The fight for housing security, a basic human right of which many in our country have been robbed, has rapidly become a fight over the shape of civil society more generally, with fault lines appearing across the political spectrum.

As the right seeks to wage a culture war over anything from the Last Night of the Proms, to the ethics of snitching on your neighbours, the left are at the vanguard of the tenants rights movement, directly resisting evictions and shifting the tenor of public debate around housing more generally.

The ban on evictions which was introduced in March, at the height of the first wave of COVID-19 was a vital piece of legislation that not only protected thousands of people from homelessness, but made the concept of a lockdown actually workable, alongside the tragically temporary end of rough sleeping. As remarked by The Guardian, it was a cruelly poetic twist of fate that the end of the eviction ban should fall on the day in which the grim double act of Prof Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance addressed the UK warning of 50,000 new cases per day by mid-October.

This means that the already overworked courts face an enormous backlog of eviction cases to deal with. Many tenants are unaware of their legal rights in the face of eviction, which calls the already shoddy ethics behind the entire eviction process into question and robs many judges of the chance to grant discretion in housing cases.

It seems absolutely perverse and reckless for the government to once again urge everyone to work from home if they can, but simultaneously work to undermine housing security for thousands of people. A Conservative election pledge last year was the abolition of no fault evictions, but the government has instead decided that those falling into arrears due to the pandemic should stop carping on and get a higher income or a more secure job. Meanwhile, Conservative generosity towards private renters has extended as far as a Christmas truce, banning evictions in the run up to Christmas taking a leaf out of the Ebenezer Scrooge school of housing policy. Ultimately, the Christmas truce is an admission that the Tories and their landlord friends have been waging a class war against private renters for years.

Labour MP Zara Sultana has called for urgent measures to protect renters, highlighting the fact that 300,000 private renters have fallen into arrears during the pandemic, a figure that is highly likely to rise when the furlough scheme ends, currently propping up at least 5 million jobs. Sultana urged the government to extend the evictions ban for another year, cancel rent arrears and scrap no fault evictions. A coalition of organisations including Shelter, Crisis and Generation Rent have also urged the government to extend the eviction ban and offer a short-term package of emergency grants and loans to help renters who have lost income due to the pandemic.

The rights of tenants and renters facing eviction have been picked up by Momentum as part of a widespread resistance campaign against residential evictions and a shift towards community-based action. Calls from John McDonnell MP for a Marshall Plan-style social housing recovery plan to build 100,000 council homes would go a long way towards elevating many out of precarious, expensive private rented accommodation, and would also create hundreds of thousands of jobs in construction and other industries.

Meanwhile, facing stiff competition for the title of Worst Landlord in the Country is John Christodoulou, the billionaire owner of Somerford Grove in Hackney. After campaigning for a rent reduction during the pandemic, residents were subjected to surveillance, harassment and threatened with legal action. The tenants, with the support of Generation Rent, the London Renters Union and Momentum now face immediate eviction, but to put it more accurately, they are now directly resisting their own eviction.

While the billionaire Christodoulou outright refuses to even meet with the tenants, the government and even the shadow cabinet have also neglected their duty of care and protection for renters. Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Thangam Debbonaire MP was incredibly dismissive when asked why she opposed forgiving private rent debt, bizarrely claiming that it would benefit the rich.

There have been a number of victories in the UK for tenant activists to celebrate this year, such as the Peoples Empowerment Alliance for Custom House (Peach) winning a 60% rent reduction and the right to live in council-managed properties. After four years of grassroots struggle, hundreds of families won the right to live in safe, secure and affordable accommodation. The London Renters Union have also been incredibly active in the capital, mobilising hundreds of members from disparate communities to resist evictions, preventing dozens of unlawful evictions over the summer. Acorn, a community-based union of tenants, workers and residents are also providing eviction resistance training for members as well as supporting direct action by members to resist evictions and win compensation from negligent landlords.

As we move into an uncertain future in which tenants are no longer protected by the eviction ban, it is likely that these unions and organisations will serve as a vanguard for many on the left who no longer see their views represented by the Labour leadership, but feel empowered to take matters into their own hands.

In the US, the situation of private renters is fraught, with up to 40 million facing eviction without a further stimulus package. Ominously, an Uber for evictions has been launched in the States, Civvl, who are anything but civil, call evictions the FASTEST GROWING MONEY MAKING GIG DUE TO COVID-19. However, in a demonstration of how tenant activism can have incredible outcomes, protestors across the US were able to secure an additional 4 month moratorium against evictions, buying time for an election and stimulus plan to be pushed through what will hopefully be a Democratic majority Congress. In Spain, the left wing Podemos coalition have frozen evictions until six months after the end of the current state of emergency. Other countries with more authoritarian governments have not seen this kind of support, for instance, thousands in Brazil have been evicted by force, and slums in Kenya were brutally demolished leaving their residents homeless during the pandemic.

If their complete rejection of a building safety bill based on the recommendations of the Grenfell fire public enquiry is anything to go on, the Conservatives simply do not care about private renters. In the face of this neglect, community-led organisations and unions are fighting in the streets to secure safe, affordable and secure housing, demonstrating solidarity with their neighbours and standing up to heartless landlords. The fight will be long and difficult, but in the words of Vijay Prashad, as long as you are resisting, you are not defeated.

Photo Source: London Renters Union on Twitter.

Read Benjamin James Davies article Britains COVID-19 Housing Crisis.

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Solidarity and resistance: How renters are fighting against unjust evictions - DiEM25

Former British diplomat Craig Murray was in the public gallery at Old Bailey for Julian Assanges hearing and here is his report on Wednesdays events.

By Craig MurrayCraigMurray.org.uk

On Wednesday the trap sprang shut, as Judge Vanessa Baraitser insisted the witnesses must finish next week, and that no time would be permitted for preparation of closing arguments, which must be heard the immediate following Monday.

This brought the closest the defence have come to a protest, with the defence pointing out they have still not addressed the new superseding indictment, and that the judge refused their request for an adjournment before witness hearings started, to give them time to do so.

Edward Fitzgerald QC for the defence also pointed out that there had been numerous witnesses whose evidence had to be taken into account, and the written closing submissions had to be physically prepared with reference to the transcripts and other supporting evidence from the trial.

Baraitser countered that the defence had given her 200 pages of opening argument and she did not see that much more could be needed.

Edward Fitzgerald QC in dated photo. (YouTube)

Fitzgerald, who is an old-fashioned gentleman in the very nicest sense of those words, struggled to express his puzzlement that all of the evidence since opening arguments could be dismissed as unnecessary and of no effect.

I fear that all over London a very hard rain is now falling on those who for a lifetime have worked within institutions of liberal democracy that at least broadly and usually used to operate within the governance of their own professed principles. It has been clear to me from Day No. 1 that I am watching a charade unfold.

It is not in the least a shock to me that Baraitser does not think anything beyond the written opening arguments has any effect. I have again and again reported to you that, where rulings have to be made, she has brought them into court pre-written, before hearing the arguments before her.

I strongly expect the final decision was made in this case even before opening arguments were received.

(CC0 1.0)

The plan of the U.S. government throughout has been to limit the information available to the public and limit the effective access to a wider public of what information is available. Thus, we have seen the extreme restrictions on both physical and video access. A complicit mainstream media has ensured those of us who know what is happening are very few in the wider population.

Even my blog has never been so systematically subject to shadow banning from Twitter and Facebook as now.

Normally about 50 percent of my blog readers arrive from Twitter and 40 percent from Facebook. During the trial it has been 3 percent from Twitter and 9 percent from Facebook. That is a fall from 90 percent to 12 percent.

In the February hearings Facebook and Twitter were between them sending me over 200,000 readers a day. Now they are between them sending me 3,000 readers a day. To be plain that is very much less than my normal daily traffic from them just in ordinary times. It is the insidious nature of this censorship that is especially sinister people believe they have successfully shared my articles on Twitter and Facebook, while those corporations hide from them that in fact it went into nobodys timeline. My own family have not been getting their notifications of my posts on either platform.

The U.S. government responded to Baraitsers pronouncement enthusiastically with the suggestion that closing arguments did not ought to be heard AT ALL. They ought merely to be submitted in writing, perhaps a week after final witnesses.

Baraitser appeared eager to agree with this.

Noam Chomsky. (Duncan Rawlinson)

Let me add that two days ago I noticed that the defence really had missed an important moment to stand up to her, when the direction of her railroading became evident. It appears that because of the ground the defence already conceded at that stage, Noam Chomsky is one of the witnesses from whom we now will not hear.

I am afraid I am not going to give you a substantive account of Wednesdays witnesses. I have decided that the intimate details of Julians medical history and condition ought not to be subject to further public curiosity. I know I cannot call back what others have published and the court is going to consider press requests for the entire medical records before it. But I have to do what I believe is right.

I will say that for the defence, Dr. Quinton Deeley appeared.

Dr. Quinton Deeley

Deeley is senior lecturer in social behaviour and neurodevelopment at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience (IOPPN), Kings College London and consultant neuropsychiatrist in the National Autism Unit. He is co-author of the Royal College Report on the Management of Autism.

Deeley, after overseeing the standard test and extensive consultation with Julian Assange and tracing of history, had made a clear diagnosis which encompassed Aspergers. He described Julian as high-functioning autistic. There followed the usual disgraceful display by James Lewis QC, attempting to pick apart the diagnosis trait by trait, and employing such tactics as well, you are not looking me in the eye, so does that make you autistic? He really did. I am not making this up.

I should say more about Lewis, who is a strange character. Privately very affable, he adopts a tasteless and impolite aggression in cross-examination that looks very unusual indeed. He adopts peculiar postures. After asking aggressive questions, he strikes poses of theatrical pugilism. For example, he puts arms akimbo, thrusts out his chin, and bounces himself up on his feet to the extent that his heels actually leave the floor, while looking round at the courtroom in apparent triumph, his gaze pausing to fix that of the judge occasionally. These gestures almost always involve throwing back one or both front panels of his jacket.

I think this is some kind of unconscious alpha male signaling in progress, and all these psychiatrists around might link it to his lack of height. It is display behaviour but not really very successful. Lewis has grown a full set during lockdown and he appears strikingly like a chorus matelot in a small-town production of HMS Pinafore.

Dr. QuintonDeeley. (Kings College)

There is a large part of me that wants to give details of the cross-examination because Deeley handled Lewis superbly, giving calm and reasoned replies and not conceding anything to Lewis clumsy attempts to dismantle his diagnosis.

Lewis effectively argued Julians achievements would be impossible with autism while Deeley differed. But there is no way to do retell it without going into the discussion of medical detail I do not wish to give. I will however tell you that Julians father John Shipton told me that Julian has long known he has Aspergers and will cheerfully say so.

The second psychiatrist on Wednesday, Dr. Seena Fazel, professor of forensic psychiatry at the University of Oxford, was the first prosecution witness we have heard from. He struck me as an honest and conscientious man and made reasonable points, well. There was a great deal of common ground between Fazel and the defence psychiatrists, and I think it is fair to say that his major point was that Julians future medical state would depend greatly on the conditions he was held in with regard to isolation, and on hope or despair dependent on his future prospects.

Here Lewis was keen to paint an Elysian picture. As ever, he fell back on the affidavit of U.S. Assistant Attorney Gordon Kromberg, who described the holiday camp that is the ADX maximum security prison in Florence, Colorado, where the prosecution say Julian will probably be incarcerated on conviction.

You will recall this is the jail that was described as a living hell and a fate worse than death by its own warden.

Lewis invited Fazel to agree this regime would not cause medical problems for Julian, and to his credit Fazel, despite being a prosecution witness, declined to be used in this way, saying that it would be necessary to find out how many of Krombergs claims were true in practice, and what was the quality of this provision. Fazel was unwilling to buy in to lies about this notorious facility.

Lewis was disingenuous because he knows, and the prosecution have conceded, that if convicted Julian would most likely be kept in H block at the ADX ( administrative maximum) under Special Administrative Measures. If he had read on a few paragraphs in Krombergs affidavit he would have come to the regime Julian would actually be held under:

So, let us be clear about this. U.S. Attorney General William Barr decides who is subjected to this regime and when it may be ameliorated.

For at least the first 12 months you are in solitary confinement locked in your cell, and allowed out only three times a week just to shower. You are permitted no visits and two phone calls a month.

After 12 months this can be ameliorated and we will hear evidence this is rare to allow three phone calls a month, and brief release from the cell five times a week to exercise, still in absolute isolation. We have heard evidence this exercise period is usually around 3 a.m. After an indeterminate number of years, you may, or may not, be allowed to meet another human being.

Behind Baraitsers chilly disdain, behind Lewis theatrical postures, this hell on Earth is what these people are planning to do to Julian. They are calmly discussing how definitely it will kill him, in full knowledge that it is death in life in any event.

I sit in the public gallery, perched 8 feet above them all, watching the interaction of the characters in this masque, as the lawyers pile up their bundles of papers or stare into their laptops, as Lewis and Fitzgerald exchange pleasantries, as the friendly clerks try to make the IT systems work, and my mind swims in horrified disbelief. They are discussing a fate for my friend as horrible as that of the thousands who over 500 years were dragged from this very spot and strung up outside. They are all chatting and working away as though we were a normal part of civilized society.

Then I go back to my hotel room, type it all up and post it. The governments who are destroying Julian have, through their agencies, pushed the huge corporations who now control the major internet traffic gateways, to ensure my pained and grieving account is seen by very few. My screams of pain and horror are deadened by thick padded walls. We are all locked in.

Craig Murray is an author, broadcaster and human rights activist. He was British ambassador to Uzbekistan from August 2002 to October 2004 and rector of the University of Dundee from 2007 to 2010.

Theauthorscoverage of the Assange trial is entirely dependent on reader support. Subscriptions to keep this blog going aregratefully received.

This article is from CraigMurray.org.uk.

The views expressed are solely those of the author and may or may not reflect those ofConsortium News.

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ASSANGE EXTRADITION: Craig Murray: Your Man in the Public Gallery: Assange HearingDay 12 - Consortium News

Why is #sun banned on Instagram? Though its hardly offensive to anyone, the hashtag is now banned on Instagram. Whats up with that?

Instagram is known for its tough banning policies, including meme accounts and female nipples, but many hashtags also fall victim to their ban hammer.

#sun is a part of a long list of surprising banned words on Instagram, in an effort to prevent bots from roaming free on the app (you know, those accounts selling 80% off Raybans, or explicit photos).

There is a slew of popular hashtags which these bots, fake accounts, scammers, and fake news accounts (or sometimes just people trying to gain attention to their posts) use to get more likes.

This common method involves using generic and popular hashtags to widen your audience. But in Instagrams fight for authenticity (a bit of an oxymoron for the app that birthed the influencer), they are cracking down on any accounts that use these hashtags.

However, if youre a regular user of #sun, you are in luck, as it looks like the ban may have been temporary.

The hashtag ban may sound dramatic, but you wont be automatically logged out and banned for life if you unknowingly use #sun. However, it is likely your content wont show up on the hashtag, and you may even be flagged for spamming.

If you repeatedly use banned hashtags, it could lead to your account being shadowbanned or potentially removed altogether.

Shadowbanning is when your content is only shown on the feeds and explore pages of those who already follow you.

In order to see if a hashtag is banned simply search for it and it should have a notification warning that posts from the tag are currently hidden.

Other popular currently banned tags include, #beautyblogger, #saltwater, #snapchat, #hardworkpaysoff, #humpday, #tag4like, #sopretty, and more.

In other news, Meet Olivia Holzmacher: Joe Burrow's girlfriend on Instagram!

Go here to read the rest:

Why is #sun banned on Instagram? How the app fights fake accounts and bots - HITC - Football, Gaming, Movies, TV, Music

Stock image. Police officers outside St Thomas' Hospital in Central London. Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

People in England who refuse an order to self-isolate will face fines of up to 10,000, the Government has warned amid deepening concern at the sharp upsurge in coronavirus infections.

In a significant toughening up of the regulations, ministers will impose a new legal duty on people to self-isolate if they test positive for the disease or are told to do so by NHS Test and Trace after coming into contact with someone with the virus.

Those on lower incomes who face a loss of earnings as a result of going into quarantine will be eligible for a one-off support payment of 500 to help them cope financially.

With new cases of the infection doubling every week, Boris Johnson said the measures were necessary to control the spread of the virus and to protect the most vulnerable from becoming infected.

However they are likely to alarm some Conservative MPs already concerned at the wide-ranging powers being taken by ministers to curb the disease with little or no debate in Parliament.

The new regulations will come into force in England on September 28, although ministers are in discussion with the devolved administrations for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland about extending them UK-wide.

It follows a warning by Professor Neil Ferguson, of Imperial College London whose modelling led to the original nationwide lockdown, that the authorities needed to act sooner rather than later if they were to avoid a return to the infection rates of last March.

Ministers are still looking at further restrictions, including a temporary two or three-week circuit break in an attempt to break the chain of transmission.

The move could see pubs and restaurants ordered to close or face a 10pm curfew, while socialising between households could be banned.

On Friday, the Prime Minister acknowledged the long-feared second wave of the pandemic affecting countries such as France and Spain had reached Britain and that more cases of the disease were inevitable.

Announcing the new rules, Mr Johnson said: The best way we can fight this virus is by everyone following the rules and self-isolating if theyre at risk of passing on coronavirus.

And so nobody underestimates just how important this is, new regulations will mean you are legally obliged to do so if you have the virus or have been asked to do so by NHS Test and Trace.

People who choose to ignore the rules will face significant fines. We need to do all we can to control the spread of this virus, to prevent the most vulnerable people from becoming infected, and to protect the NHS and save lives.

Fines will initially start at 1,000 rising to 10,000 for repeat offenders and for the most egregious breaches including those who stop other people from self-isolating, such an employer who requires a staff member to come into work in violation of an order.

The penalties are in line with those for people who fail to quarantine for 14 days after returning to the UK from a country not on the list of low risk nations.

Officials said NHS Test and Trace would be in regular contact with individuals told to self-isolate and would report any suspicions that people were not complying to the police and local authorities.

Police will also check compliance in Covid-19 hotspots and among groups considered to be high-risk as well as following up reports from members of the public of people who have tested positive but are not self-isolating.

Prosecutions could follow in high-profile and egregious cases of non-compliance.

As with other coronavirus rules, there will be specific exemptions for those who need to escape from illness or harm during their isolation, and for those who require care.

Officials said just under four million people on benefits in England would be eligible for the support payments if they lose income as a result of being unable to go into work.

For Labour, shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds welcomed the belated announcement of additional financial assistance.

It shouldnt have taken months for the penny to finally drop that people on low incomes needed more help, she said.

The latest announcement comes just days after the rule of six banning social gatherings of more than six people came into force and will been seen as further evidence of the concern in Whitehall at the rate of spread of the disease.

On Friday, the Government announced tough new restrictions were being imposed in large parts of Englands North West, West Yorkshire and the Midlands.

It means by Tuesday, when the measures come into force, around 13.5 million people in the UK will be living under some form of additional coronavirus controls.

Prof Ferguson said the country was caught in a perfect storm following the easing of lockdown restrictions over the summer, and that swift action was needed to stop the virus spreading out of control.

Right now we are at about the levels of infection we were seeing in this country in late February, he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

If we leave it another two to four weeks we will be back at levels we were seeing more like mid-March. Thats clearly going to cause deaths because people will be hospitalised.

I think some additional measures are likely to be needed sooner rather than later.

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Coronavirus in UK: 10,000 fine threat for anyone who refuses to self-isolate in England - Edinburgh News

Oh no, everyones favourite video-sharing app is leaning towards fascist authoritarianism again! New research by an Australian think-tank has revealed that TikTok had been censoring the hashtags gay, lesbian, and transgender in Russian, Estonian, Bosnian, and Arabic a move that affected global users regardless of their location. Dont you just love to be living in an oppressive techno-dystopia?

TikTok users posting videos with these hashtags are given the impression their posts are just as searchable as posts by other users, but in fact they arent, reads the report. In practice, most of these hashtags are categorised in TikToks code in the same way that terrorist groups, illicit substances, and swear words are treated on the platform. On some occasions, hashtags are categorised as non-existent, when in fact theyre tagged on videos across the platform.

If that wasnt disappointing enough, the censorship was extended to the term acab in English, restricting the reach of those wanting to express their frustration with police brutality.

A TikTok spokesperson told Pink News that the shadowbans were not a form of censorship, but a localised approach to moderation. (Sure, Jan.) They added that some terms were partially restricted due to relevant local laws, while others were restricted because they were primarily used when looking for pornographic content.

The company has admitted that terms were incorrectly moderated, and that a review into them would be taking place. We want to be crystal clear that TikTok strongly supports our LGBTQ+ creators around the world and is proud that LGBTQ+ content is among the most popular category on the platform with billions of views. Maybe stop doing stuff like this then?

Link:

TikTok confirms it's been shadowbanning LGBTQ+ terms and hashtags - i-D

Last year, TikTok was under fire for censoring LGBTQ+ content on its app in specific countries. Now, the video platform has admitted that it has been shadow banning LGBTQ+ hashtags, including the words gay, lesbian and transgender.

According toDazed,the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) exposed the company and stated that it also censored the terms in other languages like Russian, Estonia, Bosnian and Arabic. TikTok users posting videos with these hashtags are given the impression their posts are just as searchable as posts by other users, but in fact, they arent, according to ASPIs report. In practice, most of these hashtags are categorized in TikToks code in the same way that terrorist groups, illicit substances, and swear words are treated on the platform.

A TikTok spokesperson denied the news and insisted that the shadow ban was a localized approach to moderation, as perPink News.The representative then confessed that some terms were incorrectly moderated and that the company would look into the issue. We want to be crystal clear that TikTok strongly supports our LGBTQ+ creators around the world and is proud that LGBTQ+ content is among the most popular category on the platform with billions of views, they continued.

Stay tuned while we wait for more updates on the situation. In case you missed it, TikTok secretly collected data from Android devices for a year.

The rest is here:

TikTok Confesses to Restricting LGBTQ+ Hashtags on the App - HYPEBAE

Facebook have confirmed those who violate their Community Standards and have their account banned may also lose access to their Oculus games.

As previously reported, Oculus announced that users would need to merge their account with a Facebook account from October 2020. If a user does not merge their accounts, they continue using their Oculus account for two years (with support for those accounts ending January 1st 2023).

Judging by the comments to both the tweet and the blog post users were not happy. Many accused Facebook of inflating their user numbers via merging accounts (or users having to create new ones), and concerns over the privacy of the social media platform.

Several have stated they will switch to competitors, or demand a refund [1,2,3,4,5]. One user even prompted a response from VR rival HTC Vive on Twitter.

Now, Road to VR reports users will lose access to their Oculus games if they violate Facebooks Community Standards. A Facebook spokesperson made the following statement to Road to VR.

If you log in using your Facebook account or merge your Oculus and Facebook accounts and violate the Facebook Community Standards, Conduct in VR Policy or other terms and policies on any of our platforms your access to or use of Oculus products may be impacted. If your account is fully disabled as a result of this violation you may also lose access to your [games and content]. We are committed to keeping all of our platforms safer.

Road to VR also report that permanent bans would be reserved for (in Road to VRs words) the most egregious violations.Less violations could lead to suspensions which would (in Road to VRs words) restrict the use of Oculus headsets for up to thirty days.

Other violations would include using a fake name or date of birth. The spokesperson claimed fake accounts would be flagged, meaning users would have to resolve the violation before regaining full access to the headset.

Even so, Road to VR reports the company says that users can choose a pseudonym to associate with their VR activities and maintain a list of VR friends that is separate from their Facebook friends.

The phrasing of the statements also do little to inspire confidence. Restrict may mean anything from losing any ability to playing any Oculus games, or that social and online multiplayer features would be disabled.

Asked for further details, such as if suspended accounts could play Oculus offline, the spokesperson told Road to VR that many details had to be worked out. More details will be revealed in October.

The Community Standards rules are designed to prevent harmful content being shared online, such as abuse and scams. However, Facebook has fallen under criticism for stifling free speech, and relying on automated bots to detect violating content (with false-positives).

There have also been claims of censoring whistle blowing (or removing unfounded conspiracy theories), and a bias against those with conservative political beliefs. This is also true of Twitter.

Twitter has tried desperately to curb abusive accounts, and prevent users from being dunked on- no matter the reason. These have included limiting an abusive tweets visibility, allowing users to control who can reply to them, and even changing the default egg avatar due to its association with harassment.

The former- better known as shadow banning- even resulted in Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey having totestifyto the US House Energy and Commerce Committee. This was due to allegations of censorship, especially aimed at those with republican beliefs. Twitters terms of service (as of January 2020) effectively wrote shadow banning into their terms [1,2,3].

On May 28th, United States President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Preventing Online Censorship,after Twitter marked one of his tweets as deceptive. President Trump had expressed concern that mail-in ballots will be anything less than substantially fraudulent.

In summation, the executive order ascertains that social media is the modernpublic square.As such they would lose their protections from being liable for what users post, if they use their power over a vital means of communication to engage in deceptive or pretextual actions stifling free and open debate by censoring certain viewpoints.

Image:Oculus,Wikipedia

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Facebook: Those Who Violate Community Standards and are Banned "May also Lose Access" to Oculus Games - Niche Gamer

Despite being a platform known mostly for funny dances and viral trends, TikTok has found itself in the headlines again.

According to a new report from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, the platform has been censoring hashtags related to the LGBTI+ community, political issues and certain leaders.

Among the banned terms are 'gay' in multiple languages including Russian and Arabic, #acab and "Putin is a thief" in Russian.

"TikTok had previously said they were taking down or moderating content based on geolocation and based on local laws," says Daria Impiombato, one of the researchers who worked on the report.

"But in reality we have found that several hashtags like 'gay' in Russian or Arabic are actually being censored globally."

Daria and her colleagues said these terms are effectively "shadowbanned."

That means videos using the tags don't show up in your feed or when you search for them, even though they can still be accessed by actually clicking on the tag itself when you've uploaded a video.

TikTok is a social media app that allows people to create video clips and share live broadcasts.

TikTok is a social media app that allows people to create video clips and share live broadcasts.

"We published a video with the hashtag 'gay' in Russian and clicking through that hashtag we were actually redirected through to the hashtag page and we could find thousands of videos that had accumulated millions of views, but when you searched through the search function on the app you could find nothing."

Daria says shadow bans are having an impact on users around the world, including here in Australia.

"We have searched from Australia and we still couldn't access that content; it impacts all those people who speak those languages."

The ABC understands that some tags were restricted by TikTok to comply with local laws, but others were suppressed because the company believed they were being used to search for porn on the platform.

"Our policies and practices are informed by experts across the field and continually evolve to meet the needs of our vibrant community," the company said in a statement.

"We've committed to making our moderation policies, algorithm, and data security practices available to experts, which no other company in our space has been willing to do,"

"We are deeply committed to inclusivity and proud that content celebrating our diverse community is among the most popular on TikTok."

Even though TikTok is the platform copping heat right now, plenty of other social media companies have been called out for allegedly discriminating against queer content.

Queer YouTube creators have accused the site of demonetising their videos and Instagram has been criticsed for algorithms that labelled images of gender diverse people of colour as ads for sex work.

Tina and Renee Dixson, are ANU PhD Candidates and co-founders of the Forcibly Displaced People Network, the first Australian LGBTIQ+ Refugee-led community organisation.

They say this kind of shadow banning isn't just a problem on TikTok and it's having serious consequences.

"They're all guilty in this," says Renee.

"They're not only erasing your existence, they cut out the possibilities to connect with your community."

Tina says by shadowbanning LGBTI+ tags, TikTok is cutting off opportunities for queer people to connect with their community in countries where their sexuality is already not accepted ."In so many cases people are reliant on that representation to see that they're not alone," she says.

Tina [left] and Renee Dixson are ANU PhD Candidates and co-founders of the Forcibly Displaced People Network, the first Australian LGBTIQ+ Refugee-led community organisation.

Tina [left] and Renee Dixson are ANU PhD Candidates and co-founders of the Forcibly Displaced People Network, the first Australian LGBTIQ+ Refugee-led community organisation.

"What they want is to be seen and to know their lives are legitimate and valid."

"When we're suppressing any mentions, especially positive mentions... this actually has really negative consequences for people because they don't see themselves represented."

Tina and Renee have got some suggestions for how the social media giants can up their game, by tackling the root causes of homophobia and transphobia rather than queer tags.

"Every time we report any homophobic or transphobic behaviours against the content we post... every single time it says it doesn't violate community guidelines," Tina says.

"If we can create an algorithm that can detect a woman's nipple on an instagram picture and ban it, then clearly we can create an algorithm that would detect homophobia, transphobia and racism and ban it."

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TikTok caught out suppressing LGBTI+ and political hashtags - ABC News

Labour is demanding the government perform an eleventh-hour U-turn and extend the eviction moratorium until they have a credible plan to ensure people do not lose their homes as a result of the pandemic.

With just six days remaining until courts can once again begin procession proceedings, shadow housing secretary Thangam Debbonaire warned of a cliff-edge facing thousands in the rental sector.

In an attempt to alleviate concerns over the imminent lifting of the ban, the government extended the notice period for renters are given to leave a property from three to six months, excluding cases involving anti-social tenants.

While welcoming the measures that would prevent the misery of tenants facing eviction over the festive period, charity Shelter warned those people who were served notices by landlords before August could still face automatic eviction when the moratorium expires.

The organisation has previously warned that 174,000 tenants were threatened with eviction by landlords or letting agents by the end of June.

And for renters served notice after August, the measures simply delay the threat of homelessness, they added. With the double-whammy of recession and the furlough scheme ending next month, and thousands in financial peril, the government must support the renters most in need with paying their rent.

Ahead of the resumption of courts hearing eviction cases, Ms Debbonaire told a roundtable discussion on Tuesday: We have been warning the government for months about the potential rise in homelessness if they lift this ban without a plan.

Echoing Shelters comments, the Labour MP said extending eviction notice periods to six months, from three, doesnt help people who were served notice before August.

She added: Unfortunately the government has in my view been far too slow. The government did U-turn at the last minute last month and they brought in this very short extension. This was welcomed, but in my view theyve wasted that time and were still facing largely the same cliff-edge this Sunday that the government narrowly avoided at the end of August.

I believe the government should not lift the ban until theyve got a credible for how to make sure people do not lose their homes because of coronavirus.

One tenant, speaking on the condition of anonymity at the roundtable discussion hosted by campaigning group Generation Rent, said that just before the pandemic hit they were made redundant and had enough money to cover just the first rental payment of the lockdown.

After that I had to tell my landlady that look Im only going to be able to cover what the government gives me and the government gives me less than a third of what my rent is, which is just below the market rate in south-east London.

Ive been paying that since, but Ive gone into arrears of a few thousand pounds now. Ive been looking for work but because of the Covid situation its a lot tougher now. Ive also got mental health issues and its really impacted my anxiety severely.

He added: I wanted the government to say, even temporarily while this crisis is going on, we will actually cover the market rate of the rent.

At the moment its extremely tough and its having a real impact. Luckily, I havent had an eviction notice or anything yet, unlike some others. But you never know when that comes through once that comes through its the end game because Ive got nowhere else to go.

A second tenant on Tuesday afternoon urged the government to extend the eviction ban amid rising cases of coronavirus and fears of the UK is experiencing a second wave of the pandemic. While the renter said they had not received an eviction note, the landlord was consistently asking whether they have found another property.

Everytime he sees me, everytime he sends me a text: You find another property. Although he didnt send me an eviction note, its not good to live under that pressure."

A third tenant speaking at the roundtable, who lives in an east-London block, said they had been served a section 21 notice by their landlord, dated for 21 September the day after the moratorium on evictions ceases in England and Wales.

A lot of people in the building are young freelancers, people working in the gig economy. So the Covid crisis hit us in a particular way, with lots of people loosing income, including my partner, who shares the rent with me, the tenant said.

In an attempt to alleviate financial pressures, tenants in the building wrote a letter to the landlord asking for a rental discount during the crisis, or at least a guarantee that no-one evicted if they couldnt pay.

They added: We were very surprised at the response we got. The letter received said we were supposedly saving money on cancelled holidays and lunches that we could use to pay the rent in full. So, we received no discount whatsoever.

The National Residential Landlords Association, which has previously called for government support for those suffering rent arrears, however, urged the government to keep its word and ensure that urgent repossession cases can be heard again after 20 September.

They added: We need the courts to deal with cases where tenants are committing anti-social behaviour or where there are long-standing rent arrears that have nothing to do with the pandemic. Over the last six months landlords have been powerless to take any action against those who cause misery for fellow tenants and neighbours. This has to end.

Speaking last week, Mr Jenrick said: We have protected renters during the pandemic by banning evictions for six months the longest eviction ban in the UK. To further support renters we have increased notice period to six months, and unprecedented measure to help keep people in their homes over the winter months.

It is right that we strike a balance between protecting vulnerable renters and ensuring landlords whose tenants have behaved illegally or anti-social ways have access to justice. Our legislation means such cases will be subject to shorter notice periods and then prioritised through the judiciarys new court processes.

More here:

Government urged to extend eviction ban to avoid cliff-edge for renters - The Independent

The government has admitted its coronavirus testing issues will take weeks to solve.

Health secretary Matt Hancock has been accused of presiding over a fiasco amid signs of massive strain on the testing system.

Issues have included huge queues for tests, people reporting they have been unable to get tests, and others being offered tests hundreds of miles from their homes.

It has meant suspected COVID-19 patients with acute medical needs, as well as people in care homes, will now be prioritised under plans to ration tests.

Hancock was summoned to the House of Commons on Tuesday to answer an urgent question on the situation.

He was invited by his predecessor, Jeremy Hunt, to assure the testing problems would be solved in a weeks time.

However, Hancock would only say: We will be able to solve this problem in a matter of weeks.

In [Hunts] own constituency yesterday 194 people got their tests. So we are managing to deliver record capacity but as he well knows, demand is also high and the response to that is to make sure we have prioritisation, so that the people who most need it can get tests that they need.

People queuing for a walk-in testing centre in Bolton last week. (AFP via Getty Images)

Among the examples MPs fired at Hancock were:

Labours shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth accused Hancock of losing control of this virus as he said: People want to know when they will get a test and when this mess will be fixed.

Today there will be thousands of ill people trying to book a test only to be told none are available.

When will ill people no longer have to travel hundreds of miles for a test that should be available on their doorstep?

Hancock, who has been accused by Labour MPs of overseeing a complete fiasco and shambles, countered: When you have a free service, its inevitable that demand rises. The challenge is to make sure we prioritise the tests we have as a nation to those who most need it.

He also claimed the average distance travelled to a test site is now 5.8 miles, down from 6.4 miles last week.

Figures on Monday showed 2,621 confirmed new infections, with Hancock acknowledging the epidemic is growing.

On Monday, the governments rule of six coronavirus law came into force, banning most social gatherings of more than six people in England.

However, confusion continued to reign on Tuesday over the ban on mingling, with home secretary Priti Patel accused of not understanding her own laws by a human rights barrister after she wrongly said two families of four stopping for a chat on the way to the park constituted illegal mingling.

Meanwhile, a top officer toldGood Morning Britainthat officers were still unsure how to uphold the new law, whichbans any social gatherings of over six people.

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Matt Hancock says COVID test issues will take 'weeks' to fix as MPs accuse government of 'fiasco' - Yahoo Finance UK