Young people’s mental and emotional health – Trajectories and drivers in childhood and adolescence

Research from the Education Policy Institute and The Prince’s Trust, January 2021: “This report investigates how mental and emotional health (MEH) changes as children move into and through adolescence, as well as the individual-, family-, school-and area-level factors that drive positive and poor MEH. To supplement the quantitative analysis, virtual focus groups were conducted with …

Subjects: Government Documents, Health Care, Social Media

Can academics and journalists collaborate on big data projects?

Journalisr’s Resources – The SilverLining Project wants to find out: “The internet was made for transactions. Whether it’s photos of grandkids or a pallet of toilet paper, the internet connects people who have something with people who want it. That includes illegal goods and services. In hidden corners of the internet called the dark web, …

Subjects: Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, E-Commerce, E-Mail, E-Records, Education, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

Democracy cannot be defended by force; it is enforced through accountability

The Center for Systemic Peace: “The USA has dropped below the “democracy threshold” (+6) on the POLITY scale in 2020 and and is now considered an anocracy (+5). It has also lost its designation as the world’s oldest, continuous democracy; that designation now belongs to Switzerland (171 years), followed by New Zealand (142) and the …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Courts, Legal Research

DHS bulletin – heightened threat environment across the US

National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin – January 27, 2021 – “The Acting Secretary of Homeland Security has issued a National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS) Bulletin due to a heightened threat environment across the United States, which DHS believes will persist in the weeks following the successful Presidential Inauguration. Information suggests that some ideologically-motivated violent extremists …

Subjects: Cybersecurity, Defense, Government Documents, Legal Research

They Found a Way to Limit Big Tech’s Power: Using the Design of Bitcoin

The New York Times – “Companies inspired by the cryptocurrency are creating social networks, storing online content and hosting websites without any central authority…When YouTube and Facebook barred tens of thousands of Mr. Trump’s supporters and white supremacists this month, many flocked to alternative apps such as LBRY, Minds and Sessions. What those sites had …

Subjects: Financial System, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Social Media

Why Is Big Tech Policing Speech?

The New York Times – “Because the Government Isn’t. Deplatforming President Trump showed that the First Amendment is broken — but not in the way his supporters think….The giants of social media — Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram — had more stringent rules. And while they still amplified huge amounts of far-right content, they had started …

Subjects: Free Speech, Health Care, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Social Media

Considering a Quarantine Pod for 2021

Consumer Reports – “With widespread vaccination on the horizon, here’s what you should know about safely socializing until then..Though there’s no official guidance on the concept from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a quarantine “pod” or “bubble” is a small group of people who agree to interact without safety measures only with each other, …

Subjects: Government Documents, Health Care, Knowledge Management

Online Holocaust Denial Report Card

An Investigation of Online Platforms’ Policies and Enforcement – “The Holocaust, the systematic murder of approximately six million Jews and several million others by the Nazis, is one of history’s most painstakingly examined and well-documented genocides. Nevertheless, in the decades since World War II, a small group of antisemites has repeatedly attempted to cast doubt …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Education, Internet, Legal Research, Social Media

Worrisome New Coronavirus Strains Are Emerging. Why Now?

Wired – “Across the globe, SARS-CoV-2 is evolving ways to evade the immune system and become more infectious. Blown pandemic response plans are to blame…All viruses mutate. They are, after all, just autonomous bits of protein-encased, self-replicating strings of code equipped with imperfect internal spell-checkers. Make enough copies and there are bound to be mistakes. …

Subjects: Health Care, Knowledge Management, Medicine