Snapchat appears to have stopped working, preventing users from accessing the app or sending messages. The major outage comes just a week after Facebook was hit by issues across all its apps, including Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger. Website and app monitor Down Detector registered thousands of reports from Snapchat users on Wednesday. Users also complained across social media of issues with Snapchat.
via independent: SNAPCHAT DOWN: APP NOT SENDING SNAPS IN MAJOR OUTAGE
David Rudd said he sent the email after ‘a few glasses of red wine’. An East Riding councillor has been ordered to publicly apologise to Market Weighton’s mayor over an email asking him if his ancestors were “Nazis”. East Riding Council’s Standards Committee ruled Conservative Cllr David Rudd, of Wolds Weighton ward, broke the authority’s Code of Conduct when he sent the email to Mayor Peter Hemmerman. The committee found the councillor broke rules in the Code requiring members to treat others with respect but cleared him of bringing his role or the authority into disrepute. Cllr Rudd told the committee he wished he had not sent the email and that he sent an apology to Mayor Hemmerman days after his original comments in June 2020. But he also told councillors he sent it as a “private individual” and claimed the mayor had never shown him respect in more than a decade of knowing each other.
via hulldailymail: Drunk councillor emailed mayor to ask if his ancestors were Nazis
Experts say the public deserves to see the list, a clear embodiment of U.S. foreign policy priorities that could disproportionately censor marginalized groups. TO WARD OFF accusations that it helps terrorists spread propaganda, Facebook has for many years barred users from speaking freely about people and groups it says promote violence. The restrictions appear to trace back to 2012, when in the face of growing alarm in Congress and the United Nations about online terrorist recruiting, Facebook added to its Community Standards a ban on “organizations with a record of terrorist or violent criminal activity.” This modest rule has since ballooned into what’s known as the Dangerous Individuals and Organizations policy, a sweeping set of restrictions on what Facebook’s nearly 3 billion users can say about an enormous and ever-growing roster of entities deemed beyond the pale. In recent years, the policy has been used at a more rapid clip, including against the president of the United States, and taken on almost totemic power at the social network, trotted out to reassure the public whenever paroxysms of violence, from genocide in Myanmar to riots on Capitol Hill, are linked to Facebook (…) But as with other attempts to limit personal freedoms in the name of counterterrorism, Facebook’s DIO policy has become an unaccountable system that disproportionately punishes certain communities, critics say. It is built atop a blacklist of over 4,000 people and groups, including politicians, writers, charities, hospitals, hundreds of music acts, and long-dead historical figures. (…) The Intercept has reviewed a snapshot of the full DIO list and is today publishing a reproduction of the material in its entirety, with only minor redactions and edits to improve clarity. It is also publishing an associated policy document, created to help moderators decide what posts to delete and what users to punish. (…) There are close to 500 hate groups in Tier 1, including the more than 250 white supremacist organizations Fishman referenced, but Faiza Patel, of the Brennan Center, noted that hundreds of predominantly white right-wing militia groups that seem similar to the hate groups are “treated with a light touch” and placed in Tier 3.
via intercept: REVEALED: FACEBOOK’S SECRET BLACKLIST OF “DANGEROUS INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS”
The probe involves seven men but is centered on former Army soldier Craig Lang, who is separately wanted in connection with a double killing in Florida and is fighting extradition from Kyiv. One chilly day in February, Craig Lang, a former US Army soldier wanted for allegedly killing a married couple in Florida, pleaded with three stern-faced judges in a Kyiv courtroom to allow him to stay in Ukraine. He first came in 2015 to fight with a far-right paramilitary unit, defending the country from Russia-backed forces. And he believed that if he were extradited back to the US, he could face war crimes charges. “Any separatist or Russian soldier that I have killed would be a murder charge” in the US, Lang, 31, said in his gruff North Carolina drawl. “Understand that some of my fellow combatants are under investigation by the FBI for war crimes.” That was a stunning statement. (…) Authorities suspect that while in eastern Ukraine, Lang and other members of the group allegedly took noncombatants as prisoners, beat them with their fists, kicked them, clobbered them with a sock filled with stones, and held them underwater. Lang, the DOJ believes, may have even killed some of them before burying their bodies in unmarked graves. The war crimes investigation was detailed in a DOJ appeal for assistance sent to the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine in 2018 along with two Ukrainian documents responding to the appeal the following year. The documents were leaked to an obscure pro-Russian website. (…) hen they arrived in Ukraine, Lang, Rickert, and Pirtle allegedly joined Right Sector, a volunteer far-right nationalist group that formed in November 2013 and later created a paramilitary force to respond to Russia’s invasion of eastern Ukraine in spring 2014. Human rights groups have accused Right Sector fighters of abusing and torturing civilians and combatants. All the men were connected to Lang, who also briefly served in Ukraine’s military, and privy to his actions in the country. Their alleged roles in the war crimes vary, and BuzzFeed News has found that some were likely not present when they are believed to have taken place. (…) Roughly 40 other Americans have fought on the Ukrainian side, according to BuzzFeed News’ reporting and expert research. Many are veterans or men who had hoped to join the US military but couldn’t, and wanted to help a democratic ally in its fight against Russia’s aggressive authoritarianism. Others are opportunists who see a shot at a once-in-a-lifetime adventure and a fresh start. And several are combat enthusiasts who hop from war to war. But some are far-right extremists who have set their gaze on Ukraine, a place that has become a destination and training ground for such types in the West. As far-right extremism has risen in the US, so has the interest among American white supremacists in militarized right-wing Ukrainian groups that have had success in growing and mainstreaming their organizations and movements. They include violent neo-Nazis like those from the Rise Above Movement who have gone to Ukraine to meet and train with some of the groups — and then export what they learned to the US.
via buzzfeednews: The DOJ Is Investigating Americans For War Crimes Allegedly Committed While Fighting With Far-Right Extremists In Ukraine
Seit ihrer Wahl zur Bundessprecherin der Grünen Jugend wird Sarah-Lee Heinrich im Netz massiv für Aussagen angegriffen, die sie mit 14 Jahren auf Twitter gemacht hat. Doch nicht die junge Politikerin wird damit entlarvt, sondern die Netzwerke, die den Shitstorm führen. Ein Kommentar. Da haben die selbsternannten „liberal-konservativen“ Netzwerke mal wieder jubiliert. Konnten Sie doch endlich eine linke, nicht-weiße, erfolgreiche 20-jährige Frau ihres gesellschaftspolitischen grünen Endgegners quasi ungestraft durchs Netz treiben. Sarah-Lee Heinrich wurde am Wochenende zur Bundessprecherin der Grünen Jugend gewählt – und seitdem tobt ein heftiger Shitstorm, der gerade in eine Vielzahl von Morddrohungen mündet. Seit zwei Tagen kramen die Springers, Schunkes, Greenwatcher und Fleischhauers zusammen mit einer Melange unappetitlicher neurechter und rechtsradikaler Accounts uralte Tweets von Sarah-Lee Heinrich heraus. Die gut-geölte Hassmaschinerie läuft, wie so oft schon, jede Woche werden Menschen mit progressiven Positionen von den rechten Kulturkämpfern durchs Netz gejagt.
Kulturkampf mit Desinformation. Und während von diesen Demagogen durch die Gnade der frühen Geburt keine Relikte pubertierender Social-Media-Aussagen vorhanden sind, muss sich eine 20-jährige Politik-Einsteigerin jetzt mit aus dem Kontext gerissenen, um das Datum gephotoshoppten Tweets auseinander setzen, die sie mit 13, 14 oder 15 Jahren abgesetzt hat. Die Tweets klingen nach Schulhof, impulsiv, auf Krawall gebürstet. Die Aussagen sind teilweise hochpeinlich, ableistisch und homophob, das ist klar. Das weiß auch Sarah-Lee Heinrich selbst, sie hat sich dafür entschuldigt. Ich will in einer Gesellschaft leben, die Menschen verzeiht, wenn diese ihre pubertären Fehler einsehen. Es sagt mehr über diejenigen aus, die die unüberlegten Aussagen einer 14-Jährigen als Munition gegen den politischen Gegner zu benutzen, als über die betroffene Person selbst. Und wer es nötig hat, die Aussagen einer 14-Jährigen auch noch absichtlich falsch darzustellen, zu verdrehen oder zu verändern und gleichzeitig aus dem Kontext zu reißen, der hat nun wirklich jeden Kompass des politischen Anstands verloren und betreibt Hetze und Desinformation. Es sind die gleiche Kräfte, die sonst zu Rassismus, Sexismus und Antisemitismus schweigen, die jetzt die linke grüne Politikerin als Rassistin zu brandmarken versuchen. Die Strategie ist so einfach wie durchschaubar.
via netzpolitik: Sarah-Lee Heinrich – Dieser Shitstorm entlarvt die, die ihn führen
The data also reveals that 72,000 people paid at least $6.7 million for Covid-19 consultations promoted by America’s Frontline Doctors and vaccine conspiracist Simone Gold. A NETWORK OF health care providers pocketed millions of dollars selling hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin, and online consultations, according to hacked data provided to The Intercept. The data show that vast sums of money are being extracted from people concerned about or suffering from Covid-19 but resistant to vaccinations or other recommendations of public health authorities. America’s Frontline Doctors, a right-wing group founded last year to promote pro-Trump doctors during the coronavirus pandemic, is working in tandem with a small network of health care companies to sow distrust in the Covid-19 vaccine, dupe tens of thousands of people into seeking ineffective treatments for the disease, and then sell consultations and millions of dollars’ worth of those medications. The data indicate patients spent at least $15 million — and potentially much more — on consultations and medications combined. The Intercept has obtained hundreds of thousands of records from two companies, CadenceHealth.us and Ravkoo, revealing just how the lucrative operation works. America’s Frontline Doctors, or AFLDS, has been spreading highly politicized misinformation about Covid-19 since the summer of 2020 and refers its many followers to its telemedicine partner SpeakWithAnMD.com, which uses Cadence Health as a platform. People who sign up then pay $90 for a phone consultation with “AFLDS-trained physicians” who prescribe treatments such as hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin to prevent and treat Covid-19. The drugs are delivered by Ravkoo, a service that works with local pharmacies to ship drugs to patients’ doors. Of course, that’s if patients ever get the consultation; many customers told Time they never received the call after paying. The data from the Cadence Health and Ravkoo sites was provided to The Intercept by an anonymous hacker who said the sites were “hilariously easy” to hack, despite promises of patient privacy. It was corroborated by comparing it to publicly available information. The Intercept is not publishing any individual patient data and has taken steps to secure the data. After The Intercept reached out, Cadence Health’s Roque Espinal-Valdez said he shut the platform down, not wanting any part in profiting off of Covid-19 “quackery.”
via theintercept: NETWORK OF RIGHT-WING HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS IS MAKING MILLIONS OFF HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE AND IVERMECTIN, HACKED DATA REVEALS
Es sind nur wenige Eltern, die das regelmäßige Testen und Masketragen ihrer schulpflichtigen Kinder ablehnen oder Impf-Aktionen an Schulen behindern. Trotzdem müssen sich bundesweit Schulleitungen mit Widerstand aus dem Querdenker-Lager herumschlagen. Kritik sei zulässig, betont das niedersächsische Kultusministerium. Doch bei Drohmails werde die Polizei eingeschaltet – tatsächlich wird auch vor Morddrohungen nicht zurückgeschreckt. Sie steht etwas verloren in einem albernen Hasenkostüm am Straßenrand vor einer Schule im Landkreis Wittenberg (Sachsen-Anhalt), berichtet die „Mitteldeutsche Zeitung“. Die Frau hält ein Spruchband fest: „Kinder sind keine Versuchskaninchen“, so steht darauf zu lesen. Schulen, so sagt sie, würden „gefährlich“ missbraucht. Die Frau erklärt, sie gehöre einem „Netzwerk besorgter Eltern“. An mehreren Schulen im Landkreis werde auf diese Art demonstriert, jeweils dort, wo am entsprechenden Tag Impfungen für Schüler und Eltern angeboten würden. Eine harmlose Aktion – es geht allerdings auch anders. «Es geht um Einzelfälle, jeder ist allerdings einer zu viel»
So ist an einer Gemeinschaftsschule im nordfriesischen Niebüll ein anonymer Drohbrief eingegangen. Der Absender kündigt Gewalt an, sollte es an der Schule zu einer Impfaktion kommen. Wie der NDR berichtet, listet der Brief eine Reihe von Lehrerinnen und Lehrern des Kollegiums namentlich auf. Wenn die Pädagogen mithelfen würden, Kinder mit Impfungen zu „vergiften“, werde man vor Gewalt nicht zurückschrecken, heißt es in dem Schreiben, das der Schule anonym zugestellt wurde. Ein weiterer aktueller Fall aus Schleswig-Holstein: Gegen Lehrkräfte und Schulleitung einer Grundschule in Altenholz gab es wegen der Maskenpflicht einen anonymen Mordaufruf über eine Chatgruppe beim Messengerdienst Telegram, wie ebenfalls der NDR berichtet. Staatsanwaltschaft und Polizei ermitteln. Seit Unterrichtsbeginn nach den Sommerferien werden Schulen bundesweit immer wieder mit heftigen Angriffen von Eltern wegen der Corona-Maßnahmen konfrontiert.
via news4teachers: Im Fadenkreuz: Querdenker richten Morddrohungen gegen Lehrer und Schulleitungen