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Could Trinidad and Tobago’s Media Shake Up Usher in a Return to ‘Total Local’ Programming? · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Screenshot of an old Trinidad and Tobago Television (TTT) station ID, taken from a YouTube video by Media Arts.
Trinidad and Tobago's television and film industry practitioners wonder whether they are on the verge of a return to the glory days of original local programming.
On August 24, 2017, the sector was shaken up by an announcement from Maxie Cuffie, Minister of Public Administration and Communication, that Caribbean New Media Group (CNMG) — the state television station that replaced Trinidad and Tobago Television (TTT) in 2005 — would close, along with Government Information Services Limited (GISL), the government’s primary media company.
With the combined assets of CNMG and GISL, TTT has morphed into a media ‘Lazarus’ resurrection story, complete with a mandate to ensure “a bias toward local programming”. Cuffie said the anticipated move emerged thanks to a recommendation from the 2015 consultation on state media. He added that even after 12 years since its closure, TTT still commanded a level of nostalgia and brand recognition that CNMG was never able to achieve. Still, journalist Laura Dowrich-Phillips stressed she was “more interested in the content than the name.”
While the new local content approach is making Trinidad and Tobago filmmakers and media producers dizzy with possibilities, state media employees share concerns over job security, especially in a slow economy. The lion's share of Trinidad and Tobago's gross domestic product (GDP) lies in the energy sector, and worldwide oil and natural gas prices have remained low for some time. The closure will also affect staff at two radio stations (99.1 Next FM and 91.1 Talk City).
Mixed reactions poured in from both netizens and industry stakeholders. Facebook user Nicole Huggins-Boucaud saw the value in the promise of restarting local programming:
Facebook user Nicole Huggins-Boucaud's status update: “Back to our roots to grow our shoots!” 2017
Others were more cautious. On Twitter, Rhoda Bharath tweeted the concerns of state media staff:
3/3: Staff will have to reapply for jobs at new entity. No word if the same CEO and Board will remain.#WheresWendell#Newsauce
— rhoda bharath (@rhodabharath) August 24, 2017
In light of the station's hefty budget allocations, Bharath has been critical of CNMG's current Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Wendell Constantine's ability to keep the station relevant and competitive. Suggesting that staff morale was low, she added:
The Board, the CEO and Head of News has gots to GEAUX if the new TTT is to succeed.#WheresWendell #Newsauce pic.twitter.com/fWTBpfy0mp
— rhoda bharath (@rhodabharath) August 24, 2017
Soyini Grey, a former CNMG employee who now works for a foreign television station, spoke with Global Voices to confirm the change was “a lot to process” and came as a surprise, especially since the government had the state media consultation report in hand since 2015. This state of limbo was one of the reasons Grey decided to leave.
Still, she acknowledges the country does need a local content station. In one Facebook status update, she wrote:
CNMG was supposed to be a totally local station, FYI.
We need to really honest and clear as to why they deviated from that mandate.
But it is absolutely essential that we have local content on our television
Grey, who has a background as a sociologist, explained: “Media is a socialisation tool and when you look at television in Trinidad and Tobago, it's very American — so we grew up in this country and we don't know who we are or what we believe in.”
Grey also makes a clear distinction between state television and a government-run station. “I'm hoping this government understands that they need to have some sort of system in place to protect the company from government interference — especially if they come out of power,” she explains. Commending the move as a step in the right direction, she cautioned: “We need to see if they're thinking seriously about supporting local content and putting things in place to protect the company in terms of finances, etc.”
Minister Cuffie held a press conference (shared via Facebook Live) on August 25, where he took heated questions from the media.
On the issue of financing, Cuffie said the new TTT will be partly funded by the state and partly funded by “donors, contributors and commercial operations”. Given the tough economic climate, the new entity will not request higher state subventions.
The transition commences when the Ministry of Finance appoints a board to take over CNMG operations; a separate board will be appointed to TTT to begin the process of securing required staff. The minister did not commit to a timeframe and noted that the rehire pool will include former CNMG and GISL employees, as well as talent from other media houses.
Cuffie emphasised: “Once we increase local programming, we are going to allow for creativity to blossom among local content producers.”
The minister referenced a proposal by Filmmakers Collaborative of Trinidad and Tobago (FILMCO), which made the case that investment in local programming would cost far less than CNMG's current model; he plans to pass this proposal on to the new TTT board. Cuffie also insisted the change should be regarded as new employment opportunities for local content producers, as opposed to job loss.
Dion Boucaud, one of FILMCO's founders, said on Facebook:
There is a lot of chatter about the rebranding of CNMG to TTT and from the posts I've seen, very many are in favor of the decision. This has been a long battle for local content producers and I'm holding my breath that it's done right. What most don't realize is that it's not just a name change. The main announcement is the shift to public television which at its very principle places the national interest at the heart of its broadcast policy. With a mandate to facilitate the development of local content, it is but a matter of time before local dramas, comedies, serials and other types of programming begin to roll out. This will greatly impact both the quantity and quality of local productions as market forces will soon dictate what stays on the air and what gets cancelled. It would represent employment opportunities for everyone connected to the industry as money is spent on our economy and our people telling our stories. My heart does go out to the affected staff during this transition but I truly believe it is the best decision for the country, especially given all of our current challenges.
Kejan Haynes, a journalist from CCN TV6, challenged whether the change could have happened “without firing a whole company and asking them to reapply.” Cuffie countered that CNMG's staff was hired under a different mandate and the new TTT, a public service broadcaster, will require a different organisational culture.
Asked if the station would exist to turn a profit, the answer was “no”.
Reaffirming TTT's commitment to operating as an independent newsroom free from political influence, Minister Cuffie assured the media that the company's new board would give fair consideration to any staff who reapply, but dismissed questions about replacing the current CEO as “an inferential leap.”
On a lighter note, and in anticipation of TTT's re-emergence, Soyini Grey playfully tagged Natural Ink Clothing, a fashion line that has been screen printing t-shirts with the beloved TTT logo, advising the designers to “start printing more jerseys!”


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The Honeymoon Period is Over Between Uber and Users in Mexico City · Global Voices
J. Tadeo

Image shared on Flickr by the user Automobile Italia, used in this piece under the terms of the Creative Commons 2.0 license.
In May 2015,  citizens of Mexico City declared #UberSeQueda (Uber Stays Here) in response to both a legal and street-level dispute between traditional cab drivers and drivers of private automobiles operating via apps like Uber and Cabify. However, the user perspective seems to have changed completely.
At the time, Global Voices (GV) reported that Mexico City residents expressed their support for the apps in dispute, especially Uber, on social networks and citizen media. Their support arose due to the poor service offered by traditional taxis, which on occasion includes crimes (some of a sexual nature), as well as unsafe vehicles in old or poor condition.
Taxi driver in Mexico City. Photo from the author.
By the summer of 2017, circumstances changed. Every accusation of traditional taxi drivers now applies to Uber drivers as well, leaving a wake of unsatisfied and angry users who find themselves defenseless without assistance from any public institution that can help them exercise their rights.
Cases of Uber drivers watching pornographic material while they offered services and robberies occurring inside vehicles hired through apps have been reported in the media as well as before authorities. However, to date, Uber and other private taxi companies have shown no signs of restoring satisfactory services and the peace of mind that comes with it.
An exposé in the national newspaper El Universal revealed several stories of people who have suffered assault or received bad services with Uber.
To learn more, GV reporters interviewed the owner of an Uber car in Mexico City (or an “associate” of the company) who responded to questions on the condition of anonymity.
Global Voices (GV): Are you aware that Uber users have complained a lot recently about the bad quality of service? If so, how did you find out?
Uber Associate (UA): Yes, I know. Whether through comments that I read in Facebook or Twitter, or through weekly reports that the company (Uber) sends to associates (car owners) about the performance of each car. They share with us the people's comments that recently have to do with the driver not exiting to open the door, nor initiating or concluding the trip, nor offering a bottle of water to the passenger, or having inappropriate dress or a bad presentation while driving, or not turning on the air conditioning, among others.
GV: From your perspective as an associate, why has the quality of service offered become drastically worse?
UA: Uber grew in Mexico City exponentially and uncontrolled. The supply as well as the demand increased. Most people know this, but what they don't realize is that the rates for drivers lowered and now they earn considerable less money per trip.
Another reality is that many taxi drivers signed up as drivers, so they fall into the bad practices they had previously. Nor is it unusual that they remove parts from the vehicle or they repair it with bad quality parts.
There is another issue as well that has to do with the insurance policy that Uber requires you to have. The insurers have raised the rates of their products considerably and it's not unusual that Uber turns its back on associates when there is an accident. Each one of these small things influences the service that our passengers receive.
GV: Is there anything you want to add so people know the reasons behind the perceived terrible service on your behalf?
UA: Yes. Other members have told us about fake users that requested to be picked up in federal zones (where our operation is not permitted) and when the driver exits to open the door, they are brutally beaten by taxi drivers or by people hired by them. That is, drivers also feel unsafe and nobody protects them from these attacks.
Reporting the users of these accounts has been attempted, but the attacks continue occurring and the police do nothing to prevent them. In fact, several of the taxi groups (authorized or piratical) are supported by the local government and these acts remain unpunished.
On Twitter, Mexico City residents recently expressed their worries about Uber operations:
Sus respuesta en breve fue:
Hacer un cargo por $60 más del costo original del viaje y reembolsarme 30. Eso se llama robo #UberCDMX https://t.co/6g0VNHT9VQ
— Jardiel (@Jardiel) August 7, 2017
No entiendo por qué me tocan los conductores de #uber más inútiles. #ubercdmx
— Pauline Atiyeh (@paulinexa9) April 21, 2017
#UberCDMX tu navegador es un ASCO, un vomitivo hecho aplicación y por si fuera poco, bloqueas el Waze. Regresa tu engendro al laboratorio
— Ignacio Aguirrezabal (@Ignacio42110431) May 26, 2017
@uber_df este es Rafael #ubermexico #borracho y con cerveza en mano se queja de que tiene que manejar #malservicio #Uber cada vez #peor pic.twitter.com/l0r9rkSr5f
— Dr. Montes Bracchini (@jjcirugiafacial) September 25, 2016
Facing insecurities and ineffective systems, Uber passengers ride at the mercy of the individual driver's performance, leaving some consumers to ponder a return to conventional public transit.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: J. Tadeo


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Why I Don’t Identify With Feminism, Even When It’s Intersectional · Global Voices
Afroféminas

Detail of a photo published on Pixabay and used here under a CC0 Creative Commons license.
This is an edited version of an essay by Ayomide Zuri, originally published on Afroféminas. It inspired serious debate in the comments section of the original post.
Many women—especially white women who claim to be intersectional feminists—get frustrated when I say I’m not a feminist. They wonder why I don't participate in the movement. They have even tried to persuade me using academic and social reasoning that supposedly underpins why I should be a feminist.
They cite, for example, the fact that women still earn less than men of the same educational level. That women continue to be subjected to scrutiny with regard to what they do with their bodies. That violence against women is a global epidemic. Or that cultural and social barriers prevent women from attaining success in various domains, and gender discrimination is norm in several countries and religious communities.
I’m well aware of all this. I know about it, I know it’s true and I’ve experienced it many times over. I’m a black woman.
However, when I mention race, racism, black cis women, black trans women, black LGBTiQ women, or black disapora women and the way we’ve always been segregated and discriminated against—when I mention the way we have been physical, emotionally and verbally abused both inside and outside of the feminist movement, many white and intersectional white feminists remain silent. Yet, they agree that women, all women, should join together to “lift their voices and sing” “Kumbuyah, my Lord” for (some) women’s rights.
But they don’t want to talk about the racialized violence of the state as something separate from gender violence, and from which black women doubly. Or about how black women and other women of color earn less than white men and women. Or how black and immigrant girls are more frequently suspended from school, as a result of what is clearly a problem with integration. Or how women from black or immigrant communities are more likely to experience domestic violence than white women.
While I wish for equality for all women, all men, and all races, I—as a black woman—cannot align myself with a movement that is focused on white women and which refuses to include racial and gender inequality. I’m fed up and I won’t fight to be included in a space oriented toward white feminists in which I and many other black women have been rejected time and time again. Just like Sojourner Truth declared in her 1851 speech, “Ain't I a Woman?”, I refuse to be a part of a movement that dehumanizes and alienates black women. Groups that successfully appropriate our style and traditions in order to advance their own self-centered programs.
I will no longer try to teach white feminists the importance of the crossing of race and gender, because some will continue to ignore the relevance of black women in the feminist movement, no matter how many black women try to educate them. Although intersectional feminism was created to distinguish itself from white feminism and include women of other ethnicities, it still has the word “feminism” in its name. I’d rather dissociate myself from feminism altogether, so as to live in peace in a Womanist space that was created with my dark skin and my status as a woman in mind, than defend a white, feminist paradigm that is so pervasive that intersectionality is venerated as a latter-day invention.
Now, more than ever, it is time for us black women to define ourselves on our own terms, and to gather in spaces created by us and for us. As Clenora Hudson-Weems, author of “Africana Womanism: Reclaiming Ourselves” talked about defending ourselves by defining ourselves in our own terms, black women can find safety only in spaces where our cultural, mental, emotional, physical and even spiritual qualities are honored.
Some white/intersectional feminists will cry separatism and segregation after reading this, but please use this opportunity to educate yourself about hypocrisy and contradictions of the feminist movement regarding black women.
Within a Womanist movement, I can elevate black women and women from other cultures because within this paradigm I am recognized. I’m acknowledged as part of this movement because of my dark skin and because I am a woman. And in a space where my vitality is neither disrespected, ignored nor discarded, I, as a black woman, can thrive.

author: Afroféminas


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After the Catalonia Attacks: Hate Messages and Social Network Confrontations · Global Voices
Maria Luz Moraleda

Altar at the Canaletas Fountain in memory of the victims of the attack on Barcelona's Las Ramblas street on August 17, 2017. Photo by Joaquimalbalate, published in Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons license Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International.
The internet never saw the moment of silence that many groups in Spain held for the victims of the attacks on August 17 in Barcelona. Moreover, many users took to Twitter and Facebook to vent hatred and spew inflammatory speech.
Alongside the grief triggered by the attacks that shook both Barcelona and Cambrils earlier this month, a wealth of views on the event surfaced in Spanish language-sections of social networks. While some attacked Muslim migrants in vicious diatribes, others called for reflection and criticized xenophobic displays.
Islamophobia made its presence known via the hashtag #STOPIslam as well as via the poor-taste humour responding to the #UnTaxistaMarroquí (#AMoroccanCabDriver) hashtag that trended in the wake of the violence. The hashtag initially referred to an anecdote shared on Twitter, in which a woman told of how a Moroccan taxi driver had taken her mother home without charging her shortly after the attack.
The tweet sought to make it clear that migrant workers are ordinary people rather than terrorists. However, a number of ironic responses reflected quite different feelings:
#UnTaxistaMarroquí me sacó de #LasRamblas en su unicornio con alas.
— Javier M.P. (@fray_fanatic) August 18, 2017
#AMoroccanCabDriver got me out of #LasRamblas on his winged unicorn.
#UnTaxistaMarroquí me llevo a su casa, me dio de comer, y arropó, cuando desperté me había robado
— AE Siempre Fieles (@sergiogr_79) August 18, 2017
#AMoroccanCabDriver took me to his house, fed me, tucked me in, and when I woke up, he had robbed me
To which other users reacted with indignation:
Que 24 horas despues del antentado #UnTaxistaMarroquí sea TT en plan cachondeo dice mucho de la sociedad en la que vivimos.
— karlos #NoTTIP (@carlosjesus1985) August 18, 2017
That 24 hours after the attack #AMoroccanCabDriver is trending and being joked about says a lot about the society we live in.
So-called “hate speech” has been a constant in Spanish social networks in recent days. So much so that the authorities, in addition to publishing confirmed data and debunking other information, have been forced to draw attention to the rhetoric:
You don't have to criminalize mosques, it's a place where people are going to pray #Notincpor #AtentadoBarcelona https://t.co/JhcBC9oBhB
— Mossos (@mossos) August 20, 2017
Most seriously, the local press reported assaults, such as the one experienced by a minor who was beaten to shouts of “fucking moor,” as well as hostile graffiti on mosques and other public walls:
Nos hemos encontrado esto pintado en las puertas de la mezquita de Montblanc. Quiero que este acto no quede impune. #Barcelona #Cambrils pic.twitter.com/gi0UYaZ1Vc
— jud (@bolloroja) August 18, 2017
[The text on the wall reads: F*ing moors, you will all die] We found this painted on the doors on the Montblanc mosque. I do not want this act to go unpunished. #Barcelona #Cambrils
One judge warned:
Quienes culpan del terrorismo a todos los musulmanes se van acercando peligrosamente al fanatismo irracional de los yihadistas.
— Joaquim Bosch Grau (@JoaquimBoschGra) August 18, 2017
Those who blame terrorism on all Muslims are dangerously approaching the irrational fanaticism of jihadists.
Among the hoaxes to make its way around Whatsapp was a text demanding the condemnation of the attacks by the Muslim community and accusing Muslims of failing to express solidarity in the aftermath of the attacks. In reality, different communities in Spain had already publicly condemned them in the street and on their Facebook and Twitter accounts, as had Karim Prim, a well-known Muslim activist and civil officer:
A los q muchos llamáis terroristas no tienen ni religion ni ideología: simplemente son asesinos #NoEnMiNombre #BastaYa #Barcelona pic.twitter.com/WXnHus5gpZ
— KARIM PRIM (@KARIMPRIM) August 17, 2017
Those who many are calling terrorists have neither religion nor ideology: they are simply murderers
Also, on the streets of Catalonia citizens faced a march called by an extreme right-wing group, as shown in the video published by online media PlayGround:
Dozens of practitioners of Islam came together last Saturday in Catalonia under the motto “we are Muslims, we are not terrorists,” while hashtags like #NoEnElMeuNom#NoEnMiNombre (translations of #NotInMyName seen in response to other ISIS-claimed attacks) responded to the hoaxes that had been circulating.
Sin comentarios.#Barcelona #Cambrils #NoEnMiNombre #noenelmeunom #TotsSomBarcelona pic.twitter.com/7PWCbGejES
— Hisham Mohamed (@Hisham_M0hamed) August 23, 2017
No comment. [In the image: The lady on the left carries a sign saying “Not in my name.” The lady on the left says: “Ok, sure. You reject Islamic Terrorism. Great. But then… WHY do you not also reject the veil, Ramadan, the kids being in the street all day long, the phone shops, the weird butcher shops, meal grants and all those other things that bother us so much, huh?”]
Also, in contrast to hashtags of hatred were various “counter-hashtags” and signs of respect like #YoTeAcompaño (#I'llGoWithYou) which emerged in Australia after the 2014 hostage crisis, with the aim that Muslims feeling scared would not have to walk outside unaccompanied:
Una forma de decir #StopIslamofobia es #YoTeAcompaño #TeAcompaño una propuesta triste y bella a la par. Nadie debería sentirse atemorizadx!
— Carla Jo (@karura) August 18, 2017
One way of saying #StopIslamofobia is #YoTeAcompaño#TeAcompaño (#I'llGoWithYou): A sad and beautiful proposal. No one should feel frightened!
Meanwhile, educator Raquel Rull, who worked with the young people accused of the Catalonia attacks during their adolescence, wrote a public letter on Facebook that was in turn published by the national newspaper El País. The letter was entitled “What Are We Doing Wrong?“:
Estos niños eran como todos los niños. Como mis hijos, eran niños de Ripoll. Como aquel que puedes ver jugar en la plaza, o el que carga una mochila enorme de libros, el que te saluda y te dejar pasar ante la cola del super, el que se pone nervioso cuando le sonríe una chica. Me duelen las chispas que encienden el odio en las redes… Donde se muestra la ignorancia, el rencor, la indiferencia, el no respeto hacia el prójimo, los tópicos, las fronteras, el girar la cabeza hacia otro lado, el no saber ponerse en la piel del otro […] Esto no debe quedar [como] una historia más. Tenemos que aprender de ella, hemos de hacer un mundo mejor. Practicando con el ejemplo, educando en la no violencia, transmitiendo el no odio, la igualdad.
These kids were like all kids. Like my children, they were kids from Ripoll. Like the one you can see playing in the square, or the one who carries a huge backpack full of books, the one who greets you and lets you go in front of them in the supermarket line, who gets nervous when a girl smiles at them. I am hurt by the sparks that ignite the hatred on the internet… Where ignorance, resentment, indifference, disrespect towards your neighbor is shown, the topics, the borders, the looking the other way, the not knowing how to put yourself in someone else’s shoes […] This cannot be just another story. We have to learn from it, we have to make a better world. Leading by example, educating in non-violence, conveying non-hatred, equality.

author: Maria Luz Moraleda


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Cambodia Shutdown of Media Outlets: Tax and Licensing Issue or Censorship? · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Staff members of Cambodia Daily hold placards calling for the protection of press freedom in Cambodia. Source: Facebook
Cambodia has threatened to close down six media outlets in the past three weeks: one daily newspaper, two foreign media services and three local radio stations. The government has said these media companies violated the country’s tax and licensing laws, but several media groups and the political opposition believe the closure orders were meant to silence critical voices ahead of the 2018 general elections.
The English-language Cambodia Daily, established in 1993 as a social enterprise, is being accused of failing to pay taxes. The publisher has denied the charge.
Furthermore, the paper was reportedly not given the opportunity to appeal or negotiate the tax case.
Meanwhile, Radio Free Asia (RFA) and Voice of America (VOA) in Cambodia — both sponsored by the US government — were also threatened for not being registered with the tax department.
The license of Moha Nokor FM 93.5, which broadcasts both RFA and VOA content, as well as opposition party programs, was also revoked by the government.
Voice of Democracy (VOD) also experienced a disruption in its 3 provincial stations. It was initially reported that the disruption was a technical problem, but later it was confirmed that the radio station was ordered to stop broadcasting. VOD hosts programs that are critical of the ruling party that has been in power for the past three decades.
Yi Chhor Vorn, director of Moha Nokor, is trying to clarify the government’s reason for shutting down the radio station:
They told me the reason they closed is because we did not inform them about information of air-time sales to the clients. But I think we have been doing our job already. We pay tax, we have a license and of course we follow all the guidelines.
The abrupt closure of media companies is seen by several groups as a form of political harassment by a ruling party which lost a significant number of seats in the 2013 general election.
PA Nguon Teang of the Cambodian Center for Independent Media warned that the “suppression of independent media will badly affect the country's election processes.”
Chak Sopheap of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights asserted that “without a free media, the rich and powerful’s chokehold over public life in Cambodia would be complete.”
Overseas Press Club of Cambodia issued a statement supporting Cambodia Daily, one of only two English language dailies in the country:
The Cambodia Daily has a history of running stories that have angered the government leading many to believe the tax department is being used to target critics ahead of the 2018 general elections.
Edgardo Legaspi, Southeast Asian Press Alliance executive director, urged Cambodia to observe due process in handling the cases involving the media:
It appears that the Cambodian government has been using legal technicalities to hide behind its real aim of silencing independent voices. The government has prioritized shutting down of media outlets over providing fair procedures to address their liabilities.
Legaspi added that Cambodia’s licensing laws are vague and that the government should have opted to sit down with media companies accused of failing to comply with the country’s regulations instead of closing them down.
But Information Minister Khieu Kanharith denied that the government is harassing independent media.
The ministry has shut some radio stations because they violated their contract. We have reviewed some other radio stations, which also rent time to VOA and RFA, and they remain open.
He also insisted that the issue involving Cambodia Daily is solely about tax violations:
I think reporters at the Cambodia Daily should not demonstrate for freedom of the press because it is not a freedom of the press issue, it is the tax law being implemented.
Aside from closing down several media outlets, Cambodia is also clamping down on foreign NGOs which has led many institutions and even foreign governments to express concern about the deteriorating political situation in the country.

author: Mong Palatino


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China to Ban Anonymous Online Comments, Blacklist Users · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The Great Firewall of China. Image from Digital Trends.
As of October 1, 2017, Chinese netizens who have not registered their user accounts with online platforms under a new real name system will not be able to post comments on online content, while bans await trouble-makers.
“The Regulation on the Management of Internet Comments” was announced by the Cyberspace Administration of China on August 25. The regulation specifies that platforms that provide services for netizens to comment on original content, including films, posts, online games or news, should force users to provide their authentic identity via an individual user account system before posting. Platform operators should not offer such services to those who have not verified their identity.
The regulation will dramatically reduce space for online comments as large number of unauthenticated users will not be able to write original posts and leave comments. Moreover, many platforms will be unable to bear the burden of the identity verification system.
According to Article 2 of the regulation, commenting services refer to websites, mobile applications, interactive platforms, news sites, and other social platforms that allow or facilitate users to create original content, reply to posts, leave comments on news threads or other items in the form of written text, symbols, emojis, images, voice messages or video.
The responsibilities of comment service operators, according to Article 5, include the verification of user identities, the setting up of a comment management system to pre-screen comments on news, preventing the spread of illegal information and reporting comments to the authorities.
Controversially, the regulation also specifies in Article 9 that comment service operators should manage their users by rating their ‘social credit’, an algorithm to measure a person's overall “goodness” as a citizen
Those with low credit should be blacklisted from posting and prevented from registering new accounts to use the service. At the same time, state, province and city-level cyberspace affairs offices will set up a management system to evaluate the overall social credit of comment service operators on a regular basis.
The Orwellian social credit system for regulating internet users’ activities was revealed in 2014 and the Chinese government authorized a number of credit service agencies to collect, evaluate and manage peoples's credit information the following year.
According to the Chinese government's Planning Outline for the Construction of a Social Credit System, the system aims to measure and enhance “trust” between and among government, commercial sectors and citizens and to “strengthen sincerity in government affairs, commercial sincerity, social sincerity and the construction of judicial credibility.” However, the allocation of individual credit is not transparent and the current regulation on comment services indicates that individual online speech is a key factor in its calculation.
A commentary from the state agency Xinhua attempted to justify the government’s new policy by arguing that the regulation is intended to stop the pollution of online spaces with disinformation and pornographic or violent content.
It stated:
网络可以无限，跟帖不能无边。没有原则的放纵只会催生可怕的“自由”，没有管理的“任性”必将损害行业的健康发展。若让其“任性”下去，跟帖评论就将成为负能量的“跑马场”，就会成为网络空间里的“毒草”。
The Internet can be borderless, but comments should have boundaries. If there are no principles, freedom can turn into “terror”; without management, indulgence could harm the development of the [online] industry. If we continue to indulge [netizens], online comments might become a swell of negative energy and the “poisonous grass” of cyberspace.
Earlier this month, the Cyberspace Administration launched investigations into popular Chinese social networks WeChat, Sina Weibo and Baidu Tieba for suspected violations of China's Cybersecurity Law.
China started to implement real name registration across social media platforms in 2011. But large number of users refused to authenticate their identities prior to the stated deadline of March 2012. Representatives from the Internet business sector negotiated with the government for a more flexible schedule with a clearer legal framework.
Since 2012 a series of  laws and regulations have been introduced to require Internet service providers, Telecoms, Apps stores and content service providers to adopt real name registration for their services.
Thus far only national and large-scale social media and content service operators have implemented real name registration and they have not introduced measures to penalize unauthenticated users beyond limiting the circulation of their posts.
The majority of small-to-medium-size local websites and forums have not implemented real name registration because they simply don’t have the capital and infrastructure to do so. The new regulation compels such websites to shut down their interactive features.
Tech-blogger William Long who has discussed the issue with regulators in the past wrote in his blog:
具体小网站怎么实现实名制，我曾经和有关部门交流过，他们的意见是：要么关闭评论，要么评论时候填写手机号码，并且提交手机短信验证码，验证码正确的才能发布评论。
一般小网站的站长就是花几百元租个虚拟主机做个小博客，而手机验证码发送成本，按照一条短信6分钱算，100条评论就6元钱，遇上同行来捣乱的给你刷个几千条，估计没几个小网站能受得了，最后只能禁止评论。
很好，目的就是为了让你禁止评论。
I have discussed with the relevant authorities how small forums and websites can implement real name registration. Their view is, they can either shut the comment section down or ask their users to verify their identity by providing mobile phone verification codes.
Owners of small websites can only afford a few hundred yuan to hire a server. The cost of mobile verification is RMB 6 cents per message. They would have to spend RMB 6 yuan per 100 comments. If their competitors deliberately overload them by posting a few thousand comments a day, they will not be able to afford the cost [of verification]. In the end they will be forced to ban comments.
Good. Because banning comments is the [government's] objective.
Most online comments on the regulation have been hidden on social media — some threads show only two comments out of hundreds, while on others the comment section has been shut down. The majority of comments do not appear on a search.
Below are some of the critical comments gathered from various discussion threads on Weibo that have survived the cull:
其实你不实名，它们也能查得出你是谁。它们所企图的，无非是，要你有恐惧感。
With or without real name registration, they know who you are. What they intend to do is to make you fearful.
我一直是实名，倒是你，一直不敢开评论。
I always use my real name. It is you [the authorities] who are afraid of opening up the comment thread.
为了维稳真是什么不要脸的招数都拿出来了。
[Authorities] are shameless in their desire for stability.
是不是有病？那么多网站，都要实名制？
This is pathological. With so many websites, they all have to adopt real name?
秦始皇时代
Back to the Qin Dynasty.

author: Oiwan Lam


text:
Shanty Towns in Conakry and Freetown: Mismanagement and Vulnerability in Africa’s Booming Capitals · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

Screen capture of a video of the floods in Freetown, Sierra Leone, from Breaking News YT channel.
The recent catastrophe which struck Freetown, capital of Sierra Leone, where torrential rains left hundreds dead and thousands homeless, demonstrated yet again the vulnerability of African cities and their increasingly fragile populations, especially the occupants of shanty towns.
The August 15 rains brought in their wake not only flooding but also unprecedented landslides. Predictably it was the poorest who were impacted the hardest.
Amid spiralling populations and low rural incomes, African capitals are exploding under demographic pressure. Shanty towns spring up daily and mushroom overnight. The state cannot keep up with the pace of population growth and so the problem expands. Only when large numbers of people look to settle in areas not intended for housing do the authorities intervene and take drastic measures.
This is what has happened in Conakry, the capital of Sierra Leone's neighbour, Guinea.
Without any regulations, a large group that came from the country's rural interior settled anarchically in the area around a river almost 20 years ago. The government recently launched an operation to demolish the district of Démoudoula, created at the turn of the milennium, spurring a sharp debate on social networks.
A bulldozer in action at Démoudoula. Photo credit: http://guinee28.info, used with permission
Author Alimou Sow, voted the best French-language blogger in 2013 by Deutsche Welle's Bobs jury, reacted to the demolitions on his Facebook page after he visited the sites concerned:
C’est un drame humain qui est en train de se dérouler, presque à huis clos, à Démoudoula.
Depuis quelques jours, dans ce quartier de la commune de Ratoma (Conakry), des bulldozers s’activent à démolir des maisons habitées, jetant dans la rue femmes et enfants ne sachant ni où aller, ni à quel saint se vouer. Des sinistrés de juillet, mois pendant lequel, à Conakry, le ciel est comme troué. Mais on s’en fout non ?
Ces maisons détruites par l’Etat sont autant de rêves brisés, autant de liens familiaux disjoints, autant de corps avilis, autant de cœurs meurtris. Chaque brique brisée représente des mois, voire des années de dur labeur. Toute une vie démolie sous le regard hagard des enfants et impuissant des parents.
En Guinée, l’on vit pour deux choses : la famille et la maison. Chez nous, quand tu détruis la maison de quelqu’un tu auras détruit toute sa vie. Et aucun dédommagement n’est à la hauteur d’une telle tragédie.
Mais quel est le tort de ces sinistrés de juillet ? Occupation illégale du lit de la rivière “Démoudoula” (terre des chimpanzés en langue Poular), dit-on. Et quel est leur sort ? L’abandon dans la rue !
Est-ce que c’est pour protéger ces déguerpis d’une inondation éventuelle et pour préserver ainsi leurs vies et leurs biens ? Pas sûr, puisque comme dit le dicton “mieux vaut prévenir que guérir”. On aurait dû les empêcher de s’installer-là, dans le lit de la rivière. N’est-ce pas des commis de l’Etat vendus qui ont vendu les parcelles de terre à ces malheureux ?
D’ailleurs, en matière de risques à Conakry il y a bien pire ailleurs : la décharge de la Minière qui constitue à la fois une catastrophe humaine et écologique, le dépôt des hydrocarbures à Kaloum tout près de la centrale électrique de Tombo dont une explosion éventuelle pourrait ravager tout Kaloum (je touche du bois), les différentes garnisons installées au cœur de la capitale (on a encore en mémoire l’explosion meurtrière de la poudrière du camp Alpha Yaya au début des années 2000), etc.
Est-ce que c’est pour protéger l’environnement ? Peut-être. Mais Démoudoula est-il un cas isolé à Conakry ? Quid des forêts d’Enta, de Dabompa, de Démoudoula ? Quid de nombreux marigots ensevelis à Conakry ? Quid de l’occupation et de la destruction de notre littoral ?
Qu’en est-il des projets dévastateurs sur nos corniches que des activistes de la société civile dénoncent ? Notre Forêt guinéenne est-elle Forte dans un pays où la principale source d’énergie est tirée du charbon de bois ? Que fait-on pour promouvoir les énergies alternatives ? Combien coûte une bouteille de gaz en Guinée ?
Il y a longtemps qu’on a délogé, chassé et probablement mangé les chimpanzés de Démoudoula. Maintenant on y déloge des humains à coup de pelleteuses.
A supposer que c’était à la fois pour préserver l’environnement et pour protéger les riverains et leurs biens : ce n’est ni le moment, ni la manière. Cela devrait être fait à un moment approprié (pas en pleine saison des pluies), respecter un délai d’avertissement suffisant et un plan clair de relogement et de dédommagement.
Finalement, je pense que notre Etat est atteint de “démolitionite”. Sur les ruines de Kaporo-rails, la haine et la délinquance ont germé. On détruit des habitations pour construire la frustration, l’amertume et la haine.
There is a human drama taking place in Demoudoula.
For several days now, in this neighbourhood in the Ratoma district of Conakry, bulldozers have been at work on the demolition of occupied houses, putting women and children on the streets, with no idea where to go, or who to look to for help. Their plight comes in July — a month when the heavens open remorselessly in Conakry.  But who's going to trouble their heads about that?
These houses being destroyed by the State are so many dreams being shattered, so many familiar links broken, so many bodies degraded, so many hearts bruised.  Every smashed brick represents months, if not years, of hard labour.  A whole life demolished under the haggard gaze of children and the powerless gaze of parents.
In Guinea, we live for two things: our families and our homes.  For us, when you've destroyed someone's house you will have destroyed their whole life.  And no amount of compensation makes up for such a tragedy. But what is the charge against these victims of the July [demolitions]?  Illegal occupation of the river Démoudoula (‘Land of the Chimpanzees’, in the Pular language), apparently.
And what is their fate?  To be abandoned in the street! Is this so as to protect these fugitives from a possible flood, and so preserve their lives and belongings?  Hardly, since as the saying goes “prevention is better than cure”.  They should have been prevented from settling there in the riverbed earlier.
Didn't the corrupt agents of the State sell these poor people their plots in the first place? Besides, when it comes to risks in Conakry there are much worse ones elsewhere: the mining waste which threatens at one and the same time a human and an ecological catastrophe; the dumping of hydrocarbons at Kaloum, right by the Tombo central electricity station, where any explosion (God forbid) could ravage the whole of Kaloum; the various garrisons installed at the heart of the capital (who can forget the deadly explosion of the munitions store at Alpha Yaya camp in the early 2000s?), etc, etc.
Is it to protect the environment?  Maybe.  But is Démoudoula an isolated case in Conakry?  What about the forests of Enta, Dabompa, Démoudoula?  What about the many filled-in water channels in Conakry?  What about the invasion and destruction of our coastline?Where are we left, with these devastating plans, condemned by civil society activists, for our waterfronts?
Is our Guinéan forest indeed “strong”, in a country where the principal source of energy is drawn from charcoal?  What are we doing to promote alternative energies?  How much does a bottle of gas cost in Guinéa? [Translator's note: Forêt Forte, or Strong Forest, is the name of a timber company based in the country]The chimpanzees of Démoudoula have long since been displaced, hunted and probably eaten.  Now human beings are being displaced from here by digger trucks.
Let's say it was both to preserve the environment and to protect the river-dwellers and their property.  Then this is neither the time nor the means.  It ought to be done with appropriate timing (not in the midst of the rainy season), having regard for an adequate warning period and a clear plan for resettlement and compensation.
Finally, I think our State is suffering from “demolitionitis”.  On the ruins of Kaporo-rails, hatred and delinquency have sprouted.  Houses are being destroyed in order to build frustration, bitterness and hatred.
Alimou Sow is referring to Kaporo-rails, a Conakry neighbourhood razed to the ground in 1998, leaving more than 120,000 people on to the streets after the destruction of thousands of housing units, mosques and school buildings.
This moving intervention by Sow sparked many reactions, some supporting the state's intervention, others asking themselves the same questions as he does, but reaching different solutions.
Cellou Diallo criticises the timing, but agrees with the premise:
Le moment est très mal choisi, j'en conviens. Mais ils doivent être déguerpis par l'état qui doit en contrepartie les soutenir soit en les dédommageant pour se retourner contre ceux qui sont les complices ou cessionnaires…ou soit en soutenant leur action directement contre les personnes qui ont cede les terrains. Mais ils doivent quitter.
I agree that the timing is very poorly chosen. But they must be removed by the state, which must in return support them, either by compensating them by taking away the fees from who those sold them the land… or else by supporting their action directly against the people who have ceded the land. But go they must.
Sény Touré meanwhile condemns a trail of negligence by the state which has hurt the poorest.  In particular, he singled out the expropriation of a plot of land at the Ignace Deen Hospital to build a luxury hotel, as well as the sale of another property of over 3 hectares allegedly released by the state for the equivalent of 25 euros, displacing the original occupants.
This land, situated in one of the most dynamic zones of the Guinéan capital is being made home to the Résidence 2000 complex. The complex will consist of a hundred or so high-class apartments with a view of the southern harbour front and should attract rents starting from 2,000 euros a month.
The project is controversial not only because of the expulsion of the local population, but also for its negative environmental impact.
He fumes:
Too many paradoxes in this joint!  They smash houses — built on a river bed, granted — but they have encouraged the construction of a hotel in the garden of the Ignace Deen Hospital!  An ex-garden for patients converted into a hotel!
And the poor inhabitants of Koba who are suffering the effects of Résidence 2000?  Who should they complain to?  I say it once more: we see the mote in the other's eye, but not the beam in our own.
Alimou Sow, I don't know, but I have the impression that this regime is fond of social crises.  And one last thing: what kind of contractor turfs people out in the middle of the winter?  Makes no sense, but what the hell?
Another Facebook user, Ousmane Yattara, living in Nice, France, has offered several defences of the state's legal right to reclaim the land while calling on the government to compensate victims, and appealing to civil society to guard against anyone being above the law:
Demoudoula j'encourage cette action du gouvernement …j'espère que personne ne sera épargnée y compris les hauts cadres qui ont leur maison là-bas …la fin de l'anarchie en Guinée est un reve …que ca sert d'exemple à tous ceux qui achètent dans les zones protégées. .un jour on detruira vos maisons … il faut par contre indemniser tout le monde même ceux qui n'ont pas de titre foncie
I encourage this action of the government in Démoudoula… I hope no one will be spared including the high-ups who have their houses there… the end of anarchy in Guinea is a dream… let this stand as an example to all those who buy in the protected zones… one day we'll destroy your houses… everyone must be compensated, that's all — even those who have no ownership deeds…
Souleymane Barry is bothered that not all citizens get the same treatment:
What irks me most in this story is this selective demolition.  Kiridi Bangoura (a government minister) has his mansion right in the riverbed, but he isn't worried.  Is there an agent of the state today who doesn't sleep in a luxurious palace with its feet in the water?  Buildings erected with hundreds of cubic metres of earth tipped on all sides to repel the waters to get themselves a dry plot.  Just the tempo you need to stir up a real mayonnaise, as all the ingredients are already assembled — and we are risking grievous consequences.
The Department of Housing suspended demolitions for humanitarian reasons for the period of June 15-October 15, after frequent protests by citizens and civil society organizations.
Nevertheless, as if to pour scorn on the victims, the announcement was published on June 29, only a few weeks after the demolition was scheduled to start on July 13.
In an announcement on July 19, 2017, the government promised to compensate citizens whose property deeds are recognized as regular, while prosecuting undocumented occupants.

author: Abdoulaye Bah


text:
Social Media Goes Off the Deep End Over Politician’s Planned 30km Protest Swim from Tobago to Trinidad · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Fast ferry, the T&T Spirit, waiting to leave the port at Scarborough, Tobago, bound for Trinidad. Photo by Jenni Konrad, CC BY-NC 2.0.
A politician has promised to swim the 30-kilometre distance between two Caribbean islands as a mark of protest. A veteran swimmer has said he doesn't stand a chance. The national Coast Guard service has said it cannot guarantee his safety. But he is taking the plunge anyway.
Trinidad and Tobago may be one country, but it comprises two islands connected by a domestic airbridge, as well as an inter-island ferry service that transports both passengers and vehicles. The ferry service has recently come under public scrutiny, after the procurement process for the new Ocean Flower 2 vessel fell flat.
When the vessel's supplier, the Canada-based Bridgemans Services Group, had twice failed to meet its delivery deadline, the Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (PATT) moved to terminate the procurement contract with a view to putting out a tender for a new ferry. This left just two passenger vessels in operation between the two islands — the T&T Spirit and the T&T Express — and one cargo ship, the Cabo Star — since the MV Superfast Galicia was pulled from the route in April 2017.
There have been calls from both the opposition and civil society groups for police probes and commissions of enquiry into the debacle, to determine whether or not the procurement process was transparent.
The public pressure became so great that Prime Minister Keith Rowley felt the need to apologise “to the affected citizens, particularly the people of Tobago, for whom the service is more of a life line”. He also called on PATT to secure a new vessel “in the quickest possible time” and appointed an investigator into the ferry procurement scandal in the form of “seasoned and successful businessman” Christian Mouttet.
This appointment acted as the catalyst for the second chapter of what has come to be known online as the #FerryTales.
Watson Duke, the president of the Public Services Association (PSA) and the minority leader of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) swiftly demanded Mouttet's appointment be revoked. Despite Mouttet's considerable business experience, Duke said, the position required “someone versed in public procurement policies and the rule of law”; an opinion that was shared by the advocacy group Fixin’ T&T.
Then, in what many netizens interpreted as a dramatic political ploy, Duke declared that he would swim relay-style from Tobago to Trinidad in protest over the procurement glitches and unreliable ferry service. As of this writing, Duke was set to be accompanied on his swim by the other members of the minority council and a smattering of Tobago fishermen.
The big event is scheduled to take place on August 28, 2017. While several athletes have tried with varying levels of success, it cannot be confirmed whether anyone has ever completed the roughly 30-kilometre swim.
Knowing this, netizens have been reacting to Duke's grand gesture with picong and sarcasm.
Facebook user Patricia Worrell wondered whether Duke would transfer his on-land political modus operandi to the sea:
Facebook status update by Patricia Worrell, which says, “An idle thought:
Duke could swim, or he planning to shout at the water until it agrees to support him?”
Riffing off the Trinidad and Tobago relay team's 4×400-metre victory at the IAAF World Championships, Rhoda Bharath quipped:
Facebook status update by Rhoda Bharath, which reads, “Are other union leaders joining Watson Duke on his relay swim? Who is anchoring this swim?”
Journalist Laura Dowrich-Phillips posted a series of hilarious one-liners about #TheGreatSwim that ranged from saying she hoped Duke had a GoPro to wondering whether he had a stunt double.
The memes came thick and fast, like this one from the Facebook page Caricomedy:
A meme from Caricomedy about the Watson Duke protest swim, which translates as: “Watson Duke is swimming from Tobago to Trinidad for the people, but your boyfriend from Arima (in east Trinidad) is complaining to come visit you in Diego Martin (in west Trinidad). Watson Duke is the kind of man to have.”
But it was after Duke posted a photograph of himself in a wetsuit and life vest staring out to sea that social media really went into overdrive.
On Twitter, Rhoda Bharath posted two memes via her Instagram account:
A humourous take on The Justice League, with Watson Duke as Aquaman. Meme widely shared by Trinidad and Tobago social media users.
Another meme, this time inspired by the popular TV series Game of Thrones, which reads, “Water is Coming.” Widely shared on social media.
Even the snarky marketing team behind a popular beer brand couldn't resist getting in on the action, posting a short video of a bobbing beer bottle wearing a life jacket as the fast ferry passes in the background, accompanied by a graphic with the words “Sink or Swim, We Reachin'”.
If Duke is aware of the online banter at his expense, he seems to be ignoring it, focusing instead on his training regime for the undertaking, which he has shared on Facebook.
A few social media users expressed support for Duke, praising his determination and pledging their solidarity. Patricia Worrell shared a comment from “a Duke supporter”:
They not seeing past the actual swimming. It is not about the swimming. It is about the ppl here punishing and suffering…no untrained person could actually swim that distance but ppl are so stuck on the literal they are missing the figurative.
Worrell agreed but noted:
…Here's my very real dilemma: I believe that the people of Tobago DO have a real problem…
But their self-appointed champion has little or no credibility…
She went on to say that she hasn't been seeing any online manifestations of “the admiration and adoration Duke was hoping for”. Duke, she said was nothing more than “a blasted farcical Pied Piper”, while his followers were “Don Quixotes of the Crossing”.
Meanwhile, the satirical news website Wired868 had a field day, accusing Duke of “add[ing] a touch of brain-numbing farce to a sobering scandal”.
Though Duke claims that he is approaching the swim safely, with support boats in tow, the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard has issued a press release warning against the undertaking and absolving themselves of any responsibility.
“The Coast Guard cannot provide any dedicated resources or give any assurances for a voluntary expedition of this nature at this time,” the release noted.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


text:
Trump’s Strategy for Afghanistan: New Hopes and Old Fears · Global Voices
Chris Rickleton

US officers handle grapes in Afghanistan. Pentagon image. Creative commons.
After months of mulling, President Donald Trump formally announced his strategy for Afghanistan in an hour long speech last week. For citizens of a country that has seen militant violence reach new highs on the back of the gradual withdrawal of US troops there are a number of important takeaways.
Firstly, unlike Obama administration’s deadline-based approach, the new military strategy is ‘conditions-based’, allowing U.S. military commanders in Afghanistan more freedom to make decisions based on conditions on the ground. In that sense many have interpreted the strategy Trump unveiled on August 21 as a hand-washing exercise since the beleaguered President's generals will shoulder the blame if anything goes wrong.
It is also coupled, as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson mentioned in a press briefing on August 22, with ‘conditions-based’ diplomacy to put pressure both on the Afghan government to step up its fight against corruption and bad governance, and on Pakistan to stop sheltering terrorist groups.
The rules of engagement according to the strategy are not different from that of Obama’s strategy for U.S. troops in Afghanistan post-2014, namely training, advising and assisting the Afghan forces, thereby minimising the risk of US casualties that could prove politically toxic back home.
Perhaps most notably, U.S. engagement will be driven by “principled realism” focused on fighting “terrorism” rather than “nation building” and democratization, Trump said.
This is broadly in line with a White House that prioritises economic virtues over political ones. In their first phone call after Trump took office, for instance, President Ashraf Ghani adjusted to the change in tone by attempting tried to pique the real estate mogul's interest in Afghanistan by talking up its vast mineral wealth.
As expected, Afghanistan officials have broadly welcomed Trump's strategy, with Washington's criticism of neighbour Pakistan proving a particular cause for celebration.
Ghani said in a press conference on August 23, that the strategy secures the interests of “both Afghanistan and the U.S”. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abdullah Abdullah praised the strategy the day before as a renewal of the U.S. commitment to Afghanistan and the Afghan people.
The strategy was also hailed by former officials.
Rahmatullah Nabil, who served as an intelligence chief under ex-President Hamid Karzai commended the strategy in a tweet:
1/2 )We support the new US strategy that committs to support the AFG people, continue to support ANSDF and speaking loud and clear about…
— Rahmatullah Nabil (@RahmatullahN) August 22, 2017
His predecessor Amrullah Saleh thanked the US government for its clarity:
Dear US govt @realDonaldTrump thanks for calling a spade a spade. Pak active supprt 4 terror must end. A Super Power must be Super Clear.
— Amrullah Saleh (@AmrullahSaleh2) August 22, 2017
Parwiz Kawa, an Afghan journalist echoed these sentiments:
Finally, President Trump made it clear and said what Afghans were saying in last 15 years: Pakistan hosts terrorists.
— Parwiz Kawa (@parwizkawa) August 22, 2017
While Facebook user Mustafa Ali Jamal enthused:
This is the VERY reason I liked #TRUMP during the election and ever since. He has announced a very clear, realistic, and much-demanded strategy for Afghanistan. Looking forward to the #actions to happen!
Internationally, the reaction has been far more disgruntled, with Pakistani Prime Minster Shahid Khaqan Abbasi warning that Trump’s allegations would not go unanswered by Pakistan, while Russia, China and Iran all lined up against it.
Moreover, despite the approval of his former intelligence chiefs, ex-leader Karzai also opposed the new strategy as “against peace and the national interest of Afghanistan”. A Taliban spokesman said Trump was only “wasting American soldiers’ lives”.
There is broad doubt that the new strategy will be sufficient to rein in Pakistan, seen as backing the Taliban and other militant groups in its bid to peg back Indian influence in the country the two South Asian rivals sandwich. Afghanistan's border with Pakistan is over 2,400 kilometers long and remains extremely porous.
Ali Amiri, lecturer at a private university in Kabul wrote on Facebook:
A good strategy for Afghanistan is one that that arouses Pakistan's anger. . . .
While Waheed Omar, Afghanistan's ambassador to Italy, spoke out against the jostling among international powers over the country.
US strategy. Some countries feel left out and pushed. This innocent child in a Kabul mosque takes the brunt of their frustration. Shameful! pic.twitter.com/e5nd7GSy7E
— Waheed Omer (@Waheed_Omer) August 25, 2017
Trump's decision to brand Pakistan as a terrorism-harbouring country certainly carries risks. So does the strategy's apparent reliance on India to gradually replace Washington as Afghanistan's foremost economic patron, a role New Delhi seems unprepared to fill for the moment.
But for Trump, of course, none of these problems are really his problems at all.

author: Chris Rickleton


text:
30km Protest ‘Swim’ from Tobago to Trinidad Turns Into ‘Another Post-Colonial Tale’ · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Screenshot from a Facebook video of the livestream of Watson Duke's arrival in Toco, on Trinidad's north-east coast.
Trinidad and Tobago politician Watson Duke, who vowed earlier this month to swim the 30-kilometre distance from Tobago to Trinidad, took the plunge this morning, August 28. The stunt by Duke, who is president of the Public Services Association (PSA) and minority leader of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), was in protest at the unreliable ferry service between the two Caribbean islands.
Social media user Patricia Nicholson streamed Duke's takeoff on Facebook Live from the Scarborough Fishing Facility, where people from “all sides of the political divide” had gathered for the occasion.
The Swim, as Duke's undertaking is being called, was due to begin at 8 a.m., but was delayed by nearly an hour, due in part to a speech the politician made by loudspeaker from the tray of a pickup truck. His message: “If something is for Tobago, Tobago must decide.”
Comparing the THA's relationship with Trinidad and Tobago's central government with a dysfunctional parent/child dynamic, he accused the latter of excluding Tobagonians from the consultation process about the inter-island ferry service. While the two islands should be equal partners, Duke said, it was clear to him from the government's actions that Tobago is “a colony of a colony.” He maintained that the THA must be the final decision-maker on matters concerning Tobago.
Admitting that his team was not one of expert swimmers, Duke said the point of the whole endeavour was to emphasise that Tobago has been “put in a position where swimming may be the only option. . . Because swimming is the only thing we have control over.” He also said that “the time for Tobago's deliverance is now,” a statement that could be seen as either careless or calculated, and which might have put the fraught issue of secession back on the table.
But there was still the matter of that 30km swim. This morning, Duke updated his Facebook cover photo with a drawing done by his seven-year-old son, commenting that:
As young as he is, he understands the issues of his Dad leaving home in Tobago East with a brave face, with Tobagonians and the Sea Bridge on his mind…goes to the ocean and swims to raise the matter of Tobagonians pain and hardship over the poor Sea Bridge.
Once Duke began his aquatic undertaking, several media outlets began to livestream  the event. Among the things that amused netizens was the fact that Duke wore a life vest; and that, quite early in his swim, he climbed into a kayak, which then overturned. As the drama turned into comedy, Facebook user Kathryn Stollmeyer-Wight republished the words of an observer:
He swam a bit, then got towed by a canoe, then the rope burst, then the canoe capsized with him in it. He tried getting towed by a jet ski for a bit before getting into the pirogue.
He said that waves were ‘ten meters high’
Patricia Worrell quipped:
Facebook status update by Patricia Worrell, which reads, “So – I guess they have to change the hashtag #theGreatJetSki”.
Duke's outing quickly changed from a relay swim to something entirely different, and social media newshound Clydeen McDonald had a lot to say about it on Twitter:
Watson Duke tells the crowd that they will not be “swimming all the way” & that the expected arrival time in Trinidad is 1PM. #TheGreatSwim pic.twitter.com/8COqTiBQBo
— Clydeen McDonald (@ClydeenMcDonald) August 28, 2017
He compared Duke's media tactics to those of US president, Donald Trump:
Remembering that faux-populism is the reason we have President Trump, maybe we should proceed with caution with it comes to “men of action”.
— Clydeen McDonald (@ClydeenMcDonald) August 28, 2017
Trumpism 101: Stating something HUGE will be done/happen and in the end putting forward a minor gesture. Result: “Well he isn't all talk…”
— Clydeen McDonald (@ClydeenMcDonald) August 28, 2017
Noting that #TheGreatSwim had turned into #TheGreatTow, McDonald suggested that Duke only wanted the attention:
Watson Duke to @KejanHaynes: How much people (on FB live)?
.@KejanHaynes replies: About 3,500 pic.twitter.com/rF4idbOHdN
— Clydeen McDonald (@ClydeenMcDonald) August 28, 2017
He added:
People prefer to believe a journalist is lying than believe a politician is on shit.
— Clydeen McDonald (@ClydeenMcDonald) August 28, 2017
Meanwhile, satirical site Wired868 weighed in with the following:
It was Trinidad and Tobago’s most disastrous relay attempt since the men’s 4×100 team at the Rio Olympics.
Bizarrely, Duke said his actions were meant to show why the central Government should hand over the decision-making process for inter-island travel to Tobagonians. On this evidence, though, the THA Minority Leader might struggle to organise a round of drinks at a half-empty pub.
Facebook user Natasha Ramnauth observed that the comments on the livestream were “hilarious and sad all at the same time.” But there were others who supported Duke and saw the bigger picture of the protest action. Lesley-Ann Noel said:
Allyuh laughing at #Watson but those Tobago transport woes are real. Maybe it's a PR stunt, but it's a bold move to draw necessary attention to travel challenges between Trinidad and Tobago.
Christophe Pierre added:
Facebook status update by Christophe Pierre, which reads, “One thing I will always respect is someone who stands for what he believes in. Win or lose. #watsonduke”
Kevin Lewis agreed:
Respect to Watson Duke…he could swim/be towed – it does not matter. Standing up for what he believes and fighting.
While supporters prayed for his safety, one Facebook user compared Duke with Rosa Parks. Another expressed admiration for him because he “sticks to his word”.
Tobagonian Avion Hercules called the move historic, and said it was about much more than one man:
This is about a Tobagonian who represents a sect of the population that voted and feels justified enough to make a stance for a cause. The story that we should be telling our children isn't that Watson is doltish or he's mad. Rather, the story that this Tobagonian is taking up a cause for the people of Tobago whom he represents. He will be recorded in history whether we like it or not. I want to be able to tell my son the story of the Tobagonian who felt justified in taking public stance in protest of poor treatment towards Tobagonians. For me, this matter is not one about party politics but about matters that affect even me as a Tobagonian. An historic moment indeed. […] Even if you did not vote for Watson, all Tobagonians should feel justifiably proud.
Duke had initially estimated that he would make landfall on the northeastern tip of Trinidad at about 1 p.m. Trinidad and Tobago time, but by mid-morning it was reported that he was “travelling by boat to the waters outside Toco where he will resume his swim to the shore.” He finally ended his journey at around 2:30 p.m., where he and his teammates spoke to the small crowd that had gathered.
The landing was also live streamed. In talking with the media, Duke said that he would deliver letters to the country's president and the Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (PATT), asking them for a meeting to discuss the sea bridge. He also wants to meet with Caribbean Airlines, which operates the airbridge between the two islands, suggesting that perhaps the time had come for the northeastern Trinidad community of Toco and Tobago to forge political ties, and that his journey has not ended. Duke promised more “unorthodox” actions, identifying his next destination as Port of Spain, Trinidad's capital city.
In a final symbolic gesture, Duke planted a sapling he had dug up that morning from his garden in Tobago.
But Duke's impassioned pleas only served to further confuse Wired868's Mr. Live Wire:
[He] reiterated that Tobago should decide on the airbridge and sea-bridge between the two islands.
But don’t Trinidadians use the ferry and airbridge for professional and personal reasons too? Is the problem really that a Trinidad and Tobago government made the final choice; or that the process continues to be tainted by corruption?
Theatrics aside, some social media users remained unconvinced. On Twitter, Amanda Kanhai said:
Yes watson you really proved yourself as a politician today. Lie to the people. #WatsonOnWater #watsononajetski #watsononapirogue
— Amanda (@KanhaiAmanda) August 28, 2017
In fact, the fraudulent aspects of the “swim” were, to some people, more a source of irritation than inspiration. As Patricia Worrell declared:
If you want me to respect a gesture, at least respect it enough yourself to make the kinds of preparations that will either make success seem possible, or will show you're prepared to die for a cause. Duke has done neither. […] Awareness of the issue? We have it. An immediate solution to Tobago's problem? Unlikely. […] The only possible ‘achievement’ here, then, is to place Duke even more visibly in the public eye.
She added:
Seems we Trinbagonians are always looking for a Messianic Clown to save us in crisis.
And yet, sadly, we will never willingly make the sacrifices necessary to save ourselves.
Activist Tillah Willah, along with other Facebook users, echoed this sentiment:
This morning's reading: ‘The Short Distance Swimmer and the 10K Views’ a chapter from another post-colonial tale of the hapless, helpless citizens of Tiny Rock who gather to stone the self-proclaimed hero who is trying to make people forget he is a villain, but really who can tell the difference these days, in a land where the heroes are talkers with the most views and doers are laughed at or cursed at or feared.
A madman pass the crowd and bawl out ‘which is worse, to be critical to the point of wishing death for someone's protest action? Or to stifle your country slowly because of your own inaction?’
Nobody heard the question […] Another hilariously tragic episode in the story of a people who could easily win their own race but are too busy ole talking on the sidelines to be bothered to start.
Facebook status update by Clyde Tha Law Jemmott, which reads, “If Watson Duke great swim was pay per view, all now we have money for a new ferry.”


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Chinese Tech Firms Are at the Cutting Edge of Artificial Intelligence — But at What Cost? · Global Voices
Riana Patel

Image remixed by Oiwan Lam. Source via Pixabay
Chinese technology companies have found themselves at the forefront of developing artificial intelligence (AI) technology. As of this summer, they have robust support from the state to continue this work.
In late July, the Chinese State Council released a plan detailing how it will encourage the development of AI by 2030 through the creation of a new AI Plan Promotion Office in its Ministry of Science and Technology.
The Chinese government's comprehensive plan, dubbed “Artificial Intelligence 2.0”, has come with many millions of dollars worth of investment into research, start-ups and advanced military projects, all aimed at making China epicenter of future development of AI.
But such rapid development may come at a cost. As Twitter user @bluebird0605 put it:
和很多从美国归来的人工智能从业者聊，都会涉及到一个命题：在他们看来国内对于新技术的包容度更大，比如人脸识别的广泛应用，在国内做起来就比较容易。但这个命题的另一面则是：难道不是因为国人对于自身权利的漠视，才「成就」了你们这样的成功么？
— 未完成 (@bluebird0605) August 16, 2017
I have conversations with many AI experts who returned from the US. They said China had a more open attitude toward new technology, for example the implementation of facial recognition technology is a lot easier in China than elsewhere. The other side of their view is: their success is built upon the lack of awareness on individual rights.
Indeed, China has caught up with the US in recent years when it comes to researching and implementing AI. This was evident at the 2017 Annual Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, a historically US-dominated conference that featured a long list of Chinese companies and developers this year.
Hong Kong academic Willy Wo-Lap Lam echoed the words of @bluebird0605 when he described this evolution:
Both Chinese and foreign experts reckon that China has the most advanced — and cheapest — AI-enabled surveillance technology in the world. The reason is simple: China has the fastest-expanding market for facial recognition and similar know-how. This is coupled with the absence of enforceable laws and regulations protecting citizens’ privacy.
Netizens and researchers have known about state authorities’ use of AI to facilitate censorship in China for some time. Researchers at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab noted in a November 2016 report that keyword censorship has become “dynamic”, reflecting current events and popular issues on social media, likely thanks to AI. The Citizen Lab more recently demonstrated evidence that AI-driven censorship has enabled simultaneous image filtering in one-on-one chats.
But surveillance of all kinds has also become a key component of this initiative. China launched a fully digitalized and all-embracing grid for stability maintenance under the Central National Security Commission (CNSC), which is the country's top security organ established in 2013 and chaired by the Chinese President Xi Jinping.
In 2014 President Xi set up the Central Leading Group on Cyberspace Affairs, which answers directly to the Central Leading Group for Internet Security and Informatization led by Xi, to crack down on “destabilizing elements” in cyberspace.
Facial recognition technology has since been a major source of big data in China, as reported by Hong Kong-based Citizen News:
全國各大城市在過去七、八年間在繁忙的地方如機場、火車站、地鐵、公路與街道交叉點、以及大型寫字樓與商場設置了一億七千多萬個攝錄器；北京準備在2020年前把這些監視與「收料」設備增至四億多台。[…]大陸媒體上最近不少報道各城市交通警察如何利用人臉辨認軟件鎖定不守交通規例的駕駛人士與不看紅綠燈的過路者。但來自民運人士的消息說，異見分子的臉部特徵已進入全國偵查網的信息庫，即使他們採取嚴謹的保密措施，但影像在機場、地鐵或交通要道的間諜攝影器材出現後，附有人臉辨認功能的大電腦便會馬上把資料送到公安部。
Over the past seven to eight years, major cities in China have set up more than 170 million surveillance camera in airports, train stations, subways, highways, major roads, office buildings and shopping malls. By 2020, the number of surveillance devices will be increased to more than 400 million […] It has been widely reported in mainland Chinese media that the traffic police have used the facial recognition to identify jaywalkers. However, sources from activists say that the Chinese police have a database of dissidents’ facial characters and if their faces appear on surveillance camera footage in airports, subways or a major road, the system will send that information to the public security bureau.
With full cooperation from the country's social media and e-commerce platforms, this system enables China's top security authorities to extend their grasp on citizens’ data and make deft calculations concerning the political inclinations of any individual who participates in public life, both online and off.
Under the Chinese government AI plan, by 2020 the value of China’s core AI industry is targeted to exceed 150 billion RMB (over USD $22 billion) in value, with AI-related fields valued at 1 trillion RMB (nearly USD $148 billion). To fulfill the set target, the plan encourages collaboration with foreign academic institutions and private sector groups by providing research and start-up funding. Time will tell whether these partnerships will lead to greater protections for — or at least disagreement over — individual rights.

author: Riana Patel


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Guatemala’s Battle Against Corruption Reaches a Critical Tipping Point · Global Voices
Renata Avila

Protests in Guatemala City in 2015. Photo: Comunitaria Press. Used with permission.
On August 25, the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), an organism backed by the United Nations and authorised to operate in Guatemala by the state itself, launched a case uncovering illegal funding received by the largest political parties, including the officially elected party, the MCN. Guatemala's attorney,Thelma Aldana, general and CICIG have made requests to remove immunity of parliamentarians and start a process to investigate the president for the second time in only two years.
President Jimmy Morales traveled to New York the same day to persuade UN Secretary General António Guterres to remove CICIG's current chief, Ivan Velásquez of Colombia, but his attempts failed. He then declared Velásquez “persona non grata” (Article 9 Vienna in the Convention on Diplomatic Relations – 1961) in an attempt to expel him from the country. This decision was widely condemned internationally, while partially supported locally.
#UN chief @antonioguterres shocked to learn #Guatemala‘s President has declared @Ivan_Velasquez_ persona non grata. https://t.co/nkdQcyBjvD pic.twitter.com/Zd7GbCbZ7h
— UN News (@UN_News_Centre) August 27, 2017
RM @RepEliotEngel‘s statement on #Guatemala President's expulsion of @CICIGgt head: https://t.co/2lfQsL0GA0 pic.twitter.com/BK3B1s9Ph5
— Foreign Affairs Cmte (@HFACDemocrats) August 27, 2017
On August 27, peaceful protests to condemn the president's decision and express popular support for the UN Mission took place with student unions, private universities, social movements and indigenous authorities. Later in the day, the Constitutional Court temporarily suspended the decision while the magistrates, mandated to interpret the Constitution, gathered to determine whether or not the president acted within his rights. Beyond the legal analysis underway, the real test is the legitimacy and decency of the president's decision. Transparency International's president said:
Constitutional Court of Guatemala suspends absurd presidential decision to expel chief of the CICIG.Point against impunity! @anticorruption
— José Ugaz (@JoseUgazSM) August 27, 2017
For many Guatemalans, the current crisis is a setback on the road toward greater accountability after a long and painful struggle with corruption. Instead, the crisis has called Guatemalans back onto the streets, demanding once again the resignation of the president whose campaign motto was “I am not corrupt, I am not a thief.”
Ongoing protests have taken place in other Guatemalan cities as well as in Mexico and US. The newly elected leadership of the public university called on all students to get together and support the fight against impunity, peacefully demanding that the current president resigns, and stating strongly that “this generation of Guatemalans rejects corruption.”
Guatemala: miles en las calles la plaza está ocupada al grito de #FueraJimmyMorales#JinnySeVa#27DeAgostopic.twitter.com/UinxRUDhl5
— PrensaComunitaria (@PrensaComunitar) August 28, 2017
Guatemala: Thousands on the street and the square occupied with chants saying #OutJimmyMorales #JimmyGoesAway
For journalist Javier Lainfiesta, recent events resemble the crisis of 2015. He says there is a deep feeling of uncertainty but thinks Guatemalans will be able to get through it, precisely because of the state's weakness:
En estos momentos hay un pulso muy fuerte entre los diferentes poderes (del Estado, oscuros, buenos, malos, pobres, ricos, etcétera) que podría definir el comino del país por años. […] Vivimos en un país en donde el Estado está tan ausente que cuando realmente no aparece, ni nos damos cuenta.
In these moments there's a strong rivalry among the different powers (of the State, dark powers, good ones, the poor and the rich, etc.) that could define the future of the country in the years to come […] We live in a country where the State is so absent that when it is really missing, no one notices.
But some groups welcome the president's decision. They used #FueraIvan (“Down with Ivan”) or #YoSiTengoPresidente (“I Do Have a President”) to support the decision. On Twitter, many supporters have rejected the notion that a foreign official could have the power to investigate their government's affairs or that he could be considered a hero. Velasquez's detractors advocate for national sovereignty and use his Colombian nationality as an ad hominem argument to discredit his work:
¡Bravo Sr. Presidente! Siguiente paso: arreglar al MP. Por último: expulsar a CICIG. Jamás fue la CICIG una solución. #yositengopresidente
— Christian Löwenthal (@Christian_Lowi) August 27, 2017
Well done, Mr. President! Next step: fixing the MP [Public Ministry]. Finally, expel CICIG. CICIG was never a solution.
EN GUATEMALA NO MANDA EL COLOMBIANO !!! EN GUATEMALA NO MANDA EL COLOMBIANO!!! EN GUATEMALA NO MANDA EL COLOMBIANO!!! asi gritabamos hoy !!!
— giovanni fratti (@frattigiovanni) 28 August 2017
Guatemala is not ruled by a Colombian !! Guatemala is not ruled by a Colombian !! Guatemala is not ruled by a Colombian !! That's what we were chanting today
Guatemala no necesita de “héroes”, necesita de personas imparciales, sin ideología, que simplemente hagan su trabajo…#FueraIvan#IvanSeVa
— Chinchilla Manzo?? (@rachm154) August 23, 2017
First tweet: For the sake of Guatemala, Iván Velázquez should continue fighting against corruption and organised crime.
Second tweet: Guatemala doesn't need “heroes”, but impartial persons, without ideology, who simply do their job. #DownWithIvan #IvanGoesAway
Illicit funding of campaigns and even youth movements is a major issue that stretches into the illegal financing of political parties and emerging political movements, as summarised in Nomada, an online platform. The Commission has prosecuted powerful people and the stakes are high in Guatemala's battle to end impunity, including a dozen former parliamentarians, ministers, a vice president, businessmen and bankers:
El candidato ‘ni corrupto ni ladrón’ no pudo cumplir su slogan de campaña antes de ganar las elecciones. Entre la primera y la segunda vuelta de 2015 […] Jimmy Morales, recibió al menos Q 6.7 millones (casi US$ 1 millón) que ocultó al Tribunal Supremo Electoral (TSE).
The candidate who used to call himself “neither corrupt nor a thief” couldn't comply with his own campaign slogan before winning the elections. Between the first and the second electoral round in 2015 […] Jimmy Morales received at least Q 6.7 million (almost 1 million USD) that he hid from the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.
With significant popular support, the CICIG will continue working on all cases, but an increasingly hostile government might make their mandate difficult.
The president may declare a “state of siege,” authorizing his government to restrict freedom of movement and speech, which could increase international condemnation for and isolation of Guatemala. Guatemalans anticipate two very important processes in the upcoming weeks: lifting immunity for President Morales and all parliamentarians under investigation and ousting Mr. Velásquez.
After that, different scenarios and possibilities range from a move to dissolve Congress to speedy elections.

author: Renata Avila


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Murdered Mexican Journalist Cándido Ríos: ‘Our Weapons Do Not Shoot Bullets. Our Weapons Shoot Truth’ · Global Voices
J. Tadeo

Cándido Ríos Vázquez. Photo widely shared in Twitter.
Mexican journalist Cándido Ríos, also known by locals and colleagues as “Pavuche,” was murdered on August 22, 2017, in a gun attack in Hueyapan de Ocampo, Veracruz, on Mexico's east coast, according to local sources.
Independent news outlet Animal Político gave more details about his death:
Ríos, conocido entre sus colegas como “Pavuche”, falleció mientras era trasladado al hospital debido a las heridas de bala de alto calibre que recibió, según dijeron a AFP fuentes conocedoras del caso.
Ríos, known as “Pavuche” among his colleagues, died while being transported to the hospital after having been wounded with a firearm of high caliber, sources familiar with the case told AFP.
Ríos’ name joins the list of journalists who have been murdered in Mexico this year, which includes Salvador Adame, Miroslava Breach and Javier Valdez. According to freedom of expression advocacy group Article 19, Ríos is the ninth journalist assassinated in the country in 2017.
Ríos was the founder of the weekly newspaper La Voz de Hueyapan and had reported for local newspaper Diario Acayucan for over 10 years. His work included coverage of corruption and police. Animal Político pointed out:
El periodista era conocido por su larga trayectoria cubriendo nota roja, y por haber tenido conflictos con algunos exalcaldes de la región debido a su labor periodística.
The journalist was known for his career as a crime reporter and for having conflicts with some former town mayors in the region due to his work.
Twitter user Diana Gabriela shared an excerpt of a video that Rios filmed himself, just nine days before being murdered, in which he makes strong accusations against political figures of Hueyapan de Ocampo. In the video, he asserts: “We do not use firearms. They kill us knowing that our weapons don't shoot bullets. Our weapons shoot truth.”
Para recordar a Cándido Ríos: “Nuestras armas no disparan balas, disparan verdades”. Periodista que fue ultimado a balazos en Veracruz. pic.twitter.com/LcGtvWUGNx
— Diana Gabriela (@diana_gabb) August 23, 2017
Here’s to remember Cándido Ríos: “Our weapons don't shoot bullets, they shoot truth.” Journalist who was shot to death in Veracruz.
Shockingly, Ríos was under the local authorities’ protection after he had received threats to his life over to his journalistic work. Newspaper La Jornada reported:
Jorge Morales, de la Comisión Estatal de Atención y Protección a Periodistas, informó que Cándido Ríos tenía presentadas varias denuncias contra algunas autoridades municipales de la región, por agresiones a su persona.
Jorge Morales, from the State’s Commission to Serve and Protect Journalists, reported that Cándido Ríos had filed several complaints against some of the region's political figures for aggressions against his person.
News site Huffington Post elaborated:
Su afán por denunciar injusticias le ganó amplia popularidad entre los lectores, pero también enemigos como el exalcalde de Hueyapan, su pueblo natal, quien lo amenazó de muerte en numerosas ocasiones, según recuerda su colega y director del Diario de Acayucan, Cecilio Pérez.
His tireless efforts to denounce injustice brought him popularity among readers, but also enemies like the former mayor of Ríos’ hometown Hueyapan, who threatened him with death several times, said his former colleague Cecilio Perez, director of Diario de Acayucan.
Meanwhile, news portal MX Politico shared his picture on Twitter:
Cándido Ríos, el periodista asesinado en #Veracruz, advirtió que lo iban a matar https://t.co/Hzk4SRwKdtpic.twitter.com/CHwBTFf2Mc
— MX Político (@MXPolitico1) August 23, 2017
Cándido Ríos, the journalist who was murdered in Veracruz, warned everyone that he was going to be assassinated
Traditional media outlets in the country have provided minimal coverage to Ríos’ murder. Some have published different versions about the reasons behind his assassination. Online national news outlet Milenio highlighted a comment from a Mexican government official who stated that Ríos was not the target of the attack in which he died:
El periodista Cándido Ríos Vázquez no era el objetivo del ataque en el que murieron él y otras dos personas frente a una gasolinera en el municipio de Hueyapan de Ocampo, dijo Roberto Campa Cifrían, subsecretario de Derechos Humanos de la Secretaría de Gobernación.
Journalist Cándido Ríos Vázquez was not the target of the attack in which he and two other people died at a gas station in Hueyapan de Ocampo, Veracruz, said Roberto Campa Cifrian, deputy secretary of the Human Rights of Secretariat of the Interior.
Jaqueline Dorantes shared the following message among her followers:
Cándido Ríos era el único reportero en Hueyapan
— Jaqueline Dorantes (@JaquelineDrnt) August 23, 2017
Cándido Ríos was the only journalist in Hueyapan
Mexico has become an incredibly dangerous place to work for journalists, who are often threatened or assaulted for doing their job. Follow our special coverage about the several crimes against journalism in Mexico, and the impunity that surrounds these cases.


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New Zealand Artists Launch ‘We Are Beneficiaries’ Social Media Campaign to Highlight Welfare Concerns · Global Voices
Thalita Alves

‘We Are Beneficiaries’ is a social media project that aims to shed light on the issues faced by New Zealand welfare recipients. Image courtesy of We Are Beneficiaries. Published with permission.
A group of artists in New Zealand have launched a social media campaign in response to a ferocious debate over the country's welfare system.
Last month, former Greens Party co-leader Metiria Turei admitted that she lied to Work and Income New Zealand (WINZ), the government's social welfare agency, over two decades ago.
In her words, it was the only way that as a 23-year-old single mother and student she would have been able to survive over a period of three years. She told the agency that she and her daughter lived alone — they actually lived with flatmates — which allowed Turei to claim higher benefit payments.
Turei also admitted that during the same period, she registered a false address to vote. Her admissions divided both public opinion and the debates within the Green Party itself. Despite claiming to have no regrets over her decision to go public with the information, Turei resigned soon after, citing the scrutiny her family has experienced since the revelation that has seen support for her party dive in the polls.
In quotes carried by New Zealand's outlet Stuff, Turei said her story had helped open up the discussion on welfare:
I knew that by telling my personal story, it would help people hear and understand the reality of poverty. And that has happened – thousands of people have contacted the Green Party with their stories, and many have come forward to tell these in the media as well.
According to the Ministry of Social Development, more than 270,000 New Zealanders aged from 18 to 64 receive some kind of government — 9.8 percent of the country's total population.
New Zealand Europeans and Maori make up the majority of beneficiaries, with the latter group being the highest represented in the Solo Parent Support as well as Youth and Young Parent Payment categories. For perspective, Europeans make up more than three quarters of New Zealand's total population, while Maori represent 14.9 percent.
All of this paved the way for a wider discourse around New Zealand's social welfare, and whether it actually helps those who need it most. First, the hashtag #IAmMetiria started trending on Twitter. Many people used it to show their support for the politician, before and after her resignation, as well as sharing their own experiences and concerns about the core issues surrounding the whole debacle:
Actually on the brink of tears. @metiria your integrity, honesty & true compassion was so needed and appreciated in politics. #IAmMetiria
— Kera O'Regan (@KeraSauR) August 9, 2017
DISGUSTING- nz govt doesnt just detest Māori women, theyre openly working against them & punishing them for barely scraping by #IAmMetiria
— ngatai (@comradewest) August 9, 2017
We won't hear their voices but there are many sympathetic women (& kids of women on DPB) who are further silenced by all this #IamMetiria
— Jazial Crossley (@msbananapeel) August 9, 2017
In mid-August a group of artists has launched an initiative to highlight the experiences of welfare recipients, ultimately going beyond the typical narratives presented in mainstream media.
The online project ‘ We Are Beneficiaries‘ initially called on artists who have been on any kind of benefit (be it because of an illness, unemployment, or any other circumstance) to draw a picture of themselves, then write two to three sentences about their experience, treatment or any issue they believe needs to be addressed by the wider welfare system.
After that, the project opened up the conversation to the wider public, with the founding artists offering to draw other people and encouraging other contributors to share their drawings and words.
On its Facebook page, ‘We Are Beneficiaries’ emphasizes the importance of capturing social issues like race and inequality with compassion and understanding:
[we] recognise that it's a pretty vulnerable thing to do – and given what happened to Metiria in the last few weeks, these conversations can have pretty dire effects when we do share – particularly for people of colour and indigenous people.
Since its launch on August 14, 2017, the ‘We Are Beneficiaries’ Facebook page has amassed more than 2,000 likes and more than 2,400 followers. One of its founders, Sam, started the conversation by sharing his own experience:
Image Courtesy of We Are Beneficiaries. Published with permission.
The project has depicted many issues that don't usually reach the mass media-driven discussion,including the way WINZ ignores the needs of elderly beneficiaries who are taking care of their grandchildren:
Image Courtesy of We Are Beneficiaries. Published with permission.
And the barriers to accessing adequate healthcare for those relying on social welfare:
Image Courtesy of We Are Beneficiaries. Published with permission.
And the feelings of dehumanisation that stemmed from the harrowing treatment some recipients suffered at the hands of case managers when they were at their most vulnerable:
Image Courtesy of We Are Beneficiaries. Published with permission.
‘We Are Beneficiaries’ has also disseminated its illustrations on Twitter under the hashtag #wearebeneficiaries.
- Anonymous #wearebeneficiaries #givenothingtoracism pic.twitter.com/qMNtodAgxj
— WeAreBeneficiaries (@WeBeneficiaries) August 17, 2017
- Anonymous #wearebeneficiaries pic.twitter.com/hoxMx26dN6
— WeAreBeneficiaries (@WeBeneficiaries) August 21, 2017
- Anonymous #wearebeneficiaries pic.twitter.com/ilmXUJGIDZ
— WeAreBeneficiaries (@WeBeneficiaries) August 19, 2017
Since starting out, ‘We Are Beneficiaries’ has received a stream of supportive messages. Some Facebook community members have thanked the artists for sharing the stories, others have taken to telling their own experiences, and a few even posted their own drawings after being inspired by the project.

author: Thalita Alves