More Alberta K-12 educators say they won't be teaching in the province next year: ATA survey

Lisa Johnson 

© Provided by Edmonton Journal Alberta Teachers’ Association

 president Jason Schilling.


A new survey suggests the number of Alberta teachers planning to leave the profession for another job next year has more than doubled.

A summary of a pandemic pulse survey from the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) conducted at the end of November suggests more than 37 per cent of respondents reported they probably won’t be teaching in Alberta next year.

Compared to an annual member opinion survey done last March, the number of teachers planning to retire was similar, at 16 per cent, but the percentage who said they are leaving for another job has doubled, increasing to 14 per cent. Seven per cent said they plan to leave the province to teach elsewhere.

ATA president Jason Schilling said in an interview Tuesday the numbers reflect what he’s already heard from teachers, some of whom plan to retire early because they are being asked to do more with the bare minimum, which is “stretching everything.”

“They feel like this government doesn’t care about them, and they feel like this government doesn’t support the work that they’re doing in the middle of a pandemic,” said Schilling, adding the percentage of teachers who continue to feel high levels of exhaustion, stress and anxiety after two years of the pandemic is worrisome.

Ninety-two per cent of respondents reported exhaustion, while 88 per cent reported high stress. The ATA said its survey provides a representative sample of more than 1,300 teachers and school leaders, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 per cent 19 times out of 20.

Katherine Stavropoulos, press secretary to Education Minister Adriana LaGrange, questioned the validity of the survey’s findings in a statement Tuesday. However, she said the ministry recognizes the past two years of the pandemic have been challenging.

“We continue to explore options to attract and retain teachers and teacher leaders to Alberta schools and look forward to sharing more information when it is available,” said Stavropoulos.

At a news conference Tuesday, NDP education critic Sarah Hoffman blamed the results of the survey on the UCP government’s refusal to give schools the resources they need.

Sue Bell, a recently retired Edmonton principal and teacher who worked in schools for almost 30 years, said at the NDP news conference she felt forced to leave the job to preserve her own physical and mental health.

“The breaking point began last year around Sept. 20 or so when we had to take on the job of contact tracing at schools because, from that point on, I did not have a day off until we went online in December. I was on call 24 hours a day – no switching off, no downtime,” said Bell.

The survey suggests more than 80 per cent of school leaders have had to do contact tracing for COVID-19, but only 22 per cent said they felt comfortable doing that work.

“The absolute lack of support this government has given schools during COVID has really made it difficult to be a teacher in this province right now,” Bell said, adding that mental health issues are a serious concern, and sending students back to school is not enough to support their mental health.

lijohnson@postmedia.com

twitter.com/reportrix

NFLD
Anti-racism advocates call for educational reform after concerning immigration assignment

Meg Roberts 

CBC

Advocacy groups are calling on a number of organizations, including the education department and school districts to undertake an anti-racism educational reform.

The recommendations from the groups come a week after CBC News posted a story about a junior high school assignment that asked students to write down why immigrants and refugees should and should not be allowed into the country, using the textbook.

University professors called the assignment racist and were concerned with the textbook's suggestions for opposing migration: newcomers "may take jobs away from resident Canadians," and "Some immigrants draw on social welfare programs and services," according to the textbook.

The Anti-Racism Coalition of Newfoundland and Labrador has started a petition with a number of recommendations to improve the kindergarten to grade 12 social studies curriculum, with support from Black Lives Matter NL, the Indigenous Activist Collective and the Social Justice Co-Op.

"We have serious concerns about the adequacy of the K-12 social studies curriculum in general and its treatment of the lived experiences of students who are from immigrant, refugee, Black, Indigenous and other racialized communities in NL," said Raven Khadeja, co-found of Black Lives Matter Newfoundland and Labrador.

Some of the groups recommendations for the department of education, the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District and Conseil Scolaire Francophone Provincial include immediately removing the textbook from the curriculum and issuing a statement to past and present students outlining the inadequacies of the textbook and the commitments to anti-racist education.

Other recommendations include hiring a committee of racialized consultants with proper experience to do a full review of the K-12 social studies curriculum, develop an anti-racist curriculum framework that guides all curriculum decisions and then re-write course material.

It also recommends providing funding for professional development and training for current teachers from Indigenous, migrant and other diverse communities who are interested in furthering their anti-racist education.

The group also wants to establish a paid anti-racist advisory board to monitor changes in the curriculum on an ongoing basis and would also be responsible for fielding complaints about racism and educational material.

Recommendations for the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers' Association included increasing teachers' knowledge about structural racism, other forms of oppression and the immigration system, as well as an increase in educators racial literacy, taught by those with anti-racist education expertise.

"We shouldn't have been the one that wrote this," said Sobia Shaikh. "This particular list came out of frustration by community organizations to say, 'hey look, you are not even at the beginning stages.'"
Education department responds

The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development said it has received the list of recommendations and has requested a meeting with the Anti-Racism Coalition.

"I am certainly looking forward to having those discussions with those groups," said Tom Osborne, the education minister.

"The input from the coalition groups or a committee that is formed to help government review curriculum will be important."

© Patrick Buter/Radio-Canada Education Minister Tom Osborne.

Osborne said the department is reviewing the curriculum, although he said it is an "onerous" task as there are hundreds of pieces of curriculum in the kindergarten to grade 12 system.

He said changes to the curriculum with community partners has already begun as the department has been working with the Indigenous groups in the province to add four pieces of Indigenous material to the curriculum.

"We are acting, we are responding with the view of the future and ensuring that our classrooms are welcoming," said Osborne.

However, advocates say the speed at which curriculum changes get made is not quick enough and it's hurting the success of some of the province's children.

Advocates said what is being taught in school is important as it can shape the perception and feelings toward certain individuals for the remainder of a person's life.

"The harm is done," said Maria Dussan, the chair for the Anti-Racism Coalition's Healthcare for all Campaign.

"There is an accountability that is owed to them … that accountability in the form of very real commitments to the processes that take time is something that we need now."

Mexico urged to do more to protect journalists after murders


Journalists protest against the murders of colleagues Lourdes Maldonado and Margarito Martinez in Mexico's northwestern border city of Tijuana (AFP/Guillermo Arias)


Sofia Miselem
Tue, January 25, 2022

The murders of two journalists in the Mexican border city of Tijuana in less than a week have triggered calls for the government to step up protection of media workers.

The killings of photographer Margarito Martinez and reporter Lourdes Maldonado have sparked outcry among colleagues in what is one of the world's most dangerous countries for journalists.

Reporters organized protests on Tuesday in cities across the country, while UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Mexico to take tougher action.

"We call on Mexican authorities to strengthen the protection of journalists, in particular, to take further steps to prevent attacks on them, including by tackling threats and slurs aimed at them," said Guterres's spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

Martinez, who was shot dead on January 17, and Maldonado, who was gunned down on Sunday, had both requested protection from a security mechanism for journalists in the northwestern state of Baja California.

"The mechanism has failed again when journalists feel most vulnerable," Sonia de Anda, a reporter in Tijuana, told AFP.

Martinez had been threatened by a blogger allegedly linked to criminals, but was still waiting for protection, De Anda said.

Maldonado had been given a police guard for a year when leaving and arriving at her home.

But "obviously there were no police" present on Sunday when she was shot outside her house, said De Anda, a member of the media rights group Yo si soy periodista (I am a journalist).

- 'Overwhelmed' -

In 2012, Mexico introduced a Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists.

It now "protects" 496 journalists, according to the government's website.

Jorge Carrasco, director of the weekly news magazine Proceso, turned to the mechanism in 2013 after receiving death threats for his work.

He was assigned a body guard and cameras were installed in his house.

"In my case it worked. But the mechanism was overwhelmed. There were so many cases," he said, alleging insufficient commitment from other state institutions and a lack of coordination with regional authorities.

That was a factor in the murders in Tijuana, journalists said.

"Due to a change of governor (in Baja California), the mechanism stopped operating" and was supposed to be re-instated on Monday, said De Anda.

"In the meantime, two of us were killed," she said.

Balbina Flores, the Mexico representative of media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, said that Martinez had been forced to seek help from the federal government, but his request was bogged down in paperwork.

"The mechanism should provide immediate protection, leaving paperwork for later," she said.

Even federal protection is not always enough.

"At least four journalists with assigned guards have been killed in three years," Flores said.

AFP sought a comment from the authorities responsible for the national protection mechanism, but there was no immediate response.

- Plea to president -

Maldonado had worked for several outlets, including Primer Sistema de Noticias (PSN), which is owned by Jaime Bonilla, who was governor of Baja California from 2019 to 2021.

She won a lawsuit a few days ago against PSN, which she had been suing for years over unfair dismissal.

In 2019, Maldonado had asked Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador for "support, help and justice," as she feared for her life.

"I have been on trial for six years with him," she added about the governor, during one of Obrador's press conferences.

Bonilla denied being involved in the murder.

In addition to the killings in Tijuana, journalist and social media activist Jose Luis Gamboa died after he was stabbed and left lying in the street in the eastern state of Veracruz earlier this month.

At least seven journalists were murdered in Mexico in 2021, according to an AFP count, although it has not been determined if all the killings were linked to their reporting.

More than 100 journalists have been murdered since 2000 in Mexico and only a fraction of the crimes have resulted in convictions.

sem-dr/sw

BUEN RIDDANCE FASCISTA
Brazilian writer, guru to rightwing Bolsonaro, dead at 74

Handout picture released by the Brazilian Presidency showing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (R), next to ultra-right wing guru Olavo de Carvalho (C) and former Brazilian Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo (L) during a meeting in Washington DC, United States, on March 17, 2019 (AFP/Alan SANTOS) (Alan SANTOS)

Tue, January 25, 2022

Olavo de Carvalho, a writer and philosopher who was considered a guru to President Jair Bolsonaro and others in Brazil's far right, has died at age 74, his family said Tuesday.

De Carvalho died Monday night in the US state of Virginia, where he had lived since 2005. The cause of death was not given but the writer had dealt with several health issues over the past year and on January 16 he announced he had tested positive for Covid-19.

De Carvalho was known for fiery conservative rhetoric that made him a hero to the far right in Brazil

He had millions of followers on social media and gave paid online lectures that were a cocktail of philosophy and politics.

The fierce anti-communist was, like Bolsonaro, skeptical of the danger of the coronavirus.

The writer was highly influential around the time Bolsonaro came to power in 2018. Several of the people that Bolsonaro named as cabinet ministers had been suggested by de Carvalho.

But in recent times he distanced himself from the president and has said Bolsonaro's drive for re-election this year is "a lost cause."

Bolsonaro remembered him fondly anyway, calling him "one of the greatest thinkers in the history of our country."

"Olavo was a giant in the fight for freedom and a beacon for millions of Brazilians," the president tweeted.

Steve Bannon, a leader of the so-called alt-right in the United States and former adviser to ex-president Donald Trump, once called de Carvalho one of the world's greatest living intellectuals.

jm/yow/dw/mlm

SCHADENFREUDE

Divisive Brazilian right-wing philosopher, provocateur dies

By Diane Jeantet

The Associated Press
Tue., Jan. 25, 202

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Olavo de Carvalho, a leading light of Brazil’s conservative movement who stirred passions among both devotees and detractors, has died, according to a statement published Tuesday on his official Twitter profile. He was 74.

De Carvalho died Monday night in Virginia, where he had been living for over a decade, the family’s statement read.

The statement didn’t mention the cause of death, but the Brazilian media, including newspaper O Globo, widely reported that the thinker had been diagnosed with COVID-19 on Jan. 16. His daughter Heloisa, who was publicly at odds with him, said on her Twitter account that he had died of the disease.

De Carvalho’s books and online courses helped reinvigorate the country’s political right ahead of the 2018 presidential election when he called on his followers to back then-candidate Jair Bolsonaro.

He became a deeply divisive figure, exalted by a segment of the right that viewed him as a clear-eyed philosopher, and despised by much of the left and the intellectual elite. He repeatedly downplayed the severity of COVID-19 and used social media to promote conspiracy theories and spread skepticism about the need for vaccines to end the pandemic.

Bolsonaro was a fervent supporter of de Carvalho, even displaying one of his books during his victory speech on election night in 2018, along with the Bible. On Tuesday, the president mourned the loss of “one of the greatest thinkers in the history of our country.”

“Olavo was a giant in the fight for freedom and a beacon for millions of Brazilians. His example and his teachings will mark us forever,” Bolsonaro said. The official Twitter profile of Bolsonaro’s government also praised his “monumental legacy.”

Bolsonaro also declared a national day of mourning, an honor he has seldom bestowed since assuming office. There were no days of mourning for bossa nova pioneer João Gilberto, samba legend Elza Soares or comedian Paulo Gustavo.

De Carvalho published several books expounding his ideology, relentlessly warning against domination by the political left and against “cultural Marxism.” He argued that media, universities, scientists and artists had foisted communist ideology onto the nation.

De Carvalho, who once worked as an astrologer, enjoyed being provocative. He once questioned whether the planet is, in fact, round: “To me, this flat-earth issue is like any other: No one is certain of a damn thing. Sensible people are amused by the investigation, neurotics are offended by the question,” de Carvalho said on Twitter in 2019.

Much like Bolsonaro, who spent nearly three decades preaching his conservative ideas to a small audience as a federal lawmaker, de Carvalho long remained a marginal figure.

But with Bolsonaro’s 2018 victory, his thinking penetrated the highest ranks of government, particularly the education and foreign ministries. Several cabinet ministers and other government appointees proudly advertised their intellectual debt to the conservative guru, earning them the nickname of “Olavistas.”

His ideas somewhat resembled those that came to the fore in the U.S. during the administration of former President Donald Trump. De Carvalho has drawn comparisons to Rush Limbaugh and Steve Bannon, and had met with the latter.

Many “Olavistas” have since left Bolsonaro’s government and de Carvalho’s influence has waned, at least in public discourse.

In a Folha de S.Paulo newspaper column on Tuesday, Igor Gielow wrote that de Carvalho’s influence cast a light on figures who emerged from the shadows and, for a period, held the levers of power.

“Olavo now disappears at the moment when ‘Bolsonarismo’ ends its cycle with the implosion of the supposed cohesion of the ideological group,” he wrote.

Since the pandemic began, de Carvalho railed against those who sought to introduce restrictions aimed at limiting the spread of the virus, measures Bolsonaro also opposed.

In July 2020, months after the virus spread globally and had killed hundreds of thousands, de Carvalho asked on Twitter: “When will the so-called ‘conservatives’ stop using the term ‘pandemic’?”

Following the announcement of his death, legions of devotees were mourning his passing on social media, while some of his opponents cheered his demise.

“He leaves behind many orphans, teachings and admirers,” one Facebook user identifiying as Ana Tabet wrote.

Sen. Renan Calheiros, author of a congressional report accusing the Bolsonaro administration of mismanaging the COVID-19 crisis, posted that de Carvalho had “denied the virus, mocked the dead, did not get vaccinated, died of the virus.”

De Carvalho’s estranged daughter Heloisa de Carvalho wrote on Twitter: “May God forgive him for all the evils he committed.“

Isabel Allende: In Chile, the 'old fogeys' need to go


Chilean writer Isabel Allende, pictured as she presented one of her many books in Madrid on October 13, 2015, is welcoming a new political era in Chile with open arms (AFP/Pierre-Philippe MARCOU) (Pierre-Philippe MARCOU)


Gerard MARTINEZ
Tue, January 25, 2022,

The "old fogeys" of Chilean politics must go, says Isabel Allende -- a stance that is true to form for the novelist, whose latest book "Violeta" is a sweeping epic depicting the transformation between past and present.

A new generation has taken power in Chile, and Allende, perhaps the most popular Spanish-language writer on the planet, is welcoming the dawning political era with open arms.

"In Chile, the old fogeys of the political and financial world have got to go home -- or to an asylum!" the Chilean author tells AFP during a recent video interview.


Gabriel Boric, a leftist who was elected Chile's youngest-ever president at age 35 last month, is already unsettling markets and turning traditional Latin American politics upside down by unveiling a young, women-majority cabinet.

Allende is cheering him on.

"It is a young generation that is taking power," she says.

She applauds his cabinet choices -- and also notes that this young government will have to implement a new Constitution in Chile.

"And that... is an opportunity for us to ask ourselves what sort of country we want," she says.

The changes make her hopeful, especially as they point towards equality for women and Indigenous people.

"And we must try to ensure that all this is part of the country without damaging the economic system, which has made progress in Chile but is very badly distributed, creating such terrible inequality that people are furious," she says.

- 'Broader vision' -

Change, the journey between the past and the present, has long been a theme of Allende's nearly 30 books, which have been translated into more than 40 languages and sold some 70 million copies.

In her new novel "Violeta," she tells the story of an independent woman who was born during one pandemic and dies during another.

Along the way, she witnesses the many transformations of a South American country that seems very much like Chile.

"The idea came to me after the death of my mother. She died shortly before the (Covid-19) pandemic, and she was born as the Spanish flu was coming to Chile, in 1920," Allende says.

The novel takes place during her mother's lifetime, which she describes as "a period in the 20th century of wars, depressions, dictatorships in Latin America, revolutions.

"I created a protagonist who resembles my mother in many ways, but who is not her and who had a much more interesting life."

The difference, she says, is that "Violeta can support herself, which gives her great freedom. My mother depended first on two husbands, and then on me."

In the novel, Violeta and her family leave the capital and move to the south of the country, where they live alongside people of more humble backgrounds.

It was important for Allende to show those class differences, she says, describing a "caste system" in Latin America "which in some places is quite impenetrable."

"And Chile is a country with many class prejudices, more than other countries, perhaps in part because there was little immigration in its early days.

"So Violeta, if she had remained in her social class, if she had lived the corresponding life, would never have gained a broader vision of the country, and of life."

- Stranger in a familiar land -

That kind of "broader vision" is reflected in Allende's own life also.

The author was born in Lima in 1942 -- but she has been abroad for many years, and now lives near San Francisco in the United States.

She describes a sensation familiar to anyone who has lived far from home for a long time, of being a stranger wherever she goes.

Whenever she returns to Chile, she says, "The first week I am happy, but then I realize that I am a foreigner there, too. It is my destiny.

"In the United States, I speak English with an accent. Anyone who sees me on the street knows that I am a Latina and that I am an immigrant.

"And in Chile, I have lived abroad for 40 years, and the country has changed a lot.

"In my head and in my heart is a country that no longer exists."

- Why stop? -

The journey between the past and the present is also reflected in her writing process, she says.

Some things don't change, such as the date she begins writing.

"I start all my books on January 8, so on the seventh I have to take nerve pills," Allende explains.

"The nerves have never left me, but I've learned that if I show up with discipline before the keyboard each day, something comes out."

She has also become "a little more relaxed," she says -- and she has learned that it is "no good" to have an outline.

"That paralyzes me and I lose all inspiration. I let the story change," she says.

"I enjoy writing so much. People tell me: 'You shouldn't have to write any more, you're getting too old for that.'

"But I love it. Why would I want to stop?"

gma/bbk/st/sw

California City Votes To Become First In US To Mandate Gun Insurance

"While the Second Amendment protects every citizen's right to own a gun, it does not require taxpayers to subsidize that right"


By AFP News
01/26/22 

The city of San Jose voted Tuesday to pass a law that will compel gun owners to take out insurance to cover any damage caused by their weapon, a move its mayor said was the first of its kind in the United States.

The plan, voted on by the city council, will also require weapons owners in the Californian city to pay an annual fee that will fund a non-profit group to help victims of gun violence.

"Tonight San Jose became the first city in the United States to enact an ordinance to require gun owners to purchase liability insurance, and to invest funds generated from fees paid by gun owners into evidence-based initiative to reduce gun violence and gun harm," Mayor Sam Liccardo said in a statement on Twitter.

The proposed ordinance, which must pass a second reading on February 8 before it becomes law in August, is also intended to cut down the costs to taxpayers.

"We have seen how insurance has reduced auto fatalities over several decades, for example, by incentivizing safer driving and the purchase of cars equipped with airbags and antilock brakes," Liccardo said ahead of the vote.

"Similarly, gun liability insurance available today on the market can adjust premiums to encourage gun owners to use gun safes, install trigger-locks, and take gun safety classes."

Firearms are prevalent in the United States, where around 40 percent of adults live in a gun-owning household, according to the Pew Research Center.

Tens of thousands of people die in the United States every year after being shot 

Photo: AFP / TIMOTHY A. CLARY

Almost 23 million firearms were sold across the country in 2020 and 40,000 people die from gunshots annually.

Despite the horrific toll and the fact that a majority of Americans favor the tightening of gun control rules, repeated attempts to limit gun ownership have failed, with opponents arguing controls are an infringement of individual liberties.

A press release from San Jose city council said gun violence costs the city nearly $40 million a year, including for emergency police and medical response, health care, and investigations.

"While the Second Amendment protects every citizen's right to own a gun, it does not require taxpayers to subsidize that right," said Liccardo.

The $25 annual fee will help to fund programs aimed at reducing gun violence, as well as mental health counseling and addiction treatment.

Ahead of the vote, the National Foundation for Gun Rights, an advocacy group, described the proposed law as "a blatantly unconstitutional scheme."

"This is just as unthinkable as imposing a 'free speech tax' or a 'church attendance tax.'

"The National Foundation for Gun Rights is preparing a lawsuit to challenge this gun ownership tax in federal district court."

WAY TO GO NEIL
Neil Young demands Spotify remove his music over Joe Rogan 'disinformation'

Neil Young, shown here performing in Quebec in 2018, is taking Spotify to task over its popular podcast that he says spreads vaccine disinformation 

(AFP/Alice Chiche) (Alice Chiche)

Tue, January 25, 2022,

Neil Young demanded in an open letter to Spotify to remove his music from the platform he said is spreading vaccine disinformation via the popular podcaster Joe Rogan.

"I am doing this because Spotify is spreading fake information about vaccines -- potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them," wrote the legendary singer behind "Heart of Gold" and "Harvest Moon."

"I want you to let Spotify know immediately TODAY that I want all my music off their platform," Young, 76, continued.

"They can have Rogan or Young. Not both."

The letter, which has since been removed from Young's website, was first reported by Rolling Stone late Monday.

Spotify has not replied to an AFP query regarding the musician's request. As of Tuesday Young's music is still on the platform.

Rogan's podcast racks up millions of listens -- he signed a reported $100 million deal with Spotify last year -- but critics say it is a platform for peddling conspiracy theories and disinformation, particularly over Covid-19.

Rogan has discouraged vaccination in younger people and promoted the off-label use of the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin to treat the virus.

In December 270 doctors, physicians and professors signed an open letter to Spotify asking the service to "moderate misinformation on its platform."

"It is a sociological issue of devastating proportions and Spotify is responsible for allowing this activity to thrive on its platform," read the letter.

Young, citing sound quality issues, removed much of his music from Spotify in 2015 but later relented, saying "that's where people get music."

He has his own online archive of all of his music that fans can subscribe to.

mdo/mlm

POLITICIZING THE OLYMPICS 

China restricts activists' social media ahead 

of Olympics




Multiple Chinese activists have seen their WeChat accounts restricted or disabled entirely in the lead-up to the Winter Olympics in Beijing (AFP/Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV)

Laurie CHEN
Tue, January 25, 2022, 

Human rights activists and some academics in China have had their WeChat messaging app accounts restricted in recent weeks, multiple people affected have told AFP, as Beijing cracks down on dissent before the Winter Olympics.

China hopes to make next week's Games a soft power triumph, although the lead-up has seen some Western powers launch a diplomatic boycott over Beijing's rights record and cybersecurity firms warn athletes of digital surveillance risks.

For China's ever-dwindling community of activists, the imminent arrival of the world's best athletes has triggered a familiar clampdown.

Eight individuals told AFP that their WeChat accounts had been restricted in some form since early December, with some unable to use their accounts entirely and forced to re-register.

The restrictions came as authorities detained two prominent human rights activists, lawyer Xie Yang and writer Yang Maodong, while a third rights lawyer missing since early December is believed by relatives to be in secret detention.

"This storm of shuttering WeChat accounts is too strong and unprecedented," said veteran journalist Gao Yu, whose account had features like group chat messaging permanently disabled for the first time on December 20.

China routinely suppresses the social media accounts and physical movements of dissidents during politically sensitive periods such as Communist Party gatherings in Beijing or key anniversaries like the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown.

A major Party Congress will take place towards the end of this year when President Xi Jinping, China's most authoritarian leader in a generation, is expected to further cement his rule with a third term.

The arrival of the Winter Olympics has presaged a clampdown similar to those surrounding other major events.

"The government now wants to make sure that people don't cross the line online to poke the facade of a perfect Winter Olympic Games," said Yaqiu Wang, senior China researcher at Human Rights Watch.

- Ubiquitous app -

Tencent's app WeChat is a mainstay of daily life in China, with users relying on it for a range of services including payments and scanning health codes that permit entry to public venues.

"I know many people who've been banned from posting in group chats or posting WeChat Moments lately," a Beijing lawyer whose account was restricted last month said on condition of anonymity.

Beijing-based writer Zhang Yihe said her WeChat group chat and Moments functions -- similar to Facebook's Wall or Instagram Stories -- were restricted on January 8.

Tsinghua University sociology professor Guo Yuhua confirmed her account was permanently blocked the same day, while prominent legal scholar He Weifang said he encountered the same on January 9.

"Isn't this equal to removing an individual from a public space?" said Zhang, adding she can now only send WeChat messages to individual users.

"Before and during the Olympics is a major sensitive period," added a Beijing-based activist whose account was restricted twice in the past two months.

Tencent, the owner of WeChat, did not respond to a request for comment.

- Offline crackdown -

In recent weeks, Chinese police have detained two prominent rights activists on suspicion of "inciting state subversion", according to official notices shared with AFP.

One of them, Yang Maodong, was unable to reunite with his wife in the United States before her death in early January.

Relatives of Tang Jitian, a human rights lawyer who vanished last month en route to an EU Human Rights Day event in Beijing, told AFP they believe he is being held under a form of secret detention commonly used against dissidents, possibly in his home province of Jilin.

"We don't know where he is. I've reported him missing to the police but with no result," said a relative who did not wish to be identified for fear of reprisal.

"They said it doesn't meet the requirements for filing a (missing persons) case and that he had scanned the Jilin province health code."

People arrested for national security offences in China can disappear for months at a time into incommunicado detention before authorities charge them or reveal their fate.

Both Jilin and Beijing's public security bureaus did not respond to requests for comment.

The International Olympic Committee said in an emailed response that it "has neither the mandate nor the capability to change the laws or the political system of a sovereign country", adding that it "must remain neutral on all global political issues".

Beijing Games organisers told AFP they "oppose the politicisation of sports" and were "not aware of these matters".

Meanwhile, those still free lament mounting restrictions on speech under the current political climate.

"The space for public discourse is getting smaller and smaller," said He.

su-lxc/jta/cwl/lb/ser

Making smartphone data anonymous no longer enough: study


The researchers say people can now be identified with just a few details of how they communicate with an app like WhatsApp (AFP/WANG Zhao) (WANG Zhao)

Joseph BOYLE
Tue, January 25, 2022

Privacy measures that are meant to preserve the anonymity of smartphone users are no longer suitable for the digital age, a study suggested on Tuesday.

Vast quantities of data are scooped up from smartphone apps by firms looking to develop products, conduct research or target consumers with adverts.

In Europe and many other jurisdictions, companies are legally bound to make this data anonymous, often doing so by removing telltale details like names or phone numbers.


But the study in the Nature Communications journal says this is no longer enough to keep identities private.

The researchers say people can now be identified with just a few details of how they communicate with an app like WhatsApp.

One of the paper's authors, Yves-Alexandre de Montjoye of Imperial College London, told AFP it was time to "reinvent what anonymisation means".

- 'Rich' data -

His team took anonymised data from more than 40,000 mobile phone users, most of which was information from messaging apps and other "interaction" data.

They then "attacked" the data searching for patterns in those interactions -- a technique that could be employed by malicious actors.

With just the direct contacts of the person included in the dataset, they found they could identify the person 15 percent of the time.

When further interactions between those primary contacts were included, they could identify 52 percent of people.

"Our results provide evidence that disconnected and even re-pseudonymised interaction data remain identifiable even across long periods of time," wrote the researchers from the UK, Switzerland and Italy.

"These results strongly suggest that current practices may not satisfy the anonymisation standard set forth by (European regulators) in particular with regard to the linkability criteria."

De Montjoye stressed that the intention was not to criticise any individual company or legal regime.

Rather, he said the algorithm they were using just provided a more robust way of testing what we regard as anonymised data.

"This dataset is so rich that the traditional way we used to think about anonymisation... doesn't really work any more," he said.

"That doesn't mean we need to give up on anonymisation."

He said one promising new method was to heavily restrict access to large datasets to just simple question and answer interactions.

That would get rid of the need to classify a dataset as "anonymised" or not.

jxb/gw

FOR SALE CIA DARK SITE

‘You could do whatever you wanted’: Lithuania to sell CIA ‘interrogation’ site – TSWT

By The Switzerland Times

-January 25, 2022


A site formerly used by the CIA to detain and interrogate suspected terrorists near the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on January 20, 2022. © Reuters

In the Lithuanian countryside near the capital Vilnius, an innocuous-looking steel barn hides a dark secret. Behind its walls are windowless rooms with soundproof doors where CIA terrorist suspects were once held for questioning, under the notorious “rendition program” run by the US intelligence agency at the height of the war. against terrorism. Now, however, the site may soon have a new owner, with the Lithuanian government putting it up for sale at an undisclosed price.