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BBC:
Facebook is under fire in Africa for undermining democracy, with critics saying the social media giant has allowed its platform to be weaponised for co-ordinated misinformation campaigns. The role of false news has taken centre stage in every single one of the continent's eight national polls this year - and last week Facebook said an Israel political consultancy was behind much of it.
It banned Archimedes Group, which it said was responsible for a network of those masquerading as African nationals, and removed 265 Facebook and Instagram pages and groups involved in "co-ordinated inauthentic behaviour" mainly targeting Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, Angola, Niger and Tunisia.
Nanjira Sambuli, from the World Wide Web Foundation, says it has taken Facebook too long to pay attention to this problem in developing countries. "Democracies are at risk on this continent, and unfortunately, social media platforms are fast becoming the sites of aggravation," she told the BBC.
Some feel the continent's weak regulations on privacy and data protection have meant Africa has been used as a "guinea pig" for privacy violations. "We're a training ground. Once it works in Africa, they replicate that and they use it across Africa other geographies," Cameroonian tech entrepreneur Rebecca Enonchong told the BBC.
Betteridge says "No," but my heart says, "Yes!"
(Score: 2) by Username on Tuesday May 28 2019, @11:18AM (7 children)
Well, thanks for proving my point. Your insistence on how you know more about my anecdotal conversation than I do, really drives it home that education will not stop people from spreading fake news or misinformation. By the way, what degrees do you possess?
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 28 2019, @02:47PM
By the way, what degrees do you possess?
Is a college degree necessary to recognize a woman's absolute rights over her body? Some things really are that simple. And where is the fake news in that? That all comes out from the anti-choice side. There is only one side here, and discussion by men is most arrogant. They only demand that the woman carry and deliver their package. Anti-choice people are claiming ownership the woman's body. I long for the day when women stop being so damn submissive about this and many other things. They really need to pick up a gun and shoot back.
And back to my original point, a proper education includes a proper upbringing that teaches respect for and love of live, not the tribal bullshit coming out of your religions and politics that appeal to the brain stem.
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Tuesday May 28 2019, @05:25PM (5 children)
Nope. Not going for it. You can try to distract from your unsupportable statement, but that dog won't hunt.
Just to clarify, you believe that *you* have the right to make decisions about pregnancy and childbearing for other people. Is that correct?
That's beyond arrogance. I'd point out we abolished slavery here more than 150 years ago.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 29 2019, @03:06PM (4 children)
Sorry that you are talking to the wall with these people, but I will continue to assert that the real problem is female submission to male aggression. The girls just have to stand up and push back. Arguing about it is stupid and wasteful. Men have no standing, period. Send a clear message. Just shoot between the eyes. Problem solved.
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Wednesday May 29 2019, @03:57PM (3 children)
While I appreciate your sentiment, I have to disagree.
Women have been "standing up" about agency (whether that be suffrage, control of their own finances, birth control, equal pay or family planning, etc., etc., etc.) in the US for a *very* long time.
What's more, this isn't a men vs. women thing. It's an issue of liberty and natural rights.
The same attitudes that gave us slavery in the US (is it a coincidence that pretty much every state that has been trying to ban or criminalize abortion is a former slave state? I think not.) are at play here.
What's more, this isn't (or rather, shouldn't be) a public policy issue. Rather it's a personal issue for those with functioning uteri to make on an individual basis, and not the purview of governments or religious fanatics.
It's an issue of individual liberty and choice. Besides these mouth-breathing, knuckle-draggers, you know who else is happy to criminalize women exercising agency? Folks like the Taliban and other regressive and backward groups like Christians.
So, no. It's not about women standing up for themselves against men. They've been doing that for millenia (read Lysistrata [wikipedia.org] if you don't believe me).
Many men are supportive of the agency of *all* people, including women. It's the folks who don't believe in liberty and equality who are the problem, not women. Please stop blaming those whose liberty and agency have been denied.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 30 2019, @12:19AM (2 children)
Funny that when I point out that people need to defend themselves, I'm always accused of "victim blaming". The thing is also that women are not a minority, we shouldn't have to treat them as such. If they stood up, we wouldn't see all sort of stupid laws "protecting" them. Why should they have waited for men to give them to right to vote? Why should they wait for men for anything? Well, because they, quite reasonably, say, *It's not worth the trouble*. There's food in the fridge, the kids are alright, another day, what the fuck... Speaking of which, oh honey...... that's what it all boils down to. "Fight, Eat, Fuck, Sleep".
Actually, we all know, women really do run the world. The male's purpose is singular. And since the male are so sensitive and emotional, they have to be allowed to think they are in charge.
Now, back to abortion. It is a cosmetic procedure for a temporary condition, still entirely within the purview of the owner of the containment vessel. The entire debate should revolve around that.
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Thursday May 30 2019, @02:24AM
My point was that not only are women standing up, they have been doing so (loudly) for a very long time. Sadly, progress has been glacially slow.
Did you just read the last sentence of my comment to save time, or are you deliberately ignoring everything else I said?
I'll say it again, as you seem to have missed the main points (is that a reading comprehension problem, or do you just perceive that I'm "attacking" you and getting all butthurt? Is that part of you being so sensitive and emotional?):
And you do realize that where it's important, we're in violent agreement right?
FTFY.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Thursday May 30 2019, @03:48AM
They never have. Are you that ignorant of history? Perhaps you should study a little history. Why don't you start with these women, they're just from the US (and a very small sample, too):
Abigail Adams
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Susan B. Anthony
Mary Wollstonecraft
Matilda Gage
Sojourner Truth
Margaret Sanger
Eleanor Roosevelt
Simone de Beauvoir
Jane Jacobs
Betty Friedan
Gloria Steinem
Angela Davis
Bell Hooks
Baba Wawa
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Coretta Scott King
Shirley Chisolm
I could go on, and on, and on, but perhaps you could start there.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr