, an op-ed published in a PLA mouthpiece described the deployment of Starlink as a "serious threat to the security of space assets of various countries."

SSST's "Thousand Sails constellation" is one of three "ten-thousand star constellation" plans China is hoping will allow it to close the gap with SpaceX.

SSST's plan is to launch 108 satellites this year, 648 satellites by the end of 2025, provide a "global network coverage" by 2027, and get to 15,000 satellites deployed before 2030.

SSST did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.

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Bot-Like Accounts on X Fuel US Political Conspiracies, Watchdog Says

Bot-like accounts remain entrenched on X, previously known as Twitter, researchers say. JUSTIN SULLIVAN / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Bot-like accounts remain entrenched on X, previously known as Twitter, researchers say. JUSTIN SULLIVAN / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
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Bot-Like Accounts on X Fuel US Political Conspiracies, Watchdog Says

Bot-like accounts remain entrenched on X, previously known as Twitter, researchers say. JUSTIN SULLIVAN / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Bot-like accounts remain entrenched on X, previously known as Twitter, researchers say. JUSTIN SULLIVAN / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

Bot-like accounts on social media platform X that spread misinformation and hate ahead of Britain's election are now amplifying conspiracy theories around US politics, a watchdog investigation revealed Tuesday, as the race to the White House kicks into high gear.
Forty-five accounts analyzed by Global Witness, which collectively generated more than four billion impressions since late May, were active in the run-up to the British polls earlier this month.
Some of them subsequently pivoted to other high-profile events ahead of the US presidential election in November, including the recent assassination attempt on Donald Trump and President Joe Biden pulling out from the race, the watchdog said in a report.
The findings demonstrate how apparent bot activity continues to plague X, previously called Twitter, despite pledges by Elon Musk to crack down on the digital manipulation when he purchased the influential social media platform in 2022 for $44 billion.
The bot-like accounts, which collectively produced around 610,000 posts and amplified racist and sexualized abuse, also focused on climate disinformation and other global events, including anti-migrant protests in Ireland.
"In a moment when everyone is worried about democracy, it is shocking how easy it has been to find accounts that appear to be bots spreading division around the UK vote, and then to watch them jump straight into political discussions in the US and Ireland, frequently responding with hate and conspiracy," said Ava Lee, campaign leader at Global Witness.
"Access to timely, accurate and reliable information is crucial for all democracies, and it's needed now more than ever in the run up to the US presidential election."
The platform did not reply to AFP's request for comment.
An automated response from the platform's press team said: "Busy now, please check back later."
'Flood' of manipulation
It was unclear who was behind the bot-like activity uncovered by the watchdog.
Global Witness said it did not find evidence that any British political parties were paying for, using or promoting the bot-like accounts as part of their campaigns.
After the assassination attempt on Trump at a Pennsylvania rally earlier this month, some accounts -- which previously supported the right-wing party Reform UK -- were found sharing unfounded theories holding Biden responsible, the watchdog said.
Other accounts supporting Britain's Labour party questioned whether the incident was staged by Trump, it added.
After Biden announced he was pulling out from the race, a number of accounts increased their discussions of US Vice President Kamala Harris -- the presumptive Democratic nominee -- including sharing "gendered disinformation tropes" and racist comments, the report said.
Ahead of his purchase of the platform, Musk pledged to "defeat the spam bots or die trying."
But bot activity remains entrenched on the platform, a report from Australia's Queensland University of Technology (QUT) said last year after an analysis of about one million posts.
"X is flooded with platform manipulation of various kinds, is not doing enough to moderate content, and has no clear strategy for dealing with political disinformation," the QUT report said.
Lee, in light of Global Witness's findings, called on X to "increase its moderation efforts and get better at enforcing its own policies against inauthentic activity."
"We're relying on them to protect our democracies from interference," Lee said.
The platform has gutted trust and safety teams and scaled back content moderation efforts once used to tame misinformation, making it what researchers call a haven for disinformation.
Last week, Musk -- who recently endorsed Trump -- himself faced a firehose of criticism for sharing a deepfake video featuring Harris on X, which tech campaigners said violated the platform's own policies.