A New Zealand-based community education provider, Dark Times Academy, has had a US Embassy grant to deliver a course teaching Pacific Islands journalists about disinformation terminated after the new Trump administration took office.

The new US administration requested a list of course participants and to review the programme material amid controversy over a “freeze” on federal aid policies.

The course presentation team refused and the contract was terminated by “mutual agreement” — but the eight-week Pacific workshop is going ahead anyway from next week.

“As far as I can tell, the current foreign policy priorities of the US government seem to involve terrorising the people of Gaza, annexing Canada, invading Greenland, and bullying Panama,” said Dark Times Academy co-founder Mandy Henk.

“We felt confident that a review of our materials would not find them to be aligned with those priorities.”

The course, called “A Bit Sus”, is an evidence-based peer-reviewed series of classes that teach key professions the skills needed to identify and counter disinformation and misinformation in their particular field.

The classes focus on “prebunking”, lateral reading, and how technology, including generative AI, influences disinformation.

Awarded competitive funds
Dark Times Academy was originally awarded the funds to run the programme through a public competitive grant offered by the US Embassy in New Zealand in 2023 under the previous US administration.

The US Embassy grant was focused on strengthening the capacity of Pacific media to identify and counter disinformation. While funded by the US, the course was to be a completely independent programme overseen by Dark Times Academy and its academic consultants.

Co-founder Henk was preparing to deliver the education programme to a group of Pacific Island journalists and media professionals, but received a request from the US Embassy in New Zealand to review the course materials to “ensure they are in line with US foreign policy priorities”.

Henk said she and the other course presenters refused to allow US government officials to review the course material for this purpose.

She said the US Embassy had also requested a “list of registered participants for the online classes,” which Dark Times Academy also declined to provide as compliance would have violated the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020.

Henk said the refusal to provide the course materials for review led immediately to further discussions with the US Embassy in New Zealand that ultimately resulted in the termination of the grant “by mutual agreement”.

However, she said Dark Times Academy would still go ahead with running the course for the Pacific Island journalists who had signed up so far, starting on February 26.

Continuing the programme
“The Dark Times Academy team fully intends to continue to bring the ‘A Bit Sus’ programme and other classes to the Pacific region and New Zealand, even without the support of the US government,” Henk said.

“As noted when we first announced this course, the Pacific Islands have experienced accelerated growth in digital connectivity over the past few years thanks to new submarine cable networks and satellite technology.

“Alongside this, the region has also seen a surge in harmful rumours and disinformation that is increasingly disrupting the ability to share accurate and truthful information across Pacific communities.

“This course will help participants from the media recognise common tactics used by disinformation agents and support them to deploy proven educational and communications techniques.

“By taking a skills-based approach to countering disinformation, our programme can help to spread the techniques needed to mitigate the risks posed by digital technologies,” Henk said.

Especially valuable for journalists
Dark Times Academy co-founder Byron Clark said the course would be especially valuable for journalists in the Pacific region given the recent shifts in global politics and the current state of the planet.

“We saw the devastating impacts of disinformation in the Pacific region during the measles outbreak in Samoa, for example,” said Clark, author of the best-selling book Fear: New Zealand’s Underworld of Hostile Extremists.

“With Pacific Island states bearing the brunt of climate change, as well as being caught between a geopolitical stoush between China and the West, a course like this one is timely.”

Henk said the “A Bit Sus” programme used a “high-touch teaching model” that combined the current best evidence on how to counter disinformation with a “learner-focused pedagogy that combines discussion, activities, and a project”.

Past classes led to the creation of the New Zealand version of the “Euphorigen Investigation” escape room, a board game, and a card game.

These materials remain in use across New Zealand schools and community learning centres.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

When I was growing up in Kiribati, then known as the Gilbert Islands, New Zealand divers came to safely detonate unexploded munitions from World War II.

Decades on from when US Marines fought and won the Battle of Tarawa against Japan, war was still very much a part of everyday life.

Our school bell was a bombshell. We’d find bullet casings.

In fact, my grandmother’s leg was badly injured when she lit a fire on the beach, and an unexploded ordnance went off. There are Japanese bunkers and US machine gun mounts along the Betio shoreline, and bones are still being found — even today.

Stories are told . . . so many people died . . . these things are not forgotten.

That’s why the security and defence pacts being drawn up around the Pacific are worrying much of the region, as the US and Australia partner up to counter China’s growing influence.

You only have to read Australia’s Defence Strategic Review 2023 to see they are preparing for conflict.

The battle is climate change which is impacting their everyday life. The bigger powers will most certainly go through the motions of at least hearing their voices.

— Barbara Dreaver

Secret pact changed landscape
While in the last few years we have seen China put big money into the Pacific, it was primarily about diplomatic weight and ensuring Taiwan wasn’t recognised. But the secret security pact with the Solomon Islands changed the landscape dramatically.

There was a point where it stopped being about just aid and influence — and openly started to become much more serious.

Since then, the escalation has been rapid as the US and Australia have amped up their activities — and other state actors have as well.

In some cases, lobbying and negotiating have been covertly aggressive. Many Pacific countries are concerned about the militarisation of the region — and whether we like it or not, that’s where it’s headed.

Tuvalu’s Foreign Minister Simon Kofe said he understands why his country, which sits between Hawai’i and Australia, is of strategic interest to the superpowers.

Worried about militarisation, he admits they are coming under pressure from all sides — not just China but the West as well.

“In World War II, the war came to the Pacific even though we played no part at all in the conflict, and we became victims of a war that was not of our making,” he said.

Important Pacific doesn’t forget
“So it’s important for the Pacific not to forget that experience now we are seeing things that are happening in this part of the world, and it’s best we are prepared for that situation.”

Academic Dr Anna Powles, a long-time Pacific specialist, said she was very concerned at the situation, which was a “slippery slope” to militarisation.

She said Pacific capitals were being flooded with officials from around the region and from further afield who want to engage.

Pacific priorities are being undermined, and there is a growing disconnect in the region between national interest and the interest of the political elites.

Today in Papua New Guinea, we see first-hand how we are on the cusp of change.

They include big meetings spearheaded by the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, another one by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a defence deal that will allow US military access through ports and airports. In exchange, the US is providing an extra US$45 million (NZ$72 million) in funding a raft of initiatives, some of which include battling the effects of climate change.

Equipment boost
The PNG Defence Force is also getting an equipment boost, and there’s a focus on combatting law and order issues — which domestically is a big challenge — and protecting communities, particularly women, from violence.

There is much in these initiatives that the PNG government and the people here will find attractive. It may well be the balance between PNG’s national interest and US ambitions is met — it will be interesting to see if other Pacific leaders agree.

Because some Pacific leaders are happy to be courted and enjoy being at the centre of global attention (and we know who you are), others are determined to do the best for their people. The fight for them is not geopolitical, and it’s on the land they live on.

The battle is climate change which is impacting their everyday life. The bigger powers will most certainly go through the motions of at least hearing their voices.

What that will translate to remains to be seen.

Barbara Dreaver is TV1’s Pacific correspondent and is in Papua New Guinea with the New Zealand delegation. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The Federated States of Micronesia will receive more US economic assistance under the Compact of Free Association in exchange for the Pacific nation’s broader role in regional security that entails expanded military use of its land, water and air.

“Of paramount importance is that our nation’s citizenry be informed in advance when US fighter jets fly over the State of Yap, for example, or when the US practice firing anti-aircraft missiles from the ground,” FSM President David Panuelo said in a state of the nation address delivered on Friday before the FSM Congress.

Panuelo advised the FSM citizens to also expect more training exercises in and around the nation’s ocean.

“These exercises will be increasing in frequency over the next several years, and while they are ultimately in our national interest and in the interest of our nation’s security — of which the US is our indisputable guardian — it is important that our citizens know about them well in advance so that our people do not see these activities and then immediately fear the worst,” he added.

The compact grants the United States “strategic denial” — the option to deny foreign militaries access to the freely associated nation and provide for US defence sites.

Panuelo acknowledged that the US military’s ramped-up presence in the region was brought about by growing geopolitical conflicts in the Pacific, where Washington and Beijing play tug of war.

The unabated rivalry is compounded by China’s persistent threats to take over Taiwan, which the US vows to defend.

Amplified military activities
Panuelo said the amplified military activities in Yap will require the expansion of the state ports and increased presence from the US Navy Seabees.

In his state of the nation address, Panuelo said the FSM would receive $140 million in annual sector grant assistance from Washington under the compact’s renewed economic provisions. The agreed amount represents more than $50 million a year over current assistance levels, the president added.

“The good news is that there is much we have already completed successfully with regards to our compact’s negotiations,” Panuelo said.

“I have also made clear that in addition to this sector grant assistance, a one-time contribution of funds into our Compact Trust Fund remains a critical component of our nation’s economic requirements, and is necessary for the health and sustainability of the fund,” Panuelo said.

The economic provisions of the compact are set to expire in September. Washington last week announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding, separately with Palau and the Marshall Islands, renewing the economic assistance for both freely associated states.

Washington and the FSM have yet to formally sign an agreement, but Panuelo said he has “shaken hands” with Joseph Yun, the US special presidential envoy for compact negotiations, on the proposed new deal.

“There remains some important work to be done before our nation’s negotiating teams can sign off,” Panuelo said.

Among sticky points
Among the sticky points is the FSM-proposed update on fiscal procedures, which Panuelo said must “reflect more deference to the FSM in the management and implementation of funding assistance.”

Panuelo earlier asked Washington to let the FSM manage its own financial responsibilities under the compact, noting that the funds provided by the treaty are part of diplomatic arrangements rather than largesse.

Read related story US asked not to micromanage FSM Other pending issues include “the development of mutually acceptable subsidiary agreements that are appropriate for the next compact period.”

At the same time, the negotiating panels are working on the continuation of US programmes such as Pell grants, and the reinstatement of US Department of Education programmes previously made available to FSM students.

“The FSM will work very hard until we are satisfied with all aspects of the agreements between our country and the United States,” Panuelo said.

Besides the compact funds, Panuelo reported that the FSM has received a total of $747 million from other foreign donors and lenders including the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, Japan, China, the European Union, Australia and India.

“The figure would be higher if we could financially measure certain forms of in-kind assistance,” Panuelo said.

“Part of this success is due to the improved coordination between the nation and its development partners since the establishment of the Overseas Development Assistance policy in 2013,” Panuelo said.

Foreign donations financed the FSM’s infrastructure projects including the administration’s $100 million “Pave the Nation” initiative.

Republished from the Pacific Island Times with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz