Bookriot: “Despite the fact that librarians are among the most trusted professionals, per data acquired in several studies of parents on the perceptions of the profession, lawmakers across the country continue to infantilize and criminalize library workers. The 2024 legislative session has been particularly eager to capitalize on the rhetoric from the far right on… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Civil Liberties
LLRX March 2024 Issue
Articles and Columns for March 2024 – https://www.llrx.com 2024 Link Guide to Generative AI Resources – Marcus P. Zillman Deepfakes are still new, but 2024 could be the year they have an impact on elections – Professor Eileen Culloty AI in Banking and Finance, March 31, 2024 – This semi-monthly column by Sabrina I. Pacifici… Continue Reading
Rising Numbers of Americans Say Jews and Muslims Face a Lot of Discrimination
“The share of U.S. adults who say there is a lot of discrimination against Jews in our society has doubled in the last three years, according to a new Pew Research Center survey, jumping from 20% in 2021 to 40% today. A somewhat larger share – 44% – say Muslims face a lot of discrimination,… Continue Reading
Freedom of Speech: An Overview
CRS Report – Freedom of Speech: An Overview March 29, 2024 – “The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects “the freedom of speech,” but that protection is not absolute. The Free Speech Clause principally constrains government regulation of private speech. Speech restrictions imposed by private entities, and government limits on its own speech, usually… Continue Reading
The changing face of protest
Rest of World: “…Over the past decade, there has been a steep rise globally in law enforcement using facial recognition technology. Data gathered by Steven Feldstein, a researcher with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, found that government agencies in 78 countries now use public facial recognition systems. The public is often supportive of the… Continue Reading
Florida braces for lawsuits over law banning kids from social media
Ars Technica: “On Monday, Florida became the first state to ban kids under 14 from social media without parental permission. It appears likely that the law—considered one of the most restrictive in the US—will face significant legal challenges, however, before taking effect on January 1. Under HB 3, apps like Instagram, Snapchat, or TikTok would… Continue Reading
Israeli Hostage Says She Was Sexually Assaulted and Tortured in Gaza
The New York Times [upaywalled]: “…Ms. Soussana, 40, is the first Israeli to speak publicly about being sexually assaulted during captivity after the Hamas-led raid on southern Israel. In her interviews with The Times, conducted mostly in English, she provided extensive details of sexual and other violence she suffered during a 55-day ordeal. Ms. Soussana’s… Continue Reading
This simple machine turns glass bottles into sand
Fast Company. Glass recycling rates in the U.S. are abysmal. Finding non-traditional solutions—like Cynthia Andela’s glass crushing machines—could help. According to The Recycling Partnership, whole swaths of the U.S. don’t have glass bottle recycling, including regions of the Southeast and the Great Plains. A new report by the NGO states that the glass recycling rate… Continue Reading
Human trafficking
Data is Plural – Human trafficking. The Counter-Trafficking Data Collaborative’s Global Synthetic Dataset uses differential privacy techniques to represent “over 206,000 victims and survivors of trafficking identified across 190 countries and territories from 2002 to 2022.” The approach, developed in partnership with Microsoft Research, converts anonymized case records into “a new dataset in which records… Continue Reading
EEOC Data Reveals 75% Of High Earners Are Men
Forbes – “Data just released by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission exposes a clear gender pay gap, with men outearning women, especially in the highest-paid jobs. The gap is widest for women of color. This week, the EEOC released aggregated pay data collected from businesses in 2017 and 2018. To make this information accessible… Continue Reading
Online Hate and Harassment: The American Experience 2023
ADL Report on online hate and harassment – “Over the past year, online hate and harassment rose sharply for adults and teens ages 13-17. Among adults, 52% reported being harassed online in their lifetime, the highest number we have seen in four years, up from 40% in 2022. Both adults and teens also reported being… Continue Reading
Growing Racial Disparities in Voter Turnout, 2008–2022
Fact sheet for the report Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law Growing Racial Disparities in Voter Turnout, 2008–2022, published March 13, 2024: “A Brennan Center study of nearly 1 billion voter file data points finds the following: The nationwide racial turnout gap — the difference in voting rates between white… Continue Reading
