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Coronavirus Update: Recent FTC Guidance on the Use of Artificial Intelligence and Algorithms in the Age of COVID-19 – Government Contracts Legal Forum

Posted on May 31, 2020 by Danzig

On April 8, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published a blog post titled, Using Artificial Intelligence and Algorithms, that offers important lessons about the use of AI and algorithms in automated decision-making. The post begins by noting that headlines today tout rapid improvements in AI technology, and the use of more advanced AI has enormous potential to improve welfare and productivity. But more sophisticated AI also presents risks, such as the potential for unfair or discriminatory outcomes. This tension between benefits and risks is a particular concern in Health AI, and the tension will continue as AI technologies are deployed to tackle the current COVID-19 crisis.

The FTC post reminds companies that, while the sophistication of AI is new, automated decision-making is not, and the FTC has a long history of dealing with the challenges presented by the use of data and algorithms to make decisions about consumers.

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Coronavirus Update: Recent FTC Guidance on the Use of Artificial Intelligence and Algorithms in the Age of COVID-19 - Government Contracts Legal Forum

COVID-19 Impact: A Mix of Challenges and Opportunities | Artificial Intelligence-as-a-Service (AIaaS) Market 2020-2024 | Growing Adoption of Cloud…

Posted on May 31, 2020 by Danzig

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Technavio has been monitoring the artificial intelligence-as-a-service (AIaaS) market and it is poised to grow by USD 15.14 billion during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of over 48% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment.

Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Please Request Free Sample Report on COVID-19 Impact

The market is concentrated, and the degree of concentration will accelerate during the forecast period. Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., Intel Corp., International Business Machines Corp., Microsoft Corp., Oracle Corp., Salesforce.com Inc., SAP SE, and SAS Institute Inc. are some of the major market participants. The growing adoption of cloud based solutions will offer immense growth opportunities. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments.

Growing adoption of cloud based solutions has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market.

Artificial Intelligence-as-a-Service (AIaaS) Market 2020-2024: Segmentation

Artificial Intelligence-as-a-Service (AIaaS) Market is segmented as below:

To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR41175

Artificial Intelligence-as-a-Service (AIaaS) Market 2020-2024: Scope

Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our artificial intelligence-as-a-service (AIaaS) market report covers the following areas:

This study identifies the increasing adoption of AI in predictive analysis as one of the prime reasons driving the artificial intelligence-as-a-service (AIaaS) market growth during the next few years.

Artificial Intelligence-as-a-Service (AIaaS) Market 2020-2024: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of vendors operating in the artificial intelligence-as-a-service (AIaaS) market, including some of the vendors such as Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., Intel Corp., International Business Machines Corp., Microsoft Corp., Oracle Corp., Salesforce.com Inc., SAP SE, and SAS Institute Inc. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the artificial intelligence-as-a-service (AIaaS) market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

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Artificial Intelligence-as-a-Service (AIaaS) Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights

Table Of Contents:

Executive Summary

Market Landscape

Market Sizing

Five Forces Analysis

Market Segmentation by End-user

Customer Landscape

Geographic Landscape

Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

Vendor Landscape

Vendor Analysis

Appendix

Scope of the report

Currency conversion rates for US$

Research methodology

List of abbreviations

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavios report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavios comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

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COVID-19 Impact: A Mix of Challenges and Opportunities | Artificial Intelligence-as-a-Service (AIaaS) Market 2020-2024 | Growing Adoption of Cloud...

IIT-Ropar and TSW Launch a PG Programme in Artificial Intelligence – THE WEEK

Posted on May 31, 2020 by Danzig

(Eds: Disclaimer: The following press release comes to you under an arrangement with Business Wire India. PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.)MUMBAI, May 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- IIT-Ropar, one of the eight new IITs established by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India, and TSW, the executive education division of Times Professional Learning (a part of The Times of India Group), have launched a Post Graduate Certificate Programme in Artificial Intelligence & Deep Learning.

The programme will be coordinated by The Indo-Taiwan Joint Research Centre (ITJRC) on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), at IIT-Ropar. Supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, ITJRC is a bilateral centre for collaborative research in disruptive technologies like AI and ML.

The programme, with its focus on Artificial Intelligence and Deep Learning, has an eligibility criterion of a minimum of 2 years of work experience in the IT industry. Though an engineering degree is a desirable prerequisite for this programme, one does not need a coding or mathematics background to be eligible. The selection into the programme will be on the basis of an application and an interview.

The programme has a duration of six months and classes will be held over weekends as live online instructor sessions, with IIT-Ropar faculty and notable industry experts. The programme has been designed with inputs from industry and strikes the right balance between rigor and effort, making it highly suitable for working professionals. The participants will get a joint certificate from TSW and IIT-Ropar, and also IIT-Ropar Executive Education Alumni status, upon course completion. The certificates will be awarded in a convocation ceremony at IIT-Ropar campus.

This programme, being industry led with its focus on Artificial Intelligence and Deep Learning, comes with an exhaustive curriculum that includes modules on Emerging Technologies & AI, Data Science, Machine Learning, Programming with Tensorflow, Deep Learning & Neural Networks, Image Recognition, Speech Recognition, Al Applications, and a Capstone Project.

In a LinkedIn report - 2020 Emerging Jobs Report India - featuring the top 15 emerging jobs, 'AI Specialist' stood at the number 2 position. According to Gartner, by 2020, AI would open up approximately 2.3 million job opportunities. Gartner also added that, "starting in 2020, AI-related job creation will cross into positive territory, reaching two million net-new jobs in 2025." Those aspiring to build a career in AI and Deep Learning (DL) can make a head-start with this programme.

IIT-Ropar is a highly ranked institution, having earned high ranks in 'Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2020', 'QS India Rankings 2020' and Union HRD Ministry's 'National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF)'. 'THE World University Rankings' is one of largest and most diverse university rankings that includes about 1,400 universities from 92 countries.

Prof. Sarit Kumar Das, Director, IIT-Ropar, said that, "IIT-Ropar has established itself as one of the top technological institutes in India. It focuses on promoting cutting-edge research and high quality publications in all the disciplines. It is expanding its outreach to industry and the best academic institutions in the world through active collaborations."

Dr. Rohit Sharma, Coordinator-ITJRC, commented, "ITJRC focuses on academia to academia, and academia to industry collaborations in various domains of AI and ML. The partnership with TSW will help us take our expertise in AI and ML to a larger audience."

Mr. Anish Srikrishna, CEO, Times Professional Learning (a part of The Times of India Group), added, "We are happy to partner with IIT-Ropar in bringing a programme in AI & DL to our learner community. With the job market for AI poised for growth, the programme surely will help fulfill the career aspirations of many students."

IIT-Ropar and TSW formally launched the programme in a virtual ceremony on 21st May, 2020, when Prof. Das and Mr. Srikrishna, signed an MoU for a long-term collaboration. The programme, the first to be launched as a part of this collaboration, will start accepting applications from 20th July, 2020.

To know more, please can log on to https://timestsw.com/course/post-graduate-cece-deep-learning/ or watch https://youtu.be/dqENWLUhLRU or email on tswadmission@timesgroup.com or call: +91-7400084666

About TSW

TSW is the executive education division of Times Professional Learning (a part of The Times of India Group), aimed to enhance leadership and general management skills of experienced professionals. With a vision to make world-class education accessible to aspiring business leaders through strategic collaborations, TSW's passion for excellence and a belief that 'Executive Education Empowers' works hand-in-hand with the organisation's aim to impart knowledge to the learner community nationwide.

About IIT-Ropar

IIT-Ropar was founded in 2008, as an engineering, science, and technology higher education institute located in Rupnagar, Punjab, India. It became the 'Highest-ranked Indian newcomer' in the Times Higher Education World University Ranking 2020, ensconced in the 301-350 band. It ranked No. 1 among the 56 Indian institutes that appeared in the list of best universities of the world. It was the 2nd Top Indian Institute in the list of Global Universities. On the 'research citation' parameter, the institute scored 100 and was ranked No. 1.

PWRPWR

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IIT-Ropar and TSW Launch a PG Programme in Artificial Intelligence - THE WEEK

PHASE 3: Churches, gaming houses, and some island beaches open – EyeWitness News

Posted on May 29, 2020 by Danzig

NASSAU, BAHAMAS Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis has moved the country into Phase 3 of its plan to re-open the economy, reducing curfew hours and relaxing restrictions on several sectors.

The 24-hour curfew will be lifted effective next Tuesday across the country, allowing free roam for residents between 5am and 9pm. However, weekend lockdown will continue on Fridays at 9pm to Mondays at 5am.

During the lockdown, residents may exercise in their immediate neighborhood between 5am and 9pm.

This upcoming weekend will include the Whit Monday holiday and the Labour Day Holiday.

In Phase 3, non-essential storefront business operations with essential staff may reopen, though they must post protocols and train their employees as to those protocols.

Stores must limit the number of customers based in stores and manage lines outside of storefronts with markers and security staff.

Minnis said churches will be allowed to resume in-sanctuary services on Saturdays and Sundays on June 6.

According to the governments phased plan, education operations, including national examination based on appropriate social distancing and masks.

The prime minister said he expects the education minister to make an announcement concerning the BGCSE examinations so as not to disadvantage students.

Law firms, justice of the peace and real estate agencies, financial services, including accounting services may operate between 9am and 5pm.

Retailers, including suppliers of cleaning mechanicals, fabric stores, auto part stores and mechanics, may operate between 7am and 5 pm, Monday through Friday.

Effective June 2, public beaches and parks will be opened on all islands except Bimini, Eleuthera, Exuma, Harbour Island, New Providence, Paradise Island and San Salvador.

At that time, commencement of graduation ceremonies, funerals and weddings, in groups of no more than 30, can be convened with the approval of the competent authority.

Minnis said the public must act responsibly and continue to follow the advise and recommendations from health professionals.

International travel remains restricted to nationals returning home with strict protocols, he said.

He said: If we dont, again unnecessary lives will be lost.

Minnis said without moving into the new norm, the entire economy can be destroyed and rather that losing a few jobs, we can lose all

We are living in a new normal in which we must continue to practice.

He said before relaxing measures further, a risk assessment must be performed to explore the risk of opening of further; the ability of the public healthcare system to rapidly detect a resurgence of cases and absorb the load, as well as its ability provide medical care.

The prime minister said social distancing and hygiene measures undertaken in The Bahamas has not only limited the spread, but saved lives.

As of today, there were 100 confirmed cases of the virus, of which 43 were active.

There have been 78 cases in New Providence, 13 in Bimini, eight in Grand Bahama, and one in Cat Cay. The last confirmed case was on May 23. Six patients remain hospitalized.

The rate of cases demonstrates a flattening of the curve. There remain no specific therapeutics or vaccines for the virus.

He said as the country moves to reopen domestically and internationally, the public must remember the pandemic is ongoing, and all precautionary measures must be taken.

He said those who feel ill, must follow protocols to seek medical attention and call in advance of visiting a healthcare facility.

He said a mask must be worn, and residents should continue to reframe from handshaking and touching their faces.

PHASE 3: Churches, gaming houses, and some island beaches open - EyeWitness News

BPC sets new date for oil exploration in The Bahamas – EyeWitness News

Posted on May 29, 2020 by Danzig

NASSAU, BAHAMAS The Bahamas Petroleum Company has announced December 15 as the new date for the start its exploratory oil drilling in The Bahamas.

BPC received formal notification from the government in February to proceed with plans to drill exploratory oil wells before the end of 2020.

The company has four licenses in the territorial waters of The Bahamas, which was extended until 31 December 2020.

In March 2020, we were within weeks of commencing the drilling of our Perseverance #1 exploration well when we were compelled to defer due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, said BPC CEO Simon Potter in a statement.

Immediately, we undertook a range of activities necessary to reschedule activity toward the end of 2020 and into the first quarter of 2021, consistent with our license obligations (as extended for the declared force majeure event), by which time we expect the worst of the broad suite of impacts of the pandemic to be behind us.

To this end we are have entered into a rig contract with Stena Drilling, which provides a firm series of parameters on rig rate, provision of mobilisation and demobilisation costs, and defines a revised drilling window of 15 December 2020 to 1 February 2021.

BPC was initially granted the license for exploratory oil drilling in 2007 and subsequently got two renewals under the Christie administration.

The government currently maintains that itwas legally obligated to extend that license.

BPC now estimates the total cost of Perseverance #1 to be in the range of $21 million to $25 million a material reduction from the most recent prior comparable estimate.

In addition, the company continues to assess there to be up to $5 million in potential operating contingency costs, and has scoped up to $5 million of provisional costs for additional formation evaluation work that the company could elect to incur in a success case.

BPC has noted however that theextent to which these contingent elements are utilised will not be known until closer to or during drilling operations, and decisions in relation to incurring those items will be based on capital availability at that time.

A group of US representatives have also expressed their opposition to BPCs oil exploration efforts and have seeking to dissuade the Bahamian government from authorizing exploratory drilling.

Key concerns were penned in an April 17th letter to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo andStephanie Bowers the Charg dAffaires at the US Embassy in Nassau by Congresswomen Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell along with several other representatives.

The local and international environmental community have also called on the government to respond to the Congress members letter promptly and to immediately revoke the exploratory license granted to BPC.

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BPC sets new date for oil exploration in The Bahamas - EyeWitness News

Sailing vloggers defend isolation in Bahamian waters – EyeWitness News

Posted on May 29, 2020 by Danzig

NASSAU, BAHAMAS An American couple isolating on their sailboat in the Ragged Island chain confirmed today that they legally cleared Bahamas Customs and Immigration before entering Bahamian waters.

Captain Brian Trautman and his wife Karin, who host a sailing travel vlog, were featured in a BBC World Service report yesterday which quickly made its way around Bahamian social media yesterday.

The story was widely received by Bahamians with outrage many of whomquestioned whether the couple was in Bahamian waters legally and whether they were poaching from the waters given footage showing them catching crawfish.

In an interview with Eyewitness Newstoday, Trautman insisted that these misconceptions were not true.

We did in fact legally clear into the Bahamas through Customs and Immigration and were provided a cruising permit for our boat and fishing permit, as well as paid all our fees required for checking in, he said.

Since the lockdown order came into place we have observed the notices by sheltering in place.

We are very passionate about conservation and following the laws and guidelines set out by The Bahamas government, and go out of our way to support marine conservation initiatives.

He further explained that the content for their videos is filmed weeks in advance,so the footage shown during the interview was filmed in February and March prior to the lobster season-ending.

Trautman noted that it isunderstandable how easy it is to mistake that everything filmed is current, however, he sought to assure that they are not breaking or flaunting The Bahamas rules while the rest of the country is on lockdown.

He said the negative backlash received from the story has been something new for them, given that they always try to portray a positive image of the people they meet and the places they visit.

The couple has been sailing from country to country on board the SV Delosfor more than 10 years, exploring the worlds oceans.

Trautman also expressed thanks for the support they have received from Bahamians in Duncan Town, who have made them feel very welcomed and safe, and have also helped to arrange the delivery of supplies from the mail boat.

When Eyewitness News reached out to the Royal Bahamas Defense Force yesterday, a spokesperson advised that they were looking into reports of the couples isolation in Bahamian waters.

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Sailing vloggers defend isolation in Bahamian waters - EyeWitness News

Government to appeal historic Bahamian court ruling on citizenship – NYCaribNews

Posted on May 29, 2020 by Danzig

NASSAU, Bahamas, CMC The Bahamas government has hinted atfiling an immediate appeal against a ruling by a Supreme Court judge that anyone born in the country to either a Bahamian mother or father is entitled to citizenship at birth, regardless of the parents marital status.

Attorney General Carl Bethel said that the ruling on Tuesday by Justice Ian Winder has sufficient public importance to warrant an immediate application.

The ruling is very interesting. It will be appealed in the public interest, he added.

The ruling contradicts the longstanding requirement that children born out of wedlock to Bahamian men and foreign women must wait until 18 to apply for citizenship.

The ruling could impact the immigration status of many people in the country.

Winder said the legal position must be that every person born in The Bahamas after July 9, 1973, shall become a citizen of The Bahamas at the date of his birth if at that date either of his parents is a citizen of The Bahamas, irrespective of the marital status of the parents at the time of birth.

His ruling hinged on whether Article 14(1) of The Bahamas Constitution is applicable when interpreting Article 6, which states every person born in The Bahamas after 9th July 1973 shall become a citizen of The Bahamas at the date of his birth if at that date either of his parents is a citizen of The Bahamas.

Article 14(1) notes any reference in this chapter to the father of a person shall, in relation to any person born out of wedlock other than a person legitimated before 10th July 1973, be construed as a reference to the mother of that person.

The government had argued during the trial that the clear interpretation of Article 14(1)is that it applies to any provision that is capable of including the father.

But the judge ruled that Article 14(1) should not be applied to Article 6, noting Article 6 was clearly intended to be expansive, as reflected in the opening wordsevery person.

Article 6 was intended to afford an automatic right to citizenship in circumstances where one parent was a Bahamian citizen. The application (or misapplication) of Article 14(1) to Article 6 would take away that opportunity from the child born out of wedlock to access citizenship where one of his parents may be Bahamian, Winder said.

The judge has adjourned to July 29, another matter regarding the applicants in the case who include children purportedly born out of wedlock to Bahamian men andJamaican and Haitian women.

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Government to appeal historic Bahamian court ruling on citizenship - NYCaribNews

Scientists Find Hope For Reefs Battered By Climate Change: Bahamas Coral That Survive Hot Seas – WLRN

Posted on May 29, 2020 by Danzig

A team of scientists looking for coral that can better survive global warming have identified a hardier Caribbean coral in the Bahamas.

WLRN is here for you, even when life is unpredictable. Local journalists are working hard to keep you informed on the latest developments across South Florida. Please support this vital work. Become a WLRN member today. Thank you.

The mountainous star coral off Great Harbour caught researchers attention after a searing 2015 bleaching event hit reefs across the islands. As water temperatures on Mermaid Reef soared above 91 degrees, the coral survived. Just a dozen miles away, similar star coral in cooler water died.

The finding, published in the journal Coral Reefs,could help researchers trying to breed more heat resilient coral in labs as they race to save reefs that have lost about 80 percent of their coral since the 1970s.

This reef is one place that's teaching us about what naturally resilient corals look like, said co-author and Shedd Aquarium coral researcher Ross Cunning. We can use corals like these to optimize restoration efforts like growing corals in nurseries...to produce a new generation of corals.

The reef tract along Florida, the only inshore tract in the continental U.S., has been hit hard in recent years. A disease that appeared off Virginia Key in 2014has now spread south to the Keys and deep into the Caribbean, reaching as far south as Belize and east as the Dutch Antilles. Researchers suspect the disease may be spread by ballast water, but temperatures may also play a role.

The stony coral disease also coincided with back-to-back bleaching events and the largest and longest bleaching event on record that slammed reefs around the planet.

Coral scientists have been trying to buy time for the reefs by replanting fast-growing staghorn coral grown in nurseries. But a study this month that looked at replanted Keys coral found that although the coral did well initially, they eventually succumbed to the same stresses that killed wild staghorn. Fewer than 10 percent of the corals survived beyond seven years.

That puts more urgency on efforts to raise more heat-resistant coral like the kind being researched at the University of Miami, where researchers at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science have been focusing on the algae that live inside the coral. In healthy coral, the algae photosynthesize to provide them with food. When temperatures get too high, the algae can instead start producing toxins so coral expel them.

In the Bahamas, star coral live with just four different kinds of algae that can provide some heat tolerance.

Corals are an animal and they have this really great partnership with micro-algae, said Katie Parker, the studys lead author.

The team found that the star coral on Mermaid Reef not only lived with a specific algae, but an algae that belonged to the same family. They also found the coral themselves were genetically identical to each other, Parker said.

An easy way to kind of explain this is if you relate it to humans. We're all the same species. We're all humans. But some of us are tall and some of us are short. And that's because of a specific gene that we have, she said. It can be the same way with corals, where they're all the same species of corals. But some are more thermally tolerant and some are not because of the genes that they have.

That combination led them to tolerate the higher temperatures while the nearby reef where coral died had more diverse coral and a greater diversity of algae. Its likely repeated bleaching events, and evolution, led to only the hardiest surviving on the shallow reef.

That means that new coral that could have drifted in, that were a different type, didn't have the right genes to fit in there. So they didn't survive, she said. So over time, this environment has become this place that only this kind of specific kind of coral genes can fit in and stay alive.

Identifying the coral and the algae can help lab breeders, but Parker and Ross said much work remains. Getting coral to breed is complicated and coaxing them into living with a specific algae is still a work in progress. Earlier this month, Australian scientists said they had identified 10 different heat-tolerant algae, but researchers still need to crack the code of getting the right coral with the right algae that are also willing to grow in different locations.

Successful reefs also need diversity, Cunning said.

We want reefs that have lots of different genetic types of coral. Some that are more heat tolerant, some that grow quickly, he said. But as an ecosystem, as a coral reef, it will have the highest resilience if it has high genetic diversity. So we want to make sure to preserve that genetic diversity. We can't have the reef entirely composed of one type of coral because then whatever negatively impacts that coral could destroy the whole system.

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Scientists Find Hope For Reefs Battered By Climate Change: Bahamas Coral That Survive Hot Seas - WLRN

Bahamas Petroleum signs rig contact for Perseverance #1 exploration well – Offshore Technology

Posted on May 29, 2020 by Danzig

]]> Bahamas Petroleum has contracted a sixth-generation drilling rig from Stena Drilling. Credit: Hamish Irvine.

Explorations and production firm Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC) has signed an offshore drilling rig contract with Stena Drilling to use its drilling rig for the Perseverance #1 well offshore Bahamas.

Under the contract, Stena Drilling will provide a sixth-generation drilling rig and associated equipment and services. This includes the supply of a managed pressure drilling (MPD) unit.

As per the terms of the drilling contract, BPC has reduced its cost estimate for the Perseverance #1 exploration well by around 15%.

BPC previously anticipated spudding the Perseverence #1 well in May/June.

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In March this year, it said it will delay the drilling of the well to October this year due to the adverse impact of Covid-19.

Bahamas Petroleum Company CEO Simon Potter said: This decision to lock in a rig now, at an already favourable rig rate, rather than try and second guess what markets and availability will look like later in the year speaks to our intent to ensure Perseverance #1 is drilled at the soonest opportunity, and provides the necessary certainty needed for operational planning.

Acting decisively in this way is consistent with our single-minded focus on technical delivery.

Importantly, the commercial parameters in the rig contract have allowed us to not only revise down significantly the anticipated well cost, but also clears the way to revisit our funding strategy with adequate time to ensure we have the funds available as and when we need them, on the best possible terms.

The drilling campaign will target recoverable prospective resources of around 770 million barrels of oil. BPC expects a potential upside of 1.44 billion barrels in the northern sector alone.

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Bahamas Petroleum signs rig contact for Perseverance #1 exploration well - Offshore Technology

Severe weather warning for Central and Northwest Bahamas – EyeWitness News

Posted on May 29, 2020 by Danzig

NASSAU, BAHAMAS The Bahamas Department of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for Central and Northwest Bahamas.

This includes Abaco, Andros, Bimini, Cat Island, Eleuthera, Exuma, Grand Bahama, Long Island, Rum Cay, San Salvador and the Berry Islands.

The warning will remain in effect until midnight.

According to meteorologists, moderate to heavy rainfall along with thunderstorms associated with low to mid-level troughing was spotted via satellite imagers and radars from the gulf of Mexico and northwestern Caribbean sea.

This moist airmass is expected to produce prolonged rainfall, so localized flooding is possible during this event, the department said around 1pm.

Some of the thunderstorms will be severe at times and may cause strong gusty winds; dangerous lightning; heavy downpours; hail and possible waterspout or tornadic activity.

The department said boaters in the warning area should remain in port and residents should remain indoors and away from windows as conditions worsen.

Severe weather warning for Central and Northwest Bahamas - EyeWitness News

Caribbean community organizations call for decisive action to end homophobic abuse and cyberbullying – UNAIDS

Posted on May 29, 2020 by Danzig

Ulysease Roca Terry was a gay Belizean fashion designer living with HIV. He had recently lost his mother and was coping with depression. Even without a new pandemic, it was a difficult time.

He was arrested for breaching COVID-19 curfew laws in April. While in custody he suffered homophobic slurs and bullying by a police officer. A video of the abuse was posted to social media. He also claimed that he was physically attacked while detained. Days later he died.

This month in the Bahamas, a video circulated on social media of a gender non-conforming woman being beaten by three men hurling homophobic slurs. One man smashed a piece of wood onto her head. Others slapped and punched her. As the video circulated online, some made fun of the victim.

While countries in the Caribbean focus on combatting COVID-19, community organizations have been raising their voices against the casual verbal, physical and emotional abuse that is a feature of life in the region for far too many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people. And they are sounding an alarm that this cruelty is increasingly playing out online.

Caleb Orozco of the United Belize Advocacy Movement (UNIBAM) spoke about Mr Roca Terrys case with a mix of sorrow and defiance. Mr Orozco is used to tough battles. He was the litigant who successfully challenged Belizes law banning consensual sex between same-sex partners in 2016.

The police cannot erode public confidence in its law enforcement role by showing disregard for the dignity and rights of individuals who are members of the most vulnerable groups: those with mental health challenges, those living with HIV and those with different sexual orientation, Mr Orozco said. It is the responsibility of the police department to enforce the curfew in a manner that is reasonable. Mocking people does not help to build public confidence that the police are there to protect ordinary citizens.

UNIBAM is calling for a transparent investigation, a review of the autopsy report and action to improve how the police treat members of vulnerable and marginalized communities, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 restrictions.

In Belize, a national dialogue is under way around a proposed Equal Opportunities Bill. A UNAIDS public opinion survey conducted in 2013 found that Belize was among the more tolerant Caribbean countries, with 75% of respondents agreeing that people should not be treated differently based on their sexual orientation. But this incident is a reminder that notwithstanding strides made in social attitudes and the law, pervasive challenges remain around prejudice and the abuse of power.

The Bahamas Organization of LGBTI Affairs has called the attack circulated on social media a hate crime and demanded that the perpetrators be prosecuted.

Around the world, this kind of hate crimethe targeting of a person with extreme violence because of who they areis denounced as among the most reprehensible modes of human conduct imaginable, Rights Bahamas said.

Alexus DMarco, Executive Director of the Bahamas Organization of LGBTI Affairs, insisted that there must be a broader dialogue and action to address social attitudes.

What does it say about us as a people that so many consider this a source of humour and entertainment? What are we to think when so many of the culprits are fellow women, who should be standing together in solidarity to oppose the many injustices faced in common as members of an oppressed gender in this society? Ms DMarco demanded.

The Bahamas is the only Caribbean country to have decriminalized sex between consenting adults of the same sex by an act of parliament. Still, lots more work needs to be done to bring social attitudes in line with the law. Advocates insist that hate crime legislation must urgently be enacted and enforced.

In both the Bahamas and Belize, state entities have joined civil society to denounce the attacks. The National AIDS Commission, the Office of the Special Envoy for Women and Children and the Ministry of Human Development, Social Transformation and Poverty Alleviation have called for Mr Roca Terrys case to be thoroughly investigated. In the Bahamas, the Ministry of Social Services and Urban Development called for a swift prosecution to signal zero tolerance by the government and society for gender-based violence.

Alongside legislative reform and key population programmes, we must continue the social dialogue and law enforcement to create more peaceful and inclusive Caribbean societies for all, said James Guwani, UNAIDS Director for the Caribbean.

Fiscal deficit projected to climb to $1.3 billion EyeWitness News – EyeWitness News

Posted on May 29, 2020 by Danzig

NASSAU, BAHAMAS Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance K Peter Turnquest gave a sobering outlook on the Bahamian economy as he warned the governments fiscal plan will come at a necessary but unprecedented cost.

Delivering the 2020/2021 budget communication, Turnquest noted that given the current state of the domestic economy, the outlook for the near-term is very subdued.

The fiscal deficit is budgeted at some $1.3 billion, or 11.6 percent of GDP for the upcoming fiscal year.

It represents the largest deficit to be incurred by any Government in the history of The Bahamas, he said.

Turnquest also noted that recurrent expenditure, at some 22.4 percent of GDP in the upcoming fiscal year, is expected to remain relatively stable over the next two fiscal years, before tapering off slightly to 21 percent in FY2022/23.

Capital outlays are anticipated to decline from 4.5 percent in the upcoming fiscal year to steady around 2.0 percent over the medium term, which is in line with the Governments broader fiscal policy objective to make better use of Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) and secure private financing for public projects, he said.

The fiscal deficit is forecast to decline from 11.6 percent in the imminent fiscal year to 6.7 percent in the subsequent year, with a further reduction to 2.9 percent in fiscal year 2022/23.

Turnquest said most sectors of the economy will take time to restart, and many businesses will need time to rebuild and rebound.

He said the Governments contributions to the economy will be a vital lifeline to keep the economic engine running.

Turnquest said the countrys rebound will be heavily dependent on how quickly travel resumes, noting that the Central Bank has forecast that real GDP in The Bahamas will contract by some 12 percent.

He noted that unprecedented times call for an unprecedented budget.

This budget is unlike any the country has ever seen before. The 12 months past have been unlike anything the country has ever experienced, he said.

Most sectors of our economy will take time to restart and many businesses will need time to rebuild and rebound. The Governments contributions to the economy will be a vital lifeline to keep the economic engine running, and to deliver the impact we seek from our immediate restoration plan.

The Resilient Bahamas Plan will come at a necessary but unprecedented cost. What is at stake is the unquestionable need to protect the Bahamian people, stabilize our economy and transform this crisis into an opportunity for our national restoration.

According to Turnquest the government expects toexpectsto run a deficit of some $1.3 billion, or 11.6 percent of GDP in the new fiscal year.

The imperative of investing in a strategy like the Resilient Bahamas Plan, coupled with the associated revenue loss from subdued business activity will result in an unprecedented fiscal deficit.

The governments plan he said seeks to achieve severalobjectives, namely: to protect thewell-beingand engender the confidence of our citizens and residents;maintain economic stability during the COVID-19 induced crisis; andplant the seeds for accelerated recovery.

In doing so, we will transform this crisis into an opportunity for our economic and national revival, he said.

Turnquest also stressed thatthere will be no tax increases.

While there may be headcount reductions due to retirements and expiring contracts for consultants and services, there will be no public sector layoffs. There will be no one left to fend for themselves while the economy is reeling from the worst slowdown in modern history. We will stand united in support of people and communities, businesses and consumers, who are already feeling the strain.

Still, Turnquest noted that despite the stark declinebeing seenin our various fiscal and economic indicators,the countrywill move onward from this crisis.

There are a number of independent economic indicators to give the Bahamian people hope and reassurance, he said.

Most recently, we have seen prospects for the near term that indicate an appetite for private sector investment. The Cruise Ports $130 million bond offering was oversubscribed when it closed on May 18.

This signals that, despite the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19, investors are confident in the tourism industry generally, and the recovery of the cruise industry and revitalization of Downtown Nassau, in particular, Turnquest said.

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Fiscal deficit projected to climb to $1.3 billion EyeWitness News - EyeWitness News

Threats to PM probed by police – Bahamas Tribune

Posted on May 29, 2020 by Danzig

ByTANYA SMITH-CARTWRIGHT

ts-cartwright@tribunemedia.net

POLICE are investigating a video of an Abaco man who made threats against the Prime Minister and the MP for Central and South Abaco, according to Minister of National Security Marvin Dames.

The video, filled with expletives, shows an Abaco man on a boat expressing his displeasure about Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis actions towards Abaco and its residents. It is being circulated on social media.

Minnis. Hubert Minnis. . . There is one thing I want you to know, the man said on the video. You are a piece of ----. You did not help your black brothers and black sisters or no one in The Bahamas. I think, and plenty people will back me up on this, you should be shot with ----. You are no good. You did not help no one in The Bahamas. You came to Abaco and begged for our vote and we gave it to you, along with James (Albury) and the one from North (Darren Henfield) and you let our people suffer.

Speaking at a press conference highlighting a local neighbourhood watch group receiving an award in the US, Mr Dames warned Bahamians to be responsible when using social media.

The police are very much aware, Mr Dames said of the circulating video. Unfortunately, this is the new media. We are seeing a lot of activity like that on social media. We are just asking Bahamians to think before you speak because the police will certainly be watching. When people send me stuff on social media that they feel are of some concern, that the police ought to look into, I will immediately send it on to the police. Bahamians as a whole, we have to be more responsible in our use of social media.

Mr Dames said he did not watch the entire video, but he knows the police are aware of it and are dealing with it.

We have a saying in Abaco, Id like to meet you in the Pine Yard, said the man on the video as he continued his threat. And guess what? Only one of us will come out. Me or you! You left the people of Abaco, and of The Bahamas, for years suffer. Everything whats been going on, no one wants to stand up to you, but I tell you what, you text me a place and a time to meet you and bring James (Albury). Let it be two on one and I guarantee you one thing, it will be only one person to leave the Pine Yard.

Mr Dames said social media use should be managed responsibly.

This is our way of communicating nowadays, but it doesnt change the fact that we have to be responsible in the things that we put out there and the things that we say, Mr Dames continued. We have to ensure that we are not making threats towards citizens, we are not breaking the law because the police will find you. They will find you and they will make you accountable.

He also said the government does not want to take away any ones rights and liberties, but instead wants citizens to be responsible.

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Threats to PM probed by police - Bahamas Tribune

Trumps Warped Definition of Free Speech – The Atlantic

Posted on May 29, 2020 by Danzig

Read: Donald Trumps unprecedented assault on the media

Although the actual legal effect of the order remains unclear, its intent is not. Democracy is impossible if private citizens cannot publicly oppose their leaders. The ultimate goal of Trumps retaliation is to chill criticism of his actions and behavior, by sanctioning online platforms that engage in such criticism. Contrary to the presidents claim, Twitter was not stifling free speech by criticizing the head of state. But in directing the federal government to punish Twitter and other social-media companies, Trump was engaging in a form of censorship.

Social-media companies have First Amendment rights. They are allowed to define their own terms of service, and to decide who is in violation of them. Twitter is no more obligated to let you use its service than a restaurant owner is to serve you if you are not wearing shoes or a shirt. This has worked to Trumps benefitalthough his posts frequently violate the terms of service of social-media platforms, his power and influence means that the companies are loath to remove him for his transgressions.

Nor would removing the liability protections of Section 230 necessarily lead to a fairer, less moderated internet. Although some conservatives, prodded by Republican lawmakers, have suggested that the laws protections are conditioned on platforms remaining neutral toward political viewpoints, no such provision exists in the text of the law, and such a requirement would raise its own free speech issues.

What Section 230 does do is keep companies from being sued when one of their users makes a defamatory claim, like falsely accusing someone of murder, as Trump himself has done repeatedly to the conservative cable-news host Joe Scarborough over the past few weeks. Trump, as president, enjoys some protections against defamation suits, but removing the protections of Section 230 would make online publishers more, not less, likely to moderate the things their users write, lest they be sued for a fraudulent or defamatory claim. Every restaurant review, comment section, or status update would become a liability risk for the company hosting them.

There is a genuine debate to be had about the limits of Section 230. As Sarah Jeong wrote in The New York Times last July, the liability shield prevents platforms from being sued for libelous claims made by users, but it has also been used to protect companies that refuse to take down revenge porn. The presumptive Democratic nominee for president, Joe Biden, has argued that Section 230 should be revoked to prevent platforms like Facebook from promoting false information. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, the lawmaker who wrote Section 230, has defended the provision, arguing that If you unravel 230, then you harm the opportunity for diverse voices, diverse platforms, and, particularly, the little guy to have a chance to get off the ground. Whether you think these arguments are good or bad, they are at least tied to what the law actually does. As Jeong wrote, there can be no honest debate over a version of C.D.A. 230 that doesnt exist.

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Trumps Warped Definition of Free Speech - The Atlantic

Fighting The Free Speech Digital Divide Requires Interoperability and Privacy Protection – Techdirt

Posted on May 29, 2020 by Danzig

from the privacy-and-interoperability-go-hand-in-hand dept

When people mention the digital divide, often theyre referring to the divide between people who have access to the internet and those who do not. However, we can also visualize it as the divide between those who benefit from free expression on social media and other digital platformsand those who dont.

In order to get ahead of this burgeoning digital divide, policymakers will need to preserve the values of privacy and consumer choice in a way that one does not undermine the other.

This past February, the New York Times profiled Jalaiah Harmon, the creator of the viral TikTok dance, The Renegade. But Harmon didnt create the dance on TikTok; she used a smaller app, Funimate, and crossed-posted her video to Instagram. Instagram is where other popular TikTok creators first learned of the dance. TikTok, like many platforms, doesnt encourage posters to give credit to creators.

Instead of Jalaiah benefiting from the virality of her own dance, other TikTok users did. Those benefits include brand deals, media opportunities, and the chance to connect with the professional dance world. If Jalaiah had been able to easily cross-post from Funimate to TikTok, she may have been able to benefit from The Renegade right from the start.

Apps like Funimate, Dubsmash, and Likee offer smaller, vibrant communities, often popular with users of color and other marginalized communities. These smaller platforms may provide functionality that other apps dont, or they may just foster community in a way that appeals more to users that are not considered mainstream who want to preserve their unique culture. Apps like TikTok may not provide that opportunity, and that is okay when consumers have choices in the marketplace.

However, because these communities are smaller, users have fewer opportunities to monetize their creativity. These smaller applications also have a harder time benefiting from the creativity of their users. In the case of Jalaiah, instead of new users flocking to Funimate to check out Jalaiahs other videos, TikTok benefited from the dance and probably grew its user base because of it.

In Washington, conversations about interoperability (the technical capability of different platforms to communicate with each other and work together) have become one of several pro-competition, pro-consumer choice policy solutions to gain notice.

In the TikTok/Funimate case, interoperability would allow users to create videos on Funimate but have them viewable on TikTok. This functionality would also make it easier for TikTok users to leave TikTok if they thought another video sharing app would provide them with better content, better usability, or just a better community.

One of the most common excuses by tech companies to avoid engaging in interoperability, or even basic data sharing at the users request, is that doing so may violate concerns about preserving users privacy. This excuse is meant to force policymakers to give platforms a reprieve from either more stringent privacy protections, or, if Congress must pass comprehensive privacy rules, to lock in existing platforms and online companies with a competitive advantage. That is a false choice.

Most platforms get a lot of data from their users. Whether its for personalizing the user experience, targeting ads, or both, internet companies collect so much personal information that they know a lot about what the user wants, who their user is, what the user does, whom the user connects with, what the user likes, and where the user moves.

As a result, it is often hard to stop using a platform or leave for its competition. We call this concept the cost of exclusion. If leaving a platform equals leaving memories, artistic works, or friends behind, or even abandoning a digital-self that represents us in ways that we cant offline, then very few people are going to do it. The social cost is too high.

Without a growing user base, newer platforms often cant compete with older, dominant players. This is especially problematic for platforms that cater to marginalized groups like people of color, queer people, or people with disabilities.

Interoperability can help new platforms build up a store of data they can use to improve their services, because when they gain a new user, that user can also bring access to their data and portions of their social graph from the old service. This can increase the power of users voting with their feet by leaving one service to switch to another. If users data becomes shared across services, then the new service theyve chosen can doubly benefit: It gets a new user and a new source of data.

But while sharing data can be useful to both users and platforms alike, how do we preserve users privacy? And how can we prevent the data from being exploited?

First, we need a comprehensive privacy law. A comprehensive law would set a baseline expectation for preserving user privacy, regardless of the size of an online service or platform. Baseline expectations between platforms give all users, regardless of what platform they choose, protection against data discrimination or other privacy violations.

Second, we need interoperability rules that govern internet platforms to be a part of the privacy conversation. These rules wouldnt just govern how platforms are made interoperable, but would also give users additional privacy protections. As a baseline, interoperability rules could limit how platforms use the data they get from interoperable systems. The rules could also prevent platforms from using that data for advertising or any other purpose not explicitly requested by the user.

With combined privacy and interoperability protections, an individual user will remain protected and as their data moves from one platform to the next, with the freedom to share and benefit from their creativity without accepting weaker privacy or giving into the cost of exclusion from a dominant platform. If a user does decide to use an interoperable system, then that users friends or followers data could be available to the new platform if the consent is given by the users friends for interoperable sharing.

The internet is a powerful tool for free expression and, as such, we must preserve spaces where marginalized groups congregate, create, and interact as a community. Niche communities may not represent your individual viewpoint, and some may be outright hateful, but if we are to preserve consumer choices for free expression for some communities, we cannot deny it for others.

If larger platforms are essentially stealing the content, work, and ideas of users on smaller platforms, then that harms not only the individual who created the content, but the original platform that housed the content. Privacy-preserving interoperability could be the solution to preserving spaces for marginalized communities, while still allowing them to benefit from their work.

Filed Under: competition, digital divide, free speech, greenhouse, interoperability, privacyCompanies: funimate, tiktok

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Fighting The Free Speech Digital Divide Requires Interoperability and Privacy Protection - Techdirt

Heres how Twitter has lobbied on free-speech issues as Trump threatens company – MarketWatch

Posted on May 29, 2020 by Danzig

Twitter Inc. and President Donald Trump are generating headlines this week over a dispute tied to social networks attempts to moderate what users post.

But its hardly the first time that the San Francisco-based company has tangled with Washington over free-speech issues.

Twitter TWTR, -1.99% has lobbied this year and last year on a Senate bill called the Ending Support for Internet Censorship Act, according to an analysis of disclosures by OpenSecrets.org, a website run by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

The measure, rolled out last June by Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, would lead to Federal Trade Commission audits of big social-media companies for political bias. As Hawley introduced the legislation, the senator said it states that if tech giants want to keep their government-granted immunity from traditional publisher liability, the companies must bring transparency and accountability to their editorial processes and prove that they dont discriminate.

Trump praised Hawleys bill last July, saying the senator is doing some very important legislation, because we have to do something about what is happening. Hawley talked up his bill on Wednesday in the wake of the presidents latest fight with social-media platforms.

They get this special immunity from suits and from liability thats worth billions of dollars to them every year. Why are they getting subsidized by federal taxpayers to censor conservatives? he told Fox News on Wednesday.

Read more:Trump threatens to close social-media platforms as he fights with Twitter

Twitter and other social-media companies, on the other hand, have criticized the legislation through statements issued by their trade associations.

NetChoice, whose members include Twitter, Facebook Inc. FB, -0.16% , Alphabet Inc.s GOOG, +0.86% GOOGL, +1.07% Google and Paypal Holdings Inc. PYPL, +4.18% , said last June that the bill prevents social media websites from removing dangerous and hateful content, since that could make them liable for lawsuits over any users posting. The trade group also said Republicans should be very worried about Sen. Hawley giving control of the internet to the FTC, since it empowers a future Democratic administration to suppress conservative speech online.

The Internet Association said the measure forces platforms to make an impossible choice: either host reprehensible, but First Amendment protected speech, or lose legal protections that allow them to moderate illegal content like human trafficking and violent extremism. That shouldnt be a tradeoff.

Twitter has spent $350,000 this year on its Washington lobbying efforts as of March 31, according to OpenSecrets.org figures. Thats after the company spent $1.48 million last year its biggest annual outlay on lobbying ever, but far less than the $16.7 million that Facebook Inc. FB, -0.16% shelled out in 2019.

Besides lobbying on Hawleys Ending Support for Internet Censorship Act, Twitter has disclosed lobbying in the past year and a half on the Save the Internet Act, a Democratic measure related to net neutrality, and the EARN IT Act, a bipartisan bill targeting online child sexual exploitation. A company spokesperson said Wednesday that its Public Policy team advocates on behalf of our company, our employees and the people who use Twitter.

Analysts have said that there are so many different bills aimed Big Tech that the chaos likely will prevent Congress from making progress on any one issue.

On Tuesday, Twitter marked tweets by Trump with a fact-check warning label for the first time. The president then tweeted that Twitter is completely stifling FREE SPEECH, and he promised big action against the company.

See:Totally absurd Harvard law prof on Trumps charge Twitter is stifling free speech

Also read:Twitter deeply sorry as widower asks that Trumps Scarborough tweets be deleted but wont remove them

Twitters stock was down about 3% on Wednesday, as the broad S&P 500 index SPX, +0.48% gained 1%. The companys shares have lost 12% over the past 12 months, while the S&P has advanced 7%.

Original post:

Heres how Twitter has lobbied on free-speech issues as Trump threatens company - MarketWatch

WashU Expert: Trump attacks on Twitter betray free speech principles – Washington University in St. Louis Newsroom

Posted on May 29, 2020 by Danzig

When President Donald Trump made unsubstantiated claims on Twitter May 26 about mail-in voting, it fact-checked him inserting beneath his tweets a hyperlink to more information on the subject.

President Trump then accused Twitter of totally silenc[ing] conservatives [sic] voices and threatened that [w]e will strongly regulate, or close them down, before we can ever allow this to happen.

The president of the United States is threatening to censor social media platforms because he doesnt like what they say.

No more blatant and frightening violation of the First Amendment is possible, he said. The core of the First Amendments free speech guarantee bars government from restricting speech based on viewpoint. If the Trump administration makes any effort to regulate Twitter, even in ways that would not appear to violate the First Amendment, Twitters lawyers can and should point to the presidents threats as evidence of unconstitutional animus.

What about free speech by Trump and conservatives?

Twitter is a private company. Under basic First Amendment principles, Twitter can say what it wants and edit as it pleases, Magarian said. However, Twitter is also a distinctly powerful platform for speech. Some people argue that Twitter should have some obligation to protect and respect free speech principles, and those arguments have weight.

But Twitters decision to provide links to additional facts does not violate free speech principles, Magarian said.

Twitter has faced frequent, sharp public criticisms for taking no action when users post false, misleading and harmful statements. In this case, Twitter let Trump have his say. In fact, what Twitter did promotes free speech.

In fact, what Twitter did promotes free speech, he said. Twitter has faced frequent, sharp public criticisms for taking no action when users post false, misleading and harmful statements. In this case, Twitter let Trump have his say. Twitter then made an editorial judgment that publishing the presidents unsubstantiated claims about an important public issue justified giving Twitters users easy access to more information about that issue. Free speech principles are supposed to promote debate and make us more informed. Twitter did exactly that.

The presidents response to Twitters action broadly calls into question conservatives constant complaints that political correctness and (in Trumps words) the lamestream media silence right-wing speech, Magarian added. Conservatives have used communications technology very effectively to promote their viewpoints. What does it say when, facing the mildest and most constructive imaginable form of criticism, the conservative president threatens to censor his critics? Perhaps it says that conservatives like Trump dont really care about the free speech of anyone but themselves.

Social media platforms should promote free speech, Magarian said.

They should try to prevent misinformation, especially government propaganda, in ways that do not stifle the free exchange of ideas, he said. The government must not use its power to attack ideas it objects to. What Trump has said and done today betrays every one of those simple, crucial free speech principles.

Threat or free speech? Effigy of Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear – WHAS11.com

Posted on May 29, 2020 by Danzig

During a Patriot Day and 2nd Amendment rally, Governor Andy Beshear was hanged in effigy from a tree on Capitol grounds.

FRANKFORT, Ky. Multiple groups of protesters participated in rallies in Frankfort during the Memorial Day weekend.

Protesters claimed Governor Andy Beshear denied them their constitutional rights, some called on the governor to reopen the state and others said they want better conditions for those incarcerated in the state.

A moment captured during Sunday's Patriot Day and 2nd Amendment rally has garnered national attention.

An effigy of the governor was hanged from a tree on Capitol grounds and quickly went viral on social media.

Many in and outside of Kentucky called for those responsible to face charges.

WHAS11's Kristin Goodwillie talked to a professor and legal expert with University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law to find out if a crime was committed by hanging an effigy of the governor or if the act is a freedom of speech?

"The government would have to show that it was intended as a threat. Not just that it was perceived as a threat by other people," professor Sam Marcosson says.

Marcosson says it would have to be either a threat situation or incitement situation to be considered a crime.

Download the WHAS11 News app now for the latest information and updates.

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Threat or free speech? Effigy of Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear - WHAS11.com

In Search Of A Grand Unified Theory Of Free Expression And Privacy – Techdirt

Posted on May 29, 2020 by Danzig

from the time-for-a-gut-check dept

Everytime I ask anyone associated with Facebooks new OversightBoardwhether the nominally independent, separately endowed tribunal isgoing address misuse of private information, I get the sameanswerthats not the Boards job. This means thatthe Oversight Board, in addition to having such an on-the-nose propername, falls short in a more important wayits architectsimagined that content issues can be tackled substantively withoutaddressing privacy issues. Yet surely the recent scandals that haveplagued Facebook and some other tech companies in recent years haveshown us that private information issues and harmful-content problemshave become intimately connected.

Wecant turn a blind eye to this connection anymore. We need thecompanies, and the governments of the world, and the communities ofusers, and the technologists, and the advocates, to unite behind aframework that emphasizes the deeper-than-ever connection betweenprivacy problems and free-speech problems.

Whatwe need most now, as we grapple more fiercely with the public-policyquestions arising from digital tools and internet platforms, is aunifiedfield theoryor,more properlya GrandUnified Theory(a.k.a. GUT)of free expression and privacy.

Butthe road to that theory is going to be hard. From the beginningthree decades ago when digital civil-liberties emerged as a distinctset of issues that needed public-policy attention, the relationshipbetween freedom of expression and personal privacy in the digitalworld has been a bit strained. Even the name of the first bigconference to bring all the policy people, technologists, governmentofficials, hackers, and computer cops reflected the tension. Thefirst Computers, Freedom and Privacy conference was held inBurlingame California, in 1991, made sure that attendees knew thatPrivacy was not just a kind of Freedombut its own thing that deserved its own special attention.

Thetensions emerged early on. It seemed self-evident to most of us backthen that the relationship between freedom of expression (and freedomof assembly and freedom of inquiry) had to have some limitsincludinglimits on what any of us could do with the private information aboutother people. But while its conceptually easy to define infairly clear terms what counts as freedom of expression,the consensus about what counts as a privacy interest is murkier.Because I started out as a free-speech guy, I liked thelaw-school-endorsed framework of privacy torts, whichcarved out some fairly narrow privacy exceptions to the broadguarantees of expressive freedom. That privacy tortssetup meant that, at least when we talked about invasion ofprivacy, I could say what counted as such an invasion and whatdidnt. Privacy in the American system was narrow and easy tograsp.

Butthis wasnt the universal view in the 1990s, and itscertainly not the universal view in 2020. In the developed world,including the developed democracies of the European Union, thebalance between privacy and free expression has been struck in adifferent way. The presumptions in the EU favor greater protection ofpersonal information (and related interests like reputation) andsomewhat less protection of what freedom of expression. Sure, theinternational human-rights source texts like the UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights (in Article 19) may protect freedomto hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impartinformation and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers.But ranked above those informational rights (in both the UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civiland Political Rights) is the protection of private information,correspondence, honor, and reputation. This differencebalance is reflected in European rules like the General DataProtection Regulation.

Theemerging international balance, driven by the GDPR, has created newtensions between freedom of expression and what we loosely callprivacy. (I use quotation marks because the GDPRregulates not just the use of private information but also the use ofpersonal information that may not be privatelikeold newspaper reports of government actions to recoversocial-security debts. This was the issue in theleading right to be forgotten caseprior to the GDPR.) Standing by themselves, the emerginginternational consensus doesnt provide clear rules forresolving those tensions.

Dontget me wrong: I think the idea of using international human rightsinstruments as guidance for content approaches on social-mediaplatforms has its virtues. The advantage is that in internationalforums and tribunals it gives the companies as strong a defense asone might wish in the international environment for allowing some(presumptively protected) speech to stay up in the face of criticismand removing some (arguably illegal) speech. The disadvantages areharder to grapple with. Countries will differ on what kind of speechis protected, but the internet does not quite honor borders the waysome governments would like. (Thailand'slse-majestisa good example.) In addition, some social-media platforms may want tocreate environments that are more civil, or child-friendly, orwhatever, which will entail more content-moderation choices andpolicies than human-rights frameworks would normally allow. Do wewant to say that Facebook or Google *can't* do this? That Twittershould simply be forbidden to taga presidential tweet as unsubstantiated?Some governments and other stakeholders would disapprove.

Ifa human-rights framework doesnt resolve thefree-speech/privacy tensions, what could? Ultimately, I believe thatthe best remedial frameworks will involve multistakeholderism, but Ithink they also need to begin with a shared (consensus) ethicalframework. I present the argument in condensed form here: "ItsTime to Reframe Our Relationship With Facebook.(I also publisheda book last yearthat presents this argument in greater depth.)

Cana code of ethics be a GUT of free speech and privacy? I dontthink it can, but I do think it can be the seed of one. But it has tobe bigger than a single companys initiativewhich moreor less is the best we can reasonably hope Facebooks OversightBoard (assuming it sets out ethical principles as a product of itswork on content cases) will ever be. I try not to be cynical aboutFacebook, which has plenty of people working on these issues whogenuinely mean well, and who are willing to forgo short-term profitsto put better rules in place. While it's true at some sufficientlyhigh level that the companies privilege profits over public interest,the fact is that once a company is market-dominant (as Facebook is),it may well trade off short-term profits as part of a grand bargainwith governments and regulators. Facebook is rich enough to absorbthe costs of compliance with whatever regimes the democraticgovernments come up with. (A more cynical read of Zuckerberg's publicwritings in the aftermath of the companys various publicwritings, is that he wants the governments to get the rules inplace, and then FB will comply, as it can afford to do better thanmost other companies, and then FB's compliance will be a defenseagainst subsequent criticism.)

Butthe main reason I think reform has to come in part at the industrylevel rather than at the company level, is that company-levelreforms, even if well-intended, tend to instantiate a public-policyversion of Wittgenstein's "privatelanguage" problem.Put simply, if the ethical rules are internal to a company, thecompany can always change them. If they're external to a company,then there's a shared ethical framework we can use to criticize acompany that transgresses the standards.

Butwe cant stop at the industry level eitherwe needgovernments and users and other stakeholders to be able to step inand say to the tech industries that, hey, your industry-widestandards are still insufficient. You know that industry standardsare more likely to be adequate and comprehensive when theyrebuttressed both by public approval and by law. Thats whathappened with medical ethics and legal ethicsthe frameworkswere crafted by the professions but then recognized as codes thatdeserve to be integrated into our legal system. Theres aninternational consensus that doctors have duties to patients (First,do no harm) and that lawyers and other professions havefiduciary duties to their clients. I outline howfiduciary approaches might address Big Techs consumer-trustproblems in a series of Techdirt articles that begins here.

Thefiduciary code-of-ethics approach to free-speech andprivacy problems for Big Tech is the only way I see of harmonizingdigital privacy and free-speech interests in a way that will leavemost stakeholders satisfied (as most stakeholders are now satisfiedwith medical-ethics frameworks and with lawyers obligations toprotect and serve their clients). Because lawyers and doctors aregenerally obligated to tell their clients the truth (or, if for somereason they cant, end the relationship and refer the clientsto other practitioners), and because theyre also obligated todo no harm (e.g., by allowing companies to use personalinformation in a manipulative way or to violate clientsprivacy or autonomy), these professions already have a Grand UnifiedTheory that protects both speech and privacy in the context ofclients relationships with practitioners.

BigTech has a better shot at resolving the contradictory demands on itsspeech and privacy practices if it aspires to do the same, and if itembraces an industry-wide code of ethics that is acceptable to users(who deserve client protections even if theyre not paying forthe services in question). Ultimately, if the ethics code is backedby legislators and written into the law, you have something muchcloser to a Grand Unified Theory that harmonizes privacy, autonomy,and freedom of expression.

Ima big booster of this GUT, and Ive been making versions ofthis argument before now. (Please dont call it Godwin-UnifiedTheoryhaving one lawnamed after me is enough.) But here in 2020 we need to do more thanargue about this approachwe need to convene and begin tohammer out a consensus about a systematic, harmonized approach thatprotects human needs for freedom of expression, for privacy, and forautonomy thats reasonably free of psychological-warfaretacticsof informational manipulation. The issue is not just false content,and its not just personal informationopensocietieshave to incorporate a fairly high degree of tolerance forunintentionally false expression and for non-malicious ornon-manipulative disclosure or use of personal information. But anopen society also needs to promote supporting an ecosystemapublic sphere of discoursein which neither the manipulativecrafting of deceptive and destructive content nor the manipulativetargeting of it based on our personal data is the norm. Thatsan ecosystem that will require commitment from all stakeholders tobuilda GUT based not on gut instincts but on critical rationalism, colloquy, and consensus.

Filed Under: data protection, facebook oversight board, fiduciary duty, free speech, grand unified theory, greenhouse, multi-stakeholder, oversight board, privacy

Batting for free speech: On filing of defamation cases against press – The Hindu

Posted on May 29, 2020 by Danzig

A feature of public life in Tamil Nadu in the last three decades has been the indiscriminate institution of criminal defamation proceedings against Opposition leaders and the media. It is no surprise, then, that the most comprehensive judgment on the limits of the States power to prosecute members of the press for defamation should come from the Madras High Court. The verdict of Justice Abdul Quddhose, quashing a series of defamation complaints filed since 2011-12, is remarkable for applying a set of principles that would firmly deter the hasty and ill-advised resort to State-funded prosecution on behalf of public servants. The first principle is that the State should not impulsively invoke provisions in the CrPC to get its public prosecutor to file defamation complaints in response to every report that contains criticism. The court deems such impulsive actions as amounting to throttling democracy. It advises the government to have a higher threshold for invoking defamation provisions. It notes that each time a public servant feels defamed by a press report, it does not automatically give rise to a cause for asking the public prosecutor to initiate proceedings on her behalf. The statutory distinction between defaming a public servant as a person and as the State itself being defamed has to be maintained.

Justice Quddhose goes on to fault the government for according sanction to the initiation of cases through the prosecutors without explaining how the State has been defamed. He cautions prosecutors against acting like a post office, noting that their role is to scrutinise the material independently to see if the offence has been made out, and if so, whether it relates to a public servants conduct in the course of discharging official functions or not before filing a complaint. So, the court finds that many were cases in which public servants ought to have filed individual cases. An earlier Madras High Court ruling noted that an essential ingredient of criminal defamation must be that an imputation was actuated by malice, or with reckless disregard for the truth. A recent judgment by Justice G.R. Swaminathan enunciated what is known in the United States as the Sullivan rule of actual malice. While quashing a private complaint against a journalist and a newspaper, the judge said two of the exceptions to defamation given in Section 499 pertained to public conduct of public servants and conduct of any person on any public question. This implied that the legislature itself believed that unless it is demonstrated that reporting on a public servants conduct or on a public question was vitiated by malice, the question of defamation does not arise and that even inaccuracies in reporting need not occasion a prosecution for defamation. Within a matter of days, the HC has struck two blows for free speech and press freedom.

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Batting for free speech: On filing of defamation cases against press - The Hindu

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