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Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa

@sanjanah.bsky.social

4.7K followers 420 following 4.3K posts

Studying confluence of influence operations, disinfo, truth decay, information integrity & policies addressing online harms. Many thoughts, sometimes prayers.

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Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa @sanjanah.bsky.social · Dec 23

A ‘War of Stories’: Humanitarianism in the Disinformation Age | @heatherleson.bsky.social from the @theifrc.bsky.social invited me to pen this article mid-2024. I sent it to her months ago, and finally got around to publishing it.

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Reposted by Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa

David Hood @thoughtfulnz.bsky.social · 1h

We had a discussion of this in June last year. Some NZ Uni's activated AI detection software options (Massey made the news www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/3503... ). Others took a look at the false positive rate and went "No way are we going to accuse 1000s of students of things they didn't do".

Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa @sanjanah.bsky.social · 1h

University wrongly accuses students of using artificial intelligence to cheat www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/5...

University wrongly accuses students of using artificial intelligence to cheat

An Australian university has accused thousands of its students of cheating with artificial intelligence. The problem? Many have done nothing wrong.

www.rnz.co.nz

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Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa @sanjanah.bsky.social · 1h

University wrongly accuses students of using artificial intelligence to cheat www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/5...

University wrongly accuses students of using artificial intelligence to cheat

An Australian university has accused thousands of its students of cheating with artificial intelligence. The problem? Many have done nothing wrong.

www.rnz.co.nz

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Reposted by Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa

1News NZ (Unofficial) @1newsnz.nzcow.com · 5h

📢 Police said the threats were sent via a social media platform in March 2025, with the "nature and volume" of them serious enough to prompt a formal investigation.

Man charged over death threats made against MP

www.1news.co.nz

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Reposted by Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa

RNZ News Feeds @rnzrss.bsky.social · 5h

Home-made, 3D printed guns seized in Auckland police raid

A 20-year-old man was arrested.

www.rnz.co.nz

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Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa @sanjanah.bsky.social · 23h

"...the significant thread of AI pessimism calls for more candor and empathy from ourselves, technology executives, corporate bosses and public officials about our uneasiness with this technology..." | Americans have become more pessimistic about AI. Why? wapo.st/46GlI4K (Gift link)

Analysis | Americans have become more pessimistic about AI. Why?

Four theories to explain the surveys that keep showing sour public opinion about AI.

wapo.st

Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa @sanjanah.bsky.social · 1d

❤️

AFP News Agency @en.afp.com · 1d

Dozens of people in the French city of Lyon took part in a pet blessing ceremony at the Basilica of Saint-Bonaventure.

The church organised the event in honour of Saint Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology known for his love of nature and animals

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Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa @sanjanah.bsky.social · 1d

Given high likelihood of Turning Point's ideological foundations infiltrating other countries, & university campuses in particular, this guide from American Association of University Professors is helpful. I don't think NZ Uni administrations are fully aware or ready. www.aaup.org/sites/defaul...

Responding to Turning Point USA (TPUSA) and OtherProvocative Student Groups on CampusThere has been a growing concern about the prevalence of externally funded andnetworked right-wing student groups on college campuses. Turning Point USA (TPUSA)is one of the largest, most provocative and controversial. While these resources focuson TPUSA, many of the strategies discussed here pertain to responding to other well-funded student groups that specialize in staging campus disruptions and provocationsfor partisan gain.BackgroundTPUSA was created as a partisan political student organization, which promotes manyfar-right political positions. Members affiliated with TPUSA have regularly engaged inracist, homophobic and transphobic speech while on campus. TPUSA chartered busesto bring students to the January 6th riot at the Capitol.TPUSA was founded in 2012 by Charlie Kirk, with a starting donation from Republicanmega-donor Foster Friess. According to the most recently available tax documents, in2022 TPUSA had revenue of $80.6 million. Headquartered in Phoenix, AZ, TPUSAclaims a presence on 3,500 campuses, with a field program comprised of 350 paidorganizers. TPUSA hosts annual conferences, which journalist Kyle Spencer describedas a high-production event with the reputation of an “out-of-control party venue withflowing booze and easy hook-ups.” In recent years, TPUSA has expanded its efforts toinclude high schools, churches, and college alumni.TPUSA has also built itself into a media empire, funding and promoting right-wingpersonalities, “journalists,” social media influencers, podcasters, and other contentproducers. TPUSA also runs the Professor Watchlist, a website profiling so-called“radical professors” and known to drive harassment.

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Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa @sanjanah.bsky.social · 1d

"Turning Point USA’s primary strategy is sowing and exploiting fear that white Christian supremacy is under attack by nefarious actors, including immigrants, the LGBTQ+ community and civil rights activists." From @splcenter.org www.splcenter.org/resources/re...

Case Study of the Hard Right | 2024 Year in Hate & Extremism

Founded by Charlie Kirk, TPUSA’s effort to sow fear and division to enforce social hierarchies rooted in supremacism is emblematic of broader political project.

www.splcenter.org

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Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa @sanjanah.bsky.social · 1d

Interesting to see the same leading violent extremist, and white supremacist who from '21 onwards openly wanted to execute those behind Covid-19 pandemic response, & also in violent online groups with neo-Nazis like Philip Arps reveal what he's going to in the US, & *return to New Zealand with*.

Post on Telegram which notes, "I am travelling to America, fate would have it that I will be there during Red October, and of course 11.3 and 11.4. Maybe this is God's way of rewarding me for staying loyal to the light all these years. I'll get a front row seat to go with my popcorn.

California. Nevada and Arizona. I will talk with a lot of folks, get a sense for the hope they carry.

I am going to Turning Point USA headquarters in Arizona, I was not invited, but feel compelled to know if they have been contacted by anyone in NZ for our own Turning Point organization. I'll go with an open heart and mind, and see what I find out."

Telegram post which notes "COVID vaccine = Uninformed Voluntary Genocide.

ALL administers or those who functionally support the delivery of this bioweapon will go before Tribunals, some will be Executed. IDGAF if that sounds threatening, shove 'hurty words' up your Communist asses.

Every single participant in the delivery of the crimes will face consequences. From PM to pee-on, every one of them will have a fair process and trial, the only influence on their guilt will be how they STOP RIGHT NOW.

If you back out of the crime, whistleblow or defect, you will be appreciated and that action will undoubtedly be received well by those who seek to clean up the unprecedented corruption, death & damage this vaccine program has, and will cause.

YOU have a choice Public Servants to rat out your criminal bosses and pull back their thin veil of control, or to continue being criminal yourself and aiding genocide."

Telegram conversation which features one comment noting "Fast and fair trials for terrorists. Evidence based, no corruption, just the fact and a jury" followed by a response from leading neo-Nazi Philip Arps noting "And immediate execution of prescribed sentence...whatever that may be". These are encoded signals for extrajudicial killings, and murder of those involved in New Zealand's Covid-19 response.

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Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa @sanjanah.bsky.social · 1d

"Dr. Hattotuwa at the forum stressed further that the question is not whether AI can be fully controlled, but whether journalism can adapt rapidly enough to preserve its economic foundations while maintaining its role as a check on power." ceylontoday.lk/2025/10/04/w...

Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa @sanjanah.bsky.social · 1d

Excellent tool for NZ'ers (and also, anyone from anywhere in the world). Created by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). Highly recommend those in politics, public life, activism, journalism, media, and academia use this tool to determine risk of PII exposure. www.howexposedami.co.nz

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Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa @sanjanah.bsky.social · 1d

Suspected Chinese government operatives used ChatGPT to shape mass surveillance proposals, OpenAI says www.cnn.com/2025/10/07/p...

Suspected Chinese government operatives used ChatGPT to shape mass surveillance proposals, OpenAI says | CNN Politics

Suspected Chinese government operatives asked ChatGPT to help write proposal for a tool to conduct large-scale surveillance and to help promote another that allegedly scans social media accounts for “...

www.cnn.com

Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa @sanjanah.bsky.social · 1d

An offline stench that was even more odious online, & to an extent that to this day remains grossly under-appreciated by the same folk flagged by Eddie. It was a historic, & unprecedented inflection point for truth decay, far-right narrative foundations, & worsening information disorders in NZ.

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Reposted by Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa

Dr. Cassandra Mudgway @legallyfeminist.bsky.social · 2d

Tory Whanau’s final speech as Mayor (in part) called out the racist misogyny, and gendered disinformation that defined her term. The comments on FB had to be turned off. That's what online violence against women politicians looks like in real time. #nzpol

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Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa @sanjanah.bsky.social · 2d

Brilliant poem, read out so well by Thom Yorke. Written in 2016, & read out by York in 2019, but (sadly) so much more relevant, & resonant today. Via www.instagram.com/reel/DPgsLS-...

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Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa @sanjanah.bsky.social · 3d

Don't do it.

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Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa @sanjanah.bsky.social · 3d

A key tactic in anti-vaxx, anti-establishment, anti-government, far-right toolkit, when adopted by others invites rapid escalation in political violence that can't be contained to any one in-group. Everyone's risk increases, esp. those most vulnerable already - from left, Maori, minorities, & woman.

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Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa @sanjanah.bsky.social · 3d

If we reject doxxing because it risks violence/vandalism against those we are aligned with, follow, love, are partial to, vote for, believe in, & respect, it must be the same yardstick for everyone. I've studied doxxing in NZ for years, & have always proactively warned folks targeted, & at risk.

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Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa @sanjanah.bsky.social · 3d

Study of 100s of comments against 2 posts on Acacia O'Connor's Instagram account targeting Winston Peters feat. home address, which in t/his case (esp. given foreign adversaries) is nat-sec threat. Comments are totally unmoderated, & feat. calls for invasive surveillance, vandalism, & violence.

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Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa @sanjanah.bsky.social · 3d

Whether against Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, Ghahraman, Ardern, other MPs, Wiles, Bloomfield, & others involved in pandemic response, transgender activists, drag queens, judges, lawyers or academics - effects of doxxing are inherently harmful, & often leads to kinetic violence or vandalism.

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Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa @sanjanah.bsky.social · 3d

From Australia’s e-Safety Commissioner. Good tips for NZ’ers too. | Gore online: How violent content is reaching children and what you can do www.esafety.gov.au/newsroom/blo...

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Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa @sanjanah.bsky.social · 3d

Risk of rapid escalation is very real. Political violence spirals unpredictably, & often strikes hardest at those already very vulnerable: wāhine Māori, & minority reps. Condemning violence against WP isn't defending his politics. It's defending a non-violence undergirding activism, protecting all.

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Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa @sanjanah.bsky.social · 3d

Peters has track record of divisive rhetoric targeting LGBTQIA+ communities, immigrant MPs, & trans people. His speech fosters, & festers harms. Yet arson, & violence against his home cross a clear line. Political violence never advances democratic debate. It degrades it, & puts everyone at risk.

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Reposted by Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa

The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 5d

President Trump’s sweeping national security memo directs feds to investigate and prosecute any person, non-profit, or entity displaying what Trump calls political violence: anti-capitalism, anti-Americanism, anti-Christianity, and “extremism” on race, gender, and migration.
trib.al/F2kxhw3

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Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa @sanjanah.bsky.social · 6d

Phishing campaigns: A looming crisis for Sri Lanka's banking, and financial sector www.linkedin.com/pulse/phishi...

Phishing campaigns: A looming crisis for Sri Lanka's banking, and financial sector

Phishing attempts, fraudulent campaigns, constellations of inauthentic accounts on social media, and misleading, unauthorised content presented as legitimate, and official now delivered at scale in Si...