Archives for March 2021

CFL, XFL set for discussions about potential partnership

TORONTO (AP) — Twenty-six years after being released by the Calgary Stampeders, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is looking at re-establishing his Canadian Football League ties.

The CFL and XFL revealed Wednesday they’re poised to begin serious discussions about a potential partnership. Neither side would say who initiated the talks, only that they’ve agreed to collaborate on ways to grow football.

Johnson, an actor and former pro wrestler, is a co-owner of the American-based XFL.

“It’s an exciting moment for us to really start talking about how do we collaborate,” CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie said. “That’s a great word and it’s at the heart of this.

“Where that leads we don’t know, but it’s going to be exciting. Sometimes we over-use the phrase world class but they are world-class people.”

In a statement Wednesday, the XFL put its plans to return in the spring of 2022 on hold, “pending the outcome of our conversations with the CFL.”

Johnson later posted a statement on Instagram.

“Wherever it all leads, I can tell you this one is personal to me and is driven by all my passion — because being cut by the CFL was the greatest thing that happened,” Johnson wrote. “It set me on a path that years later would lead me right back to the league.

“As an owner who’s had his hands in the dirt — my loyalty will always lie with the players and fans. I’ll keep you posted as our XFL/CFL discussions unfold. I got your back. So yes, the CFL changed my life, in ways I never could’ve imagined.”

The CFL also is focused on resuming play this year after being forced to cancel the ’20 campaign due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Look, we’re full speed ahead on our return-to-play plan for the 2021 CFL season,” Ambrosie said. “All of this is about what will happen in the future.

“So 2021 is our absolute focus and then you use this conversation we’re kicking off to talk about the future beyond 2021.”

Johnson purchased the XFL last year with business partner Dany Garcia and RedBird Capital for $15 million. The expectation was it would resume play in the spring of 2022.

Johnson played football collegiately at Miami. The former defensive lineman aspired to play in the NFL but upon graduation in 1995 joined the Stampeders before being released from the practice roster.

Afterward, Johnson followed in the footsteps of his late Canadian-born father, Rocky and entered professional wrestling. He joined WWE in 1996, becoming The Rock, before embarking on a successful acting career.

Russia slows down Twitter, part of social media clampdown

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian authorities said Wednesday they are slowing down the speed of uploading photos and videos to Twitter over its failure to remove banned content — part of growing efforts to curb social media platforms that have played a major role in amplifying dissent.

The state communications watchdog, Roskomnadzor, said it began the slowdown after it said Twitter failed to remove content encouraging suicide among children and containing information about drugs and child pornography.

Twitter responded by emphasizing its policy of zero tolerance for child sexual exploitation, promotion of suicide and drug sales.

The Russian watchdog warned that if Twitter refuses to abide by Russian law, it could be blocked entirely, but it voiced hope the platform would “take a constructive stance” and comply with removing the banned content. Vadim Subbotin, deputy chief of Roskomnadzor, said in televised remarks that Twitter is the only social platform that has “openly ignored the Russian authorities’ demand to remove the banned content.”

The watchdog said the slowdown would apply to all mobile devices and 50% of desktop users nationwide.

Roskomnadzor said in a statement that Twitter has failed to remove more than 3,000 posts with the banned content, including more than 2,500 posts encouraging suicide among minors.

Twitter said in a statement that “we have a zero-tolerance policy regarding child sexual exploitation, it is against the Twitter Rules to promote, glorify or encourage suicide and self harm, and we do not allow the use of Twitter for any unlawful behaviour or to further illegal activities, including the buying and selling of drugs.”

“We remain committed to advocating for the Open Internet around the world and are deeply concerned by increased attempts to block and throttle online public conversation,” the statement said.

Twitter is less popular in Russia than other social media services, with about 13 million users, or about a third of the number that Facebook has, according to data from web traffic research firm Similar Web.

But the attack on the platform could be “an artillery shot aimed, among other things, at scaring other major social media,” said Artyom Kozlyuk, head of the internet rights group Roskomsvoboda.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday the government has “no desire to block anything,” but added that it was necessary to enforce the law.

The action against Twitter comes as the authorities have criticized social media platforms that have been used to bring tens of thousands of people into the streets across Russia this year to demand the release of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The wave of demonstrations served as a major challenge to the Kremlin.

Russian authorities have assailed the platforms for failing to remove calls for children to join unsanctioned opposition protests.

Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin urged police to act more actively to monitor social platforms and to track down those who “draw the children into illegal and unsanctioned street actions.”

The move against Twitter is part of continuing efforts by the government to tighten control of the internet and the social media dating back to 2012, when a law allowing authorities to blacklist and block certain online content was adopted.

“Dozens of laws have been adopted since then that expand the categories of prohibited information, introduce new restrictions (and) expand the list of government institutions that can carry out online censorship,” Kozlyuk said.

In 2014, the authorities adopted a law requiring online services to store the personal data of Russian users on servers in Russia and have since tried to make Facebook and Twitter to comply with it. Both companies have been repeatedly fined, first small amounts of around $50 and last year the equivalent of $63,000 each, for not complying.

The government has stopped short of outright bans even though the law allows it, probably fearing the move would elicit too much public outrage. Only the social network LinkedIn, which wasn’t very popular in Russia, has been banned by the authorities for the failure to store user data in Russia.

In recent months, Russian authorities have also increasingly bristled at Facebook and Twitter, blocking Russian accounts and content, as well as Twitter labeling of government and state-affiliated media accounts. Last fall, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused the two social media giants of “open censorship,” saying that “Russian media, without trial or investigation, are being labeled as allegedly unreliable, excluded from the search, blocked, and accounts are deleted.”

Two weeks ago, Roskomnadzor demanded Twitter to explain why it removed 100 accounts reportedly linked to Russia. Twitter said the accounts “amplified narratives that were aligned with the Russian government, “focused on undermining faith in the NATO alliance and its stability,” and targeted the United States and the European Union.

Dmitry Medvedev, who was Russia’s president in 2008-2012 when Putin had to step down because of term limits and currently is deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, complained last month that Twitter labeled his account as a government one. He said the American platform only does that “to countries, relations with which are not very simple. And they did not do this to their own politicians.”

The government’s standoff with social media platforms has been a “long process in which the stakes are regularly raised,” said Damir Gainutdinov, head of the Net Freedoms Project focusing on freedom of online speech in Russia. “The authorities show willingness to take more and more stringent measures: ‘Initially we talked to you, then we fined you, and now we will slow you down’.”

As the Russian authorities slowed down Twitter, some government websites suffered outages and access problems. It’s not clear if the events were connected, and some experts suggested they could have been the result of unrelated cyberattacks. The Ministry of Digital Development acknowledged outages on some government websites but said they were linked to equipment problems at communications provider Rostelecom.

Some experts said, however, that a possible reason for the outages could be that internet oversight staff in Russia erroneously blocked access to a wide range of web addresses while moving to enforce Roskomnadzor’s order to slow down Twitter.

In 2018, Roskomnadzor moved to block the popular messaging app Telegram over its refusal to hand over encryption keys used to scramble messages, but failed to fully block access to the app, disrupting hundreds of websites in Russia instead.

Last year, the watchdog officially withdrew the demands to restrict the app, which has been widely used by government institutions despite the ban. Experts said that while there wasn’t enough data available to definitively tie Wednesday’s outages of websites to the Twitter clampdown, it wouldn’t be surprising if the two were connected.

“I personally don’t have any doubts, especially after the situation with Telegram, that in order to achieve their political goals, the Russian authorities won’t hesitate to bring down half of the Russian internet,” Gainutdinov said.

——

Associated Press writers Kelvin Chan in London and Frank Bajak in Boston contributed.

Alaska Senate takes action against member over virus rules

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Senate voted Wednesday to allow leadership to restrict access to the Capitol by Republican Sen. Lora Reinbold, who fellow lawmakers say has refused to follow measures meant to guard against COVID-19.

The 18-1 vote, allowing leadership to enforce COVID-19 mitigation policies on members “until they are fully compliant,” came 51 days into a legislative session throughout which Reinbold has worn a clear face shield that legislative leaders say runs afoul of masking rules. This week marked the first apparent public signs of pushback against the face shield by leadership.

Senate Rules Chair Gary Stevens, a Kodiak Republican, said Reinbold also is not following testing protocols or submitting to temperature checks and questions that are standard for admittance to the building. “Inordinate” amounts of time have been spent “trying to reason” with her or provide masks that meet U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, he said.

Senators on the floor do not use each other’s names but after recent dustups, including a back-and-forth between Reinbold and Senate President Peter Micciche before Wednesday’s floor session, it was clear who Stevens was speaking about. Reinbold was not present for the vote.

Micciche later told reporters things came to a head following COVID-19 cases associated with the Capitol, including a person he says is close to him and hospitalized with the illness. He said the Legislature needs to ensure it can get its work done, and staff have raised safety concerns. While many people do not like the rules, “we recognize the responsibility to keep each other and our employees safe,” he said.

“And we have a zero tolerance at this point for anyone unwilling to observe those rules,” said Micciche, a Soldotna Republican.

Reinbold, of Eagle River, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. On social media, she said she is under “intense pressure by Senate leadership to follow controversial and arbitrarily applied” rules, and said she does not like “anyone to be forced to disclose health issues or test results,” citing privacy concerns.

She said she took a COVID-19 test this weekend “under pressure” and conveyed, “begrudgingly,” the negative result to leadership.

Her actions “are to protect my constitutional rights, including civil liberties and those who I represent, even under immense pressure and public scrutiny,” she said.

Micciche said Reinbold remained chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a member of the Republican-led majority. He said she would be given access to the Senate gallery for floor sessions and be able to participate in committee hearings remotely. He said an “adequately equipped space” in another location would be found for her to work from in what he said he hopes is a temporary situation.

Senate Majority Leader Shelley Hughes, a Palmer Republican, said it’s the duty of lawmakers to change the rules if they don’t like them, and she said she hoped they could do that.

She changed her vote from no to yes, noting that accommodations would be made so that “every senator can still represent their district.”

Sen. Mike Shower, a Wasilla Republican, was the lone no vote. Reinbold was listed as excused.

Reinbold also has been at odds with Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a fellow Republican, who has accused her of misrepresenting the state’s COVID-19 response and has refused to send members of his administration before her committee. She has called his accusations baseless.

Texas AG says probe to continue despite Twitter lawsuit

DALLAS (AP) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Wednesday that a lawsuit by Twitter won’t deter his office from investigating the content moderation practices of the social media giant and four other major technology companies.

Twitter sued the Republican official this week in an effort to halt his probe, which the company claimed was retaliation for banning the account of former President Donald Trump following the deadly January insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Days after the riot, Paxton announced an investigation of what he called “the seemingly coordinated de-platforming of the President.” His office demanded a variety of records and internal communications from Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon and Apple.

On Monday, Twitter asked a federal judge in California to effectively stop the probe and affirm that its decision to ban Trump was protected by the First Amendment. Paxton responded Wednesday that “most of the companies have cooperated” and called Twitter’s suit “remarkable.”

“Apparently they have some fear of disclosing what they’re actually doing if they’re asking a California judge to rule on Texas law,” he said during an online forum hosted by the conservative Media Research Center. In its demand for records, Paxton’s office cited the authority of Texas’ Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act.

Lawyers for Twitter wrote in their complaint that the company had sought for weeks to “put reasonable limits on the scope” of Paxton’s demands but were unable to reach an agreement with his office. A spokeswoman for the company declined to comment Wednesday.

The legal wrangling comes as states, in addition to federal lawmakers and governments outside the U.S., are cracking down on tech companies that they see as having amassed too much power.

Separately, Texas is leading 10 Republican attorneys general who are party to a lawsuit accusing Google of running an illegal digital-advertising monopoly in cahoots with Facebook.

Paxton is also facing his own legal troubles. The FBI is investigating whether the close Trump ally broke the law by allegedly using his office to help a wealthy donor who is also under federal investigation. Eight of Paxton’s top deputies last year accused him of bribery, abuse of office and other crimes in the service of an Austin real estate developer who employs a woman with whom Paxton is said to have had an extramarital affair. All eight were either fired or resigned after coming forward with the allegations.

Michelle Obama hooked on knitting, thinking about retirement

WASHINGTON (AP) — Michelle Obama is knitting and thinking about retiring from public life.

The former first lady says in a new People magazine interview that she picked up knitting needles to pass time during the coronavirus pandemic. And now she’s hooked.

“Knitting is a forever proposition,” she said. “You don’t master knitting, because once you make a scarf, there’s the blanket. And once you do the blanket, you’ve got to do the hat, the socks.”

She’s working on her first crewneck sweater for her husband, former President Barack Obama.

“I’m figuring out how to make sleeves and a collar,” she said. “I could go on about knitting!”

The former first lady also talks about how the pandemic helped her and her husband reclaim “stolen moments” with Malia, 22, and Sasha, 19, who both returned home from college to quarantine with their parents at the family homes in Washington and Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.

Mrs. Obama also discusses what she says is the “low-grade depression” she experienced during the pandemic lockdowns and after George Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police last May, along with her shift away from high-impact exercise and what she wants out of retirement.

The woman whose buffed biceps and exercise workouts went viral during her time as first lady said she taught herself to be a better lap swimmer during quarantine “because I’m finding in my old age that the high-impact stuff I used to do doesn’t work.” Michelle Obama is 57.

Now that Malia and Sasha are independent, young adults, Mrs. Obama said she enjoys that their conversations have become more “peer-oriented than they are mother-to-daughter.”

“I’ve been telling my daughters I’m moving towards retirement right now,” she said, adding that she’s choosing her projects and chasing summer. Her new Netflix children’s food show, “Waffles + Mochi,” premieres Tuesday, and the Obama Presidential Center is under construction in Chicago.

“Barack and I never want to experience winter again,” Mrs. Obama said. “We’re building the foundation for somebody else to continue the work so we can retire and be with each other, and Barack can golf too much, and I can tease him about golfing too much because he’s got nothing else to do.”

Archives for March 2021

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