COVID 1984: Pandemic Propaganda and Surveillance
Uncovers global propaganda campaigns, state surveillance initiatives, and disinformation networks deployed during the pandemic.
Summary
Mauro Eldritch examines state surveillance, data harvesting, and propaganda campaigns deployed during the pandemic, focusing on an investigation into the Argentine government's mandatory contact tracing application, CUIDAR. He outlines how emergency public health measures were leveraged to normalize continuous location tracking, facial recognition, and personal data collection without adequate oversight.
Eldritch details the technical architecture and permissions required by the government tracking app at 01:52. He then investigates coordinated information operations on social media platforms at 03:50 and 05:54, exposing automated botnets and astroturfing campaigns designed to amplify pro-government messaging and suppress dissent. Using OSINT techniques and network graphing at 10:06 and 14:05, he maps how troll networks coordinate artificial trending topics and harass independent security researchers who disclose privacy vulnerabilities.
(AI summary — Gemini Flash)
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