Treaty to ban nuclear weapons made official with 50th UN signatory


Production, use and stockpiling of nuclear weapons illegal from January 2021 though nuclear-armed states have not signed up

The mushroom cloud rises over Hiroshima after the dropping of the atomic bomb in 1945. Photograph: US ARMY/AFP/Getty Images

Sun 25 Oct 2020

An international treaty banning nuclear weapons has been ratified by a 50th country, the UN has said, allowing the historic though essentially symbolic text to enter into force after 90 days.

While nuclear powers have not signed up to the treaty, activists who have pushed for its enactment hold out hope that it will prove to be more than symbolic and have a gradual deterrent effect.


Honduras became the 50th country to ratify.

The UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres, called it “the culmination of a worldwide movement to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons”, according to a statement from his spokesman.

Now that nuclear weapons are illegal, the Pacific demands truth on decades of testin

“It represents a meaningful commitment towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons, which remains the highest disarmament priority of the United Nations.”


NGOs also welcomed the news, including the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (Ican), a coalition that won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize for its key role in bringing the treaty to fruition.

“Honduras just ratified the Treaty as the 50th state, triggering entry into force and making history,” Ican announced.

Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said in a statement: “Today is a victory for humanity, and a promise of a safer future.”

The 75th anniversary of the nuclear attacks on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, marked in August, saw a wave of countries ratify the treaty.

They included Nigeria, Malaysia, Ireland, Malta and Tuvalu. Thailand, Mexico, South Africa, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Vietnam and the Vatican are among the countries that had already ratified it.

The treaty would come into force on 22 January 2021, the UN said.


Building the atom bomb: the full story of the Nevada Test Site

Declared nuclear-armed states including the US, Britain, France, China and Russia have not signed the treaty.

The US has written to treaty signatories saying the Trump administration believes they made “a strategic error” and urging them to rescind their ratification.

The letter, obtained by the Associated Press, said the five original nuclear powers – the US, Russia, China, Britain and France – and America’s NATO allies “stand unified in our opposition to the potential repercussions” of the treaty.

However campaigners hope the treaty will have the same impact as previous international treaties on landmines and cluster munitions, bringing a stigma to their stockpiling and use, and thereby a change in behaviour even in countries that did not sign up.

Ican said in a statement that it expects “companies to stop producing nuclear weapons and financial institutions to stop investing in nuclear weapon-producing companies”.

The coalition’s executive director, Beatrice Fihn, called it “a new chapter for nuclear disarmament”.

“Decades of activism have achieved what many said was impossible: nuclear weapons are banned.”

Saying his country had played a “decisive role” alongside others, Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz wrote on Twitter it was “an important step toward our goal of a world without nuclear arms”.


Revealed: Saudi Arabia may have enough uranium ore to produce nuclear fuel

Nuclear-armed states argue their arsenals serve as a deterrent and say they remain committed to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, which seeks to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.

Separately, Russia and the US have been seeking to break an impasse in long-running talks aimed at extending a nuclear arms deal between them.

The two sides have struggled to find common ground over the fate of the New START treaty, which limits both sides to 1,550 deployed warheads but is due to expire next February.

While the US wants to rework the deal to include China and cover new kinds of weapons, Russia is willing to extend the agreement for five years without any new conditions – and each side has repeatedly shot down the other’s proposals.

With Agence France-Presse and Associated Press

Uber, Lyft and allies spend record sum on California ANTI-gig worker initiative

Posted Oct 24, 2020


FILE - In this July 9, 2019, file photo a Lyft ride-share car waits at a stoplight in Sacramento, Calif. A battle between the powerhouses of the so-called gig economy and big labor could become the most expensive ballot measure on Nov. 3, 2020, in California history. Voters are being asked to decide via Proposition 22 whether to create an exemption to a new state law aimed at providing wage and benefit protections to Uber, Lyft and other app-based drivers.AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File

By Jeong Park | The Sacramento Bee and Tribune News Service

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A fight over the future of California gig drivers has drawn nearly $220 million in political spending, making it the most expensive initiative in the history of the state.

The latest campaign finance reports filed Thursday show that the Yes on Proposition 22 campaign has received nearly $200 million, mostly from five tech companies: Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Postmates and Instacart.

Uber has been the biggest contributor to the campaign, which aims to largely exempt app-based gig economy drivers from a state law that requires companies to provide more employment benefits to their workers. The company spent more than $57 million for the initiative.

Lyft spent nearly $49 million. Instacart put in nearly $32 million, followed by Postmates which contributed more than $13 million.

Those companies have said the current state law raises the cost of doing business for them. They have also said without Proposition 22, they will have to cut thousands of drivers and significantly raise the costs of their service, although the initiative’s opponents dispute those claims.

Nearly $10 million of the contributions didn’t come in cash. Uber, for instance, reported contributing $116,000 of its employees' time for the campaign in October. A number of companies reported providing the campaign with “consumer lists” and “driver lists,” to be used in sending messages supporting Proposition 22 to apps' drivers and users.

The campaign has spent $183 million as of Oct. 17.

Between Sept. 20 and Oct. 17, the campaign spent more than $67 million, mostly on television and digital ads, according to the reports. The campaign also put out about $150,000 worth of print ads in that period, some at targeting Black newspapers.

On the No on Proposition 22 side, which aims to have drivers be employees and receive full benefits such as paid sick leave, the campaign has raised just over $19 million according to the reports.

Most of the money came from labor unions, including more than $5 million from various chapters of SEIU, nearly $4 million from UFCW and $2 million from Teamsters.

The campaign has spent $12.7 million as of Oct. 17, including $8 million on television ads and more than $2 million on digital ads.

‘That’s no way to talk about friends’: Biden scolds Trump over ‘filthy’ India

Donald Trump had sought to defend his record on climate crisis and his decision to exit the Paris Accord, alleging the global agreement was partial to India, China and Russia that were more polluting.

WORLD Updated: Oct 25, 2020
Yashwant Raj
Hindustan Times, Washington

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden speaks about his plans for combatting the coronavirus pandemic at The Queen theater on October 23.(AFP)


Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden slammed US President Donald Trump on Saturday for calling India “filthy” and admonished him for speaking that way about “friends”.

“President Trump called India ‘filthy’,” Biden wrote in a tweet. “It’s not how you talk about friends—and it’s not how you solve global challenges like climate change.”


He added, referring to his Indian-descent running mate Kamala Harris, “@KamalaHarris and I deeply value our partnership—and will put respect back at the center of our foreign policy.”

During an exchange at their final presidential debate on Thursday, Trump had sought to defend his record on climate crisis and his decision to exit the Paris Accord, alleging the global agreement was partial to India, China and Russia that were more polluting.

“Look at China, how filthy it is. Look at Russia. Look at India, it’s so filthy, the air is filthy,” the American president had said.

“The Paris accord I took us out because we were going to have to spend trillions of dollars, and we were treated very unfairly when they put us in there, they did us a great disservice,” he had added.

Indian Americans and surrogates of the Biden campaign had responded angrily at the time. “His rhetoric has proven time and time again that he has disdain for India, as well as for people who draw their heritage from South Asia,” South Asians for Biden, a group of backers and surrogates, said in a tweet.

A congressional aide who spoke on background had said it was a “bizarre comment from a president who is trying to court India as a key part of his national security strategy in the Indo-Pacific”. And it was “oddly timed, especially when his secretary of state and defence (Mike Pompeo and Mark Esper) are headed to India next week to meet with their Indian counterparts”. The aide was referring to the 2+2 ministerial dialogue in New Delhi on October 27.

Indian Americans have been courted in this election like never before. Both the Biden and Trump campaigns have reached out to the community extensively, each arguing they would be better shepherds of the bilateral relationship with India.

There are an estimated 1.9 million eligible Indian American voters. A recent poll of the community showed an overwhelming 72% of them will vote for Biden and 22% for Trump (an earlier survey with smaller sample size was more generous to Trump — 28% to vote for him, 66% for Biden).

Ethiopia Blasts Trump Remark That Egypt Will 'Blow Up' Dam
By Associated Press
October 25, 2020 12:27 AM

FILE - This frame grab from a video obtained from the Ethiopian Public Broadcaster on July 24, 2020, shows an aerial view of water levels at the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in Guba, Ethiopia.


ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA - Ethiopia on Saturday denounced “belligerent threats” over the huge dam it has nearly completed on the Blue Nile River, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump said downstream Egypt will “blow up” the project it has called an existential threat.

Ethiopia's foreign minister summoned the U.S. ambassador to seek clarification, saying “the incitement of war between Ethiopia and Egypt from a sitting U.S. president neither reflects the longstanding partnership and strategic alliance between Ethiopia and the United States nor is acceptable in international law governing interstate relations,” a statement said.

Without naming Trump or the U.S., Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s office issued a separate critical statement amid an outcry in Ethiopia over Trump’s latest threat over the dam. The $4.6 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is a source of national pride, aimed at pulling millions of people from poverty.

Trump made the comment while announcing that Sudan would start to normalize ties with Israel. Downstream Sudan is a party to the talks with Ethiopia and Egypt over the disputed dam. “They (Egypt) will end up blowing up the dam,” Trump said. “And I said it and I say it loud and clear … they’ll blow up that dam. And they have to do something.”

The U.S. president earlier this year told the State Department to suspend millions of dollars in aid to Ethiopia because of the dam dispute, angering Ethiopians who had accused the U.S. of being biased during its earlier efforts to broker a deal on the project among Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan. Ethiopia walked away from those talks.

“They will never see that money unless they adhere to that agreement,” Trump said Friday.

“Occasional statements of belligerent threats to have Ethiopia succumb to unfair terms still abound,” the statement by the Ethiopian prime minister's office said. “These threats and affronts to Ethiopian sovereignty are misguided, unproductive, and clear violations of international law.”
 

FILE - A handout satellite image shows a closeup view of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and the Blue Nile River in Ethiopia, June 26, 2020.

It added: “Ethiopia will not cave in to aggressions of any kind.”

There was no comment from the Egyptian government on Trump’s remarks, but pro-government media covered them extensively. Egypt has repeatedly said it wants to settle the dispute through diplomatic means, but it has said it would use “all available means” to defend the interests of its people.

Ethiopia celebrated the first filling of the dam in August, citing heavy rains, to the dismay of Egypt. Ethiopia later banned flights over the dam amid concerns over possible military action by Egypt.

Now, with Trump’s new remarks, some Ethiopians are urging Ethiopian Americans to help vote him out of office in next month’s election.

Worried by the prospect of further friction between two of Africa’s most powerful and populous countries, European Union representative Josep Borrell said in a statement that “now is the time for action and not for increasing tensions,” adding that a deal on the dam is within reach.

The statement by Abiy’s office said the talks with Egypt and Sudan have shown significant progress since the African Union has stepped in to oversee them. Trump’s statement could undermine that process, said Abel Abate Demissie, an associate fellow at Chatham House.

Ethiopia says the colossal dam could help it become a major power exporter. Egypt depends on the Nile to supply its farmers and a booming population of 100 million with fresh water.

Negotiators have said key questions remain about how much water Ethiopia will release downstream if a multi-year drought occurs and how the countries will resolve any future disputes. Ethiopia rejects binding arbitration at the final stage.

A military strike on the dam would be disastrous, one water expert warned. The dam already has more than 4.9 billion cubic meters of water in its reservoir,” Abebe Yirga told The Associated Press. “It will affect thousands of people along the way if this huge amount of water gushes out of the dam.”

The Blue Nile joins the White Nile in Sudan to become the Nile, and about 85% of the river's flow originates from Ethiopia. Officials hope the dam, now more than three-quarters complete, will reach full power-generating capacity in 2023.

 

UN expert calls for Israel to end practice of administrative detention

By agency reporter

OCTOBER 25, 2020

Israel should release a Palestinian detainee who has been on hunger strike for close to 90 days and end its practice of administrative detention, under which people can be held indefinitely without trial, sometimes for years, says a UN special rapporteur.

Maher Al-Akhras began a hunger strike in late July after he was arrested. Israeli security forces accuse him of being a member of Islamic Jihad, a charge he denies. The Israeli Supreme Court has rejected his petitions for release three times.

“Mr. Al-Akhras is now in very frail condition, having gone without food for 89 days,” said Michael Lynk, special rapporteur for the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967. “Recent visits by doctors to his hospital bed in Israel indicate that he is on the verge of suffering major organ failure, and some damage might be permanent.”

Al-Akhras was arrested on 27 July in his hometown of Selit El Dahir in the West Bank. An administrative detention order was issued against him on 7 August to run until 26 November 2020. In 2009 he was administratively detained for 16 months, and again in 2018 for 11 months.

“Administrative detention is an anathema in any democratic society that follows the rule of law”, Lynk said. “When the democratic state arrests and detains someone, it is required to charge the person, present its evidence in an open trial, allow for a full defence and try to persuade an impartial judiciary of its allegations beyond a reasonable doubt.

“Administrative detention, in contrast, allows a state to arrest and detain a person without charges, without a trial, without knowing the evidence against her or him, and without a fair judicial review,” he said. “It is a penal system that is ripe for abuse and maltreatment.”

International law allows a state to use administrative detention only in emergencies, and only if a fair hearing can be provided where the detainee can challenge the allegations against her or him. In an occupation, Article 78 of the Fourth Geneva Convention only permits an occupying power to employ administrative detention “for imperative reasons of security.”

Israel has been regularly criticised by international human rights organisations for its promiscuous use of administrative detention. According to Israeli Prison Services data obtained by B’Tselem, The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, there were 355 Palestinians being held in administrative detention by Israel as of 31 August 2020.

While Israeli courts allow for a form of judicial review for administrative detainees, the Israeli Supreme Court (sitting as the High Court) has regularly approved the practice and refused Mr. Al-Akhras’s request for release in a ruling in mid-October. Two previous petitions for his release had been rejected by the Israeli Supreme Court.

Israel also regularly incarcerates its Palestinian administrative detainees in Israeli prisons, a violation of Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which says protected people under occupation should be detained in the occupied territory

“The Israeli security forces who arrested and detained Mr. Al-Akhras have not provided any persuasive evidence in an open hearing to justify its allegations that he is a genuine security threat”, Lynk said. He called upon Israel to release Al-Akhras immediately if it could not provide persuasive evidence on a high standard that he has broken laws that would be acceptable in any democratic state.

“I also call upon Israel to abolish its practice of administrative detention, release those detainees it presently holds, and strictly follow international law in the application of its security operations”, Lynk said.

Michael Lynk was designated by the UN Human Rights Council in 2016 as Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967. Professor Lynk is Associate Professor of Law at Western University in London, Ontario, where he teaches labour law, constitutional law and human rights law. Before becoming an academic, he practiced labour law and refugee law for a decade in Ottawa and Toronto. He also worked for the United Nations on human rights and refugee issues in Jerusalem. 

* Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Pages/Home.aspx

[Ekk/6]

In two weeks, UN records 19 incidents of attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinian olive harvesters

An Israeli settler attacking Palestinian olive harvesters in the West Bank. (File photo)


JERUSALEM, Saturday, October 24, 2020 (WAFA) - The olive harvest season, which started on 7 October, was disrupted by Israeli settlers in 19 incidents in the period between 6 and 19 October leaving 23 Palestinian farmers injured, over 1,000 olive trees burnt, or otherwise damaged, and large amounts of produce stolen, according to the biweekly Protection of Civilians Report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the occupied Palestinian territory.

In the outskirts of Burqa village in the Ramallah area, settlers stoned and physically assaulted Palestinian olive pickers on three occasions, triggering clashes. Israeli forces intervened in one of the clashes, injuring 14 Palestinians and leaving 30 trees burnt by tear gas canisters. The remaining injuries were recorded in farming areas near the town of Huwwara in the Nablus district, and the villages of Ni’lin and Beitillu in the Ramallah area.

Next to the Israeli settlement of Mevo Dotan near Jenin, about 450 olive trees were set on fire and destroyed shortly after Palestinian farmers from Yabad village were attacked there by settlers and forced out by Israeli soldiers. A few hundred olive trees belonging to Palestinians from Saffa village near Ramallah, in the closed area behind the separation barrier, were also set on fire and damaged.

In another 10 locations adjacent to settlements, farmers found when they were able to reach their lands that their olive trees had either been vandalized or harvested, and the produce stolen.

Several of the incidents took place in access-restricted areas, where the Israeli authorities allow Palestinians to enter only two to four days during the entire harvest season when the harvesting often takes as long as one month.

Another four attacks by settlers were recorded during the same period, said the OCHA report.

A one-year-old Palestinian was injured when the car he was traveling in was hit by stones in the Bethlehem governorate. In nearby al-Khader, 40 beehives were set on fire and burnt. In the Farsiya area of the northern Jordan Valley, Palestinian shepherds were physically assaulted by a group of settlers, and one of their sheep was killed. In Jaloud village near Nablus, electricity poles and cables providing power to agricultural rooms were cut and damaged.

In three incidents in Area C of the occupied West Bank, the Israeli authorities demolished or seized eight Palestinian-owned structures for the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, displacing 12 people, said OCHA.

Five of the structures were in two communities in the Massafer Yatta area of Hebron, which had been designated a ‘firing zone’ for Israeli military training. The remaining three were demolished in the community of Al Farisiya-Khallet Khader of the Jordan Valley on the basis of Military Order 1797, which allows for demolitions within 96 hours of the issuance of a ‘removal order.’

M.K.

Palestinian teenager dies after being acutely beaten by Israeli soldiers
Israeli occupation forces assault and beat up a Palestinian teenager near the city of Ramallah in 2015 (File photo)

NABLUS, Sunday, October 25, 2020 (WAFA) – A Palestinian teenager was killed early today morning after he was severely beaten by Israeli occupation soldiers near the village of Turmus-Ayya, to the northeast of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian security and medical sources.

Israeli occupation forces reportedly chased Amer Abdul-Rahim Snobar, 18, while he was driving near Turmus-Ayya, caught him and beat him up until he died. The teenager comes from the village of Yatma, near the city of Nablus in the West Bank.

No further details regarding the deadly incident were available until the moment.

M.N

Ashrawi: Murder of Amer Snoubar is a monstrous act of brutality motivated by hate

Dr. Hanan Ashrawi

RAMALLAH, Sunday, October 25, 2020 (WAFA) – Hanan Ashrawi, Member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said today that the murder of Amer Snoubar by Israeli occupation forces early today morning was a monstrous act of brutality motivated by hate and encouraged by impunity.

Following is the full statement of Dr. Ashrawi:

"The vicious murder of 18-year-old Amer Snoubar at the hands of Israeli occupation forces is a monstrous act of brutality against a defenseless young man whose only crime was being Palestinian. Israeli occupation soldiers bludgeoned Amer this dawn, and medical authorities have confirmed that he was beaten repeatedly on the back of the neck then left for dead.

Such crimes are perpetrated and perpetuated by Israeli occupation soldiers because they are part of a regime that awards criminality and ensures impunity for crimes, domestically and internationally. The daily structural violence against Palestinians, which is the lifeline of this illegal occupation, entrenches a culture of racism, hate, and dehumanization against the Palestinian people, allowing for such crimes to happen without shame, fear, regret, or accountability.

This hostile and hateful environment also allows for other forms of inhumane disregard for Palestinian lives, as demonstrated in the continued imprisonment of Maher al-Akhras, who is now on day 91 of his hunger strike to protest his detention without charge or trial under so-called "administrative detention." This cruelty is what drives Israeli occupation authorities from preventing Maher's elderly mother, wife and children from seeing him while he battles to stay alive. It explains the steep rise in demolition of Palestinian homes in the middle of a raging pandemic and provides context for Israel's targeting of schools, medical facilities, and other basic services.

The only way for these crimes to end is for the illegal Israeli regime of occupation to end. International concern and outrage will not save Palestinian lives or property. They will not protect Palestinian rights or dignity. The only responsible and moral response to these senseless crimes is accountability."

M.N

RIP
In Honor of the Man Who Created “Mr. Bojangles,” Jerry Jeff Walker

Paul Zollo
October 24, 2020

Jerry Jeff Walker, “Mr. Bojangles”

The man who gave us “Mr. Bojangles” is gone. Jerry Jeff Walker died yesterday, October 23, 2020, in AUstin, a town he loved and made his home. He was 78.

To write a true standard in this day and age – one song recorded by many artists – is rare. But “Mr. Bojangles” is a real rarity even among standards. It quickly expanded beyond its pop/country roots to become a cultural artifact, recorded by the biggest stars in both music and show-biz.

Music icons including Bob Dylan, Nina Simone, Harry Belafonte and Willie Nelson covered it, but so did show biz icons such as George Burns, Perry Como and, most famously, Sammy Davis, Jr.

Sammy, of course, was a beloved entertainer, member of Sinatra’s Rat Pack, and a traditional song & dance man. He transformed this mythic country ballad into a poignant performance piece, and it became his signature song.

Jerry Jeff was born in Oneonta, New York in 1942, named Ronald Clyde Crosby. He lived in New Orleans in the 60s, and it’s there that he became Jerry Jeff Walker. It’s also there that “Mr. Bojangles” was born, based on the drunk tank testimony of man he met there in 1965.

He recorded it in 1968. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band had a hit with it, and a chain of great versions emerged, such as that by David Bromberg, who owned it as only he could.

So in honor on the man who brought us “Mr. Bojangles,” here are a choice collection of recordings of his classic song. Though the songwriter is gone, officially, from this world, the song is everywhere at once, and as alive as ever.

Facebook Facing a Possible Lawsuit by FTC

25 Oct, 2020
 Olivia Miller

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is apparently on the brink of filing an antitrust lawsuit against Facebook for its monopolistic practices, according to two people with knowledge.

The FTC members recently met to discuss Facebook’s practice of swallowing up smaller rivals to maintain a monopoly, the people said. The commission has prepared three documents — one addresses the company’s potential antitrust violations, another analyzes its economics, and a third assesses the risks of litigation.

The commissioners must vote before any case is pursued.



Washington is aggressively pursuing technology companies for their antitrust practices. Google was sued by the Justice Department, this week for its monopoly power in search and search advertising.

Action against Google is the first such step against any technology company in the last 20 years.

Two weeks ago, the House Judiciary Committee, said that big tech platforms, including Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Google should be broken up in smaller entities.

The major tech companies. Including Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon are together valued at $5 trillion. Such capital power is bound to attract scrutiny.

Joseph Simons, the chairman of the F.T.C. opened an investigation into Facebook in June 2019. Around the same time, four dozen state attorneys general began a parallel investigation into the social network.

Facebook has faced legal issues with FTC mainly regarding privacy issues and reached a privacy settlement in 2011 with the agency. In 2018, Facebook was caught in the Cambridge Analytica scandal where the company was accused of harvesting personal information provided by Facebook to interfere in the 2016 election. Facebook last year was forced to cough up $5 billion in a settlement on data privacy violations to the FTC.

F.T.C. has collected thousands of internal documents from Facebook’s leaders and rivals. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO was also summoned by the government agency and Congress to answer queries about the company’s business practices.

The company has denied violations of antitrust laws. Facebook has 3 billion users across all its apps and market value of $792 billion, which more than substantiates its leadership status in the social media marketing space.

Facebook has a known practice of gobbling up any new rival that comes up in the space. It bought off both WhatsApp and Instagram, which gained in popularity after their launches. Facebook bought the photo-sharing app Instagram for $1 billion in 2012. It paid $19 billion for WhatsApp in 2014. Both mergers were approved by the F.T.C.

The House Judiciary Committee in a note about Facebook’s power writes that the company “has tipped the market toward monopoly such that Facebook competes more vigorously among its own products — Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger — than with actual competitors.”

The agency could file a suit by year-end, the report said.

Facebook in Showdown With Journalists, Academics Over Political Ad Research
October 24, 2020 

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Academics, journalists and First Amendment lawyers are rallying behind New York University researchers in a showdown with Facebook over its demand that they halt the collection of data showing who is being micro-targeted by political ads on the world’s dominant social media platform.

The researchers say the disputed tool is vital to understanding how Facebook has been used as a conduit for disinformation and manipulation.

In an Oct. 16 letter to the researchers, a Facebook executive demanded they disable a special plug-in for Chrome and Firefox browsers used by 6,500 volunteers across the United States and delete the data obtained. The plug-in lets researchers see which ads are shown to each volunteer; Facebook lets advertisers tailor ads based on specific demographics that go far beyond race, age, gender and political preference.

The executive, Allison Hendrix, said the tool violates Facebook rules prohibiting automated bulk collection of data from the site. Her letter threatened “additional enforcement action” if the takedown was not effected by Nov. 30.

Company spokesman Joe Osborne said in an emailed statement Saturday that Facebook “informed NYU months ago that moving forward with a project to scrape people’s Facebook information would violate our terms.” The company has long claimed protecting user privacy is its main concern, though NYU researchers say their tool is programmed so the data collected from participating volunteers is anonymous.

The outcry over Facebook’s threat was immediate after The Wall Street Journal first reported the news Friday considering the valuable insights the “Ad Observer” tool provides. It has been used since its September launch by local reporters from Wisconsin to Utah to Florida to write about the Nov. 3 presidential election.

“That Facebook is trying to shut down a tool crucial to exposing disinformation in the run up to one of the most consequential elections in U.S. history is alarming,” said Ramya Krishnan, an attorney with the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, which is representing the researchers. “The public has a right to know what political ads are being run and how they are being targeted. Facebook shouldn’t be allowed to be the gatekeeper to information necessary to safeguard our democracy. “

“The NYU Ad Observatory is the only window researchers have to see microtargeting information about political ads on Facebook,” Julia Angwin, editor of the data-centric investigative tech news website The Markup, tweet in disappointment.

The tool lets researchers see how some Facebook advertisers use data gathered by the company to profile citizens “and send them misinformation about candidates and policies that are designed to influence or even suppress their vote,” Damon McCoy, an NYU professor involved in the project, said in a statement.

After an uproar over its lack of transparency on political ads Facebook ran ahead of the 2016 election, a sharp contrast to how ads are regulated on traditional media, the company created an ad archive that includes details such as who paid for an ad and when it ran. But Facebook does not share information about who gets served the ad.

The company has resisted allowing researchers access to the platform, where right-wing content has consistently been trending in recent weeks. Last year, more than 200 researchers signed a letter to Facebook calling on it to lift restrictions on public-interest research and journalism that would permit automated digital collection of data from the platform.

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