Facebook is failing to sufficiently address violence and hate speech against Muslim minorities and enforce anti-bigotry policies across its platform, 15 US senators said in a letter addressed to company CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Monday.
“Facebook is a groundbreaking company that has revolutionised the way we communicate. Unfortunately, the connectivity that can bring people together in many positive ways also has been used to dehumanise and stoke violence against Muslims, Black people, Latinos, immigrants, the Jewish community, Sikhs, Christians, women, and other communities here and across the world,” the letter, led by US Senator Chris Coons, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee said.
“As members of Congress who are deeply disturbed by the proliferation of this hate speech on your platform, we urge you to do more.”
The senators pointed to areas of particular concern, including the targeting of mosques and Muslim community events by armed protesters through the platform and called on Facebook to take more robust action.
It also cited an independent civil rights audit of the company from July 2020 which highlighted disturbing examples of anti-Muslim abuse on the platform ranging, “from the organisation of events designed to intimidate members of the Muslim community at gathering places, to the prevalence of content demonising Islam and Muslims, and the use of Facebook Live during the Christchurch massacre.”
The letter also mentioned a recent United Nations report that concluded the company played a “determining” role in violence against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, pointing out that Facebook has acknowledged the platform was used to “foment division and incite offline violence.”
The letter acknowledged that Facebook has announced efforts to address its role in the spread of hate across the platform, but said that further action is needed to implement these steps. This includes collecting and publishing data to convey the scope of the problem and implementing a plan to ensure robust enforcement of its call to arms policy, the senators said.
The policy, created in June, bans event pages that call for individuals to bring weapons to a location. However, there have been several occasions when Facebook failed to implement the policy, including a 2019 event page used to plan an armed protest at the largest Muslim community convention in the country, the senators said.
“We recognise that Facebook has announced efforts to address its role in the distribution of anti-Muslim content in some of these areas … Nevertheless, it is not clear that the company is meaningfully better positioned to prevent further human rights abuses and violence against Muslim minorities today,” the senators said.
“As members of Congress who are committed to protecting the Muslim community, we urge you to take immediate action to combat this bigotry on Facebook’s platforms.”
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Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
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The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Buy farm-fresh food
The UAE is stepping up its game when it comes to platforms for local farms to show off and sell their produce.
In Dubai, visit Emirati Farmers Souq at The Pointe every Saturday from 8am to 2pm, which has produce from Al Ammar Farm, Omar Al Katri Farm, Hikarivege Vegetables, Rashed Farms and Al Khaleej Honey Trading, among others.
In Sharjah, the Aljada residential community will launch a new outdoor farmers’ market every Friday starting this weekend. Manbat will be held from 3pm to 8pm, and will host 30 farmers, local home-grown entrepreneurs and food stalls from the teams behind Badia Farms; Emirates Hydroponics Farms; Modern Organic Farm; Revolution Real; Astraea Farms; and Al Khaleej Food.
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1. 'I will seek consultation from professionals'
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The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
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Thalassaemia is part of a family of genetic conditions affecting the blood known as haemoglobin disorders.
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The condition mainly affects people of Mediterranean, South Asian, South-East Asian and Middle Eastern origin. Saudi Arabia recorded 45,892 cases of carriers between 2004 and 2014.
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- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
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A UK report on youth social media habits commissioned by advocacy group Volteface found a quarter of young people were exposed to illegal drug dealers on social media.
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