Reporters Without Borders – [see also this YourTube video] “On March 12, the “World Day Against Cyber Censorship”, The Uncensored Library [built by BlockWorks] opened its doors. Providing access to independent information to young people around the world through a medium they can playfully interact with. Journalists from five different countries now have a place to make their voices heard again, despite having been banned, jailed, exiled and even killed. Their forbidden articles were republished in books within Minecraft, giving readers the chance to inform themselves about the real political situation in their countries and learn the importance of press freedom. Let’s empower the next generation to stand up for their right to information and give them a powerful tool to fight oppressive leaders: knowledge. Together with the ever-expanding gaming community, we will show the world that the truth will never be silenced!..”
Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002
Category Archives: Civil Liberties
UN Gender Social Norms Index
Folks – this is Not Progress! – The Gender Social Norms Index – Almost 90% of Men/Women Globally Are Biased Against Women – “How big and thick is the Glass Ceiling? New analysis suggests that it covers all aspects of women’s lives – including the household – and that it is constructed, not of glass,… Continue Reading
Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues March 28, 2020
Via LLRX – Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues March 28, 2020 – Privacy and security issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the… Continue Reading
Social distancing strategies for curbing the COVID-19 epidemic
Social distancing strategies for curbing the COVID-19 epidemic – “The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is straining healthcare resources worldwide, prompting social distancing measures to reduce transmission intensity. The amount of social distancing needed to curb the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in the context of seasonally varying transmission remains unclear. Using a mathematical model, we assessed that one-time interventions will be… Continue Reading
Governments could track COVID-19 lockdowns through social media posts
CNET – A research group scrapes more than 500,000 Instagram profiles in Italy to see if people are abiding by the quarantine. “Your posts on social media have been harvested for advertising. They’ve been taken to build up a massive facial recognition database. Now that same data could be used by companies and governments to… Continue Reading
CRS – National Emergency Powers
CRS Report – National Emergency Powers, Elaine Halchin, Specialist in American National Government, Updated March 23, 2020: “The President of the United States has available certain powers that may be exercised in the event that the nation is threatened by crisis, exigency, or emergency circumstances (other than natural disasters, war, or near-war situations). Such powers… Continue Reading
DOJ seeks new emergency powers amid coronavirus pandemic
Politico: “The Justice Department has quietly asked Congress for the ability to ask chief judges to detain people indefinitely without trial during emergencies — part of a push for new powers that comes as the novel coronavirus spreads throughout the United States. Documents reviewed by POLITICO detail the department’s requests to lawmakers on a host… Continue Reading
Could the 2020 Election Be Postponed? Only With Great Difficulty. Here’s Why.
The New York Times – “With Louisiana and Georgia delaying their primary votes, we answer six key questions about holding elections in a crisis. And no, a president cannot cancel an election with executive authority…” The coronavirus outbreak is inflicting new disruptions on the 2020 presidential campaign by the day, but few compare to the… Continue Reading
These Judges Are Shifting the Appeals Courts to the Right
The New York Times – Five takeaways from an examination by The New York Times reveal how President Trump has reshaped the federal judiciary. “President Trump made overhauling the federal judiciary one of his top priorities, moving with particular speed to infuse the highly influential appeals courts with reliably conservative judges. Working with his Republican… Continue Reading
World Justice Project Rule of Law Index 2020
“The World Justice Project Rule of Law Index® is the world’s leading source for original, independent data on the rule of law. Covering 128 countries and jurisdictions, the Index relies on national surveys of more than 130,000 households and 4,000 legal practitioners and experts to measure how the rule of law is experienced and perceived worldwide. Global Trends… Continue Reading
Federal judge calls Chief Justice Roberts ‘masterpiece of disingenuousness’ in law review article
ABA Journal: “A federal judge appointed by President Bill Clinton is criticizing the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority for “undermining American democracy” by weakening the Voting Rights Act, failing to rein in partisan gerrymandering, and increasing the economic and political power of corporations. U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman of Milwaukee airs his dissatisfaction in an… Continue Reading
Libraries and the practice of freedom in the age of algorithms
Barbara Fister – Libraries and the Practice of Freedom in the Age of Algorithm – “Abstract: How prepared are librarians, and the students they serve, to navigate technologies that are fundamentally changing how we encounter, evaluate, and create information? In the past decade, a handful of platforms have become powerful information intermediaries that help us search… Continue Reading
