500 arrested in global crackdown on illegal wildlife trade

Dec. 12 (UPI) -- A monthlong crackdown targeting international wildlife trafficking led to 500 arrests and the seizure of 2,114 endangered species, according to initial data released from a joint investigative operation by Interpol and the World Customs Organization.

The seizures, part of an annual global sting that began as Operation Thunder in 2017, was conducted this year between Oct. 2-27 in collaboration with numerous law enforcement agencies across multiple jurisdictions in 133 countries.During the operation, authorities confiscated 30 tons of endangered plants and thousands of live animals, such as turtles, elephants, rhinos, pangolins and primates. They also seized more than 550 tons of protected timber, particularly tropical hardwoods, which was enough wood to fill 440 shipping containers, authorities said.

Agents seized 53 primates, four big cats and more than 1,300 rare birds, as well as nearly 700 pounds of ivory from elephant tusks, thousands of turtle eggs, rhino horns, leopard skins, and lion's teeth and paws.

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There were also numerous pieces of animal body parts that were potentially headed to the black market.

"As part of a comprehensive strategy, customs play a pivotal role in disrupting criminal networks involved in the illegal wildlife trade," said WCO Secretary-General Dr. Kunio Mikuriya. "This is achieved by enforcing strict controls at borders, effectively closing off avenues for exploitation and financial gain available to traffickers."

A high number of the animals and materials have been linked to organized crime while legitimate online platforms were increasingly being used by smugglers to fence the illegal goods, the global policing agencies said in a joint statement.

Investigators set up checkpoints in multiple regions worldwide, searching hundreds of vehicles and cargo ships. Police sniffer dogs and X-ray scanners aimed to uncover concealed wildlife and timber shipments, while agents examined suitcases, which are often used by smugglers to transport wildlife species.

The tainted timber was often found mixed in with authentic wood, masking its origins as it navigates the supply chain, while falsified documents are employed to sustain the illicit operation.

"Wildlife and forestry crimes deprives countries of their natural assets and are invariably linked to armed violence, corruption, and a wide range of financial crimes which serve as the backbone of larger transnational crime operations worldwide," said Interpol Secretary-General Jurgen Stock.

Border Force seize big cat body parts and crocodile blood

12th December 2023
By Andre Rhoden-Paul
BBC News

Thousands of illegal wildlife products, including crocodile blood, big cat body parts and rhino horns, have been seized in an operation by UK Border Force.

Clothes and accessories made from turtle shell, snakeskin and ivory were also among the 145 seizures in October, the Home Office said.

More than 50 live birds were also among the illegal wildlife products.

The UK seizures were part of a global operation across more than 133 countries that led to 500 arrests.

Consumer products containing cactus, orchid and caviar were found, alongside more than 300kg of ivory.

Thousands of turtle eggs, 30 tonnes of plants, as well as primates, birds and marine species were also discovered.

The Home Office has been asked about the number of UK arrests linked to the action, known as Operation Thunder.

Minister for legal migration and delivery Tom Pursglove said: "The illegal wildlife trade is driven by criminal gangs and threatens species with extinction, fuels corruption, and deprives the world's poorest communities of sustainable livelihoods.

"Border Force plays a leading global role in eradicating this damaging illegal trade and our recent successes under Operation Thunder are proof of this."

The Home Office said it wants to help protect the overall decline of nature and meet the government's target of protecting 30% of nature by 2030 - which was agreed internationally at a UN summit.

Wildlife crime is believed to be worth up to £17bn globally a year and is the fourth-largest international crime, according to Interpol who co-led the global operation with the World Customs Organisation.

The Born Free charity, which campaigns to end the wildlife trade, said trafficking was closely tied to corruption, fraud and money laundering.

Dr Mark Jones, the organisation's head of policy, said: "With so much of the world's wildlife in crisis, it's vital that our enforcement agencies are properly resourced to enable this essential and highly specialised work to continue."

Ukraine has lost almost a fifth of scientists since Russian invasion

By Rachel Magee


Remaining researchers are leaving the profession in droves, or spending less time on their work

Ukraine has lost almost a fifth of its researchers to other countries since Russia’s invasion, a study of over 2,500 researchers from the war-torn country has found.

The situation in the country is even bleaker than that stark number suggests: around 15 per cent of the researchers who stayed have left academia altogether. And those who have stayed in the profession and the country have less time to spend on research given the circumstances of war.

“Our survey shows that Ukraine has lost almost 20 per cent of top scientists,” said study author Gaétan de Rassenfosse of the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland.

“Many of these emigrant scientists are under precarious contracts at their host institutions. Of the scientists who stay[ed] in Ukraine, if still alive, about 15 per cent have left research, and others have little time to devote to research given the circumstances of war.”

De Rassenfosse and his team surveyed 2,559 researchers who had been employed at a Ukraine institution when Russia invaded their country in February 2022. Their results were published in Nature’s Humanities and Social Sciences Communications journal on 12 December.

Capacity loss

They show that the average time per week Ukrainian scientists have spent on research reduced from 13 hours before the invasion to 10 hours after, equating to the country having lost about a fifth of its research capacity.

Funders and institutions across Europe have scrambled to offer support for Ukrainian colleagues since the invasion. But de Rassenfosse’s work suggests more is needed.

Just 14 per cent of emigrant Ukrainian scientist reported having secured long-term contracts at their host institutions. Meanwhile, 24 per cent of the scientists who remain in Ukraine said they had lost access to the resources they need for their research.

“Our study shows that Ukrainian scientists are getting more and more disconnected from the Ukrainian scientific community, and this is dangerous for the future of Ukraine and Ukrainian research,” warns de Rassenfosse. “Policymakers must anticipate the renewal of the Ukrainian research system in order for scientists to return, and to train the next generation of Ukrainian scientists.”

The researchers also said their estimates are likely to be conservative, as those most affected by the war are less likely to have responded to the survey.

 COP28: The UN’s net-zero food plan to save the 1.5-degree goal, combat climate ‘doomisim’

UN’s agriculture wing launched on Sunday a ground-breaking plan that looks to transform the world’s agrifood systems from a net emitter to a carbon sink by 2050.

NEWSROOM

DECEMBER 12, 2023

photo: Unsplash

As COP28 heads into its final working days in Dubai, the UN’s agriculture wing launched on Sunday a ground-breaking plan that looks to transform the world’s agrifood systems from a net emitter to a carbon sink by 2050.The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has identified 10 priority areas – such as livestock, soil and water, crops, diets and fisheries – where following the roadmap can help push the world closer to achieving ‘Zero Hunger’, the second of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 

The aim: to transform agrifood systems – which encompass how the food we eat is farmed or raised, how it is transported, and how and where we dispose of it – growing harvesting from net emitters to into a carbon sink by 2050, capturing 1.5 gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions annually.

The goal: To help to eliminate world hunger without driving the planet past the 1.5 degree limit for global warming as set by the Paris Agreement. 

On the side lines of the UN climate conference in Dubai (COP28), UN News spoke to David Laborde, Director of the Agrifood Economics Division at FAO, who said that the roadmap is designed to avoid “doomism” and provides avenues to act today in a way that can benefit all now and in the future. 

“We need policymakers to act. We need the civil society to be mobilized and the private sector to understand that making better choices today means making investments more sustainable and more profitable for tomorrow.”

While 120 action points may seem like a great deal, Mr. Laborde stressed that the end goal is to achieve “a system transformation where everyone has to play a role”.

‘A good starting point’

Meanwhile, FAO’s chief economist, Maximo Torero, told UN News that the goal of this roadmap is to transform agrifood systems through accelerated climate actions to “help achieve food security and nutrition for all, today and tomorrow.”

With around 738 million chronically malnourished people around the world, Mr. Torero said food must be part of the discussion on climate and must attract climate investments, which currently sit at a meagre four percent.

According to a report released in connection to the roadmap, FAO said climate finance flowing to agrifood systems is strikingly low and continues to diminish compared to global climate finance flows, at a time when this type of financing is urgently needed.

He said the work being done at COP28 is “a good starting point”, and this roadmap can provide guidance for implementing the Emirates Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action, which was launched at the high-level opening of the conference. 

Accelerating implementation

The FAO initiative was launched on the day dedicated to food, agriculture and water at Dubai’s Expo City, where ministers and other senior officials gathered to discuss pathways towards implementing the Emirates Declaration, now signed by over 150 member States. 

In a message to the high-level event, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said the Declaration is a “powerful statement of political will to drive the transitions we need” as the deadline to achieve the 2030 Agenda fast approaches. 

“With seven years remaining to achieve our sustainable development and climate goals, we need to urgently strengthen our collective efforts using food systems as a lever to accelerate implementation.”

Ms. Mohammed added that any path to fully realizing the long-term goals of the Paris Agreement must include agriculture and food systems, from which over one third of emissions emanate.  

A ‘seaweed revolution’

One innovative solution to some of the most pressing global challenges humanity is facing today can be found in seaweed, “the greatest untapped resource we have on the planet”.

That’s according to Vincent Doumeizel, Senior Advisor on Oceans to the UN Global Compact, who told the UN News team at COP28 that he was leading the “seaweed revolution” which could help tackle not only the climate crisis, but also the food security and social crises. 

Mr. Doumeizel highlighted the enormous ability of seaweed to absorb carbon and be a sustainable substitute for plastics, making it a great tool for climate mitigations and biodiversity restoration. 

“Seaweed can grow very fast – up to 40 centimetres a day to reach 60 meters high. So, they are a real forest, and they absorb more carbon than the Amazon Forest.”

The Oceans expert said outdated food systems are among the biggest contributors to climate change, biodiversity loss, water scarcity, soil depletion and social injustice, “with a massive number of modern slave active in these food systems”.

He said seaweed farming in East Africa has already proven its ability to create jobs and empower women in East Africa where “80 percent of the revenues go to women”. 

Mr. Doumeizel noted that despite being nutrient and protein-packed, almost all the very little seaweed we eat today is gathered on the beaches.

He stressed the need to “change the narrative” of fear and doom being presented to the future generations and to “feed them hope and optimism”. 

“I believe that if we learn to cultivate the ocean, we will be remembered as the first generation on the planet that will be able to feed the entire population while mitigating climate change, while restoring biodiversity and alleviating poverty. We can be remembered as such, but it needs to be altogether”.

Kenya: The dangerous rise of 'medicalised' genital mutilation

By Rédaction Africanews

As Edinah Nyasuguta Omwenga fought for her life after developing complications during childbirth, she overheard doctors in the Kenyan hospital describe her condition as a textbook example of the damaging -- even deadly -- effects of genital mutilation.

But unlike thousands of girls across East Africa, Omwenga underwent female genital mutilation (FGM) in a hospital, at the hands of a health worker -- part of a worrying trend keeping the illegal practice alive.

"I was seven years old... no one told me it would cause so many problems," Omwenga, now 35, recalled.

When Kenya banned FGM in 2011, few expected that the practice -- traditionally performed in public with pomp and ceremony -- would migrate to backroom clinics and private homes, with nurses and pharmacists doing the procedure underground.

Medicalised FGM -- as it is known -- is defended by practitioners and communities alike as a "safe" way to preserve the custom, despite risks to the victim's physical, psychological and sexual health.

According to a 2021 report by UNICEF, medicalised FGM is growing in Egypt, Sudan, Guinea and Kenya, where it threatens to undo progress made by the East African nation in stamping out the tradition, which involves the partial or total removal of the clitoris.

Kenya estimates that FGM rates fell by more than half "from 38 percent in 1998 to 15 percent in 2022". However, campaigners caution that actual figures are likely to be higher.

- 'Traditions defy education' -

In Kisii county, 300 kilometres (180 miles) west of Nairobi, more than 80 percent of FGM procedures are carried out by health workers, according to government data.

Doris Kemunto Onsomu spent years administering the cut to schoolgirls in the hilly region, believing it was a significantly safer alternative to the traditional procedure she underwent as an adolescent.

"Because I was aware of the risk of infection, I would use a fresh blade every time," she told AFP.

"I thought I was helping the community." The lucrative gig added 50 percent to her monthly income as a health worker before she stopped the practice. Demand came from all quarters, including upper middle-class households.

"Traditions defy education. It takes a long time to unlearn certain practices," the 67-year-old said.

Tina -- not her real name -- the daughter of an engineer, was at her grandmother's house in Kisii when a health worker turned up late at night to perform the procedure on the eight-year-old and her cousin.

"It felt like the world was ending, it was very painful," she told AFP, recounting her confinement on the orders of her grandmother, who told her she had to remain in seclusion until the wound was healed.

Now a student at the University of Nairobi, the 20-year-old campaigns against the practice, reflecting a growing push by FGM survivors to eradicate the custom.

As the youngest of five sisters raised in Kisii, Rosemary Osano said she "felt pressure" to go along with tradition when she was cut.

"People feel like we have adopted Western culture in so many ways... so they want to hold on to this (practice) as a way of holding on to their culture," the 31-year-old graduate told AFP.

- 'Save me from FGM' -

The belief also persists across the diaspora, with families flouting local laws and travelling to Kenya for the procedure.

In October this year, a London court convicted a British woman for taking a three-year-old girl to a Kenyan clinic to undergo medicalised FGM.

"It's done by the elite, they know it's wrong but they do it to defend their culture," activist Esnahs Nyaramba told AFP.

"They say that without this (cut) the girl will be a harlot," she added.

President William Ruto has urged Kenyans to stop practising FGM, but Nyaramba said the authorities needed to take tougher action against perpetrators, including health workers and victims' families.

"If you (throw) a parent... in jail and highlight it, then people will fear it." But other campaigners caution that a crackdown could drive the practice even further underground.

Instead, organisations have chosen to focus on building awareness and persuading families to opt for alternative rites of passage, combining celebratory coming-of-age rituals with traditional teachings.

At a recent ceremony organised by Kenyan non-profit Manga HEART in Kisii, around 100 girls -- wearing kitenge skirts and aged between seven and 11 years old -- sang songs and recited rhymes, urging their parents to "save me from FGM".

As the children received "certificates of achievement", their beaming relatives applauded and ululated -- the public ceremony reflecting an emerging resolve to end the dangerous practice. Some of the grandmothers and mothers celebrating that day knew the stakes all too well.

"I lost a lot of blood during FGM... but I couldn't stop it from happening," said Omwenga, the mother-of-three who nearly died during childbirth.

"I am here today because my girl is not going to go through FGM," she said. "I don't want my daughters to suffer like me."

 

Missouri AG launches investigation of Media Matters

BY DOMINICK MASTRANGELO - 12/12/23 

The opening page of X is displayed on a computer and phone in Sydney, Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. Australia’s online safety watchdog has fined X, formerly known as Twitter, $385,000 for failing to explain how it tackles child sexual exploitation on the social media platform. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey (R) says he has launched an investigation into Media Matters for America, the progressive watchdog, following its report about harmful antisemitic content on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

In a letter to the media watchdog, Bailey wrote his office has “reason to believe Media Matters used fraud to solicit donations from Missourians in order to trick advertisers into pulling out of X, the last platform dedicated to free speech in America.”

“Radicals are attempting to kill Twitter because they cannot control it, and we are not going to let Missourians get ripped off in the process,” Bailey said. “I’m fighting to ensure progressive tyrants masquerading as news outlets cannot manipulate the marketplace in order to wipe out free speech.”

Media Matters last month published a report laying out how X, under Elon Musk’s leadership, is placing advertising next to antisemitic content. The report, in addition to controversial posts Musk has made on the platform in recent weeks, has sparked a wave of blue-chip companies to pull advertising from the platform.

Musk days later sued Media Matters, alleging in court documents the company maliciously misled the public about how the platform operates. Musk’s lawsuit was cheered by many Republican politicians and conservative pundits once it was filed.

Media Matters declined to comment on Bailey’s letter Tuesday and in a recent statement called Musk’s lawsuit “frivolous” and “meant to bully X’s critics into silence.”

Polluted fish, tainted rivers and contaminated drinking water prompt state action in SC

Sammy Fretwell
Tue, December 12, 2023 

Joshua Boucher/jboucher@thestate.com

Previously criticized for its slow pace in protecting rivers from hazardous forever chemicals, South Carolina’s environmental department has taken steps that could limit the future spread of the toxic compounds.

In September, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control began requiring wastewater plants and industries to disclose whether they use, receive or generate forever chemicals, and if the contaminants are in wastewater the facilities discharge to rivers.

The department already had asked utilities whether sewer sludge spread on the land as fertilizer contains forever chemicals, also known as PFAS, or per and polyfluoroalkyl substances.

DHEC’s idea in seeking the information is to help the agency make better decisions on permits to discharge pollution.

Under federal and state law, anyone wanting to discharge pollution to the environment needs a permit from DHEC, but those are only approved after the agency reviews whether certain contaminants are within acceptable levels.

Forever chemicals have not historically been regulated in wastewater discharges and sewer sludge..

DHEC’s September decision follows pressure from environmental groups and recommendations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to track down and limit forever chemical pollution.

The agency’s action also comes after The State published a series of stories this year that revealed how PFAS-contaminated sewer sludge was being spread on the land as fertilizer in South Carolina..

The State and its parent company, McClatchy, found that about 3,500 agricultural fields across South Carolina had been approved for sludge disposal. In Darlington County, people who drank the water complained of illnesses.

Environmentalists praised DHEC’s action, saying it is overdue. The agency’s action also includes requiring more information about another type of poisonous compound known as 1,4-dioxane.

“For years, South Carolina has had a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy around PFAS and 1,4-dioxane pollution,’’ said Carl Brzorad, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center. “As a result, these toxic chemicals have contaminated rivers, drinking water, fish, and people across South Carolina — and the public has no idea who is responsible.’’

“We’re heartened to see DHEC start to peel back the veil.”

Forever chemicals have been found in most every river checked in South Carolina and at elevated levels in drinking water provided by about 50 utilities. The department also has found PFAS at unsafe levels in some freshwater fish that people eat in South Carolina.

These chemicals have been widely used in society since they were developed in the 1940s. Among other things, they can be used to repel water from clothing, make foam to extinguish fires, and keep carpets from being stained.

But they don’t break down easily in the environment. And they have been found to cause certain types of cancers, raise cholesterol levels and cause thyroid problems in people exposed to them in sufficient amounts. Until the past 20 years, much of the information about PFAS hazards was not widely disclosed to the public by the manufacturers and distributors.

In an email to The State, DHEC said the agency is trying to determine how PFAS tainted wastewater and sludge are affecting the environment.

“The information will allow the department to make more informed permitting decisions,’’ the department’s email said.

Oil wealth, U.S. intervention aggravate Venezuela – Guyana border conflict

December 12, 2023 

 BY W. T. WHITNEY JR.

PEOPLES WORLD

A man carries the new map of Venezuela with the Essequibo territory, a large swath of land that is administered and controlled by Guyana but claimed to Venezuela, to the National Assembly building in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023. | Ariana Cubillos/AP

Venezuela’s National Assembly on December 6 began deliberation on President Nicolás Maduro’s plan for incorporating Essequibo into the Venezuelan nation. The region lying between Guyana to the East and Venezuela to the West has long been claimed by both nations.

Maduro’s plan involves creation of a “Zone of Comprehensive Defense of Guyanese Essequibo,” the naming of General Alexis Rodríguez Cabello to direct the project, designation of state agencies for licensing the “exploration and exploitation of oil, gas, and minerals,” distribution of a revised map of Venezuela, and, importantly, creation of “an organic law for formation of Guyanese Essequibo and all the decisions [voted upon] last Sunday.”

Venezuelans on December 3 approved a referendum calling upon their government to establish sovereignty over the contested territory. Over 95% of those voting backed each of the referendum’s five points but some 50% of Venezuelans did not vote.

An old border dispute is now a conflict impinging on the very fabric of the Venezuelan nation. The major responsibility for the trouble, it should be noted, lies with U.S.-based ExxonMobil Corporation, its activities, and acquisitive purposes.

Guyana became a British colony after the Napoleonic wars. Britain was uncertain about the boundary between their new colony and newly independent Venezuela. A survey carried out under British auspices in 1835 put the colony’s western boundary close to or at Venezuela’s Orinoco River.

Venezuela’s actual eastern border during its colonial period, however, extended beyond the Orinoco, to the East, to the Essequibo River, flowing from south to north. During the 19th century, Venezuela’s leaders adhered to that version of the border.

President Antonio Guzmán Blanco initiated negotiations with Great Britain. Assuming that the Monroe Doctrine, as advertised at that time, represented a barrier against European designs, Venezuela’s government allowed two U.S. diplomats to negotiate on Venezuela’s behalf.

They colluded with their British counterparts. The negotiations ended with an agreement signed in Paris in 1899 that assigned the disputed Essequibo region to Guyana, the British colony.

Essequibo’s gold-mining potential was evident at the time. Now, according to a recent report, “Gold mining generates Guyana’s main export product, and such mining is carried out mainly in the Essequibo.”

Britain granted independence to Guyana in 1966. Earlier that year representatives of the Venezuelan and British governments, meeting in Geneva, agreed to submit the continuing dispute over Essequibo to arbitration. Venezuela’s government subsequently presumed that the 1899 Paris Agreement no longer applied.

With no resolution in sight, the two sides in 1987 submitted the issue to United Nations mediation. Nothing happened. In 2018, in response to a request from Guyana, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres referred the issue to the International Court of Justice located in The Hague.

Although Venezuela denies the Court’s jurisdiction, representatives of both nations appeared before the Court in November 2023. At issue was a Guyanese demand that Venezuela cancel the referendum that was scheduled for Dec. 3. The referendum nevertheless took place as scheduled.

Exxon Mobil responsible

The recent urgency of resolving the Essequibo quandary has everything to do with unfortunate moves by the ExxonMobil Corporation.

In 2015 ExxonMobil discovered copious off-shore oil reserves under Essequibo’s territorial waters. Guyana’s government expanded the bidding process for oil explorations. A previously humdrum territorial dispute had turned into a momentous contest with potentially far-reaching consequences.

ExxonMobil epitomizes power and wealth. Profits in 2022 were $56 billion. ExxonMobil revenues of $413.7 billion for 2022 were greater than the GDPs that year of all but 34 countries in the world; it ranked seventh for income-generating capacity among the world’s corporations.

ExxonMobil sees Guyana as its potentially most productive oil-producing region, a place accounting for more than 25% of ExxonMobil’s total hydrocarbon production.

According to analyst Vishay Prashad, “ExxonMobil … signed an agreement with the government of Guyana in 1999 to develop the Stabroek block, which is off the coast of the disputed Essequibo region.” He adds that “ExxonMobil was given 75% of the oil revenue toward cost recovery, with the rest shared 50-50 with Guyana. The oil company, in turn, is exempt from any taxes.”

According to Reuters, “Guyana has emerged as a key source for Exxon’s future production, with 31 oil discoveries in its giant Stabroek block so far. It and partners say they plan to pump 1.2 million barrels of oil and gas per day from the block by 2027.” ExxonMobil is exploiting off-shore oil and gas reserves in the territorial waters of Surinam, Guyana’s neighbor to the east.

Guyana will benefit. The International Monetary Fund is projecting 86% growth in the Guyanese economy due to off-shore oil production.

Venezuela’s government recently accused the Guyanese government of carrying out military operations in Essequibo together with troops of the U.S. Southern Command, their purpose being to “protect U.S. energy corporations.” A Venezuelan observer condemned “the provocative and dangerous incursions of troops of the U.S. Southern Command in [Guyanese] territory,” including “territory claimed by Venezuela.”

On November 30, a Guyana news source indicated that “At present, members of the U.S. military from the U.S. Army 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade (SFAB) are … in Guyana helping the Guyana Defense Force to build capacity.”

Citing U.S. Ambassador Nicole Theriot as its source, the report stated that the U.S. government would “stand in Guyana’s corner when it comes to threats to its territory and sovereignty.” It referred to “Exercise Tradewinds” which entailed 1,500 multi-national troops training in Guyana in July under the auspices of the U.S. Southern Command. U.S. State Secretary Antony Blinken visited Guyana on July 6, 2023.

The U.S. government has long paid attention to Guyana. As ordered by President John Kennedy, the CIA manipulated Guyana’s labor unions so as to depose left-leaning Prime Minister Cheddi Jagan, in 1964. More recently, Guyana as a member of the now-defunct Lima Group of nations was a U.S. ally in efforts to marginalize Bolivarian Venezuela.

CONTRIBUTOR

W. T. Whitney Jr. is a political journalist whose focus is on Latin America, health care, and anti-racism. A Cuba solidarity activist, he formerly worked as a pediatrician, lives in rural Maine. W.T. Whitney Jr. es un periodista político cuyo enfoque está en América Latina, la atención médica y el antirracismo. Activista solidario con Cuba, anteriormente trabajó como pediatra, vive en la zona rural de Maine.

 

Digital platforms like TikTok could help China extend its censorship regime across borders

by Ge Chen, The Conversation

Credit: cottonbro studio from Pexels

China's drive to expand its influence through soft power mechanisms like censorship is coming into sharper focus, especially under Xi Jinping's leadership. Recently, the social media app TikTok has become a prominent symbol of this global strategy.

The platform consistently denies that its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, is close to China's government. "ByteDance is not owned or controlled by the Chinese government. It is a private company," TikTok's CEO Shou Zi Chew said. However, US congressional hearings and discussions about potential bans this year may suggest that there are suspicions in some quarters of other countries suspect a deeper, more intricate connection.

The crux of the matter lies in understanding how TikTok, and platforms like it, fit into China's wider interests in spreading its culture, enhancing its global influence and censoring views it objects to across national borders.

At first glance, TikTok provides light-hearted entertainment via catchy dances and comedic sketches. Yet, its content strategy largely reflects a prevalent ethos in China—to "live silently."

This essentially means navigating the digital space in a seemingly non-confrontational manner, being less critical, or at least overtly so, of the Chinese government.

Given the myriad of censorship laws in China, this approach may be both strategic and necessary for TikTok. It reportedly ensures that content creators steer clear of potential controversies. By aligning itself with the Chinese government's narrative, TikTok would certainly reduce its chances of being banned in China.

Such an ethos, however, starkly contrasts with those of western democracies that champion freedom of expression, even when it encompasses controversial or unpopular opinions.

The US Supreme Court, for instance, adheres to a constitutional doctrine which holds that the American government cannot prohibit "expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable."

These two divergent philosophies are at the heart of the debate in western countries over TikTok and a broader narrative about how digital platforms can become tools of the state.

When censorship meets capitalism

The potential and temptation for China to exert censorship across borders gets magnified when it's intertwined with global economic interests. China's emphasis on cyber sovereignty and efforts to mold digital standards globally along with its aspirations to position itself at the helm of the digital era are closely aligned with its wider geopolitical goals.

Projects such as the Belt and Road Initiative further underscore China's ambitions, where "soft power" and censorship combine to become a formidable tool of influence.

Such global ambitions are intricately tied to China's economic prowess. Using the promise of access to its vast market and investments, China has been criticized for exerting what has been described as "economic coercion." Governments and corporations, eager for a slice of the pie, might find themselves compromising their principles, including freedom of expression.

This economic leverage becomes a subtle yet powerful tool, potentially making nations or businesses think twice about opposing or criticizing China's policies.

Today, global tech giants find themselves having to balance profits against democratic principles if they want to tap into China's vast and lucrative markets. The conundrum isn't just about TikTok's content policies. It's a reflection of the broader challenges global corporations face, balancing profit motives with foundational principles

A digital divide

China's efforts to exert influence go beyond mere content curation. Its economic prowess allows it to deploy what some academics have called "transnational repression"—a potent tool in the party-state's transnational censorship arsenal.

There's evidence that China has used a combination of digital platforms, surveillance technology and international collaborations to suppress dissent. This is not just happening domestically, but also among its diaspora.

If governments and corporations compromise their foundational values to access China's markets and resources, it extends the regime's control, ensuring that criticism and challenges to its authority are curtailed globally.

The ideological rift between platforms like TikTok and western democratic values therefore extends beyond mere business challenges. It underscores a profound conflict of values. Digital platforms hailing from China, such as TikTok, operate within a framework that mandates content curation in line with the Chinese government's directives.

Amplified influence

China's unwavering adherence to its ideological principles, including campaigns such as "class struggle," can be traced back to historical movements in China like the "Yan'an Rectification Movement" of 1942. The strategies may have changed, but the core objective remains unaltered: to amplify the influence of an assertive, authoritarian regime.

In today's interconnected world, digital platforms are not just sources of entertainment. Instead, they represent the convergence of technology, politics and culture. TikTok, and its global reach, is a testament to this fusion. With its catchy challenges and trending dances, it is not just an entertainment app, but a digital stage where business, entertainment and geopolitics converge.

As we continue to interact with these platforms, it's vital to understand these underlying currents, recognizing the geopolitical games at play beneath the surface of viral trends and social media challenges.

Provided by The Conversation 

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

EU opens probe into TikTok, YouTube over child protection

Canada Should Take the Time Needed to Get Its Cybersecurity Bill Right


Cybercriminals and state actors are rapidly scaling up ransomware and other attacks.

Michael Den Tandt
December 7, 2023

Cyberthreats are emerging from criminal enterprises, as well as state actors and their proxies. 

(Photo illustration by Kacper Pempel/REUTERS)


Bill C-26, the Government of Canada’s stab at shoring up the country’s cyber readiness, passed first reading in the House of Commons on June 14, 2022. The legislation has two thrusts; first, to keep hardware from adversarial states out of Canada’s telecom networks; and second, to ensure our critical infrastructure is hardened against a plethora of new digital threats.

Nearly a year later, in late March 2023, C-26 limped through second reading. The bill now rests with the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, for review and possible amendment.

That this law continues to languish at committee, 18 months after it first saw the light of day, encapsulates one of its core failings which, in fairness, is not unique to this piece of lawmaking: despite showing signs of having been written in a hurry, presumably in hopes of keeping pace with technological change, it’s emerging too slowly.

By the time it passes third reading, then meanders its way through the Senate to royal assent, C-26 may well have been overtaken by events. The threats it is intended to counter are multiplying far more quickly than the glacial pace at which the legislative process appears able to match.

What are these threats? The latest National Cyber Threat Assessment from the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (the Cyber Centre) encapsulates them in language that, for a government document, is remarkably direct. Cybercriminals are rapidly scaling up, evolving ransomware and other attacks into a transnational enterprise, while state actors — specifically China, Russia, Iran and North Korea — are deploying vast resources to attack and undermine open economies and societies by eroding trust in public institutions and the factual foundation on which their credibility rests. “You may be tempted to stop reading halfway through,” writes Cyber Centre Head Sami Khoury in the foreword, “disconnect all your devices and throw them in the nearest dumpster.”

To counter this, the draft bill offers two pillars: first, a revamp of the Telecommunications Act, giving the federal minister of innovation, science and industry sweeping powers to order companies to ban certain products, clients or service providers, with possible daily penalties of up to $15 million if they don’t comply; and second, the Critical Cyber Systems Protection Act (CCSPA), which would allow the minister and an appointed official to order cyber measures in federally regulated parts of the private sector considered essential to national security.

These include telecom, energy and power infrastructure including pipelines and nuclear plants, transportation, banking, clearing and settlement.

Seen from 10,000 feet up, the broad scope of the legislation will appear justified to some; after all, don’t significant threats justify dramatic action? But there’s a difference between action that is on point, and action so riddled with gaps that it’ll need a reboot the day it becomes law.

Christopher Parsons, in a dissection for The Citizen Lab, outlines six major concerns, any of which should be grounds for disqualification: an excess of arbitrary power; too much secrecy; inadequate controls on information sharing within government; potentially prohibitive costs for smaller firms (the legislation draws no distinctions based on scale or industry sector); vague language; and no recognition of Charter or privacy rights. Brenda McPhail, in an October 2022 analysis for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, echoes many of Parsons’s criticisms, noting wryly that the law joins “an increasingly long line of legislation that would fill a clear need, if only it were better.”

If the goal, broadly, is governance that promotes prosperity, security, accountability, diversity and equity in a democratic society, then C-26, as drafted, should not pass.

Is legislation urgently needed? Absolutely. But have its drafters gotten it right? No. Given the lightning pace of growth in cyberthreat vectors, it makes sense to continue to manage these threats on an ad hoc basis, as the minister has been doing, with assistance from the Cyber Centre and the CCSPA, and take the time needed to get the legislation right.

This article first appeared in The Ottawa Citizen.


The opinions expressed in this article/multimedia are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of CIGI or its Board of Directors.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael Den Tandt

Michael Den Tandt is managing editor of CIGIonline.org, a longstanding writer and editor on international affairs and a former advisor to the prime minister and deputy prime minister of Canada.

Bank of Canada Must Address the Sky-High Distrust Around Its Digital Currency

According to a recent report, 85 percent of respondents would not use a digital Canadian dollar.

Ori Freiman
December 12, 2023

Privacy must be a fundamental feature of digital currency, the author argues. 

(Photo illustration by Lorenzo Di Cola/NurPhoto via REUTERS)

In June, the Bank of Canada (BoC) concluded six weeks of online public consultations about issuing a digital Canadian dollar, an idea that has gained increasing prominence along with the rise of cryptocurrencies. Last Wednesday, the results of those consultations were published, along with the central bank’s report on the matter, and they are pretty revealing.

Almost 90,000 Canadians participated in the online survey. While keeping in mind that participation is not representative of the Canadian population and that nearly all who answered had heard about the idea of a digital Canadian dollar, the results were clear: privacy matters, and there is a major distrust of institutions with respect to how they handle private data.

According to the report, 85 percent of respondents would not use a digital Canadian dollar. Not surprisingly, most people ranked the ability to make private transactions as the most important potential feature of such a currency.

The report also found:86 percent of respondents do not trust technology companies to access and protect personal payment data responsibly and lawfully;
86 percent mistrust the Government of Canada to handle their data; and
72 percent mistrust financial institutions.

Considering that these institutions already handle our data, these findings signal that there’s plenty of work ahead for regulators and everyone in the financial ecosystem. Trust is key to a thriving economy, and this pronounced lack of trust hinders opportunities and limits the potential for fintech-related innovations.

When it comes to the potential issuer of the digital Canadian dollar, 79 percent of people distrust the BoC’s ability to safeguard their sensitive financial information. Assuming the BoC is a digital fortress, it must act to improve public trust in its ability to protect personal data.

Another point to consider is that 78 percent of respondents do not believe the BoC will consider their feedback as it builds the capacity to issue a digital dollar. This is ironic because the whole point of conducting a consultation is to gather feedback and insights from the public, and yet respondents feel their opinions will not be considered. The central bank needs to engage meaningfully with the public to build trust in its decision-making processes, too.

This sentiment is not exclusive to Canada. Currently, more than 130 central banks are exploring and experimenting with the idea of a central bank digital currency (CBDC). A CBDC for retail and public usage promises an innovative payment option, an alternative to other digital currencies, and a safer society through its ability to track the movement of funds involved in money laundering, terrorism and crime. However, despite the positive promises, CBDCs pose serious concerns.

The concerns range from cybersecuring CBDC infrastructure, through economic scenarios leading to financial and monetary instability, to dystopian scenarios for democracy. The latter concerns have given CBDCs a negative reputation worldwide, and with some justification.

The ability of future governments to access, surveil and control private financial data, and program digital money to have restrictions, could lead to monitoring citizens’ transactions, limiting freedoms, and identifying political dissidents and acting against them. In fact, Canada often serves as an example among opponents elsewhere: during the truckers’ protests in Ottawa, even a democratic and liberal government was not afraid to use financial instruments against those involved. How easy would that be with a CBDC?

A digital Canadian dollar has plenty of positive potential. It would serve as a novel payment option offered by the BoC for the public — in addition to cash. In an economy with a growing number of digital transactions and electronic means of payment, the argument goes, this new form of currency could better suit the needs of Canadians.

But a digital currency is doomed to fail without the public’s trust.

If the BoC goes forward, it must convincingly address these concerns, involve the public and civil liberty organizations, make privacy a fundamental feature of the digital currency and convince Canadians that a digital dollar would benefit the public.

These processes take time. Unlike the fast-paced, much-hyped, rapid and viral adoption of technological innovations, when it comes to the national currency, being cautious and careful is necessary to safeguard financial stability and democracy.

This article first appeared in The Globe and Mail.


The opinions expressed in this article/multimedia are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of CIGI or its Board of Directors.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ori Freiman

Ori Freiman is a post-doctoral fellow both at McMaster University’s Digital Society Lab and with the Digital Policy Hub at the Centre for International Governance Innovation. His research focuses on building trust in central bank digital currencies.