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These female African content creators are using TikTok for more than just dance videos · Global Voices
Njeri Wangari

“TikTok” by Solen Feyissa is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
TikTok’s growth in the African continent has been phenomenal. In 2019, TikTok became the second most downloaded app in South Africa, after Facebook Lite, and is estimated to have more than 6 million users in that country, according to the 2020 SA Social Media Landscape report. The app currently ranks as the third most downloaded social media app among Nigerians in the Google Play Store, and sixth among Kenyans.
Although TikTok's largest user bases are still outside of Africa, it seems that moves by its parent company ByteDance to woo young African creatives to the platform are paying off.
According to a March 2020 story by Quartz:
When TikTok first looked at the African market in 2018, it had barely been searched by Africans on Google trends. Today, hits for TikTok top searches for terms like “influencer” in the apps three key markets: Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.
TikTok’s massive popularity globally has been attributed to its appeal to Millennials and Generation z for its support of a mix of music, lip-sync videos, and micro-video content. With Africa's massive young population, it's no surprise that the app caught on there. As Weetracker.com notes:
For many reasons, TikTok’s attention to Africa makes absolute sense. The reason being that Africa is the world’s youngest continent with a median age of 20 years, in comparison with India which is 27, and America which is 38. This presents greater access to its target audience; the so-called Millennials and Gen Z.
The platform is already nurturing outliers within the continent: Female content creators who are using the app for more than just lip-syncing dance routines and viral challenges. This breed of political satire analysts and humanitarian TikTokers are using the app to create awareness about issues such as politics, hunger, and bad governance.
Kenyan comedian Barbara Nyambura, who joined TikTok in 2018, has found a niche with her tongue-in-cheek critique of African governments. Her lip-synched commentary videos poke fun at political statements, news, and current affairs using humor and satire that goes beyond just entertainment.

Politics, however, hasn’t always been her forte. A look at her first videos indicates that her initial brand of comedy was more on lipsynching black comedians and enacting satirical videos of Kenya’s society. It was not until 2020 that she began making political videos, such as reactions to Kenyan news or government announcements.

Her first video marking this turning point in her content was a reaction to the news that the government would be conducting another exercise to capture biometric data as part of its initiative in the registration of persons in the country.
Although the video only garnered 5,000 views, it still resonated a lot with Kenyans on Twitter and Instagram, where Barbara crossposts her content.
It is her latest videos that have brought her to have a cross-over appeal beyond TikTok onto Twitter, Instagram, and even Whatsapp.
DCI ?? pic.twitter.com/ZrQJjzX7tS
— Mwarimū Mūtemi wa Kīama (@MutemiWaKiama) April 13, 2021
In Zambia, Dora Moono Nyambe, a 28-year-old primary school teacher, is using the platform to document school life in the rural village of Mapapa.
Nyambe left her teaching job in China a year ago. Together with her seven adopted children, she moved to Mapapa, a rural village near her home where she began holding school lessons under a tree.
Since joining TikTok, she has attracted 2.1 million followers to her account and 56.7 million likes to her videos, with some of them getting as many as 36 million views.
A September 2020 story on Nyambe that appeared on Boren magazine reported:
While she first created her TikTok account in March 2018, it wasn’t until May 2020 when Nyambe began to upload and attract attention to her account. After receiving hundreds of thousands of views on her initial videos on Mapapa, many viewers asked how they could help support her vision of improving children’s way of living in Mapapa. On May 14, 2020, Nyambe, with help from a fellow missionary in the United States, created a GoFundMe page for the village.
Although her initial GoFundMe goal was to raise 6,000 USD, she quickly surpassed that and has so far raised approximately 80,000 USD.
Recently, Dora Nyambe was announced as the new Goodwill Ambassador for The Hunger Project. A press statement shared with Global Voices by the anti-hunger and anti-poverty nonprofit organization said:
Dora, 28, will use her platform to reach her 2.1 million followers on TikTok to educate the world about hunger and poverty and the impact we can have when we commit to ending hunger together. Dora’s TikTok features content from around her life in Zambia, the free school she runs and of her seven adopted children, ages 3-19.
In the statement, Dora shared her reaction to the announcement:
I love what The Hunger Project stands for. […] I am passionate about ending hunger and I hope I can use my platform and influence to drive our goal to end hunger. I know we can reach so many kids and impact so many lives. For me, being an Ambassador means doing something that is not just about myself.
Nyambe shared her future goals with Pov21.com, saying that she is planning on building a boarding school to provide her students with the best quality of life she can. This, she noted, was very important because there are still a lot of African children who have dreadful situations at home, from abusive parents to not having the basic needs met.
For Esther Kazungu, African parliamentary proceedings have become her TikTok comedy staple. Originally from Kenya, she rose to fame with video skits of South Africa’s Parliament debates and re-enactments of South Africa's “People's Bae” and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) opposition leader MP Dr. Mbuyiseni Ndlozi.
Dr. Ndlozi, who is also the EFF spokesperson, earned a reputation as ‘The People's Bae” due to his eloquence, good looks, and quick-witted jabs that have turned the South African parliamentary debates into one of the most dramatic if not humorous spectacles in the continent.
Although meant to elicit laughter, Esther’s skits are veiled in satire, exposing how lawmakers reduce serious sessions meant to deliberate issues affecting citizens into “sleepiest” and trivialized small talk inundated by sideshows.
Esther, who began creating content on YouTube in 2016 before moving to TikTok, has since diversified her coverage of the South African parliament after her fans made requests to cover parliamentary proceedings from other countries, such as Kenya, Somalia, Ghana, Namibia, and Malawi.
These women are perhaps the pioneers in showing another side of TikTok that most of us don’t get to see. They are demonstrating that this platform can and might become the Twitter of its generation – a medium for discussion about pertinent issues, in ways that prompt real-life action and change.


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Ukraine, Belarus commemorate 35th anniversary of Chernobyl disaster · Global Voices
Tanya Lokot

A ferris wheel in Prypiat’, near the Chornobyl nuclear power plant. Image by Ian Bancroft on Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
On April 26, 1986, a routine safety test at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine resulted in an explosion in the fourth reactor, spewing a huge cloud of radioactive dust. Carried northwest from the town of Prypiat’, 150 km north of Kyiv, the dust spread over Ukraine and across the border to Belarus and other European countries, exposing hundreds of thousands—if not millions—of people to high levels of invisible radiation.
The Chornobyl explosion and its fallout is considered the greatest nuclear disaster in the history of humanity in terms of casualties and affected victims. Debates continue to this day about the causes of the accident. The most cited ones include errors in the reactor's design and lack of awareness of the possible danger among staff. But the harm was magnified by the fact that the scale of the disaster was concealed by Soviet authorities, including the power plant management and state officials.
The mundane horrors of Soviet bureaucracy and the heroic efforts of first responders have recently garnered renewed attention thanks to a 2019 dramatisation of the events in an award-winning television miniseries, Chernobyl, created and written by Craig Mazin and directed by Johan Renck.
An empty abandoned building in Prypiat’, near Chornobyl. Image by Wendelin Jacober on Flickr (CC0 1.0, public domain).
This year Ukraine, Belarus and other countries are commemorating the 35th anniversary of the disaster. For the world, the story of Chornobyl symbolises the fragility of our environment and the threat posed to it by human activity. But for countless citizens in Ukraine and Belarus it remains a personal tragedy, one that saw loved ones lost, families displaced, lives and health ruined. Fittingly, commemorative events across the region have also taken on a personal dimension.
Today, Prypiat’ is still a ghost town where buildings that were once home to a population of circa 50,000 people stand empty, overgrown with vegetation. Disaster tourists have frequented the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone over the years, first unofficially and then with the authorities’ blessing, and wild animals roam its streets freely, but other signs of life are rare. In 2017, Polish adventurers marked the 31st anniversary of Chornobyl with a symbolic act: using generators, the Poles electrified some of the buildings in Prypiat’, lighting up the abandoned town for the first time in more than three decades.
This year, local activists and artists organized an art event in Prypiat’ titled Chornobyl.35. The vigil the night before the anniversary saw a photo exhibition installed in the town's central square, along with live music, poetry readings and a light show.  Members of the music and poetry project “Euterpa” read works by Chornobyl poets, accompanied by improvised sounds produced by PRIPYAT Pianos, a virtual instrument designed by composer Volodymyr Savin based on the recorded sounds of old abandoned pianos found around Prypiat’.
У ніч з 25 на 26 квітня відбулася мистецька Акція Chornobyl.35 — люди зібралися, щоб вшанувати пам'ять ліквідаторів аварії на Чорнобильській АЕС. Учасники акції запалили 35 свічок — за кількістю років з моменту вибуху pic.twitter.com/TpC3DjJnYt
— hromadske (@HromadskeUA) April 26, 2021
An art action, Chornobyl.35, took place on the night from April 25 to April 26 – people gathered to honour the memory of first responders of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant incident. The participants of the action lit 35 candles – one for each year that has passed since the moment of explosion.
Oleksandr Syrota, one of the organisers of the vigil, former resident of Prypiat’ and head of the Civic Council of the State Agency for Management of the Exclusion Zone, wrote on Facebook:
Вже кілька років поспіль ми збираємося у м. Прип'ять в ніч проти 26 квітня, щоби вшанувати пам`ять тих, хто віддав свої життя та здоров`я, покинув рідний дім та все, що було йому дорогим, через аварію на Чорнобильській АЕС.
For several years now we've been gathering in Prypiat’ on the night before April 26 to honour the memory of those who gave their lives and health, left their homes and everything dear to them because of the Chornobyl disaster.
Others in Ukraine documented the fallout of the nuclear accident by accounting for the impact on the mental wellbeing and health of thousands of people, but also recognising the influence of Chornobyl events on the burgeoning environmental movement in Ukraine. Nashi.30, a documentary multimedia project dedicated to the 30th anniversary of Ukraine's independence and jointly produced by Ukrainian Public Service broadcaster and the Ukrainian-British Public Interest Journalism Lab, focused their second episode on Chornobyl. A collection of written interviews and chronicles, a podcast and a documentary video reveal how news of the disaster, deliberately delayed by the Soviet authorities and hidden for days, mobilised citizens around the cause of environmental justice.
☢35 років тому сталася катастрофа на ЧАЕС. Ця трагедія змусила українців замислитися про безпеку довкілля і сколихнула перші екопротести.
▶ Про те, як українці об’єдналися для захисту родин від невидимої загрози, дивіться у 2-му фільмі серіалу #НАШІ30:https://t.co/OanytQJhiw pic.twitter.com/47pOqYnjpK
— Public Interest Journalism Lab (@PIJLab) April 26, 2021
35 years ago the Chornobyl nuclear power plant disaster happened. The tragedy made Ukrainians more aware of the need for environmental protection and inspired the first eco-protests.
Watch our second #NASHI30 episode about how Ukrainians came together to protect their families from the invisible threat:
In Belarus, where land bordering Ukraine was one of the areas worst hit by the radioactive wind, and where citizens have been protesting against a disputed election and the ensuing government crackdown, protesters exchanged their white-and-red garb for black and yellow clothing, to mark the dark anniversary of Chornobyl.
Девушки, которые обычно прогуливались по городу в бело-красном, сегодня сменили цвет одежды и зонтов в знак скорби о жертвах катастрофы на ЧАЭС. И прогулялись вдоль одного из домов столицы, куда переселили чернобыльцев и ликвидаторов аварии. pic.twitter.com/zPY6u2unWU
— TUT.BY (@tutby) April 26, 2021
The women, who usually walked the city wearing white and red, switched the colour of their clothes and umbrellas in mourning for the victims of the Chornobyl nuclear catastrophe. They took a stroll along one of the buildings in the capital where Chornobyl residents and liquidators of the accident had been relocated.
Despite the dark history and the gloomy present of the Chornobyl site and its surroundings, Ukraine is seeking ways to regenerate the region and to capitalize on its iconic status. According to a recent Reuters report, the Ukrainian government has initiated work that could soon allow it to apply to have Chornobyl and Prypiat’ designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. The hope is that such a status from the United Nations’ cultural, scientific and education body could potentially bring more funding and more tourists to the Exclusion Zone.
As Ukrainian Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko told Reuters,
We believe that putting Chernobyl on the UNESCO heritage list is a first and important step towards having this great place as a unique destination of interest for the whole of mankind. The importance of the Chernobyl zone lays far beyond Ukraine’s borders… It is not only about commemoration, but also history and people’s rights.

source: news-globalvoices

license: Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

author: Tanya Lokot


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A runaway judge’s disappearance could mar Ukraine-Moldova relationship · Global Voices
Vladimir Thorik

Mykola Chaus, a Ukrainian judge living in Chisinau, was allegedly abducted in April 2021. Courtesy image by RISE Moldova.
In early April, Mykola Chaus, a Ukrainian judge, was allegedly abducted by unknown individuals in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova. Chaus had escaped to Moldova in 2016 from Ukraine, where he is under investigation on charges of accepting a hefty bribe.
Five days before his disappearance, Chaus featured in a joint investigation by reporting teams from RISE Moldova (an investigative website where I work as a journalist) and Slidstvo.info (a Ukrainian investigative journalism outlet), retracing the events around the judge’s undercover arrival in Moldova in 2016. Another investigative report was released five days after Chaus’ alleged kidnapping and focused on his disappearance in Chisinau. This piece for Global Voices summarises our investigations of Chaus’ story, the alleged involvement of Ukraine’s secret services in his relocation, and the background of the corruption scandals currently complicating Ukraine’s relationship with Moldova.
Mykola Chaus, a judge at the Dniprovsky district court in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, first made headlines on August 9, 2016, when detectives from Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) caught the official red-handed while split-hiding a bribe of $150,000, which he had extorted and received earlier that year, in two glass jars. Because the judge had immunity from prosecution, he avoided immediate arrest and made himself scarce. Despite multiple subpoenas from prosecutors and an international manhunt launched by Ukrainian law enforcement, several weeks later Chaus managed to escape the prosecution and left Ukraine.
Once he arrived in Moldova and settled in Chisinau, the fugitive requested asylum on the grounds of political persecution. This ongoing judicial appeal process allowed the magistrate to postpone his extradition, requested by Ukraine in 2017 in connection with corruption charges levelled against Chaus, by four more years.
Ironically, the Moldovan Parliament has recently recognised corruption as a “national disaster” and “the key threat to freedom, security and wellbeing” in a declaration adopted in June 2019 after one of the country’s richest oligarchs, Vladimir Plahotniuc, escaped Moldova after his party was ousted from power by an opposition coalition.
Plahotniuc, a former lawmaker and chairman of the ruling Democratic Party of Moldova (DPM), was widely considered the informal ruler of the republic, despite not holding any public office for several years. His influence was buttressed by a clan of friendly public officials who governed Moldova at his behest.
Among other things, Plahotniuc is also a past business partner of former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko. Thus, the choice of Moldova as a refuge country for Chaus was an obvious solution, according to the shared opinion of law-enforcement officials in Kyiv and Chisinau, who spoke off the record.
In Kyiv, the fugitive judge was often referred to as Poroshenko’s “pocket judge”, as he was allegedly privy to the various court cases the ex-President’s team was involved in and to the routine “justice-by-phone” influence on court proceedings exerted by politicians. This also meant he was a potential witness in any future investigations of abuse of power or persecution of political opponents by the former head of state.
In an interview with Global Voices, Yevgenia Motorevska, Ukrainian investigative journalist with Slidstvo.info and contributing author to the Chaus investigations, said there were several parties in Ukraine interested in Chaus’ whereabouts:
His speedy return to Ukraine is of interest to the current government of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Mykola Chaus is a valuable witness in one of the criminal cases also featuring Ukraine’s former President Petro Poroshenko. The latter is currently Zelenskyy’s main opponent. The current government has repeatedly indicated their intention to prosecute Poroshenko on criminal charges.
Motorevska says that the judge’s disappearance “could also be convenient for former President Poroshenko” as it would distract from the ongoing investigations into his own activities.
Chaus’ return to Ukraine was seen by many as beneficial for Zelenskyy’s team – until he was abducted on April 3, 2021. The alleged kidnapping incident could raise uncomfortable questions for both Zelenskyy and his Moldovan counterpart, President Maia Sandu.
Media in both countries are now speculating that the judge’s abduction could have been jointly organized by the secret services of Ukraine and Moldova with the tacit blessing from both Sandu’s and Zelenskyy’s offices. However, any evidence to support these claims has yet to emerge.
Sources in Moldova’s Ministry of Foreign affairs told us that in the two weeks after Chaus’ disappearance President Sandu made at least three attempts to contact her Ukrainian colleague by phone to discuss the incident, but never succeeded.
At the same time, Kyiv officials have denied any connection to Chaus’ disappearance. Andrey Chernyak, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate, called the abduction “a provocation of Russian secret services”.
While the Ukrainian authorities deflect blame, Moldova has been actively collecting evidence about those involved in the abduction as part of an active criminal investigation. This reporter was able to review some of the details of the case. Based on these materials and on the other open sources used by the RISE Moldova and Slidstvo.info reporters, several conclusions can be drawn.
First, the Moldovan criminal investigators have seemingly been able to trace the movements of most of the possible persons of interest in the case, from their arrival into Moldova from Ukraine and until their exit from Moldovan territory.
Both the facts collected by the official criminal investigation and the information obtained by our international investigative journalist team suggest that the abduction was a special operation, planned at least a few months in advance. As of April 20, our team has been able to locate and identify five fake Ukrainian passports, whose owners left Moldova on April 3 – the day that Chaus was abducted.
In fact, the disappearance operation could have involved both persons who arrived from Ukraine in February-March 2021 and individuals who had been residing in Chisinau for several years. Among them is Serhiy Smetanyuk, a military attaché of the Ukrainian embassy in Moldova. He left Moldova for Ukraine on short notice in a vehicle with diplomatic license plates a few hours after Chaus is known to have disappeared. Investigators believe that the abducted person could have been in the vehicle. Ukraine has so far not granted Chisinau’s request for the removal of the diplomat’s immunity in order for him to be questioned by the investigators.
The reporting team has cross-checked information on about 20 potential persons of interest provided by sources close to the Moldovan investigation against official open state registries of Ukraine. Some of the individuals in question have previously worked in Ukrainian law enforcement.
The official criminal case also includes facts unearthed by the RISE Moldova and Slidstvo.info reporting team that were published in our second investigation, released after Chaus’ disappearance. Among them is the double identity of one of the Ukrainian persons of interest in the abduction case, who is known to have connections to Ukrainian intelligence.
Overall, the criminal case file is chock-full of facts uncovered by investigative journalists. For instance, there are photo snapshots from dozens of CCTV cameras whose video streams from the day of Chaus’ disappearance were analysed by our team.
Aside from the official investigation, the Moldovan Parliament is also scrutinising the key facts of Chaus’ arrival in Chisinau and his subsequent disappearance. Moldovan lawmakers have even formed a special investigative committee on the matter.
A special meeting of the committee behind closed doors recently heard evidence from Moldovan law enforcement officials; this reporter also was invited to speak about the collaborative investigation. The lawmakers were especially interested in the open-source intelligence (OSINT) methodology that the reporting team used to gather evidence for the investigative report on the abduction case, titled “A judge for smuggling”.
The members of Parliament found it surprising that in just a few days a handful of journalists from Moldova and Ukraine had managed to collect video evidence from CCTV cameras, verify departure records of the ten key persons of interest in the abduction case, review their biographies and past job histories, and even uncover a fake passport used by one of the suspects. Some of the persons of interest even provided comments on the investigation (video in Ukrainian).
Sources close to the official Moldovan investigation told this reporter that it is regrettable that “instead of strengthening cooperation between Kyiv and Chisinau Ukrainian security services were recklessly acting on their own without informing the Moldovan side and making the Moldovan security system as a whole look bad”.
One of the members of the special parliamentary committee pointed out in a comment to GV that “in the current political climate this incident plays into the hands of the Kremlin and “kremlinovici” (a term used to describe Moldovan political actors supportive of Russian authorities)”.
According to the lawmaker, who asked to remain anonymous due to the ongoing investigation into Chaus’ case,
…to rebuild trust, the Ukrainian side should either acknowledge their participation in this controversy or assist in identifying the real culprits and their handlers who may be connected to the abduction. The acknowledgement could be public or private, but must provide notice of substantial detail through the law enforcement channels.
Experts who spoke to this reporter believe that the abduction of the judge could lead to a temporary cooling-off of bilateral relations between Moldova and Ukraine.
Whatever the outcome, both the story of Chaus’ escape to Moldova and the fact of his disappearance demonstrate the risks that the continued use of law enforcement and judicial powers by political elites in Ukraine and Moldova for personal gain poses for regional security.
Aleksey Tulbure, director of the Institute of oral history of Moldova, believes the two countries “have an opportunity to seek joint solutions to similar problems (such as separatism) and set joint priorities in homeland and foreign policy, as well as build mutual understanding between heads of state. Squandering such an opportunity would be unacceptable”.

author: Vladimir Thorik


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Can smartphone users really protect themselves from privacy violations? · Global Voices
Rémy Vuong

French engineer and creator of /e/ Foundation Gaël Duval. Photo used with permission.
For internet and technology companies, collecting user data remains one of their main sources of income. But this business model includes a security risk for users, as demonstrated by recurring cases of undisclosed commercial use, massive leaks, and hacking incidents. Is there a credible solution for strengthening users’ privacy?
Companies such as Google and Apple focus on collecting daily user data, mostly via smartphones, and combining information from the applications running over time: the user's contacts and agenda, for example. A multitude of apps track the user's location in real time, while health and sports apps dig deep into their biometric information. This data is collected and analyzed, allegedly to offer more tailored and sophisticated services. In fact, most users do not realize they are offering a wealth of data to service providers and platform owners, free of charge.
Privacy activists, such as Austrian Max Schrems, have expressed strong concerns about this model. They highlight the risks of increasingly frequent privacy violations and abuses. This was perhaps best illustrated by the Facebook scandal known as the Cambridge Analytica case – in which British consulting firm Cambridge Analytica obtained the personal data of 87 million Facebook users without consent, in order to “provide analytical assistance to the 2016 presidential campaigns of Ted Cruz and Donald Trump”.
Schrems says he warned Facebook representatives about the data-mining activities of Cambridge Analytica, but could not convince them to act:
They [Facebook representatives] explicitly said that in their view, by using the platform you consent to a situation where other people can install an app and gather your data.
But why would you care about privacy if you have nothing to hide, after all? Whistleblower Edward Snowden answered this question in a Reddit discussion in 2015:
Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say.
French software engineer and data expert Gaël Duval has been involved for years in free software development, including the Mandrake Linux distribution – an operating system (based on a Linux kernel) which can legally be modified and shared with others.
Duval then decided to build an OS that would provide smartphones users with heightened protection of their data: /e/OS.
Global Voices spoke to him to understand how communication technology impacts lives, and present both an opportunity and a risk. Here is his view on the evolution of such technology:
This is a philosophical question. I personally have very mixed feelings about it because I've always been passionate about technology. But at the same time, I feel that sometimes it's too much, and I miss the time when you had to find a phone booth to have a call. It was probably a more carefree and [slower-paced] life. Younger people might be surprised to know that until I was five, there was no phone at home and no television. So sometimes I feel I lived a part of my life in a totally different world, that doesn't exist anymore. On the other hand, it's really exciting to see what we can do with modern technology, like having an HD video call with someone on the other side of the planet, and seeing all those electric cars that, at least, are not burning petrol and [filling] our lungs with the exhaust fumes.
Besides the seductive dangers of nostalgia for those who still remember analog times, we are also facing a real risk of dependence on information technology – a 2018 study linked behavioral problems in children with excessive use of smartphones, which was shown to cause issues including attention deficit disorder (ADD) and depression. A survey published in 2020 by Common Sense Media found that 50 percent of teenagers in the Los Angeles area feel dependent on their smartphones.
The risk inherent in our use of such technology was recently openly acknowledged by insiders from the industry in the Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma, which includes testimonials from former employees of Big Tech – including Google, Twitter and Facebook – explaining how they purposefully nurtured user addiction for profit.
Some governments have reacted by upgrading protective legislation in order to both raise user awareness and place more responsibility on technology companies. In May 2018, the European Union passed the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The law adds multiple constraints to data management, such as asking users for explicit authorization for the use of their data and requiring companies to remove this data after a period of three years without interaction. It also introduces extremely large fines for those who do not respect these rules. But its enforcement is limited by a lack of resources to do so among local authorities, and it is, of course, only applicable in EU member states.
This current climate convinced Duval of the need to create a tool that would allow people to take control of their own data, as he explains:
Our slogan is “Your data is YOUR data,” because our personal data belongs to us, and those who pretend that it shouldn't are either against freedom and democracy, or they have a business that is fuelled by advertising – because personal data can help sell ads at a much higher price.
This is how the OS he created operates:
/e/ is a digital ecosystem that provides a smartphone operating system that doesn't send [to Google] any piece of your personal data, like your searches, your geolocation… and that respects users’ data privacy. It doesn't look at the user's data for any purpose. It also provides basic online services such as an email address, some storage, a calendar, a way to store your contacts – everything linked with the smartphone operating system.
Duval said that when it comes to personal data, Google and Apple are in the same boat – this data fuels Google's business model, which is essentially based on selling advertising, while Apple, despite claiming to protect its users’ privacy, receives an estimated 8 billion to 12 billion US dollars each year to pre-install Google search on iPhones and iPads.
Duval added:
Using an iPhone, a user sends about 6MB of personal data to Google, per day. It's double [that amount] for Android users. Besides, Apple hardware is a closed box, without any transparency about what's happening inside. You have to trust them. We, on the other hand, support “auditable privacy”: all the /e/OS and the cloud software source code (the “recipe” for building the products) is open-source. It can be challenged by specialists and audited.
In a context of growing dependence on smartphones, it is clear that protective legislation is not enough to raise awareness and equip users with the right tools and knowledge to protect their data privacy – and this is where a digital tool that makes users more responsible and proactive can play an important role.

author: Rémy Vuong


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Organiser of Hong Kong’s mass pro-democracy demonstrations faces police probe · Global Voices
Hong Kong Free Press

Hong Kong demonstrators photographed on June 16, 2019. Photo: May James/HKFP.
The following post was written by Kelly Ho and published by Hong Kong Free Press on April 27, 2021. This version is published on Global Voices via a content partnership agreement.
A Hong Kong civil rights coalition that organised numerous demonstrations during the 2019 mass protests is facing a probe by the city’s police force into allegations that the group breached the Societies Ordinance, a local law relating to the registration of societies.
Investigators from the force have requested that the Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF) hand in six items related to its operations, according to its convenor Figo Chan, who received a letter containing the request when he reported back to the police on Monday in connection with protest-related charges for which he is currently on bail.
According to a letter dated on April 21, 2021, the police said the CHRF registered as a society in July 2006 under the Societies Ordinance but cancelled its registration around two months later. The force said that based on information gathered from the media and social media platforms, the CHRF continued to operate as a society afterwards, which allegedly breached section five of the legislation.
The police asked the CHRF to explain why it did not reapply for registration and whether the Facebook page “Civil Human Rights Front” was established and managed by the group. The force also asked the group to provide a list of all the public demonstration and rallies it had held since September 2006 and information on its sources of income and expenditure, as well as the bank account the organisation used to receive funding.
The CHRF organised numerous public processions with police approval during the 2019 anti-extradition bill movement, including the historic “two million” march on June 16 that year. But the group later faced difficulty in getting police permission to hold demonstrations, as the months-long period of unrest often descended into violent clashes between police and pro-democracy protesters.
The last police-approved demonstration organised by the CHRF was the 2020 New Year’s march, which the group estimated had a turnout of 1.03 million.
In the letter Chan received, police cited a petition to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights co-signed by the CHRF and 25 other rights groups last December. Police asked what the group’s intention was in signing the petition, which was in protest against what the signatories saw as the excessive use of force on demonstrators and people in custody.
The CHRF was ordered to respond to police requests on or before May 5. Chan told reporters the group would seek legal advice and had no further comment.
On Twitter, many see the police's allegations as a sign of a further crackdown on civic groups. @webbhk highlighted the absurdity of the police's request:
So, after ~14 years of issuing Letters Of No Objection to @chrf_hk and policing their peaceful 1-July etc marches, the Police, who also run the Register of Societies, suspect that this was all along an unregistered (illegal) society… https://t.co/mcAx8M33jj
— Webb-site (@webbhk) April 27, 2021
Overseas Hong Kong activist group @HKGlobalConnect anticipated that the police could use the National Security Law to crack down on the civic coalition:
The request for @chrf_hk’s funding details and an explanation on its UN petition might suggest that the gov is looking to prohibit CHRF’s operation on natsec grounds (how the HK National Party was banned in 2018), or on the ground that CHRF is connected to foreign political orgs. https://t.co/r6DcpbsFpD pic.twitter.com/pjfPMMdnre
— Hong Kong Global Connect (@HKGlobalConnect) April 26, 2021
On Tuesday, April 26, Chief Executive Carrie Lam refused to comment on the police's request for the CHRF’s records. Lam referred to a blog post published by the justice minister on Monday, which stated that freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, procession and demonstration are guaranteed under the Basic Law.
But these rights are “not absolute” and are “subject to restrictions,” Lam said, adding such restrictions were in place to safeguard the rights of others and protect the public order and stability of the city.
“I’m sure the police force took actions in accordance with the law. But as I said, I won’t comment on cases of individual law enforcement departments,” she said.
Last month, the CHRF came under fire from pro-Beijing and state media, which criticised its role in organising street protests, saying it had “pav[ed] the way for black-clad rioters and separatists to stage rallies and demonstrations.” They also alleged—without proof—that the CHRF had received foreign funding, an accusation the organisation denies.
Following the reports, at least six pro-democracy groups announced their intention to withdraw from the coalition, including the Democratic Party, Civic Party, Hong Kong Professional Teacher’s Union, Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People’s Livelihood, and Neighbourhood and Worker’s Service Centre.

author: Hong Kong Free Press


text:
As India grapples with COVID-19, Pakistan extends support, prayers · Global Voices
R Umaima Ahmed

Pakistan and India. Image by Grubb via Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 3.0.
In the last few weeks, India has seen a staggering spike in COVID-19 infection and death rates, highlighted by news of lack of oxygen in hospitals and images of rows of burning pyres. On April 29, India reported another global record of 3,79,257 new COVID-19 cases and 3645 deaths in the past 24 hours, while experts are saying that the real numbers may be higher than the official counts.
As Indian health infrastructure struggles to contain the crisis and Indians seek help on social media in search for essential drugs and oxygen cylinders, an offer of support and resources came from an unexpected government: neighbouring Pakistan, with whom India has a longstanding rivalry.
While India is yet to respond to Pakistan's offer, Twitterati on both sides of the border have expressed solidarity, resulting in amiable hashtag trends such as #PakistanStandsWithIndia, an uncommon stance between the two states. Some Indian actors have thanked Pakistan for their support.
South Asian neighbours India and Pakistan have had a tumultuous relationship, complicated by their historical wars and nuclear-armed statuses. Past attempts to reconcile this relationship have worsened over the Kashmir crisis, which both countries lay claim on. Hence, support from Pakistani citizens during India’s moment of crisis received widespread appreciation with the hashtag #PakistanStandsWithIndia going viral.
Putting aside their differences, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted:
I want to express our solidarity with the people of India as they battle a dangerous wave of COVID-19. Our prayers for a speedy recovery go to all those suffering from the pandemic in our neighbourhood & the world. We must fight this global challenge confronting humanity together
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) April 24, 2021
Extending a message of ‘humanity first‘, Pakistani's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi offered on 24 April to provide relief support including ventilators, Bi-PAP, digital X-ray machines and personal protective equipment.
As Pakistan fights its own battle with COVID-19, having reported 815,711 cases, 708,193 people have recovered while 17,680 have died since last year. So far, Pakistan has administered 1.84 million vaccine doses and another one million doses of vaccine were airlifted from China.
Given the rising cases in India, Pakistan's Interior Ministry issued a notification on Sunday, April 25 that allowed the Provinces and Federal Territories to seek the Army's help to enforce standard operating procedures (SOPs) in public spaces to curb the spread of the virus.
As images of Indians’ struggle with COVID-19 went viral, Indians were mobilizing help using shareable Google spreadsheets, amplifying voices on social media for help and creating solidarity networks.
Officials and state protocols aside, the two nations were also brought closer by the crisis. Chairman of Abdul Sattar Edhi Foundation, a Pakistani non-government humanitarian organisation, wrote a letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 23rd April, expressing concern over the rapidly-deteriorating scale of COVID-19 crisis and offering to send 50 ambulances.
ایدھی فاؤنڈیشن کے سربراہ فیصل ایدھی کا بھارت کے وزیراعظم نریندر مودی کو امداد کی پیشکش.
انہوں نے پچاس ایمبولینس اور ایک رضاء کاروں کی ٹیم بھیجنے کا ارادہ کیا ہے، تاکہ بھارت کی عوام کی اس مشکل وقت میں مدد کی جاسکے۔#Edhipakistan #edhi #indianlifematter pic.twitter.com/VBtkVlHXYS
— Edhi (@Edhiorg) April 23, 2021
Head of Edhi Foundation, Faisal Edhi wrote a letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offering help. He would send 50 ambulances and a team of volunteers to help India at such a time.
Social media users welcomed the decision and supported the thawing of cold ties between the two nuclear-armed rivals.
This is immense as much as it is important. Let us hope the Indian government allows the Edhi Foundation to support. Heartwarming to see such compassion and kindness being shown by Pakistani organisations & people toward India’s tragedy. #PakistanstandswithIndia https://t.co/x0TsxtUvBC pic.twitter.com/M4oLl0VxCr
— Shahmir Sanni (@shahmiruk) April 24, 2021
Usama Khilji, director of Bolo Bhi, a digital rights search organization, lauded the efforts, saying:
I join thousands of Pakistani citizens calling on the government to help India with oxygen supplies as their hospitals run out @ImranKhanPTI @fslsltn
Heartening to see #IndiaNeedsOxygen #IndianLivesMatter trend at top in Pakistan. Shows that people have hearts in the right place
— Usama Khilji (@UsamaKhilji) April 22, 2021
Even celebrities encouraged the rapprochment. Pakistani Cricketer Shoaib Akhtar tweeted:
Prayers with people of India. I hope things come in control soon & their government is able to handle the crisis better. We are all in it together. #IndiaNeedsOxygen #IndiaFightsCOVID19 #oneworld
— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) April 23, 2021
But not everyone welcomed this rapprochement. Criticizing Edhi's chairman, Faisal Edhi, for offering India support, Twitter user Shahaal Malyk wrote:
Shame on you Faisal @FEdhiOfficial Kashmiris are dying and u r offering help to their mur*er**s point scoring n fame ki zarurat nae Edhi is a respectable name you should consider sentiments of Kashmiris first https://t.co/2VzTnk7ShB
— ShahaalMalyk (@S_Malikk11) April 23, 2021

author: R Umaima Ahmed


text:
As legislative elections draw to a close, will the Congress Party reclaim Assam state from the BJP? · Global Voices
GV South Asia

A volunteer conducting thermal screening of the voters at a polling booth during the first phase of the Assam elections at Kaliabhomora, Tezpur district, on March 27, 2021. Image by Election Commission of India via Wikimedia. Government Open Data License – India (GODL).
The recently concluded state legislative elections in India's Assam state were one of the most contested in decades, with exit polls unable to predict a likely winner before they are officially called on May 2.
The Indian National Congress (INC) ruled Assam's legislative assembly from 1951 to 2016 when control switched to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Assam's politics usually influence other northeastern Indian states and, as a border state, also plays a key role in India's relations with neighbouring countries.
This year's vote, which took place in three phases starting on March 27, was marked by deep polarization along religious lines, with hashtags such as #AssamUnderMughalsAttack, in reference to the Muslim rulers of medieval India, fueling online misinformation.
The INC led the election's liberal front with the largest coalition, which included the All India United Democratic Front, the Bodoland People's Front, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, and India's three communist parties. A major feat of the “Grand Alliance,” as it's called, was uniting the Muslim vote, which in the past has split between the INC and All India United Democratic Front. Over 30 percent of Assam's population is Muslim.
Two new regional parties contested the elections, the Assam Jatiya Parishad and the Raijor Dol, both inspired by Assamese nationalism and a liberal or secular view. The former had active support from the All Assam Students Union, which is the most influential student organization of the state, while the latter was backed by peasant and indigenous organizations. The two parties are running as a coalition.
Besides promising to create 500,000 government jobs, the INC's main pledge is to create a state law “to nullify” the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), a controversial 2019 Indian law that bans Muslims but allows Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis or Christians in neighbouring countries to seek Indian citizenship.
The 2019 update of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), a national database with names and relevant information of all Indian citizens can leave 1.9 million Assamese stateless. In order to be included in the NRC, citizens must prove that they or their ancestors were born in India before 1971, but many don't have such documentation. If CAA comes into play, then a large portion of these stateless people who are non-Muslims technically can get Indian citizenship and many Assamese are opposing that.
Assam has a large Bengali population, who are mostly Muslim and are commonly mislabelled as Bangladeshi migrants.
The Assam Jatiya Parishad and the Raijor Dol also played on anti-CAA sentiment while condemning the BJP for fueling division.
Meanwhile, the BJP alleges the INC is trying to “destroy Assam” by allying with Muslim leader Maulana Badruddin Ajmal, of the All India United Democratic Front.
A viral video depicted the statement of senior BJP leader and influential state minister in Assam Himanta Biswa Sharma that the elections would be a “war of civilizations,” presumably meaning Hindus and Muslims.
The BJP also promised to cancel 1.6 billion USD of debt owed by millions of Assamese women to microfinance institutions. The ruling party also showcased the infrastructure projects it launched during its tenure of Assam's legislature.
With only a few days left for the counting of polls, hopes are high for both the major alliances for a victory.

author: GV South Asia


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Attack on a woman in a parking lot has Jamaicans furious and a parliamentarian in limbo · Global Voices
Emma Lewis

Group photo of the participants at a women's rights workshop in Portland, Jamaica, 2016. The car park incident is yet another example of violence against women on the island. Photo by Emma Lewis, used with permission.
In light of concerns and public debate over a recent rash of femicides in Jamaica, a viral video of a violent incident in a parking lot has added fuel to the fire, especially as the man seen repeatedly striking a woman—with his fists and a stool—is believed to be Member of Parliament George Wright, a member of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and a first-time MP in the rural constituency of Central Westmoreland.
Both Wright and the woman, Tannisha Singh, filed complaints with the police after the incident, which took place in the western-lying constituency on April 6. Wright subsequently became elusive; the police said they were looking for him to question him, since the security camera footage appeared contradictory to his report. Wright was eventually interviewed, but after both sides agreed not to press charges, the police announced that the case was “closed.”
The JLP met with Wright on April 15, after which it announced that in light of the party's “deep concern” about the “unresolved allegations,” he would be withdrawn from the government's parliamentary caucus and that the party would meet “to determine next steps”. Wright, the statement continued, “had not shared any information regarding the video circulating in the public domain but had acknowledged that allegations made against him were of a serious nature.”
Despite this, Wright has not conceded that he is the man in the video, and neither he nor Singh has made any public comment.
Since then, four advocacy groups—the corruption watchdog Jamaica Accountability Meter Portal (JAMP), National Integrity Action, and the human rights groups Jamaicans for Justice and Stand Up For Jamaica—have called for Wright's resignation, noting that even though “the CCTV footage of the altercation […] rendered both parties unidentifiable,” their position stood “on the strength of official statements made by the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).”
After meeting with Senate leaders on the matter, the recently elected chief of the Accompong Maroons also spoke out against domestic violence. Just as significantly, the influential Private Sector Organization of Jamaica (PSOJ) issued a statement on April 16, urging a thorough, transparent investigation into the matter and stressing that it could not “be allowed to be swept under the carpet.”
By April 19, Wright was put on a leave of absence and had been relieved of all party duties, though a Jamaica Gleaner editorial questioned on what basis:
The Speaker of the House, Marisa Dalrymple-Philibert, and the Jamaica Labour Party owe Jamaicans something more, and better, than their rude and cynical contortions in the George Wright affair. While what has been done may be nominally on the right side of the law, it hardly accords with accountability and transparency.
Anger and cynicism have characterised online discussion about the incident, which fed into the bigger issue of gender-based violence.
Meanwhile, a suggestion by Wright’s lawyer that public commentary on the matter might be considered defamatory was largely dismissed by Jamaican netizens:
We not going to fade away quietly into the night… Hush. Go grab the stool that was used to beat the woman and take several seats. https://t.co/eImpyp5lbr
— TWill?????? (@TWill876) April 22, 2021
The JAMP stated that legislation on the recall of parliamentarians should be the logical next step. Although impeachment legislation had been introduced in parliament in 2011 under former prime minister, Bruce Golding, it fell by the wayside—despite a 2016 election campaign promise by the current PM, Andrew Holness, to revisit it.
Speaking in parliament on April 20, Prime Minister Holness declared himself “outraged,” and expressed concern that the incident could undermine the government's credibility in its stance against gender-based violence:
Like all well-thinking Jamaicans who saw the viral video being circulated, I was outraged at the display of violence. Subsequent allegations that a person captured in the video is a Member of Parliament placed a new disturbing dimension to the issue. pic.twitter.com/J7Ek1HlF6f
— Andrew Holness (@AndrewHolnessJM) April 21, 2021
JAMP coordinator Jeanette Calder emphasised that women were feeling “exposed” and “vulnerable”:
Executive Director at JAMP shares what she believes should be the next step in handling the situation with George Wright. #TVJALLAngles pic.twitter.com/0AIWHXCldA
— TVJ (@televisionjam) April 22, 2021
In the absence of existing legislative mechanisms for removal, many agreed that Wright should resign:
George Wright MP cannot be fired by the PM. Elected to Parliament by voters of Westmoreland Central, and Jamaica’s Constitution doesn’t provide for them to dismiss him before an election. He has to go if convicted of a serious offense, but that seems unlikely. He needs to resign.
— Wayne Chen (@wcchen) April 16, 2021
While younger women members of parliament remained silent, Prime Minister Holness tweeted the JLP Women's Caucus’ message, complete with its #NoExcuseForAbuse hashtag, condemning domestic violence “in all its forms”:
The Jamaica Labour Party Women’s Caucus firmly and absolutely condemns Domestic Violence in all its forms and regardless of its perpetrators.
The Caucus reaffirms its commitment to bringing an end to Gender-Based Violence. pic.twitter.com/ePCPZVNvz6
— Andrew Holness (@AndrewHolnessJM) April 21, 2021
The women's caucus expressed “full support” for pending legislation, including amendments to the Domestic Violence Act, re-tabling the Sexual Harassment Bill, and community engagement work through the United Nations’ Spotlight Initiative.
The issue continues to rankle both Houses of Parliament. A week after denying a censure motion which the opposition party attempted to present in the Lower House, Speaker Marissa Dalrymple-Philibert relented—but at least one Jamaican woman was not impressed:
She is a poor representative to the women of this country. So much for the party with the MOST WOMEN in parliament. They all turned a blind eye to the brutality of another woman by their own colleagues. (PARTY OVER MORALS). pic.twitter.com/roE9gGBVxw
— Maria (@Maria_Tomlin) April 21, 2021
The matter will be debated in parliament at a later date.
Further complicating matters was a Twitter thread in response to member of parliament (and wife of the prime minister) Juliet Holness’ comment that violence should not be seen “in a partisan or a gender specific way.” This did not hit the right note for many Jamaicans, causing her to partly delete and rewrite aspects of her tweet—which also did not go down well:
Thread#AllViolenceMatters?? https://t.co/4Kq9UT3byy
— ??#GrabYouSomeLemons?? (@DMarcAnthony) April 23, 2021
Holness’ stance drew some sharp responses from feminists:
MP Holness: if you really want to develop an informed perspective on the histories of violence in Ja, there are established & reputable Ja scholars who can help you to understand how/why violence is classed, raced & gendered. Perhaps invite them to help you think thru the issues.
— Natalie D. A. Bennett (@nda_bennett1) April 21, 2021
For some Jamaicans, however, Holness’s “All Violence Matters” approach resonated. One Letter to the Editor blamed women for the poor parenting of boys, and others questioned whether women were, indeed, the primary victims of violence in the country.
During a heated parliamentary discussion on April 23, opposition senators accused the JLP's women's caucus of skirting the issue.
For its part, the Jamaica Constabulary Force has announced that it will be opening six more Domestic Violence Intervention Centres this year; there are currently only four. However, with the criminal case closed without charges being pressed, it remains to be seen whether the incident—and the issue of gender-based violence in general—will become a nine-day wonder in Jamaica.
Discomfort lingers over Wright's silence and the perceived lack of transparency:
If George Wright did not mercilessly beat a woman and “claat” her with a stool, why doesn’t he publicly state that he did not do it?
— Michael Abrahams (@mikeyabrahams) April 23, 2021
For now, Wright remains in the political wilderness—and Jamaican women remain far from reassured.

author: Emma Lewis


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Serbian anti-vaxxers revive the medieval ‘Danse Macabre,’ while pandemic deaths rise · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

Dance of Death by Ivan from Kastav (replica of 15th-century fresco; National Gallery of Slovenia), Public Domain photo via Wikipedia.
A crowd of people folk-dancing in celebration in a country that has had over 6,000 deaths since the breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic might seem odd, especially at a time when over 30 of their compatriots are dying every day. But that's been happening so often in Serbia, that it's even got its own name: “Kovid kolo” or the “Covid round dance.”
Oni ponovo igraju kovid kolo kod spomenika! pic.twitter.com/CL7i33v1cF
— Marko M. Dragoslavic (@DragoslavicM) April 3, 2021
Тhey dance the covid round dance at the monument, again!
A key issue in Serbian society since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic has been a lack of respect for the preventive measures related to partying and clubbing, and public folk dancing as a form of escapism or defiance against the restrictions took this issue to a whole new level.
Such behavior is not without precedent. European history has recorded a range of irrational responses to epidemics that have plagued the continent in the last couple of thousand years—from repression like scapegoating  “undesirable” members of society, such as witch-hunts and anti-Semitic pogroms, to the break up of the fabric of society and the fall of empires. For instance, the Black Death pandemic (1346 to 1353) was blamed for the disintegration of the Mongol Empire that spanned from China to Central Europe, as well as weakening the medieval Balkan states to a degree that they were easy prey for the Ottomans.
As Italian writer Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375) witnessed in his still widely read short story collection The Decameron, people of the Italian city-state of Florence reacted to the plague in various ways. While they had no clue about the existence of bacteria and viruses, many acted on the intuition that contact with infected people or corpses spread the infection. Therefore, they instituted social distancing and quarantine, locking themselves in their homes or fleeing the city to country estates.
However, the prologue of the Decameron also tells of a very different kind of response to the epidemic:
…Others, inclining to the contrary opinion, maintained that to carouse and make merry and go about singing and frolicking and satisfy the appetite in everything possible and laugh and scoff at whatsoever befell was a very certain remedy for such an ill…
This kind of behavior might have contributed to the development of an artistic genre in which depictions of the Danse Macabre, or Dance of Death, were used as allegories on the universality of death: “No matter one's station in life, the Danse Macabre unites all.”
The depiction of the dance of death, in which kings and paupers, bishops and children, men and women are all united dancing a round dance, hand in hand with representations of Death (usually skeletons) dotted the churches across Europe during the late Middle Ages. They served as a reminder that everybody is mortal and should support the Church in preparation for the inevitable afterlife.
The Ghost Dance by the Oglala Lakota included round dancing. Illustration by Western artist Frederic Remington, 1890. Public Domain photo via Wikipedia.
Another historical example of dancing as a “solution” to overwhelming problems is the Ghost Dance of 1890 practiced by some Native North American peoples, who were confined to reservations after the U.S.A. conquered their lands.
Ghost Dance practitioners believed that round dancing would reconnect them with their dead, bring back their former main food source, the nearly exterminated American bison, as well as make them invulnerable, and bring back freedom and peace. This new religious movement preached non-violence, but the authorities deemed it subversive and dangerous, thus the U.S. Army suppressed it through the short Ghost Dance War.
Back to modern Serbia, the first instance of the modern version of “Kovid kolo” or “Covid round dance” was recorded on March 20 this year when hundreds of people gathered in central Belgrade to dance around a new monument to medieval king, Stefan Nemanja. It was announced as part of a chain of anti-lockdown protests across Europe, which included a violent demonstration in Kassel, Germany.
? pic.twitter.com/WEYuQlPVy4
— Luka 5.0 ??-Мен #јерменианлајфметерс#савинсведок (@Lu__ka____) March 20, 2021
The monument is intended to symbolize the power of the Serbian state and traditions and was unveiled in the presence of the Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić on January 21 amid much controversy.
In a March 27 column in the daily Danas, journalist Zoran Panović noted that the police not only tolerated the folk-dancing event but also failed to identify who organized the logistics such as operating the powerful sound system.
The recording of the second instance of “Kovid kolo” features a newly minted folk song “Vakcina” a supposedly satirical skit by a musical group called Goci Bend from Foča in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The song has over six million views on YouTube and has been featured on TV shows in Serbia.
On March 30, a video of a group of young people, identified as “students,” dancing the round dance at a Belgrade underpass caused outrage by some Serbian media and on social networks, but also expressions of support from anti-vaxxers.
The daily Blic reported that while Belgrade was the hotspot of the virus infection in Serbia, “students joyfully danced the round dance in the bottleneck of an underpass which is frequented by several tens of thousands of residents of Belgrade, without masks, without distancing, singing out loud:”
Neće Gara da primi vakcinu,
ne veruje u svetsku medicinu,
neće Gara da primi vakcinu,
ona bocu prima na Sokocu.
Gara won't get the vaccine,
she doesn't trust in world medicine,
Gara won't get the vaccine,
she would rather get a bottle [of alcohol] in Sokolac.
Anti-vaxxing positions are strong among Serbian university students. For instance, authorities in the city of Kragujevac were alarmed that no students came to be vaccinated at the university clinic in March. On the other hand, police had to intervene on the campus of Belgrade university to break up an open-air party organized around watching a football match via video beam.
On March 26, Dr. Miroslav Todorović published a widely quoted response to these events, addressing his colleagues:
Dear colleagues medical doctors and other medical workers,
I want to express my support in your efforts to fight the coronavirus. I would sorely like to join you in that fight, but my advanced age of 87 prevents me in doing so.
I am appaled by what happenned on March 20 when under the slogan “Worldwide people's movement against COVID-19 dictatorship,” a group of citizens without protective masks gathered on Sava Square in front of the monument of Stefan Nemanja. They acted as if they didn't understand the seriousness of the epidemiological situation which places Serbia at the fifth place in the world by reason of the number of infected and deceased. And they partied with joy. They even danced a round dance around the monument to Nemanja.
None of the people present there took into consideration that their gathering created a new hotspot for the spread of coronavirus infections.
Dear colleagues, please don't allow such irresponsible and unconscientious people to shake your resolve to continue your noble and responsible jobs aimed at saving their lives. The “Covid round dance” is slap in the face of the medical profession, and it has been supported by the authorities, instead of showing support for the medical professionals.
I know full well, dear colleagues, how hard you work on your jobs. And how many sleepless days and nights have you spent by the bedsides of your patients. I know full well, because I also spent many sleepless days and nights as part of a team of physicians in charge of vaccination of people entering Belgrade, during the deadly smallpox outbreak in 1972.
You must not give up now, when you are our only hope and barrier protecting us from COVID-19.
I am proud of you, as you do honor to our profession!

author: Filip Stojanovski


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The Canary Islands face tensions over migrants’ arrival · Global Voices
Laura Carraso Alvarez

Photo by JonRo/Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)
The COVID-19 pandemic has not stopped the increase in migrant arrivals in Europe that began with the turbulent exodus of millions of people from Syria, which recently marked the 10-year anniversary of its war.
One of the epicenters of these migratory movements is the Canary archipelago of Spain. In 2020, 23,000 migrants arrived in the Canary Islands, one of Spain's 17 autonomous communities made up of eight islands, located 95 km from the African continent and with a population of two million.
Migrants come not only by sea from Africa. About 90 percent are Latin American migrants who arrive on the islands by plane. However, the media often focuses on migrants coming from the African continent.
The migrants face various obstacles along the way and upon arrival in the Canary Islands. This situation has generated several controversies for NGOs working with migrants and government officials in Spain.
One example is the rescue of the 2-year-old girl who, together with her mother and her sister, arrived from Mali in the port of Arguineguín in the Grand Canary Island in March in critical condition. The little girl was taken to the hospital after a resuscitation attempt by the nurses on the dock where she landed. She passed away on Sunday, March 21 from cardiac arrest.
This tragic incident triggered extraordinary reactions. Even the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, and the leader of the opposition, Pablo Casado, have issued statements expressing condolences. On social networks people have expressed their bewilderment regarding the death of the little girl.
Another unfortunate event was the death of three people caused by the overturning of a boat during a rescue on March 26.
There have also been anti-migrant marches on the Canary Islands, involving xenophobic acts and violating the curfew established by the authorities.
At the end of February 2021, 64 migrants were expelled from a camp in the Canary Islands and left on the street, increasing the number of migrants who are already in this precarious situation. The expelled migrants said they were thrown out after they refused to share a tent with another group because it would have made it impossible for them to follow the required social distancing measures during the pandemic.
Faced with these accusations, the Red Cross stated that the migrants acted violently and that some did not wish to continue with their migratory journey, rejecting the help offered by the Red Cross. This argument was refuted by those expelled.
Reacting to the expulsion of migrants from the camp known as Camp 50, solidarity movements such as the Solidarity Platform for People in Movement (known as Somos Red in Spanish) made up of individual citizens, groups and associations, have denounced the way the Red Cross managed this situation with these migrants.
The residents who live near the camps do not agree with the lack of resources for the migrants and the disinterest shown by the institutions for their situation. The residents have supported migrants by providing food and blankets to keep them warm during the night. The Somos Red platform has held various meetings with local authorities highlighting the flaws in the strategy deployed on the islands. They also demand urgent action by the Spanish government, as well as the European Union.
At the beginning of March, the Principality of Asturias, another autonomous community in northern Spain, offered to host unaccompanied minors who are in the Canary Islands. Along with Asturias, eight other autonomous communities will host 200 minors. Currently, the government of the autonomous community of the Canary Islands takes care of 2,500 minors.
It is not the first time that the Red Cross has been in the spotlight. It was also criticized by other sectors of the population. At the end of 2020, a video was leaked in which Red Cross volunteers and a group of migrants can be seen dancing without respecting social distancing measures. In contrast to the support for the migrants shown by their Canarian neighbors in the past, this incident sparked a series of anti-migrant protests on the social networks and citizens organizing against migrants. The Red Cross publicly apologized for the behavior of its volunteers, which negatively impacted its public image.
The difficulty of legalizing the status of migrants is one of the factors contributing to this dire situation on the islands. In the Canary Islands, the total number of international protection claims filed is 3,984 out of 23,000 arrivals to the archipelago.
Another factor is the lack of information, since many migrants do not know that they have the right to request asylum or international protection. Moreover, the islands lack sufficient resources to process asylum applications which require many public defenders who can properly assist migrants, as well as interpreters to facilitate the legal work.
In 2020, 5,700 people were granted international protection in Spain, representing 5 percent of the applications submitted. According to a report by the Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid (CEAR), Spain ranks below France and Germany in terms of granting asylum to refugees, even though it is the country that receives the highest number of applications.
The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arancha González Laya, has stated that currently there is a debate at the European Union level to regularize migration and asylum. Some measures being considered are increasing the job opportunities in countries of origin and transit, such as Morocco and Libya, to improve their socio-economic situation, and investigating criminal organizations dealing with human trafficking.

author: Laura Carraso Alvarez


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The rise and fall of Clubhouse in Turkey · Global Voices
Arzu Geybullayeva

Screenshot from the website https://www.joinclubhouse.com/
In January, when students of Turkey's prestigious Boğaziçi University launched protests against a president-appointed rector, Clubhouse was one of the places where much of the conversation about the movement was taking place.
In an interview with Middle East Eye, Furkan Dabaniyasti, a moderator at one of Boğaziçi's Clubhouse's rooms, said the group “gathered every component of the university, from students and alumnus to academics in an open forum where they discuss everything openly and publicly.”
Merve Tahiroglu, Turkey Program Coordinator at the Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED), says the platform became “a space of solidarity and outreach.” “Clubhouse was still in beta, only available on iPhones and by invitation when Turkish student protesters discovered it,” she added.
In addition to developments around Boğaziçi University, the app's Turkish user base includes popular musicians and influencers, who join discussions on politics, cryptocurrency, and a variety of other topics.
In a country as polarized as Turkey, and where much of the media is under government control, Clubhouse's rise to popularity was not surprising. According to Yalcin Ari, a digital media expert, “[the app] helped people who wouldn't talk to each other due to the polarization produced by the political events of the past seven years. They listen to each other and see that there is a common ground that could bridge the difference.”
Similarly, journalist Pinar Tremblay highlights how the app brought together a diversity of groups and individuals, from diaspora Turks to Kurds and LGBTQ+ people. “Members of the Kurdish diaspora in Europe moderate rooms about the Kurdish cause […] Likewise, Turkish LGBTQ+ community members in Europe explain the opportunities and rights their peers back home should seek. One listener commented at the end of a session, ‘I have to re-dream all my dreams now.'”
But as quick as its rise to popularity among President Erdogan's critics was its precipitous fall. Unlike social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram, Clubhouse was one place the ruling government had not caught up with yet, making it free from police snooping.
That changed in early February when three students who organized chatrooms on Clubhouse to discuss the protests at Boğaziçi were taken in for questioning. Police said it was the students’ public posts on Twitter and Instagram that led to the questioning, but the students have said that Clubhouse was the only connection they had to each other.
Reports in Turkey that moderators in a Boğaziçi room on Clubhouse have been detained for questioning.
If confirmed, is that the earliest arrest on a new social media platform ever? I mean, it’s still in Beta with no Android app yet. pic.twitter.com/nidkcKBVNL
— Can Okar (@canokar) February 3, 2021
“It went downhill from there. As users questioned how safe the Clubhouse really was from government surveillance, pro-Erdoğan journalists and pundits flooded the app,” wrote Tahiroglu.
From then on, Clubhouse became another digital battleground of information wars. “While at first only opposition figures joined and spoke, now current or former members of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) have been joining crowded rooms discussing the hot political issues of the day,” wrote Tremblay.
With the growing popularity and users, the platform also had to comply with draconian social media law regulations that the Turkish parliament approved last year.
According to the law, social media companies with over 1 million daily users must appoint a legal representative in Turkey and open an office in the country that will be held accountable in legal matters. If companies fail to do this, the government will throttle their bandwidth up to 90 percent.
In addition, social media companies are obligated to store users’ data in Turkey, as well as to send a report on their activities to the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) every six months. Failure to do so will result in a fine of up to 10 million lira (1.3 million USD).
In November 2020, Turkey fined Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube a total of 1.18 million USD for failing to comply with the law. The following month, the regulator slapped platforms with a new penalty of 30 million Turkish liras ($3.8 million USD) each, for their failure to hire local representatives.
Shortly after the fines, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok appointed local representatives, with Facebook joining them in January this year.
Meanwhile, the regulator banned Turkish businesses from advertising on Twitter and Pinterest, which have so far failed to toe the line.
In March, Twitter announced it will be opening a representative office in the coming months, a move that was criticized by digital rights groups.
Instead of blocking Clubhouse altogether, as China has recently done, the Turkish government looks like it will allow the app to operate in the country, choosing instead to regulate it through the new law as it has done with other platforms.
For Tahiroglu, social media companies should “fight back” Erdoğan’s new law. “They must commit the necessary resources to evaluate the takedown requests according to their own free speech principles and push back against any orders by the Turkish government and its courts that fail those standards.”
According to the Freedom of Expression Association, as of October 2020, Turkey has blocked access to over 450,000 domains, over 140,000 URLs, and over 42,000 tweets.
In environments brimming with censorship and control, apps like Clubhouse serve as platforms for free speech and the open sharing of ideas. In Turkey, there seems to be a need for such spaces. If they don't take root at Clubhouse, people are probably going to find alternatives somewhere else.

author: Arzu Geybullayeva


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Tweeting to remember: Twitter account commemorates Japan’s 1945 Battle of Okinawa · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

“Supplying and developing the beachhead.” Image shows U.S. forces landing at Hagushi Bay, Okinawa, on March 29, 1945. Image public domain.
March 23, 2021, marked the 76th anniversary of the start of the Battle of Okinawa, the first and only battle fought by U.S. soldiers on Japanese soil, and one Twitter account is making daily tweets that commemorate the months-long battle by narrating it as if it were happening in real-time.
The Twitter account “On This Date During the Battle of Okinawa, 76 Years Ago” (沖縄戦、76年前の今日) shares daily links to blog posts that describe the terrible fighting, typically from the point of view of the citizens of Okinawa. The project originally launched in 2020 to mark the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Okinawa, and was relaunched this year to raise awareness and promote the history of the event.
The arrival of American forces on the island of Okinawa during World War II on April 1, 1945 officially marks the start of the Battle of Okinawa. However, the American occupation of outlying islands, and then the bombardment of the main island itself, began by March 24. An estimated 150,000 Okinawa civilians, out of a pre-invasion population of 300,000, were killed by both Japanese and U.S. forces.
Thousands of civilians were forced to flee as Americans prepared to land and assault Japanese Army positions. However, the Japanese military typically showed no regard for the safety of civilians. Many Okinawans still believe they were sacrificed during the war to save the rest of Japan.
1945年3月24日『米軍の空爆と艦砲射撃』https://t.co/gdWrAv2jHT
— 沖縄戦、76年前の今日 (@ospreyfuanclub2) March 23, 2021
[Twitter caption] March 24, 1945: the aerial and naval bombardment of Okinawa begins.
[Image shows civilians attempting to flee from the bombardment of landing zones.]
Nearly 290,000 American soldiers took part in the invasion of Okinawa, and were opposed by 150,000 Japanese troops. In advance of the American landings, Japanese forces destroyed infrastructure, including bridges, to slow the advance.
As documented on the On This Date During the Battle of Okinawa blog, a fifteen-year-old youth who had been forcibly recruited by the Japanese Army into a “Homeland Defense battalion” (護郷隊) said:
『護郷隊はみんな橋を壊したり、松並木を倒してアメリカ軍を通さないようにしたんだが、アメリカは橋もすぐ架けるし、ブルドーザーで松の木もすぐどける。石川の橋と伊芸の橋は先輩が壊したが、アメリカはすぐに鉄橋架けてブルドーザーを通していた。結局は馬車で避難する住民を苦しめただけだった。』
“The Homeland Defense battalions had destroyed bridges and toppled pine trees in order to obstruct American forces. However, the Americans were able to quickly rebuild bridges and bulldoze pine trees out of the way. […] In the end, only the residents were blocked [from fleeing].”
The Twitter account and its accompanying blog gather historical documents and material from a variety of sources, including Japanese-language books, first-hand accounts, and archives in both the U.S. and Japan. For example, the Okinawa Prefectural Archives preserves many images of the Battle of Okinawa, such as the photo in the tweet below, which appears to have been taken originally by the U.S. Navy, following the fall of the heavily defended First Shuri Defense Ring on April 23, 1945:
1945年4月23日 『第1防衛線の崩壊』https://t.co/N31VxIG61z
— 沖縄戦、76年前の今日 (@ospreyfuanclub2) April 22, 2021
[Twitter caption] April 23, 1945: Fall of the First Shuri Defense Ring
Image caption (from Okinawa Prefectural Archives entry):
“Jap (sic) civilians shown at outskirts of village of Taira, Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands. Showing Jap children returning from the hills after U.S. Marines had taken village. Note transportation of household goods. CL-62#61.”
The Twitter account and the accompanying blog also document some of the frequent, and perhaps lesser-known atrocities experienced by Okinawan civilians during the battle.
One such story is the fate of of civilians ordered to evacuate from outlying Ishigaki Island by Japanese military forces on July 2, 1945.
1945年7月3日『攻撃を受けた疎開民』https://t.co/qZxWua7GAH
— 沖縄戦、76年前の今日 (@ospreyfuanclub2) July 2, 2020
[Twitter caption] July 3, 1945: Evacuees under attack
After being ordered to evacuate, two ships transporting civilians were attacked by U.S. planes. The ships would eventually drift to the uninhabited Senkaku Islands far to the southwest of the Japanese archipelago. At least 50 people died during the attacks or starved to death.
As one survivor of the attack reported later:
大洋の真っただ中、防空壕もなければ身を隠す草むらもない。
In the middle of the ocean, there are no air-raid shelters, and no grass to hide in.
American forces did make some attempts to spare the lives of civilians. By early June 1945, several thousand Japanese soldiers and tens of thousands of civilians had been pushed into mountainous terrain to the north of the landing zone. The U.S. military dropped leaflets, urging civilians and soldiers alike to surrender.
1945年6月17日『生命を助けるビラ』https://t.co/y50rspQgEV
— 沖縄戦、76年前の今日 (@ospreyfuanclub2) June 16, 2020
[Twitter caption] June 17, 1945: Leaflets promised to spare the lives of civilians and soldiers.
The child soldiers in the image above were likely members of the Tekketsu Kinnotai (鉄血勤皇隊), military units of boys 14 to 16 years old hastily conscripted and then sacrificed to fight the invading American forces.
Girls as well as boys were forced to enlist in the face of the U.S. onslaught. Female high school students were conscripted as nurses and medical orderlies to tend to wounded soldiers, often right in the middle of the fiercest fighting. The Himeyuri “Lily Princess” Corps are among the most famous of these units, but there were others, including the Orchid Corps  (なごらん学徒):
1945年4月17日『馬乗り攻撃と火炎放射器』#なごらん学徒隊https://t.co/mD50Ixvq2a
— 沖縄戦、76年前の今日 (@ospreyfuanclub2) April 16, 2021
[Twitter caption] April 17, 1945: Encircling attacks and Orchid Student Corps
As U.S. military forces inevitably closed in, the student nurses experienced the full brutality of war, including artillery bombardment and attacks with flamethrowers. As one student reported:
砲撃に続く激しい銃撃に、そばにいた日本兵のように自分も死ぬのだと思ったが、同級生2 人に抱えられ、避難することができた。
I thought that I was going to die in the heavy shooting that followed the shelling, like Japanese soldier who was nearby, but I was helped away by two classmates and was able to evacuate.
Most of these student nurses actually survived the initial battle, but towards the end of the Battle of Okinawa, many were subsequently killed in the crossfire after being dismissed by the military and told to go home.
Most fighting on Okinawa ended on June 21, after Japanese forces requested a ceasefire. For many civilians in Okinawa it meant the end of war and the end of danger. Yet sporadic fighting still continued in various pockets of Okinawa, until the Japanese Emperor announced his country's intention to surrender on August 15, following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
1945年 9月6日 『ご苦労さまでした』https://t.co/uxjdcnzpPg
— 沖縄戦、76年前の今日 (@ospreyfuanclub2) September 5, 2020
[Twitter caption] September 6, 1945: Mission accomplished.
By early September, holdouts on Okinawa were persuaded that the war was finally over, and that they were free to surrender. One group of soldiers, hiding in the forests of northern Okinawa, and out of communication from the outside world, were approached by a former Japanese junior officer:
じつは8月15日に戦争は終わった。みなさんの生命は連合軍によってジュネーブ条約により保証されている」と一気にいうと「ご苦労さまでした。諸君は立派に任務を果たされたのである・・・」とつづけた。まさに青天の霹靂—私たちはただ呆然となってしまった。
[The ensign said], “The war ended on August 15. Your life is guaranteed by the Geneva Conventions,” he said. “You have performed well and have accomplished your mission.” We were just dumbfounded — this was just out of the blue. We couldn't believe it.
The official surrender ceremony that would end the Battle of Okinawa was held the following day, on September 7, 1945.
Follow along with the “On This Date During the Battle of Okinawa, 76 Years Ago” Twitter account until September 7.

author: Nevin Thompson


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China pledges to improve conditions of delivery workers. Arrest of a labor activist suggests otherwise. · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Delivery worker Chen Guojiang is facing five years in jail for “picking quarrels.” Screen capture from vide by HK citizen news.
On April 27,  the deputy head of the department of labor relations in Beijing's Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, Wang Lin appeared on the city's TV channel working as a delivery driver. After a 12-hour shift, Lin only managed to earn RMB 41 dollars (less than US$ 6.5 dollars).
After his stunt on the TV program, which aims to show how Beijing officials care for its citizens, Wang said his department was in the process of negotiating with major delivery apps improvements on the working condition of riders and drivers.
Meituan, a Chinese food delivery app with 290 million active users , swiftly made a public statement as well, vowing to improve its order allocation system, set up a channel for worker complaints, and provide them with extra holidays.
With just a few days ahead of Labor Day, the video of Wang riding on a motorcycle in the streets of Beijing went viral on Chinese social media, with many users commenting on it via Weibo.
A user named “Xiao-hei-ye-zhi-jing” (小黑夜之睛), who presented himself as a delivery worker, said that drivers’ labor conditions would not change unless the authorities ensured platforms hired them as employees and offered insurance for their top-grade drivers. For the flexible workers, he says they should be able to choose their orders rather than be obligated to take them. He also suggested that government authorities enforce a minimum per-order pay rate, and obligate the platforms to adjust it according to the distance and the weight and size of the delivered items.
With the COVID-19 pandemic, delivery services have been growing exponentially around the world. This is no different in China where, in 2019, the sector employed more than 10 million delivery workers according to a recent report from China Central Television. The number has only been growing since as a delivery service platform disclosed that in just two of the months during the pandemic, around 580,000 new delivery workers had registered in its platform.
Around the world as in China, delivery drivers perform hazardous work and put in long hours. But as self-employed workers, they enjoy no employee rights, such as minimum wage, health insurance and holiday pay.
The Chinese food delivery sector has seen 45 strikes in 2019 according to a report by the labor organization China Labour Bulletin.
The Beijing reality show suggests that the Chinese government is well aware of these issues. But in the past, authorities have punished delivery workers who have attempted to speak out and protest for better conditions.
In July 2019, Beijing delivery worker Chen Guojiang opened a WeChat group called “delivery rider exchange” with his fellow workers. Three months later, the group organized a strike. Chen was arrested and detained for 26 days.
The detention did not stop Chen's labor activism. In December 2019, he organized a “delivery rider coalition,” which by 2021 evolved into a network of 16 WeChat groups with a total of 14,000 members.
On February 25 this year, Chen was arrested again after he exposed that a bonus system launched by platform Ele.me during  Lunar New Year was fraudulent. In a video, Chen demonstrated how the app stopped assigning orders to drivers once they were about to meet their set target.
On April 2, Chen’s family received the official notification that he would be charged with “picking quarrels and provoking troubles.” He will face up to five years of imprisonment.
In China, delivery workers struggle against a rigged system
An excellent report by @supchinanews & @ZixuWang_News on the detention of delivery worker/activist Chén Guójiāng (#陈国江) and what it means for workers in China's booming gig economy ?https://t.co/qFrQO7lAGJ
— CHRD人权捍卫者 (@CHRDnet) April 20, 2021
Chen’s arrest did not stop other delivery workers from organizing strikes. During the Two-Congress sessions in March, a few small-scale strikes in reaction to e-commerce giant Meituan’s lowering of the per-order delivery fee took place in a number of Chinese cities, including Linyi, in Shandong province, Shenzhen, in Guangdong province, and Tongxiang in Zhejiang.
The exploitation of delivery workers has caught the public eye in China in September 2020, when state-affiliated magazine Renwu ran an investigative story on how Meituan's algorithm unfairly punished workers.
The investigation discovered that a delivery worker’s per-order pay is determined by a complex system that takes into account the average number of orders the worker takes per day, punctuality, customer evaluation, and customer complaints.
The minimum delivery time requirement, according to the piece, is determined based on “optimum conditions” — dry weather, little traffic, and that the restaurant finishes the preparation of the food on time. The suggested driving routes also sometimes go against traffic regulations.
It found out that when a customer files a complaint, which often happens when the order is delayed, the worker is subjected to a fine which can be worth a whole day’s income. The worst punishment is to have the account deleted by the app altogether.
Reports by the Shanghai city government show that in the first two quarters of 2019, the delivery sector was involved in 325 traffic accidents, which was more than half of the total 570 cases.
Facing public criticism, major Chinese food delivery platforms have since adjusted their algorithm to provide a few minutes of flexibility on delivery times. But they've maintained other rules, such as a monthly bonus for riders who undertake a large number of orders and the ranking of workers according to performance. They are all designed to make sure workers ensure a speedy delivery — at the expense of their own physical safety.
On January 11, a protest in response to the suicide of delivery worker Liu Jin, in Jiangsu, caught the public attention again. The 47-year-old worker attempted to take his own life  after the delivery platform deducted RMB$5000 (approximately US$770) from his income. He was seriously burnt and in the hospital, he reportedly told his sister that “he was so tired he did not want to live anymore.”

author: Oiwan Lam


text:
Heavy rains worsen the effects of St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ La Soufrière volcano · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Lava flow from La Soufrière. Photo by Dave Brown on Flickr; CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
As if the ongoing volcanic eruptions and widespread ashfall from La Soufrière weren't enough, the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines are now contending with flooding and dangerous landslides as a result of a particularly heavy bout of rainfall on April 29.
As the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season inches closer, the erosion caused by lahars—destructive volcanic mudflows—could be made worse. The loose sediment and volcanic debris the lahars carry, which can travel very quickly towards flood plains, have the potential to damage houses, cover wide areas of low-lying agricultural land, and clog rivers and streams, causing large-scale flooding:
Extensive erosion on the coastline at wet Wallibou, St. Vincent due to lahars on 29.04.21
Footage: Richard Robertson, UWI-SRC@VincieRichie #lasoufriere #LaSoufriere #svg #uwi #stilldangerous #lasoufriereeruption2021 #TeamSRC #redalert #volcano #uwiseismic pic.twitter.com/5tuV0sd63W
— UWISeismic Research (@uwiseismic) April 29, 2021
Landslides and flooding have affected areas near the south of the island, including the capital, Kingstown. On Facebook, Lennox Lampkin, who lives fairly close to the volcano, noted:
Floods will be particularly bad where roads were not cleared as […] heavy volcanic sand blocks the drains.
He further observed:
[W]hile the lahars may be limited to the red zone, the flooding will be all over the country and may [in] fact impact the south far more that the north. The heavily populated areas are at risk of roads becoming muddy rivers.
Many of the video clips shared by citizen journalists showed the distressing results:
Flooding in Kingstown.
(Not my vid) pic.twitter.com/Qw4G20ytO7
— Lavern King ?? (@Lavern_King) April 29, 2021
The country's National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO) issued a press statement on April 27, noting that dangerous lahar flows had been reported in the red and orange zones, and that residents’ access to these areas would be restricted, especially since rainfall was expected to continue for the rest of the week.
Many people who live in these zones have said they feel “traumatised” at not being able to return to their homes.
Both the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre and volcanologist Dr. Jenni Barclay, however, emphasised the danger:
pic.twitter.com/F67qvETG7X
— UWISeismic Research (@uwiseismic) April 29, 2021
Things change.
Especially when working on #LaSoufriere
We were working with @uwiseismic in the Wallibou on Monday (left), then again today (right). Never underestimate the power of a lahar #stilldangerous pic.twitter.com/ZzfiEz929L
— ProfJenniBarclay (@VolcanoJenni) April 30, 2021
Many videos posted on social media illustrated the level of damage:
With rain there comes additional hazards. Reports are this morning that there have been sounds coming from #LaSoufriere. Whether there was an explosive eruption or just venting, time alone will tell. pic.twitter.com/6CGKAn04oA
— Heidi Badenock ?? (@heidibadenock) April 29, 2021
Have mercy Lord. pic.twitter.com/xA592IEgh9
— Heidi Badenock ?? (@heidibadenock) April 29, 2021
#LaSoufriere #LaSoufriereEruption #svg #uwi ?? https://t.co/ON5Xpt35pB
— just be nice (@NaomiNaay) April 30, 2021
The constant battering the country has had to face over the last few weeks caused some netizens to wonder how much more they could bear:
Boy we in #Vincy getting licks with #fire #ash now #water. #Rain in we tail. #svg #april2021floodsvg #StVincentAndTheGrenadines #LaSoufriere
— Bettie Jn. Baptiste (@hazeanelka) April 29, 2021
Overnight rainfall in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has led to Lahars (fast moving, dense mixture of rocks, ash & vegetation) that have the consistency of wet concrete & can cause serious damage. This worsens the Trauma to the SVG people.#SVG #LaSoufriere #volcano #trauma https://t.co/zts0tmllK3
— ACEs Caribbean Community (@AcesCaribbean) April 29, 2021
As the country's resilience is put to the test, and the ripple effects of the volcanic explosions take a toll on agriculture and livestock, there are concerns about St. Vincent's food security, as well as for the survival of its wildlife, including the indigenous St. Vincent Parrot.
The country's forestry services, however, have been regularly restocking food to various bird-feeding platforms in the orange zone. They have also been carrying out field assessments of key forest habitats, not only for the St. Vincent Parrot, but also for other endemic plant and animal species, and have encouraged the public to be a part of this effort by reporting sightings of birds and animals that appear stressed.
Although the fallout from the La Soufrière eruptions has been described as “apocalyptic,” @uwiseismic posted a photo on Twitter that focused more on the country's resilience:
Photo of the day. A valley on the Leeward side of SVG impacted by the ongoing eruption of La Soufriere. Despite the damage, small green shoots still stand resilient in the face of the volcanic hazards. With time, the area will recover. Photo credit:@VincieRichie pic.twitter.com/B1cA5RaLpx
— UWISeismic Research (@uwiseismic) April 28, 2021
In that vein, entertainment superstars from the region, including Rihanna, who hails from Barbados; Jamaica's Sean Paul and Buju Banton, and Nicki Minaj, who has Trinidad and Tobago roots, will perform at a virtual May 23 concert aimed at raising much-needed funds for St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The University of the West Indies has also been coordinating fundraising efforts under the hashtag #RallyRoundSVG.
All the while, La Soufrière continues to evolve, and scientists continue to document the effects of its activity—including an explosion on April 22, Earth Day.
#LaSoufriere #stilldangerous puffing away after 3 months & 9 days effusive activity, 13 days explosions and 8 days quiet…sleeping again? @DormantGroup @uwiseismic @soufriere_hills #TeamSRC pic.twitter.com/wThqWobMYp
— richard robertson (@VincieRichie) April 30, 2021
No one—not even the volcanologists who had been observing her activity even prior to the April 9 eruption—knows what La Soufrière will do next, but they all agree that she is #stilldangerous.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco