Monthly Archives: June 2020

Democrats and Republicans agree that Section 230 is flawed – CNET

Posted: June 21, 2020 at 1:56 pm

President Donald Trump, with Attorney General William Barr, speaks in the Oval Office before signing an executive order related to regulating social media on May 28, 2020.

Bashing Big Tech's online liability shield has bipartisan support in Washington DC. Republicans and Democrats, and their flag bearers President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, have called for a key section of the 1996 Communications Decency Act to be dismantled. But the two sides differ greatly on the why and how.

On Wednesday, Senate Republicans and the Justice Department unveiled proposals that would scale back Section 230, which shields internet companies from lawsuits for content posted on their sites by third parties. It also allows these companies to make "good faith" efforts to moderate content.

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Republicans have long accused Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms of abusing the legal protection to censor conservative views. Trump has championed that position, signing an executive order last month that requests a government review of Section 230. The president's move came after Twitter fact-checked and labeled the content of a pair of his tweets as potentially misleading.

Section 230 has drawn sharp criticism from the left, as well. Democrats have attacked the statute for allowing Silicon Valley to deflect responsibility for disinformation and deceptive content that flourishes on their sites.

Biden, the Democratic party's presumptive presidential nominee, has called for the Section 230 protections to be revoked entirely. Other senior members of the party, including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (California) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut), have taken more nuanced approaches, suggesting revisions or updates to the law.

Still, Democrats aren't fans of Trump's executive order, which specifically asks for the Federal Communications Commission to write regulations that curb protections for companies that "censor" speech online. Democrats also don't like the Department of Justice's recommendations for reining in Section 230 authority or the Republican bill that would strip protections for companies weeding out or flagging false content on their sites.

At an event hosted by The George Washington University on Tuesday, Pelosi said the Trump administration is encouraging online platforms to "continue to profit" from disinformation rather than hold them accountable for it.

The tech industry has warned that revisions to Section 230, especially those proposed by the Trump administration, could restrict free speech online. The industry argues that without the legal protections, tech platforms would take a stricter approach to moderating content to reduce legal liability.

Here's a look at the Republicans' most recent proposals, what Democrats are saying about it and how it differs from their efforts.

On Wednesday, Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, introduced a bill that would require companies to prove a "duty of good faith" in their content moderation to receive Section 230 protections. Republican Sens. Marco Rubio (Florida), Mike Braun (Indiana) and Tom Cotton (Arkansas) co-sponsored the legislation.

According to the legislation, companies that violate that duty could face damages of $5,000 for each affected user. The legislation only applies to companies with more than 30 million users in the US or 300 million globally, and with over $1.5 billion in global revenue.

Hawley introduced a different bill last year targeting Section 230 reform that would have allowed companies to win back their liability protections if they submitted their algorithms and content moderation policies to audits that would determine if they are "politically neutral."

Also, on Wednesday, the Justice Department put forward a proposal listing several actions it would like Congress to consider to dramatically reduce Section 230's scope.

It's important to note that this is a proposal and would require action from Congress to become law.

Specifically, the DOJ seeks to deny Section 230 immunity for content dealing with child exploitation, terrorism and cyber-stalking. It would also strip protections from platforms that facilitate or solicit unlawful content or activity by third parties.

The DOJ is also asking Congress to change the language in the statute around content moderation to more closely link the legal "good faith" standard to the company's terms of service. It also wants to require companies to offer a "reasonable explanation" for moderating content.

Both Hawley's bill and the DOJ proposal come after Trump's executive order. Trump said in a tweet days before signing the executive order that, "Republicans feel Social Media Platforms totally silence conservatives voices." Then he threatened to shut down the companies.

"We will strongly regulate, or close them down, before we can ever allow this to happen," his tweet continued. "We saw what they attempted to do, and failed, in 2016. We can't let a more sophisticated version of that.... happen again."

The May 29 executive order directs the Commerce Department to ask the Federal Communications Commission to propose regulation that clarifies when a company isn't acting in good faith. That includes when a company decides to restrict access to content but its actions are inconsistent with its terms of service or taken without adequate notice or a "meaningful opportunity to be heard."

The action came after Twitter labeled some of Trump's tweets about mail-in voter fraud for including "potentially misleading information about voting processes."

Some Democrats also have problems with large social media companies using Section 230 as a shield. But their concern focuses more on companies using the legal immunity to skirt their duty to remove false and misleading content on their platforms.

Biden told The New York Times editorial board earlier this year, he thinks the whole provision should be eliminated.

But aside from Biden, most Democrats in Congress interested in Section 230 reform, believe amendments to the statute should be limited in scope to ensure free speech is protected. They've criticized Trump and the DOJ for their efforts.

Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey who chairs the House Energy & Commerce Committee tweeted his objections to the DOJ's proposal earlier this week.

"Section 230 badly needs reform, but this is just a continuation of @realdonaldtrump's political retribution designed to frighten social media platforms into submission," he said. "Sad, but unsurprising, that @TheJusticeDept is doing his dirty work."

Democrats Sens. Blumenthal and Dianne Feinstein (California) joined Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham (South Carolina) and Hawley in March to introduce the Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies Act, known as EARN IT.

This legislation would establish a new government commission composed of administration officials and outside experts, who would set "best practices" for removing child sexual exploitation and abuse material online. The bill would require companies to earn Section 230 protections by certifying that they complied with a set of best practices for detecting and reporting child exploitation materials to law enforcement.

The proposed law has been widely criticized by security experts, civil liberties advocates and opposing lawmakers, who say it's a veiled attempt to erode end-to-end encryption. Few question the importance of ensuring child safety, but technology experts warn that the bill is really just the government's latest attempt to uproot both free speech and security protections online.

Other Democrats in Congress have also said they want to limit Section 230. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (Illinois), who chairs a subcommittee of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, said earlier this year she planned to introduce legislation to limit Section 230 immunity. Her subcommittee is holding a hearing on June 24 looking at allegations that "social media platforms have failed to take sufficient steps to address disinformation."

Schakowsky has said she believes the legal shield "should not provide companies with the right to sell unsafe items to consumers anonymously" nor "give them the right to sell advertisements marketing too-good-to-be-true schemes."

Rep. David Cicilline (Rhode Island), chair of a House Judiciary subcommittee investigating antitrust behaviors of big tech companies, has also criticized Sec 230 protections.

In February Cicilline told attendees at the National Association of Broadcasters annual conference that he wanted to draft legislation that stripped tech liability protections from online platforms that knowingly allowed "demonstrably false" political ads.

But a bill Cicilline introduced in May doesn't address Section 230 but focuses instead on ads that micro target constituents. The Protecting Democracy from Disinformation Act would limit political advertisers to targeting users based only on age, gender and location, and would restrict micro targeting, which allows advertisers to direct messages at subsets of users based on data ranging from their hobbies to their ethnic background.

With Democrats and Republicans so divided on how and what reforms to take and with Trump's executive order already being challenged in court, it's unlikely that any changes at all to the law will occur this year.

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Readers respond: We need to open our eyes – oregonlive.com

Posted: at 1:56 pm

Too many angry people see the current situation only in terms of absolutes. They demonize the other side all cops are evil, all protesters are bad. They fuel their animosity with existing biases. Those who despise authority revel in going against the police and government. Those with racial prejudices conveniently lump all Blacks or all whites into a singular target of their disdain.

Knee-jerk reactions abound. Political leaders, afraid for their careers, say the protesters are patriots or terrorists without weighing the facts or ramifications of their words. Demonstrators demand reducing or eliminating police without a solvent plan for the aftermath. Police personnel quit or are forced out, further draining an already strained system.

Demonstrators outcry for police to be held accountable is warranted. Police even agree with that. But shouldnt citizens who are threatening or violent be held accountable? If so, by whom? Who is held responsible for the protest destruction that vandalized the businesses of innocent bystanders? If the protesters truly believe in justice, where is their outcry for accountability?

Observers of the protesters in Seattles no-police zone should take notice of some searing realities: the enforced borders, the armed guards, the free speech that is not free for all, and the competing groups and leaders striving for their self-interests. Perhaps the protesters should be made aware of the lyrics from a classic tune by The Who from an earlier tumultuous time in our nation: Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. We wont get fooled again, indeed.

Kevin Fong, Beaverton

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The implosion of intellectual honesty – AL.com

Posted: at 1:56 pm

The current state of rhetoric is deeply troubling considering all thats at stake. We clearly need police reform. It may be time to rethink some laws. We need to reexamine aspects of crime, punishment, deterrence and rehabilitation.

There is progress to pursue and George Floyds unjust, atrocious killing has ushered its urgency front and center.

But real progress is impossible if discussions we have, and decisions we make, are detached from reality and shaped by fear.

Many once-credible professionals from journalists to academics to CEOs are eagerly showing support for an organization calling for policies that most would privately admit would be catastrophic for all people, such as the absurd idea that we should defund police departments.

Even epidemiologists have lost credibility by saying that gathering to protest in large groups during a pandemic is tantamount to mass murder one week, but just fine even morally mandatory the next.

One rightly wonders how, within a span of weeks, we went from shaming people for being out in the streets to shaming those who wont join the crowd, wrote Anthony Dimauro in The American Conservative. The virus is either unmanageable or manageable. Thats it.

Id like to assume the best -- that scientists who changed their tune arent politically motivated or alarmingly hypocritical.

More likely, perhaps theyre afraid to publicly challenge any message of the current movement, however harmful, considering the fate that has befallen many who have.

Their fear would be well-warranted.

In just one recent example of financial and reputational destruction, a politically progressive data scientist named David Shor lost his job with a research firm after tweeting the 2017 research of an African-American Princeton scholar whose work explored the electoral implications of peaceful protest vs. violence.

The offending tweet? Post-MLK-assasination race riots reduced Democratic vote share in surrounding counties by 2%, which was enough to tip the 1968 election to Nixon. Non-violent protests *increase* Dem vote, mainly by encouraging warm elite discourse and media coverage.

Those are academic findings. And the principle conclusion one could draw from such research isnt that surprising or all that controversial its incorporated into the heart of the strategies employed by Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela.

But apparently, mentioning such research is wrong these days, and college presidents, editors, CEOs and a host of other industry leaders are taking the easy way out giving social media its next victim rather than standing up for free speech or believing the best about their employees attempts to add to the discussion.

In this case, it didnt matter that the fired scientist is a social democrat who worked for President Obamas reelection campaign, according to New York Magazines Jonathan Chait or that the research he shared was conducted by someone who ...majored in Race & Ethnic Relations, co-founded BlackPlanet, got a Ph.D in African-American studies, and is black, according to the scholars wife who tweeted her astonishment that Shor was accused of anti-blackness.

This reckoning seems happy to destroy anyone even members of its own political party and would-be allies who clearly arent racists.

It is fairly disorienting out there, said Sam Harris, a liberal atheist philosopher and neuroscientist whose podcast Making Sense is one of the last bastions of intellectual honesty, free speech and reason I know of, and my go-to for understanding complex problems, regardless of my disagreement with Harris on some issues.

All information has been weaponized, Harris said in his latest episode about current social unrest that should be required listening for anyone who cares about fact-based reform.

All communication has become performative, and on the most important topics, it now seems to be fury and sanctimony and bad faith almost all of the time. We appear to be driving ourselves actually crazy. As in, incapable of coming into contact with reality, unable to distinguish fact from fiction. And then becoming totally destabilized by our own powers of imagination and confirmation bias and then lashing out at one another on that basis.

We want justice -- and truth -- to prevail, right?

Or do we?

Rachel Bryars is an opinion columnist for AL.com.

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Aunt Jemima Is Gone, Time to End Other Racist Branding – The New York Times

Posted: at 1:56 pm

Three years ago, the Supreme Court handed an Asian rock band named the Slants an unimaginable win when it proclaimed, in Matal v. Tam, that it was unconstitutional for the law to ban trademarks that were disparaging. In celebrating the bands victory, the lead singer Simon Tam declared the case a win for all marginalized groups, asserting: It cant be a win for free speech if some people benefit and others dont.

Despite his optimism for free speech, Mr. Tam could not have been more wrong about the meaning of his victory. Although the court had ruled in Mr. Tams favor, Matal v. Tams outcome obliterated the decades-long legal challenge to the Washington Redskins trademark, which was first filed by a group led by the Cheyenne and Muscogee Creek activist and scholar Suzan Shown Harjo and later a team of Native American plaintiffs led by Amanda Blackhorse. Perhaps most telling was the reaction of Dan Snyder, the owner of a certain Washington football team, who the same day issued a statement in response to the courts ruling on the Tam case: I am THRILLED! Hail to the Redskins. In response to Matal v. Tam, Ms. Blackhorse defiantly insisted, It may have killed our case, but it hasnt killed our movement.

We now know that Ms. Blackhorse was right. In the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests sweeping the nation and the world, brands are swiftly taking account of the harmful stereotypes they once inflicted. In the last few days, Quaker Oats, the owner of the 131-year-old brand of Aunt Jemima, announced it would change the product name in an effort to make progress toward racial equality. The brand had long capitalized on a romantic view of antebellum American slavery, even going so far as to hire an actual former slave to impersonate the character of Aunt Jemima at the 1893 Chicago Worlds Fair (marking the first time a living person was hired to impersonate a trademark).

Just days after Quakers announcement, the Mars corporation followed suit, announcing that its Uncle Bens rice products would similarly evolve in light of recent events. Even Mrs. Butterworths pancake syrup, its bottle embodying a racist caricature of the shape of a black woman, is undertaking a complete brand and package review.

Companies are clearly trying to correct Americas painful history of advertising, which for generations has trafficked in racial stereotypes to sell products. Momentum away from racial branding has been growing for decades. In 2005, the National Collegiate Athletic Association announced that it would prohibit its members from displaying hostile and abusive racial-ethnic-national origin mascots, nicknames or imagery at its championships, producing a wave of logo retirements at schools across the country. In 2018, Major League Baseball announced that the Cleveland Indians would finally stop using its Native American Chief Wahoo caricature on items for display on the field. (Although it continues to retain its logo for use on items for sale in its souvenir shop.) And in April, the Land OLakes company finally phased out the use of an illustration of a Native American woman, adorned in a feather headband, from their products.

What do these changes suggest about America, and more specifically, American marketing? To both of us, one an expert in Native American law and the other a trademark law professor, they suggest the onslaught of a dramatically shifting landscape for racialized brands in the future. Brands can no longer stand apart from social movements and activism. In order to succeed, they have to personify change to be the change through rebranding themselves, or risk serious criticism.

Its no wonder, then, why Mr. Snyder and the Washington team received scathing responses to their tone-deaf participation in Blackout Tuesday in support of racial equality while continuing to amplify the Redskins name. Even the mayor of Washington, Muriel Bowser, has joined in a chorus of politicians, athletes and activists to demand a name change, pointing out that, among other things, it presents an obstacle to building a new stadium in the teams home city.

Like most owners of racial brands, Mr. Snyder has continued to insist that the name is not intended to offend and that it actually honors Native people. But this assertion cannot be disentangled from the larger history of Native American land dispossession, in which European newcomers idealized a myth of a fearless, primitive warrior, using it to justify war, removal and even genocide. With Natives pushed out of the way, non-Indians were free not only to take Indian lands but also to appropriate Native culture and identity. In Playing Indian, the historian Phil Deloria of Harvard traces the way in which settlers appropriated Native culture and identity for centuries as part of their own identity formation. Generations of Americans have grown up playing cowboys and Indians, usurping Native culture as their own, through sports mascots and countless other romantic narratives of Manifest Destiny.

But while Black Lives Matter has had success in retiring African-American stereotypes and brands, Native American brands face an uncertain outcome. Appropriations of racialized stereotypes of Native people are still big business, inextricably linked to the cultural and territorial history of dispossession. Last year, Dior introduced an ad campaign featuring its new Sauvage perfume, which it described as an authentic journey deep into the Native American soul in a sacred, founding and secular territory. (The company pulled the ad in response to outrage.) Other brands have gone even further into this fraught racial terrain, such as, for example, Urban Outfitters in the early 2010s with its Navajo products including panties and flasks. (In another case, a company produced Crazy Horse Malt Liquor, even though the revered leader denounced alcohol consumption; the company eventually settled a lawsuit filed by his descendants.) All too familiar commercial products produced by non-Native companies such as the Apache Helicopter, Jeep Cherokee and Yakima Bike Racks abound in the commercial marketplace.

We may dismiss these examples as thoughtless advertising mishaps. But, in aggregate, they are more than that. As Simon Tam pointed out three years ago, a victory is incomplete if some marginalized groups win and others lose. But perhaps Black Lives Matter can accomplish what the Tam opinion failed to do. The country and, indeed, the world is demanding a rejection of overt symbols of racism and expecting something better from our leaders, our educators and yes, even our sports teams.

There is no ambiguity here, Mr. Snyder. It is time to change the name.

Angela R. Riley is a professor of law and director of the Native Nations Law and Policy Center at UCLA. Sonia K. Katyal is a Haas distinguished chair at the University of California Berkeley School of Law and a co-director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. Wed like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And heres our email: letters@nytimes.com.

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Condemnation of the attack against the Women Support & Empowerment Center in Idlib City, & the instigation against its workers, & call for…

Posted: at 1:54 pm

Mrs. Huda Khayti, the head of the Women Support and Empowerment Center in Idlib City, has been subjected to instigation and hate speech campaign on social media by unknown account, but seems to be an organized and planned campaign targeting the head of the center personally, as they published personal information to inflict as much psychological damage as possible, and maybe a preamble to a physical assault, the campaign has been ongoing since April 19, 2020.

According to the violations documentation database at the Syrian Network for Human Rights, the Women Support and Empowerment Center in Idlib City was targeted on February 22, 2020, as their headquarters was burnt, the fire damaged the centers furniture and a number of rooms, and the civil defense teams managed to contain the fire before it engulfed the whole center, the center was also subjected to a robbery of some of its contents before the burning, in both cases the perpetrators were not pursued or their identities revealed to be held accountable.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights documented several actions of assaulting and restricting the centers that support women in many areas, as they were targeted directly due to their effective involvement in the social and humanitarian work. The Syrian Network for Human Rights condemns this instigation against the head of the Women Support and Empowerment Center, which aims to distort and dismantle the centers work, and call for respect of the civil work rights and defending it, and the importance of revealing the perpetrators and holding them accountable, there must also be a complete commitment to the rules of the International Human Rights Law, and respect and implement the law is the most important responsibility of the powers in control.

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TransUnion Launches CreditVision Acute Relief Suite to Help Lenders and Insurers Identify and Support the 106 Million Accounts in Relief Programs -…

Posted: at 1:54 pm

CHICAGO, June 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As millions of consumers continue to request and receive various payment accommodations, TransUnion (NYSE: TRU) today officially launched its CreditVision Acute Relief Suite to assist lenders and insurers in supporting consumers while still managing risk within their portfolio.

The CreditVision Acute Relief Suite features a set of 88 attributes that identify accounts and relationships receiving special accommodations for consumers currently in relief status. The attributes allow lenders and insurers to better understand how consumers and their accounts have been affected broken out by different credit products, the timing of when they were reported in these statuses and the balances of those accounts.

Tens of millions of consumers have been impacted by COVID-19 and TransUnions CreditVision Acute Relief Suite offers additional insight to create a more complete financial picture, said Curt Miller, executive vice president of credit risk solutions at TransUnion. The pandemic is complex, and as each lender-to-consumer arrangement may be different, there is no single, simple indicator of who is affected and who is not. By bringing better clarity, the suite helps ensure each person is reliably and safely represented in the marketplace, allowing businesses to transact with confidence and help support their customers. As the pandemic evolves, we will stay close to our customers and consumers, and continue to enhance and evolve our solution.

The suite also includes the CreditVision Acute Relief Risk Score, which uses trended usage and payment data as strong leading indicators of risk. The score can be coupled with other risk scores to help lenders and insurers protect their customers and portfolios while improving new account underwriting strategies. The CreditVision Acute Relief Suite is available across TransUnions traditional platforms as well as Prama DataHub, the only in-market, self-service data extraction analytic tool with archives back to 2000.

Number of accounts in relief programs continues to grow

Data from the CreditVision Acute Relief Suite point to the ever-changing number of consumers in either a forbearance, deferred payment or a natural disaster situation. As of May 31, the number of accounts in such programs totaled 106 million, nearly three times higher than the 35 million accounts observed on April 30. Accounts in such status included auto loans, credit cards, home equity lines of credit, mortgages, personal loans, retail credit cards and student loans, among other credit products.

Recent TransUnion consumer research found that three in four (74%) consumers who have a financial accommodation are extremely or very confident that they understand the terms. However, financially impacted consumers who have received an accommodation are more concerned about paying bills/loans (90%) vs. those who have not had an accommodation (60%). These individuals also are closer to being unable to pay bills/loans (4.9 weeks vs. 6.4 weeks for those without an accommodation).

Information about the CreditVision Acute Relief Suite can be found here and businesses interested in learning how to navigate the impacts of COVID-19 can gain insights from TransUnion webinars, blogs and more here. Additional resources for consumers looking to protect their credit during the COVID-19 pandemic can be found attransunion.com/covid-19.

About TransUnion (NYSE: TRU)TransUnion is a global information and insights company that makes trust possible in the modern economy. We do this by providing a comprehensive picture of each person so they can be reliably and safely represented in the marketplace. As a result, businesses and consumers can transact with confidence and achieve great things. We call this Information for Good.

A leading presence in more than 30 countries across five continents, TransUnion provides solutions that help create economic opportunity, great experiences and personal empowerment for hundreds of millions of people.

http://www.transunion.com/business

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MassMutual $500,000 donation to Urban League of Springfield will help promote equality – MassLive.com

Posted: at 1:54 pm

SPRINGFIELD A $500,000 donation made by the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. to the Urban League of Springfield will be used to support the Black community through scholarships and upgrades to Camp Atwater.

Henry M. Thomas III, president of the Urban League of Springfield, said the funding is an investment in the community.

The donation came unsolicited, it was not a request, he said. They contacted us and said they wanted to invest in organizations that are uplifting the community and improving equity and reducing racial tensions.

Thomas said he hopes the donation will serve as an example of how corporations and nonprofit organizations can collaborate.

(MassMutual has) always had a great sense of corporate social responsibility and we admire that, he said. If more companies weigh in and ask the simple questions What can I do to help improve the circumstance of chronic inequities that negatively impact livelihood? MassMutual is demonstrating what can be done. In return we get a stronger and more vibrant community because you have corporations and nonprofits working together to make it happen.

Roger Crandall, chairman, president and CEO of MassMutual, said the company selected the Urban League of Springfield for its investments in education and economic development in the Black community.

At MassMutual, we are deeply committed to supporting efforts that establish greater equality, fight injustice, and dismantle systemic racism and an important part of that is supporting the organizations that have been doing this critical work for a long time, he said in a statement. We hope our contribution makes a meaningful impact toward these ongoing efforts, and we encourage others in the business community to follow suit and support ways to bring sustainable, lasting change that will build a better world for all.

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Urban League of Springfield opens its new Digital Learning Lab

Springfield City Councilor Tracye Whitfield said she hopes to see some of the funding focused on higher education and economic development.

I hope it goes towards helping young Black youth get into college, whether its a four-year institution or one of the great community colleges in the region, she said. I hope it can go to economic empowerment and development to promote Black-owned businesses. We have a lot of sole proprietors, but we need corporations to employ folks and help the community reestablish itself.

Thomas said some money will be put toward scholarships for Black youth.

We already provide about $40,000 a year in scholarships to students going onto college, but now we will be able to put more towards that goal, he said.

Whitfield would also like to see improvements to Camp Atwater, an overnight camp for Black youth run by the Urban League in North Brookfield.

Thomas said the camp, which is in its 99th year, will have to hold virtual sessions this summer due to the coronavirus pandemic. But he hopes the camp will be up and running with improvements next summer for its centennial celebration.

This investment will help us restore this historic institution. It is the oldest African-American owned and operated summer youth residential camp in the country. Its on the national register of historic places with over 80 acres, he said. This donation will help us leverage partnerships with other benevolent members of the community to help us with some of the capital improvements that we desire to do.

Thomas said he hopes investments like the one made by MassMutual will help promote adequate access to health and wellness services, wealth building and a level playing field for all.

Springfield health and human services commissioner Helen Caulton-Harris said the Black community in Springfield is disproportionately represented in every health status index including cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

One is obesity. Particularly around our children, we are seeing across the city and the commonwealth that children are gaining weight and becoming obese at disproportionate numbers, she said.

Caulton-Harris said the solutions include prevention and intervention.

Prevention is to make sure individuals are exercising and taking advantage of the ability to get outside, she said. The other thing is making sure Black individuals are going to their primary care physicians to get the appropriate diagnosis.

Thomas said Camp Atwater provides many opportunities for children to participate in outdoor activities, from fishing and canoeing to hiking and other daily exercise activities. The camp also focuses on promoting personal development.

There are great opportunities to work on the physical and the personal. We want the kids to leave with a sense of who they are and to know their story, he said.

Thomas said MassMutuals donation is a representation of its investment in the empowerment of the Black community.

I believe in E to the third power, which stands for equity plus excellence equals empowerment, he said. Equity is not a guarantee that you will get the prize, its a guarantee that you will get an equitable chance to get the prize, whether its competing for a job or for another opportunity. Without equity and excellence, you dont get empowerment.

He said a lack of empowerment is what leads a lack of engagement and participation in community events.

When you dont have empowerment you dont take calculated risks to improve your condition, he said. You dont show up for meetings at school for your children or at the school committee meetings for the budget. You dont participate in the electoral process, which is a reason why Springfield has such a low voter turnout among registered voters, because they dont feel they have the power to make change. And that is the work we do every day at the Urban League, enable people to become empowered so that they can make a change in their lives and their communities.

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Were all for empowerment: The personal trainer continuing to boost confidence amid Covid-19 – Teesside Live

Posted: at 1:54 pm

A Normanby personal trainer has not let the coronavirus outbreak stop her connecting with her clients.

Amy Simpson, owner of Amy Simpson Fitness, says she always puts the wellbeing of her clients first.

When we found out we had to close we were devastated.

Our gym is a social hub for clients, for some of the older people that could be the only interaction they get that day, says Amy.

Not willing to let Covid-19 isolate anyone, Amy invited her members to an online forum where she ran fitness classes through Facebook Live for people to join in from the safety of their homes, as well as being on hand to share fitness or food tips.

Amy says she has worked hard to build her business and was determined not to let the pandemic stop her clients from growing in confidence and reaching their goals.

I started doing my mobile personal training and fitness five years ago when I was 17, straight from college, says Amy.

But with the business quickly growing, four years ago Amy opened a gym on Normanbys high street.

As soon as I got a base, my client base grew, says Amy, and shes gone from 50 clients to between 300 - 400 members each week.

Covering a varied range of fitness classes for different abilities, Amy teaches low impact yoga, high intensity boxing with sports therapy, massage, strength classes and everything available in between.

With roughly 40 people per class, members are welcome as young as eight years old (along with a parent), with Amys eldest member still enjoying classes at 75.

But due to the coronavirus outbreak, Amys business had to quickly adapt to the Government enforced changes.

With her online classes proving popular, as soon as restrictions began to lift Amy was able to offer one to one training sessions, always adhering to social distancing guidelines.

Whether in a clients garden or at Smiths Dock Park, Amy has been there rain or shine to help clients reach their goals.

And she knows from personal experience that keeping active doesnt only improve your physical health.

When you exercise it releases endorphins, its so good for stress relief.

My favourite way to unwind is a boxercise session, added Amy.

Although her gym remains closed for now, Amy is relieved to have started one to one sessions again as it has brought some form of normality back.

My clients have been amazing, I really couldnt have done it without them, Amy added.

Using her spare time in lockdown, Amy has launched the first four items of her Amy Simpson Fitness Activewear range, which has almost sold out and received an incredible response online from her clients, who have supported her new venture and even worn some of the items so their latest classes.

The support has been unbelievable, says Amy.

And although over the past five years Amy has started her own business, opened her gym, built up her client base and launched her activewear line, she believes that the most rewarding part of her job is seeing her clients grow in confidence.

For some people, just coming into class for that first time, that step shows their confidence is growing.

"Were all for empowerment, female empowerment, male empowerment, everyone empowerment!, added Amy.

Whether clients hope to get fit, lose weight or build muscle, Amy says she will be with them every step of the way to help them reach their potential.

One of Amys clients Rachel Barrigan has noticed Amys commitment, especially during the current crisis.

She is an absolute asset to the local area, I for one am at my happiest when at ASF.

As a paramedic and frontline worker, doing the workouts and one to ones with Amy have kept me in a much better place and I for one would like to thank her for her commitment to us, says Rachel.

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Were all for empowerment: The personal trainer continuing to boost confidence amid Covid-19 - Teesside Live

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South Africa has taken steps to help young jobless people. Here’s what’s working – The Conversation Africa

Posted: at 1:54 pm

South Africa has among the highest youth unemployment rates globally, with 58% of 15-24 year olds not in jobs, education or training. In times of economic crisis, young people are the first to lose jobs and the last to gain them back.

That means that now and into the future, as the economy reels from the coronavirus pandemic and the resultant lockdown, these rates are likely to only worsen. South Africa has a very young population with about a third of the population being between the ages of 18 and 34 years.

So what should be done?

Our research shows that youth employability programmes play a crucial role in maintaining young peoples resilience and sense of agency in a context in which there are high levels of joblessness. These programmes provide young people with training and information to support their entry into the labour market, and are usually close to where young people live. Most provide a combination of technical skills training and personal empowerment inputs.

Given the social and economic consequences of this pandemic, now more than ever, it is crucial to think about how to construct meaningful youth programmes to support young peoples journeys into the economy.

Between 2013 and 2019 we tracked just under 2,000 young people who participated in youth employability programmes. The programmes and organisations that run them are Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator , loveLifes groundBreakers programme, Afrika Tikkun Services,EOH,National Youth Service (run by the National Youth Development Agency), Fit for Life Fit for Work, Thabiso Skills Institute and Raymond Ackerman Academy.

The research found that involvement in such programmes had a number of positive outcomes for young people.

First, young people showed improved job-search resilience. They were less likely to indicate being discouraged with looking for work after they had been through the programmes. And they were more likely to be using diverse strategies for searching for work, and felt more confident about looking for work.

They also showed small improvements in their sense of self-esteem and self-efficacy (their sense of control over their future) after participating in the programmes. These are important markers of success in the context of significant difficulties that young people face, and may be important in the transition to employment in the longer term.

Often these changes are overlooked because of the focus on employment and earnings as indicators of programme efficacy. But they are crucial indicators to measure as the country seeks to support young peoples agency in contexts of increasing unemployment.

Crucially, the study offers insight into what kinds of programme features work for different kinds of young people. The eight programmes that were included in the study all targeted young people who typically came from impoverished backgrounds. They also had limited access to formal post-secondary education and training opportunities. They are broadly reflective of the kinds of young people who struggle most to find work.

We found a set of crucial programme elements that boost the chances of employment for these young people.

Matching: Our research found that the programme feature with the strongest effect is matching. We show that connecting work seekers to employers (matching) was the most important programme element, and improves a candidates chance of finding work by 28 percentage points in the 6-30 months following their training.

Soft skills: the study also found that time spent on soft skills including promoting a sense of confidence and future orientation, as well as supporting young people to take control of their plans for their future delivers a significant and strong effect. The first month of soft skills training delivers a 7 percentage point increase in the probability of being employed. Soft skills training made a particularly strong impact for the most vulnerable.

Participants who had not completed school, and those who lived outside metropolitan areas, where jobs are mostly located, had a significant employment disadvantage upon entering the programmes compared to their counterparts who had finished high school and lived in urban areas. But access to soft skills training for the more disadvantaged youth helped to close that gap.

Young people in South Africa face multiple forms of deprivation. They also exhibit significant agency and resilience despite these challenges. Our research shows that placing young people at the centre of programme development, and working with them, can improve their resilience.

Further, different programme elements have different effects for young people. Including multiple components in youth employment programmes is crucial if the country is to address the multiple deprivations they face.

This study shows that multiple components of training are key, especially when targeting particularly vulnerable youth who face multiple life and labour market challenges. The more challenges young people face, the more programme features are necessary. Tailoring interventions to their different circumstances within the large unemployed population is, therefore, crucial.

While such programmes cannot replace economic growth as a strategy for improving employment outcomes, they nevertheless play a crucial role in supporting young people, and offering bridges to the world of work over time.

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South Africa has taken steps to help young jobless people. Here's what's working - The Conversation Africa

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The role of sport in the COVID-19 refugee response – sportanddev.org

Posted: at 1:54 pm

On June 10th, 2020, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) conducted a webinar exploring the situation for children and youth in the COVID-19 response and recovery phase. Continuing a series of webinars on displacement and the Covid-19 pandemic, UNHCR explored the situation for children and youth and the role of sport and sports organizations in the COVID-19 response and recovery. The online consultation was entitled"Displaced children and youth and the role of sport during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

The webinar featured a host of different speakers from various backgrounds. Mr. Ignacio Packer, Executive Director of International Council of Voluntary Agencies opened the meetingand shared his personal experience on the role of sport in the current crisis. He was followed by UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Operations Mr.Raouf Mazouwho shared an overview on UNHCRs response to the COVID-19 situation stating: We have so far not seen an outbreak in refugee camps. We hope this will continue. This is a result of the work of many partners, some on this call, which have done a lot in preparing and informing refugees and persons of concern. We worked very closely with authorities to make sure that refugees are included in the response that is provided by the government.

Ms. Amanda Melville, the Senior Advisor Children and Youth at UNHCR, outlined the implications of the current crisis on displaced children and youth globally. She explained that the difficult conditions facing displaced people have been exacerbated by the pandemic. She provided examples of gaps in access to education, a significantly increased risk of, and increase in, violence and abuse of young people, and the impact of unemployment and stringent economic measures. She further shared how UNHCR has been supporting young people, discussing a few core actions in the process.

Following this scene setting, the webinar featured speakers from organisations working in different situations across the world. The presentations began with Ms. Maria Bray -the Global Advisor on Child Protection and Mental Health & Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) at Terre des hommes (Tdh) - who shared the challenges facing their work and how they have adapted. She spoke of the importance of a safe and supportive environment and shared the steps Tdh has taken across its projects. Referring to their project Kabaddi for Empowerment in the state of West Bengal, India, she said, we are currently working on designing a curriculum that can be done by youth themselves that would imply physical and more informal recreational activities. Remote counselling has been put in place also with some of the youth we were working with.

She was followed by Ms. Lea Hinnen,Project Manager at the Football Club Social Alliance/ Scort Foundation. Having been a footballer herself, Ms. Hinnen spoke of her organisations role in dealing with conditions presented by the pandemic. She shared how her organisation has reached out to young coaches and local partners to understand the challenges, specifically in countries where they work with refugees Mexico, Lebanon, Rwanda and Ukraine. Scort Foundation has adapted by setting up remote coaching sessions, providing live streams, and plan to set up an e-learning platform for coaches. She emphasised the need to stay engaged with local partners throughout the situation and beyond.

Following the mention of local partners, the third presentation was given by Mr. Joshua Opolot, the Executive Director of Youth Sport Uganda, an organisation based in Kampala, Uganda, working with urban refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). He shared the unique challenges faced of working in congested contexts, especially in relation to social distancing and sanitary conditions. For dealing with the pandemic, he said, we designed a sport model where mothers and fathers act as coaches and moderators. We have designed simple games that can be played within a family and these games can be done in less space and encourage social distancing. There have been messages in the games.

Ms. Jojo Ferris,Head ofOlympic Refuge Foundation (ORF) highlighted the seismic challenges that the pandemic has presented. These challenges ranged from the postponement of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, to the hiatus in sports-based programming around the world. She shared the associated challenges for the ORF and its partners. Through its resources, the ORF has been able to support local partners with a flexible funding approach, including the release of an additional $500,000 to encourage existing partners to design solutions to the present situation and beyond.

The four speakers were followed by an enlightening questioning and answer session which added to the quality of the discussion. The webinar featured people from different global and local organisations, providing a holistic perspective on how displaced people have been affected by the pandemic, and the role that sport has to play in the recovery and response.

Link:

The role of sport in the COVID-19 refugee response - sportanddev.org

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