An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Massachusetts lawmakers have voted to pass a new police reform bill that will ban police departments and public agencies from using facial recognition technology across the state. The bill was passed by both the state’s House and Senate on Tuesday, a day after senior lawmakers announced an agreement that ended months of deadlock….
Tag: Tear Gas
Facebook Touts Free Speech. In Vietnam, It’s Aiding in Censorship
An anonymous reader shares a report: For months, Bui Van Thuan, a chemistry teacher turned crusading blogger in Vietnam, published one scathing Facebook post after another on a land dispute between villagers and the communist government. In a country with no independent media, Facebook provides the only platform where Vietnamese can read about contentious topics such as Dong Tam, a village…
Many Police Departments Have Software That Can Identify People In Crowds
An anonymous reader quotes a report from BuzzFeed News: As protesters demand an end to police brutality and the coronavirus pandemic sweeps the nation, police departments around the country are using software that can track and identify people in crowds from surveillance footage — often with little to no public oversight or knowledge. Dozens of cities around the country are using…
What is tear gas?
Tear gas refers to a group of chemical irritants that can be used to control or disperse crowds. Source: https://www.livescience.com/what-is-tear-gas.html
The 50 Years of Crowd Control Research Police Are Ignoring
Thelasko shares an excerpt from FiveThirtyEight: Researchers have spent 50 years studying the way crowds of protesters and crowds of police behave — and what happens when the two interact. One thing they will tell you is that when the police respond by escalating force — wearing riot gear from the start, or using tear gas on protesters — it doesn’t…
Lebanon Withdraws Plan To Charge a Fee on WhatsApp Calls as the Country Faces Its Biggest Protests
Demonstrators and police clashed in Lebanon this week as thousands of people rallied against the government’s handling of an economic crisis, in one of the biggest protests the country has seen in years. From a report: The government-backed down from plans, announced hours earlier, to tax voice calls made through the Facebook-owned WhatsApp messaging software as people vented their anger at…
Iraq Shuts Down Internet Access As Mass Protests Turn Violent
dryriver shares a report from Euronews: Iraq’s government shut off internet access, imposed curfews and deployed elite forces to secure key facilities on Wednesday amid widespread protests aimed at toppling the country’s regime. Five people were killed and more than 200 were wounded in the largest display of public anger against Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi’s year-old government. Domestic instability could…