new european parliament it could be the most closely watched e.u. alike should ever turnout is expected to be high perfect conditions for a decision from a shit storm tonight trolling the truth at the ballot box defending public opinion and democracy in europe's most hackable election i'm bored golf in berlin this is the day. column one is the dividing europe it wants to see people so confused by misinformation that they don't really know what to believe that they don't know who to vote for so it isn't part of the media there see those people are people look make informed decisions and there are populists on both sides of the political spectrum increasingly using this in part about the importance of independent special journalism if you can swing a few 100 foods in a certain district court in a certain state it will undoubtedly have an influence expecting that we will solve

the problem i think in the last 2 months before the elections when the russians have been talking about it for the past 5 years i think it's very neatly maligned actors may be holding some of their biggest caches of information that they hope you can use people until the very last minute and should have been doing much more . to our viewers on p.b.s. in the united states and all around the world welcome we begin the day with the campaign against the disks and disinform asian it is now common knowledge even if donald trump won't admit it that the 2016 presidential election in the us was the 1st major election targeted with online dissin from asian designed to engineer voter behavior by the time the us realized what had happened the white house had a new resident of fast forward to 2019 has europe done enough to avoid a similar fate well we'll find out next week. $28.00 european union countries with

$400000000.00 voters will decide who will represent them the next 5 years at the european parliament with so little time before the vote europe is understandably on guard the 3 year break sit or deal all along with growing euro skepticism means conditions are good for political intentions that are bad case in point online dissin from asian campaigns trying to influence voters the last year the e.u. commission set up a task force to deal with this threat a task force critics say its efforts may be too little too late teri schultz has this report. whoever you are wherever you are you can get involved european union institutions have poured enormous resources in to get out the vote campaign but have they invested enough in stay out of the vote efforts in ways to prevent malicious meddling it's not like there was no warning 5 years ago the

kremlin's internet research agency in st petersburg was revealed estimated to spend more than a $1000000.00 a month pumping out anti western spin 3 years ago u.s. elections were the target of that russian troll farm yet the european commission waited until just 6 months before the european parliament elections to launch its action plan against this information we should have been doing much more kalinski spent 3 years in the european commission's struck common task force a communications unit created in 2015 to counter russian efforts to smear the e.u. now with an independent think tank kalinski says brussels is way behind expecting that we will solve the problem in the last 2 months before the elections or even in the last month of the elections when the russians have been working on it for the past 5 years i think it's very naive to facebook google and twitter have a role in the commission's plan pressed to better verify users' identities and

remove fake accounts faster and to make clear who's paying for advertising and content facebook has just opened its own war room in dublin to target in authentic activity ahead of elections let's go in or from the e.u. is external action service says there has been progress it's not as much as we would have liked to but we have seen in terms of transparency things are really moving and i think the platforms understood but they also need to take a much closer look at what is happening there but not everyone is counting on bureaucrats and big tech to lead the battle out in the quiet flemish countryside is what you might call and i am tightrope farm with a staff of one. today wrote almost every insight martin shankey debunks false online stories on his own website lead stories dot com and also as part of fact check e u a collaboration of european media outlets working to keep the record straight ahead of the elections anything that looks suspicious we take

a closer look at that. smells funny. especially the kind of story that makes people angry or upset or. confirms people in their bias like i knew muslims this or a neutron but that aftershock brand speak content with a big red banner on his website he also formally notifies piece book which immediately reduces the items visibility in its news feeds shank is convinced even small doses of dissent from asian can be dangerous for democracy if you can swing a few 100 foods in a certain district or in a certain state. that might tip the balance and you cannot make this coalition or that coalition because of one seat move so it will undoubtedly have an influence with so much at stake across $28.00 countries experts say we're likely to see

intense dissin from asian campaigns right up until the final votes are cast. those votes will be cast next week to talk about this election i'm joined here at the big table by raphael gold spike he's a research coordinator at democracy reporting international he knows a thing or 2 about these misinformation campaigns fake news we're feels good to have you on the show thank you for and you know i said at the beginning of the show that this election next week that it could be europe's most hackable election do you agree it depends if you come if you compare to the what happened in the united states in 2016 i think many people were caught by surprise and i think back then much of what happened on social media even facebook were caught by surprise surprise but then i think ever since we've built much more resilience and buch more capabilities to counter this type of facts i think much has been done ever since but we still have a lot to improve you say we've become more resilient but i'm not so sure about that

who's resilient to the politicians the governments the voters all of them plus the people who do disinformation campaign this fall i think everyone is evolving in terms of understanding the problem but i feel that the other side also evolves in creating more elaborate of techniques to to performed a type of disinformation campaign that we haven't seen you know i was surprised that it took the european union commission so long to set up a task force and you know as i said to begin to show a task force seems like you know sending a little poodle as an attack dog right it was just a year ago i mean we've known since 2016 you know it can happen and nothing was done in 2070 for example. have european leaders have they been have they been in a state of denial about the threat to europe i feel that they took a long time to create this understanding of what really the problem is and come up with the solutions i think the task force is an important step towards building

resilience within european union member states to respond to those threats more strongly and faster than before but it's indeed not enough i think we feel one important achievement of the task force is the code of code of conduct which was signed by the 3 big tech companies google twitter and facebook. making them more responsible for the content of the conveying in a making them issue transparency reports ahead of the european elections which is an example of building this resilience yeah give me an example of resilience at the ballot box when a voter let's say here in berlin goes to vote for example what will be different this election than compared to the last election in terms of you know being able to defend yourself against yes information you're right in saying that people know more about it but i feel i think that we are still receiving mixed signs about what exactly is the effect on voters voting behavior so basically

a lot of people understand about false information but one thing that needs to be understood about all the effects on social media is that they build over time it's not something that happens only ahead of european elections like one week before or like one month before such as many people with things like facebook for example established this operation center one month before the european elections but this efforts have been built over time and even though people are aware of that you're right in saying that maybe they are not ready right now to respond to that there's a lot of psychology involved here too i mean even if we know something is a lie the more we hear it the more likely we are at some point to think maybe it's true right. yeah that's right it plays a lot with confirmation bias is that people may have so false information doesn't necessarily convinced people because of its content but also because they play with the beliefs of people that are reading them so if you're already against image of the rights migrants even if it's false you may share disinformation he may pass it

on because it agrees with your own beliefs so this is a very good point. gold spike with the democracy reporting international feel a great insights we appreciate you sharing them with us tonight thank you very much . the syrian regime of bashar al assad is closing in on victory after an 8 years civil war which has torn the country apart hundreds of thousands of people are dead millions or displaced tens of thousands of people have disappeared into assad's prisons their fate torture and murder some of those behind those crimes have fled syria themselves hiding among the refugees here in berlin activists they are hunting them down to make sure that they face justice. lives in a berlin suburb she's from syria and part of a major hunt to catch syrian secret service members who committed crimes like these

. because one of the regime's many victims he was beaten and tortured to death when the syrian civil war broke out. one of his fellow students even health torture him he had always been very courteous towards i had greeted him and. i don't understand how someone could turn into a torturer and become a monster like that. serious secret service systematically tortured just for speaking up for human rights demanding syria become a democratic country and for urging assad to step down. now 8 years after a yobs death his mother wants justice. i want the culprits to be brought to justice from the accomplices all the way up to president assad and these people are responsible for spilling our children's blood.

there are more than 26000 pictures of syrian torture victims smuggled out of the war torn country by a courageous former police were target for they could help convict syrian torturers and murderers in the coming years their victims and their relatives demand justice like syrian human rights lawyer darvish who was tortured before being able to flee the syrian capital damascus is a few months the school itself was the branches he become like this. many of his friends and political allies in the fight against the assad regime were abused like this no one knows how many people lost their lives. so there's some there's some. i think it was i looked for. people this. clue to branches. still living with.

the boy or shared all of his information with european investigators and has joined human rights organizations in pressing charges against former syrian tormentors. european police are currently investigating former assad torturers who fled to europe disguised as refugees in february 1 suspect was arrested in france and 2 others in germany. among them anwar who came to the german capital berlin as an asylum seeker. this is a full stand it's really. these cases this is the 1st time you know this is the 1st time there's a respectable the defendant. court judge and we have victim a suspect and he signs the law and the state of florida we don't have it and see it here. we have seen documents showing that germany's federal

office of criminal investigation has investigated on more hours suspected involvement with the syrian secret service we have asked the syrian embassy in berlin for a state it refused to comment. it could be that the prosecution of syrian torturer seems to be gathering momentum in europe. where at the secret investigative bureau somewhere in europe where bill wiley of the commission of international justice and accountability is working hard to catch syrian criminals. used to hunt war criminals as a un prosecutor now he has access to a vast archive of syrian state documents that could prove crucial in catching assad's henchmen basically. what you have in this room are materials generated by the security intelligence structures of sure the military structures of syria and the party or political structures of syria at the top level

and the governor levels here they are the files documenting the crimes of the syrian regime they have been meticulously cleaned scanned and logged and carefully analyzed by several dozen investigators. the human trials on crimes committed in former yugoslavia and on the rwandan genocide wiley one thing without a paper trail it is very difficult to bring culprits to justice. that's why these syrian state documents which were smuggled out of the country amid the to mulch us civil war are so valuable. they comprise interrogation reports and many other files that document figures within the security apparatus that see. to magically tortured people they also shed light on suspected syrian torturers like anwar how many. people do you think you. were. more senior

ranks it yourself or are. the maybe more that were. both you were the documents could you imagine. there could be more of your. surely more of syria whether turkey or. little. luck whose son was murdered by the syrian secret service hopes that not only the killers of her son will be caught but all perpetrators that have gone into hiding will meet justice for her the hunt has just begun. fascinating story was done by my colleague here at the table with me frank hoff it's good to see you frank let's talk a little bit about this there have been many stories about suspected terrorists in or in europe disguised as refugees most people i would say have no idea though that assad's torturers executioners his henchmen were also in the mix of

migrants interesting play the prosecutors and police in europe like in germany or in the netherlands or in so they didn't for example in friends they were looking for these people in the same time way that why they were looking for terrorists from isis is getting from syria for example what i found interesting doing the research earlier on isis terrorism in syria and the torture of torture camps of isis there i found out that they that they used the same methods for example is a method where you get strikes to the ceiling with the with your arms until your your shoulders dislocate in prisons like this one here for example set me a military prison in syria they used the same methods and somehow they. they were in the prisons they had for them and that was interesting so this way someone vesa gaiters came to the idea that amongst the refugees coming to germany and elsewhere in europe and other places in europe they will also heads of unit for example of

the of the security services do we know how many of these you know these people who have very dark histories i mean they did your many you know all of europe we would say 10 to 12 this is what investigators told us that the police is looking for in hunting at this moment where we are talking here all over europe i must say some in germany some in australia in france for example as well or or elsewhere and these people know the office they are hiding i know one particular case where the body is specially in the syrian refugees community all of my quince community say they are really waiting people that were that this guy that this person will be. and they are people that were part of the opposition movement already before everything started in 2011 and they're very much aware who these people are and some of them even stole them i mean it's fascinating because it's like the ugliest of rivalries

that were taking place before the civil war began have just relocated and are now in europe and it's under the surface it's people can't even meet them and they met them in refugee camps for example they're not many cases but if you. and dozens of calls if you see your perpetrator being totally destroyed psychologically off to all the trip your mates to europe fleeing assad and fleeing the war then syria does of course a terrible thing him to think about but do we know what happens i mean have there been cases where a refugee someone who had been tortured in an in prison in syria has come to do europe as been in a camp and has seen the their former executioner or perpetrator i know one particular case here in berlin in one refugee camp in the form. of temple home for example some of all of us might know this year has this country because it became

quite well known worldwide because it was very big and the venue is well known and what happened once the person was recognized that was some years ago and this was a different situation now. along a longer period of time off the more investigations off the more criminal cases against these people i think time is shifting a little bit and the chances stops justice will come a little bring these cases up and we will have call trials is closer than it was that the time before so if you years ago the chances of bringing these people to justice were better know it's better now is better now so what it is needs time and the person who doesn't need times of. people and to bring up cases do you do you think the the migrants the refugees do do they feel secure enough to go to the authorities here for example let's say here in berlin would they feel when they feel safe but going to the police and saying i recognize that mean business festen

a thing that this is really happening brought up for example by human rights organizations like the building based european center for constitutional and human rights they talk to these people they they have contacts about 60 vividness that were going through terrible torture themselves or they lost people who lost their relatives that back in syria this is happening and we have about several cases all over europe what about bringing them to justice is this is this a case where if they're called here in germany if they were someone high up in the assad regime what would they be taken to the i.c.c. i mean how does this just as what is it look like the problem of the i.c.c. s that russia and china vetoed cases against the russian assad regime and and people of the terror a touch assist the system there but what we have and doesn't very well it's spec that in europe especially in germany is the idea of the world legal principle that says in germany you can try that such cases against foreigners that have done these

these this is perpetrations in a different country and this is also the basis for other prosecutors and sweden for example it's fascinating and you know it's a story that is not over so now it's huge and it's just thought it's just started so frank thank you appreciate your reporting very good thank you thank them much indeed. well taiwan is often considered a bastion of liberalism in asia and that liberalism is about to be tested parliament votes tomorrow on 3 bills to legalize same sex marriage now for the island's community the road to this vote it has been difficult back in 2017 the island's top court ruled that a ban on same sex unions was unconstitutional but last year time when these voters rejected that decision in a series of referendums. shane lane and mark you on have spent the last 2

years planning their wedding in fine detail the cake shop owners from taipei have been dreaming of their special day ever since taiwan's top court ruled same sex couples should be allowed to marry a 1st for asia. so. it was sort of taiwan may often be overlooked internationally and all of the things we have done are visionaries that we can be proud of that. but on top of the usual wedding stresses shane mark and other taiwanese same sex couples have a bigger problem and it's divided the island. i i same sex couples wanting to wear it still don't know what their marriage will look like that's because the courts didn't specify how its ruling should be applied so parliament votes on 3 options one put forward by the government is just about

satisfactory for these rights campaigners and to others tabled by lawmakers which don't use the word marriage and provide much less protection for couples. we don't know what these lawmakers want maybe they want to force us down a dead end but we won't accept that we'll fight like that but not everyone on this relatively liberal island shares these people's desire for equality in a series of referendums last year more than 2 thirds of voters decided marriage should only be defined as being between a man and a woman friday's ruling will be closely watched and it may not be the last word on the matter. well the day is almost done the conversation however continues online you'll find us on twitter either at d w news or you can follow me at garth t.v. don't forget to use the hashtag the day i remember whatever happens between now and then tomorrow is another day we'll see you there everybody.

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