Archives for April 2021

Muslim civil rights group sues Facebook over hate speech

A civil rights group is suing Facebook and its executives, saying CEO Mark Zuckerberg made “false and deceptive” statements to Congress when he said the giant social network removes hate speech and other material that violates its rules.

The lawsuit, filed by Muslim Advocates in Washington, D.C., Superior Court on Thursday, claims Zuckerberg and other senior executives “have engaged in a coordinated campaign to convince the public, elected representatives, federal officials, and non-profit leaders in the nation’s capital that Facebook is a safe product.”

Facebook, the lawsuit alleges, has been repeatedly alerted to hate speech and calls to violence on its platform and done nothing or very little. Making false and deceptive statements about removing hateful and harmful content violates the District of Columbia’s consumer-protection law and its bar on fraud, the lawsuit says.

“Every day, ordinary people are bombarded with harmful content in violation of Facebook’s own policies on hate speech, bullying, harassment, dangerous organizations, and violence,” the lawsuit says. “Hateful, anti-Muslim attacks are especially pervasive on Facebook.”

In a statement, Facebook said it does not allow hate speech on its platform and said it regularly works with “experts, non-profits, and stakeholders to help make sure Facebook is a safe place for everyone, recognizing anti-Muslim rhetoric can take different forms.

The company based in Menlo Park, California, said it has invested in artificial intelligence technologies aimed at removing hate speech and proactively detects 97% of what it removes.

Facebook declined to comment beyond the statement, which did not address the lawsuit’s allegations that it has not removed hate speech and anti-Muslim networks from its platform even after it was notified of their existence.

For example, the lawsuit cites research by Elon University professor Megan Squire, who published research about anti-Muslim groups on Facebook and alerted the company. According to the lawsuit, Facebook did not remove the groups — but it did change how outside academics can access its platform so that the kind of research Squire did would be “impossible other than if done by Facebook employees.”

Facebook’s hate speech policy prohibits targeting a person or group with “dehumanizing speech or imagery,” calls for violence, references to subhumanity and inferiority as well as generalizations that state inferiority. The policy applies to attacks on the basis of race, religion, national origin, disability, religious affiliation, caste, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity and serious disease.

But in one example from April 25, 2018, Squire reported to Facebook a group called “Purge Worldwide,” according to the lawsuit. The group’s description reads: “This is an anti Islamic group A Place to share information about what is happening in your part of the world.”

Facebook responded that it would not remove the group or the content. The lawsuit cites other examples of groups with names like “Death to Murdering Islamic Muslim Cult Members” and “Filth of Islam” that Facebook did not remove despite being notified, even though Facebook policy prohibits “reference or comparison to filth” on the basis of religion. In the latter case Facebook did remove some posts from the group, but not the group itself.

The lawsuit also cites an exception Facebook made to its policy for former President Donald Trump, for whom Facebook made an exception to its rules when he posted as a candidate in 2016 about banning all Muslims from entering the U.S.

Zuckerberg and other social media executives have repeatedly testified before Congress about how they combat extremism, hate and misinformation on their platforms. Zuckerberg told the House Energy and Commerce Committee that the issue is “nuanced.”

“Any system can make mistakes” in moderating harmful material, he said.

The plaintiffs seek a jury trial and damages of $1,500 per violation.

IMF policy panel endorses $650 billion increase in resources

WASHINGTON (AP) — The International Monetary Fund on Thursday authorized a $650 billion expansion of the 190-nation lending institution’s resources with the aim of providing more support for vulnerable countries as they battle the coronavirus pandemic.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said the $650 billion increase in reserves is the largest in IMF history. The move will provide badly needed reserves for poor countries struggling with deep recessions caused by the pandemic and the need to obtain and administer millions of doses of vaccines, she said.

By comparison, to combat the global recession that followed the 2008 financial crisis, the IMF agreed to an increase of $250 billion in the IMF’s reserves of what are known at the agency as Special Drawing Rights.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told the IMF panel that the SDR increase would provide a “much-needed boost to global reserves.” She said it would be important for rich countries who do not need the increase in resources to supply that extra support to poorer nations.

The idea of increasing IMF reserves gained support when the Biden administration endorsed the plan in February, marking a reversal from the Trump administration which had opposed the effort.

Republican lawmakers in Congress have raised objections to the increase in IMF resources, saying the increase would benefit countries seen as U.S. adversaries such as China, Russia and Iran.

The Treasury said that the United States retained the right to refuse to engage in any SDR transactions with “any country whose policies run counter to U.S. interests.”

Officials have indicated that the first distribution of the increased reserves could begin in August after a detailed plan is submitted for approval by the IMF’s board of directors in June.

The communique from the IMF’s policy panel, made up of finance ministers representing the agency’s membership, also endorsed efforts to mitigate the impact of climate change on the global economy. That represented another change from the Trump administration, which pulled the United States out of the Paris climate agreement, an action the Biden administration has reversed.

“In line with the Paris agreement, we commit strongly to addressing climate change through measures to accelerate the transitions to greener societies and job-rich economies while protecting those adversely affected,” the IMF communique said.

Yellen, in her remarks, said that the IMF and the World Bank had key roles to play in supporting efforts to combat climate change.

“The United States is fully committed to working with international partners to tackle climate change,” Yellen said in her remarks.

The meetings of the IMF and the World Bank were held virtually, as they have been since the pandemic struck with force in early 2020. But Georgieva said the plan is for the fall meetings of the two institutions to return to in-person gatherings in Washington, subject to success in curbing the pandemic.

The formal meetings are scheduled to conclude Friday with a session of the Development Committee, the policy panel for the World Bank. Yellen and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell are the the U.S. representatives to the sessions.

The IMF released an updated economic forecast this week predicting that the global economy would grow by 6% this year, an upgrade from 5.5% growth forecast in January. The better performance was attributed in large part to an acceleration in vaccinations and the $1.9 trillion relief program President Joe Biden pushed through Congress last month.

But the IMF communique cautioned, “The prospects for recovery are highly uncertain and uneven within and across countries” due to such factors as uneven access to vaccines and the lack of financial resources in many low-income countries.

Myanmar junta limits internet, seizes satellite TV dishes

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — An information blackout under Myanmar’s military junta worsened Thursday as fiber broadband service, the last legal way for ordinary people to access the internet, became intermittently inaccessible on several networks.

Authorities in some areas have also started confiscating satellite dishes used to access international news broadcasts.

Protests against the the Feb. 1 coup that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi continued Thursday despite the killing of 11 people by security forces a day earlier.

It was unclear if the internet interruptions for at least two service providers, MBT and Infinite Networks, were temporary. MBT said its service was halted by a break in the line between Yangon and Mandalay, the country’s two biggest cities. But internet users had been complaining for the past week of major slowdowns in the services.

The junta has gradually throttled down internet service since the coup. It initially imposed a largely ineffective block of social media such as Facebook and then cut mobile data service, the most common way of connecting to the internet, but only at night. As the junta increased its use of deadly force against protesters it also imposed a total ban on mobile data use.

At least 598 protesters and bystanders have been killed by security forces since the takeover, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which monitors casualties and arrests.

The use of satellite television as a source of information also appeared to be under threat. In Laputta and other towns in the Irrawaddy Delta southwest of Yangon, local government vehicles announced over loudspeakers that it was no longer legal to use satellite dishes and that they must be turned in at police stations. Police also raided shops selling the dishes and confiscated them.

Online news services Khit Thit Media and Mizzima said similar measures were taken in Mon state in the country’s southeast. Satellite TV offers access to international sources of news about Myanmar.

Since the coup, all non state-owned daily newspapers have stopped publishing and online news sites have come under severe pressure. Five popular independent news services had their operating licenses revoked in early March and were told to stop publishing and broadcasting on all platforms, but mostly defied the orders. Other agencies have been sued over their coverage.

About 30 journalists arrested since the coup remain detained. About half of them have been charged with violating a law covering circulation of information that could hurt national security or disturb public order. The offense is punishable by up to three years in prison.

In an open letter on Tuesday to Myanmar’s military government, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists called for “the immediate and unconditional release of all journalists detained in the aftermath of your February 1 suspension of democracy and imposition of emergency rule.”

The group said that since the military’s takeover, “press freedom conditions have rapidly and drastically deteriorated in your country. News reports indicate journalists have been beaten, shot and injured by live bullets and arbitrarily arrested and charged by security forces while merely doing their jobs of covering the demonstrations and your regime’s retaliatory clampdown.”

Thursday’s protests included demonstrations in Launglone township, in the south of the country, where villagers sang songs and lit candles before dawn and then marched down rural roads, and in the city of Dawei, also in the south, where engineers, teachers, students and others joined in their latest demonstration.

Despite eight killings in Dawei by security forces, opponents of the junta have continued protesting on the streets, avoiding confrontations by varying the demonstrations’ starting times and breaking into smaller groups.

On Wednesday, security forces stormed the town of Kalay in northwestern Myanmar where some residents had used homemade hunting rifles to form a self-defense force.

Security forces killed at least 11 civilians and injured many others, local news reports said. The state-owned Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported Thursday that 18 people described as rioters with homemade weapons had been arrested but said nothing about civilian casualties.

On the diplomatic front, Christine Schraner Burgener, the U.N. special envoy for Myanmar who has called for the restoration of democracy, is heading to Thailand this week and hopes to visit other countries in the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations as well as China, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Thursday.

She has called for a robust international response to the crisis and a unified regional effort to by regional countries to use their influence toward Myanmar’s stability, he said.

Schraner Burgener is also continuing efforts to visit Myanmar and hopes the military will provide her access to the country and to detained leaders including President U Wint Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, Dujarric said.

Schraner Burgener is also ready “to resume dialogue with the military to contribute to a return to Myanmar’s democratic path, peace and stability,” he said.

Sen. Thom Tillis says he has had surgery for prostate cancer

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis said Thursday he has undergone surgery for prostate cancer and looks forward to returning to his Senate duties soon.

A statement from the office of the North Carolina Republican said Tillis underwent the surgery this week, but didn’t specify where it was done or which day. He added that he was thankful to the doctors and nurses who have provided him with “outstanding care.”

Tillis announced last week that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and that it had been detected relatively early. Tillis is a Charlotte-area native who was initially elected to the U.S. Senate in 2014.

“As I recover over the coming days, I’m blessed to have Susan, my best friend and the love of my life, at my side,” Tillis said. “We are beyond grateful to everyone who has lifted us up in prayer and sent us well wishes. I look forward to returning to the Senate soon.”

Eastern Caribbean dollar goes digital, a help for unbanked

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The Eastern Caribbean has created its own form of digital currency meant to help speed transactions and serve people without bank accounts.

The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank said its “DCash” is the first such blockchain-based currency introduced by any of the world’s currency unions, though some individual nations have similar existing systems.

It became available Wednesday in four island nations under a yearlong pilot program: St. Lucia, Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda, and St. Kitts and Nevis.

“(It) is a milestone in the history of monetary instruments,” said Bitt CEO Brian Popelka during a press conference broadcast online.

DCash was created by Barbados-based fintech company Bitt in partnership with the central bank. Unlike cryptocurrencies, it is issued by an official central bank and has a fixed value, tied to the existing Eastern Caribbean dollar used across much of the region.

The system allows users even without bank accounts — but with a smartphone — to use a downloaded app and make payments via a QR code. Those without bank accounts would go to a previously approved agent or nonbanking financial institution who would verify a person’s information and then approve a “DCash” wallet. That person would then go to a supermarket or other store and give the cashier physical cash which would then be deposited as digital currency in their wallet, Bitt spokesman Chris Burnett told The Associated Press.

In addition, there are limits on the amount of money people can send via DCash, there are no plans for now of integrating credit cards and interest does not apply to the digital currency.

While many in the Eastern Caribbean cheered the historic move, some experts worry that digital currency issued by smaller countries could end up being used as a conduit for illicit activities, including terrorism financing and money laundering, said Eswar Prasad, a trade policy professor at Cornell University.

“That skepticism is waning as more central banks get into the act, and as central banks around the world face the inevitability of the declining use of physical cash,” he said.

He noted that the Bahamas last year became the first country to roll out its digital currency nationwide, and that the Marshall Islands is considering its own cryptocurrency. For smaller countries, “there is more at stake” in part because many people remain unbanked, he said.

“That’s why I think small countries are being more aggressive about this, simply because they need to,” Prasad said.

Officials said that by September at the latest, the digital currency will be available in Anguilla, Dominica, Montserrat and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, which form part of the eight island economies under the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank.

The project aims to see a 50% reduction in the use of physical cash by 2025, said Sharmyn Powell, chairperson of the bank’s fintech working group.

“It’s safer, faster and cheaper,” Powell said.

Central Bank Governor Timothy N.J. Antoine said he envisions farmers, fishermen, small business owners, single mothers and people without bank accounts, among others, using the digital currency.

“Payments are still too slow and too expensive,” Antoine said of the current system. “We heard you, and we have delivered.”

Antoine said it is harder to steal digital cash and said it’s a safe way to make payments while avoiding contact during the pandemic.

One Eastern Caribbean dollar is currently equivalent to 37 U.S. cents. All Eastern Caribbean notes feature Queen Elizabeth II of England as head of the Commonwealth.

The project comes more than two months after the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan, the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Swedish Riksbank and the Swiss National Bank created a group to study whether they should issue digital currencies.

The Swedish central bank already has commissioned a pilot program. Meanwhile, China rolled out a digital currency in four cities in April 2020 as part of a pilot program that has since expanded to more than two dozen cities.

However, Lee Reiners, a fintech law and policy professor at Duke University, said it remains to be seen whether central bank digital currency is the future.

“I approach it with a sense of skepticism because this technology has been around for over 10 years now but has not taken off as a broad medium of exchange,” he said.

Archives for April 2021

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