Category: Political

Trump to Tell us the Truth

On By johnwilson21In PoliticalLeave a comment
Paul J. Richards/ AFP via Getty Images

Donald Trump is creating a new social media platform, called Truth Social, which he considers his newest endeavor to improve the United States. The article from NBC News focuses on the fact that it has potential to make millions of dollars and be a huge success, but at the same time, could flop and be a massive failure. Some major themes of the app will likely be promoting similar political messages from when Donald Trump was president, calling out other social media apps like Facebook and Twitter, and challenging big tech and media companies. The message being sent from the new platform is related to cancelling “cancel culture.” The app looks similar to Twitter and allows people to share a “Truth or Re-truth.” The plan is to make money through the social media platform, but Donald Trump has a history of failures in the business realm, which gives the impression that this platform could flop.

            This is an interesting move by Trump and his team. It is very likely that almost all of the users on this social media platform will be supporters of the former president, which means that there will not be much political diversity. A large aspect of this platform will be people praising Trump and there will not be much pushback because many people who do not support him will not have interest in being on the platform, although there will be a few. Personally, it will be interesting to hear what happens on the app through other news stories or social media apps, but I do not plan on making an account because I do not enjoy debating on topic’s I am not extremely invested in.

Advertisement

China’s Weird War on Kid’s Playing Video Games

On By Noah Furcht-HeafitzIn China, Gaming, Political, Video GameLeave a comment
(https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/coronavirus-spike-china-video-game, Frank Connor)

China’s national video game regulator The National Press and Publication Administration announced this past Monday that they’ll be banning children from playing video games Monday through Thursday and further limiting them to four hours of playtime on Fridays, weekends, and holidays. This policy went into effect last Wednesday. This regulation comes as a result of the Chinese government’s blaming video games for causing nearsightedness and addiction in youths. This is also not the first time China has restricted children’s ability to play video games as, in 2019, they banned the playing of video games by minors between the hours of 10 p.m and 8 a.m and restricted the amount of time children could play video games during weekdays to 90 minutes. The Chinese government intends to enforce the new playtime restrictions by way of requiring minors to register games under their real names and requiring video game companies to implement software that asks for said real names. China’s government has also expressed animosity towards video game publishers in the past. One such example being their 2018 nearly nine-month-long prohibition on the approval of video games. This being incentive for video game creators to implemented the aforementioned software. Some game companies like Tencent have already begun asking for user’s real names. Children can notably circumvent the software that’d restrict their playing games by simply using the gaming accounts of adults. It is for this reason that the Chinese government asks for family cooperation. The Chinese government has been implementing ways to prevent video game addiction in youth since 2018. Despite this, the government has also promoted e-sports and cloud gaming the former of the two incentivizing a video game training regimen that begins at a young age. China’s youths are also banned from spending more than 400 yuan (about $62) a month on games. Last week South Korea announced it would get rid of similar regulations that saw people under 16 banned from playing video games between midnight and 6 a.m. Console gaming in China was banned for more than a decade leading up to 2015. This led the Chinese populous to gravitate towards PC and mobile gaming. Companies like Nintendo and Sony are attempting to introduce their consoles into the market but are still experiencing “minuscule” sales because of this.

This article interests me because, while I was aware that the Chinese government was oppressive I didn’t know that they had and were reinforcing a stance on the hours during which children could play video games. Beyond that I think it’s interesting that a government as oppressive as China’s still can’t get around the fact that people can just use other people’s accounts to get around the playtime hours they’re trying to enforce. I also find it odd that the government is pro-e-sports; almost as if they expect and are promoting this illegal practice.

Liao, Shannon. “China Restricts Young People to Playing Video Games Three Hours a Week.” Spokesman.com, The Spokesman-Review, 3 Sept. 2021, http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/sep/05/china-restricts-young-people-to-playing-video-game/.

New Social Media Restrictions for Children: Britain’s attempt to pave the way for a safer internet

On By Noah Furcht-HeafitzIn Data, Ethical Issue(s), Instagram, Online Safety, Political, TikTok, YouTubeLeave a comment
(www.sheknows.com/parenting/articles/2036128/apple-removes-parental-control-apps/.,
kaspars Grinvalds/Shutterstock.)

This past Thursday Britain introduced a set of regulations designed to protect children online. Overnight platforms the likes of TikTok, Instagram, and Youtube have responded by doing just that threatened by the possibility of having to pay multimillion-dollar fines. Rather than applying the new mandatory “age-appropriate design code” specifically to the UK, the aforementioned social media platforms have opted to change internationally to meet this new standard. This meaningful change to the online landscape as brought on by the mid-sized country of Britain potentially signals a positive change for the global internet. This, in the way that it implies that the tech industry is no longer all but exempt from broader regulation. oddly enough this major online regulatory step was met with little attention despite the UK’s stated goal of becoming the “safest place in the world to be online”. The code in question was introduced as an amendment to the data protection act 2018, a technical piece of legislation intended mostly to implement GDPR into UK law. The code in question applies to all online services that are used by children and require that said services at least identify younger users and treat them with care. The code prohibits several predatory practices including. One, “nudge” techniques that encourage children to divulge more of their private information than is necessary. Two, anything considered to be more than the minimization of data harvesting from children. And Three, giving anything less than the maximum amount of security for children’s accounts. Where adamant lobbying opposing these regulations was expected the world’s largest companies have instead made substantial changes and, what’s more, insisted that they wanted to make this manner of change to their platforms all along. Whatever the next step is is controlled by the Information Commissioner’s Office or “ICO” as this party controls when and whether to enforce fines for breaches of this regulation. A major factor that is still up in the air is whether or not children will accept their being treated differently online or if they’ll just use their tech-savvy to skirt around regulation. Regardless of what it is children decide to do it is pivotal that the internet is acknowledged as curating the experience of childhood as we move further into the digital age.

This article interests me for the reason that it pertains to what I perceive to be positive broader internet regulation. This is because such change is rarely if ever properly enforced or implemented at all despite its growing importance. This article also interests me because of the broader implications of the implementation of software that is restrictive to children in an age where children are increasingly tech-savvy. This is to say that I think it’ll be interesting to see how children react to being given the power to restrict their own activity on the internet with the context that it’s “for their own good”.

Hern, Alex. “Social Media Giants Increase Global Child Safety after UK Regulations Introduced.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 5 Sept. 2021, http://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/sep/05/social-media-giants-increase-global-child-safety-after-uk-regulations-introduced.

Institutionalized racism amidst COVID-19

On By Aidan PlunkettIn coronavirus, Diversity, Political, Social Issue(s)Leave a comment

This photo was posted on Instagram by activist Shaun King where he @’ed the Mayor of New York City and the NYPD. 

King says this photo was taken by a friend of his on May 2nd, 2020, in West Village, Manhattan. He points out the obvious- that there is no social distancing being practiced in the photo. No masks, no gloves, just very very crowded. But also, you can really only see one particular kind of person: white people. 

He asks why the NYPD aren’t going there to break up the congregation and to brutalize, punch, choke, taser, handcuff, and send ‘THESE PEOPLE’ to Rikers? King states that that is what the NYPD typically does, just not to white people. On the other side of town, in black neighborhoods police brutalize and arrest black kids and young adults who are simply sitting outside for some fresh air, mind you, they are only in a group of four, yet you still make an example of them and send them to prison where they are actually likely to contract the virus. 

Hundreds of white people do the same thing yet with 50 times the amount of people, and the police and mayor have no response? Why must people of different races live in different realities in the same city? 

Florida is blocking medical examiners from reporting all COVID-19 deaths

On By Aidan PlunkettIn coronavirus, Ethical Issue(s), PoliticalLeave a comment

An article from the Tampa Bay Times discusses how medical examiners were told to stop releasing data surrounding the deaths and cases of COVID-19 in the state of Florida. This comes after the concern amongst the public grows that the state government is intentionally under-reporting the number of cases, and therefore underreporting on the severity of the virus and the situation/implications it has caused.

The inquiry into data numbers and statistics came after discrepancies were found between death numbers reported by individual counties and the Florida Department of Health. I wanted to write about this article because I find it interesting how many media outlets, national, local and online, are pointing their finger at, and blaming China for their underreporting of cases and deaths. I understand the supposed scale difference in the omission of data between China and Florida, but does that mean that it’s okay? We are so quick to put the blame elsewhere and criticize others, but shouldn’t we sometimes be critical of ourselves a little more? Each state and its governor needs to be held accountable.

Another topic that made me want to write this article was due to the recent protesting of the ‘lockdown’ across the United States. I want to emphasize how ridiculous it is that there are Trump supporters who are protesting social distancing measures and claiming that the government is over-reporting and exaggerating the data- it is clear that is not the case, but rather, Florida (who’s probably not alone in this endeavor) are systematically hiding cases and deaths. 

https://www.local10.com/news/local/2020/04/30/report-florida-officials-asked-medical-examiners-to-withhold-information-on-coronavirus-related-death

Shake Shack is the light at the end of the tunnel

On By Aidan PlunkettIn Brand, coronavirus, Corporate, Political, Regulation, Social Issue(s), UncategorizedLeave a comment

Following up my last blog post about public companies announcing they would not be returning funds meant for small businesses is an article from NPR which discusses how Shake Shack is returning a $10 million federal loan after the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) that was meant to help small businesses ran out of money in less than two weeks of operation. 

The company will “immediately return the entire $10 million PPP loan we received last week to the Small Business Association (SBA) so that those restaurants who need it most can get it now,” their CEO said. Shake Shack employs about 8,000 people at its restaurants across the United States, but only around 45 people in each location. While their revenue to date marks a decline from 2019,  the company has $104 million in cash and assets, says it has secured other loans to cover the money that would have come from the SBA. 

Shake Shack’s CEO criticized the PPP system for being confusing by limiting the funds and setting the program to run through June 30 – “it’s inexcusable to leave restaurants out because no one told them to get in line by the time the funding dried up”. 74% of the PPP were for less than $150,000, according to the SBA- but that represents only 17% of the total money disbursed through the program. Nearly 28% of the money was awarded to companies seeking loans of $2 million or more. 9% of all approved PPP funds were granted to the food service and accommodation industry, roughly $30.5 billion.

I wanted to write this article because Shake Shack clearly did the right thing by returning the funds, but the PPP system that has been set up is indeed confusing and something needs to be changed. Yes, I think Shake Shack made the right, and ethical choice, but I don’t commend them for it simply because it would have been the wrong thing to do had they kept the funds. As the article stated Shake Shack has $104 million in capital, and as their CEO essentially said, they can afford to pay for some things out of pocket rather than take $10 million away from the majority small businesses that really need them (the 74% that were granted for less than $150,000). 

https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/20/838439215/shake-shack-returns-10-million-loan-to-u-s-program-for-small-businesses

Corporate America Doesn’t Care About Anything But Profits

On By Aidan PlunkettIn coronavirus, Corporate, Political, Regulation, Social Issue(s), UncategorizedLeave a comment

An article from CNBC discusses several public companies that took small business rescue loans say they are not giving back the cash” discusses how not only did the Federal Government mistakenly give public companies and corporations the rescue funds that were specifically meant to go to small business owners, but many of these companies are now officially taking the stance that they will not give these funds back- all while the rescue fund for small businesses have been wiped out entirely and there is no more money to give at the time being. 

CNBC reached out to the 41 biggest publicly traded companies that had received Paycheck Protection Program loans to see if they would be returning the funds. Six said they had no plans to return the funds, five said they will (or had) returned the money, while 30 either did not respond or said their decision was pending. One CEO keeping the cash said, “to return would be breaching fiduciary duty.” The government warned public companies on Thursday to return the relief loans in two weeks if they wanted to avoid scrutiny about whether it was necessary for them to take the capital.

I bring this instance up for a few reasons, first being why hasn’t Uncle Sam simply withdrawn those funds that were wrongfully given to public companies, and reallocate the funds to those small businesses that are still waiting and unable to receive any additional help? It seems that this mistake on behalf of our own government could easily be fixed, yet they are allowing the true mom-and-pop shops to suffer while corporate America continues to get more and more benefits (i.e. tax breaks, increasing salaries for executives, etc.). Simply warning companies that they will only ‘face scrutiny’ if they do not return the funds is a very weak threat. When congress wants something, they find a way to pay for it- don’t feed the public that there is no more available rescue funds for small businesses while the news is celebrating the frontline workers during the pandemic such as grocery stores, delivery/trucking, healthcare, many of whom work for small businesses and corporations alike- don’t make it a choice about who is in more need of help when the economy is halting. 

https://delawarebusinessnow.com/2020/04/from-cnbc-several-public-companies-who-took-small-business-rescue-loans-say-they-are-not-giving-back-the-cash

Accessibility of Online Learning

On By Aidan PlunkettIn coronavirus, Distribution, Diversity, Education, Media Covergence, News Media, Political, Regulation, Social Issue(s)Leave a comment

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, there have been major shutdowns across the country and around the world at large for many businesses, schools and universities. These shutdowns have let to demand and necessity for online learning resources. Many upper-level education institutes and organizations have made the decision to move to online learning indefinitely. As a student at Temple University, we moved to online learning for the rest of the semester in mid-March. My mother is a math teacher at a high school in the suburbs of Philadelphia, and they have made the decision to move to online learning indefinitely.

This makes me begin to think about many things…

A decade ago, switching to online learning or mandating that students learn via online resources would not have been possible. Technological advancement and globalization have led to an increase in technological capabilities and increase in the number of people who have access to technology and the internet. That same globalization is what has enabled the spread of the COVID-19 virus around the world. 

The spread of this virus has therefore created a demand and necessity for online learning resources and accessibility. The media has portrayed the COVID-19 virus as extremely bad, yet last year the flu had 350 Million cases and over 20 thousand deaths in the United States alone. Has the over-scaring tactic of the media facilitated the demand for online learning? Obviously we need to be cautious, and I understand the idea of ‘flattening the curve’, but I can’t help but wonder who’s profiting most while many people suffer.

I wrote this article because I recently learned about Community Learning Center, an adult literacy nonprofit organization in Philadelphia that provides low-income adults with free education classes and services. While large institutions like Temple can provide the technology or resources for students to participate in online learning, smaller, nonprofit organizations like CLC don’t have the funding or resources to equip all of their students with the necessary technology to participate adequately in online learning, if at all. However, the potential of online learning capabilities being accessible to everyone poses benefits for many people across many levels of education.

Tucker Carlson Warns of Coronavirus as Fox Attacks Media Coverage

On By David SonIn Censorship, coverage, Fake News, Media Covergence, National coverage, News Media, Political, Social Issue(s)Leave a comment

Tucker Carlson of Fox News has expressed his concerns over the Coronavirus. Even though his colleagues at Fox have downplayed the media’s coverage of the virus, Carlson has other words to say. On monday night, Carlson seemed to disapprove of President Trump’s message regarding the virus. “People you trust, people you probably voted for, have spent weeks minimizing what is clearly a very serious problem,” Carlson said. “it’s just partisan politics,’ the say. ‘Calm down. In the end this was just like the flu and people die from that every year. Coronavirus will pass.”

Meanwhile on Fox, Carlson’s colleague, Trish Regan was dismissing coronavirus than nothing more than an attempt to impeach Trump. Also, Sean Hannity claims that the media is using the coronavirus as a weapon against Trump. This is not a surprise for Fox is a very right winged news broadcasting channel that will support anything the President has to say. Rush Limbaugh even claims the democrats are using this virus scare to stop Trump rallies.

CNN on monday has begin calling this virus a pandemic. It is a big decision to begin calling it a pandemic because of the severity that implies. CNN chief medical correspondent, Sanya Gupta says, “While we know it sounds alarming, it should not cause panic.” By calling it a pandemic, Gupta is not trying to scare more people, but simply provide the correct information.

Many other media outlet companies have already begun taking precautions on this pandemic. The Washington Post, Vice Media, A+E Networks, New York Times, and more have all begun taking precautionary steps during this time. All companies have begun encouraging the employees to work from home. It seems as if every new company is focused on the actual matter at hand, while Fox shows stubbornness to the facts.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/10/media/tucker-carlson-coronavirus-warning-reliable-sources/index.html

Facebook Contemplating Transparency on Platform

On By Jared RohlfingIn ads, Algorithms, facebook, Internet Of Things, Political, Social Issue(s)Leave a comment

In an article for CNBC, Julia Boorstin covers the most recent development in FaceBook’s ongoing transparaceny debacle that this time involves Presidential hopeful Mike Bloomberg.  Facebook is apparently concerned about the lack of transparency regarding Bloomberg’s campaign in regards to campaign staffers and activists using the platform to garner support for the former New York Mayor’s Presidential campaign.  Currently, posts advocating for Bloomberg’s campaign don’t specifically indicate that these endorsements are in fact created by paid campaign staffers and supporters. According to the article, Facebook is in the process of considering necessary steps to increase transparency and make these campaign posts more obvious in their partiality.  In recent months, the social media juggernaut has been progressively taking steps to gain users trust through increased transparency regarding campaign advertisements as a result of the Cambridge Analytical debacle the company faced in early 2018. That particular scandal arose after it was reported that the company had unethically gathered user data to target political ads supporting Donald Trump for President in 2016.  Since then Facebook has instituted new policies such as flagging political ads and launching a database that reports ad purchases in relation to politics and special interests. 

I find it interesting that Facebook is now reactively making transparency regarding advertisements on its platform a priority after years of ignoring the issue altogether.  The mounting distrust and negative press the site has received in recent years has obviously had some kind of effect on the company’s standards in relation to transparency on the platform.  It remains to be seen however if the company can rebound from the awful public relations issues the site has been facing in recent times and potentially gain consumer trust. 

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/21/facebook-considers-transparency-around-posts-from-political-staffers.html