Skip to main content

New top story from Time: How Facebook’s Australia News Ban Could Hamper Vaccine Rollout to Aboriginal People

https://ift.tt/37E8rL1

The COVID-19 vaccine rollout was never going to be easy in Australia’s sparsely populated, desert-covered Northern Territory. With many small towns located hours apart by road, organizers even considered using drones and dry ice to make deliveries.

But the vaccination campaign is facing an even greater uphill battle after Facebook removed news content across the country of 25 million on Feb. 18 following a battle over a bill that would force Big Tech companies to pay for the use of news stories. The ban also swept up Indigenous media organizations, meaning that Aboriginal people, who make up more than 25% of the region’s population may not have access to reliable information about vaccinations.

Many Aboriginal people rely on Facebook as a portal to the Internet. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Facebook has become “a primary vehicle for promoting health information to remote Aboriginal communities,” says Malarndirri McCarthy, a senator in the Northern Territory.

“The shut down of news sites on Facebook, and in particular First Nations news sites, is a dire situation for ensuring accurate information about the vaccine reaches First Nations communities,” says McCarthy, using a term that describes the people whose ancestors lived in Australia for tens of thousands of years before British colonization in the 18th century.

Aboriginal news outlets ‘outraged’

Numerous pages hosting important health and emergency information were also knocked offline by Facebook’s news ban, which blocks Australian news publications from hosting content, prohibits Australia’s 16 million Facebook users from sharing news links and stops people outside the country from sharing links to Australian news sites. Fire organizations—which provide important information during the country’s bushfire season, which is under way—charities, including food banks, and some state health department pages were also caught up in the sudden block. Many of these have since been restored.

Several Aboriginal community-run health services that were blocked appear to be back online. A representative for the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress (CAAC), an Aboriginal community-run health organization in the Northern Territory, tells TIME that its Facebook page was restored the evening after it had been blocked. NGO Danila Dilba Health Service, which also operates in the Northern Territory, says its Facebook was offline for about 12 hours.

Facebook said in a statement that pages like government, public safety, education and business pages that are not news should not be impacted, and that the company is working to restore them.

But Indigenous media outlets, like the popular broadcaster National Indigenous Television (NITV) and the only Indigenous radio service in Cairns, a city in the state of Queensland, are still unable to share news on Facebook.

Read More: Facebook’s New Oversight Board Is Deciding Donald Trump’s Fate. Will It Also Define the Future of the Company?

Aboriginal media organizations say they are angered by the timing of Facebook’s move, and worried about the impact that it may have on vulnerable communities.

“We are outraged that access to First Nations voices has been limited in this way. Never has our media been more vital than during a global pandemic – especially on the cusp of vaccination rollouts,” Dot West, the chair of the advocacy group First Nations Media Australia, said in a statement.

Indigenous media organizations in remote areas have also expressed concern that they won’t be able to share vital information like flood warnings and telecommunications issues.

“There is a lot of fear surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine, we also live in a cyclone region so we are an emergency broadcaster. Our audience, our listeners rely on that easy access of Facebook to see those updates,” Tangiora Hinaki, the CEO of Ngaarda Media which operates in Western Australia, told NITV News.

The impact may be felt in other vulnerable communities too. Australian news is no longer shareable in the Pacific islands region, and Pacific news can’t be shared inside Australia, where more than 200,000 people with Pacific Islands ancestry live. Pacific Islanders also face an increased risk from COVID-19.

Vital news on vaccine rollout blocked

Prime Minister Scott Morrison received a vaccine on Feb. 21 and the country’s vaccination drive officially began on Feb. 22 for frontline healthcare workers, elderly nursing home residents and border control and quarantine staffers.

scott-morrison-vaccine
Mark Evans—Getty ImagesAustralian Prime Minister Scott Morrison receives a COVID-19 vaccination at Castle Hill Medical Centre in Sydney, Australia on Feb. 21, 2021.

Vaccinations for Aboriginal people over the age of 55 (and other adults over the age of 70) will begin in the second phase of vaccinations which is scheduled for the end of March. Like many Indigenous groups around the world, Aboriginal people are more vulnerable to COVID-19, owing to a higher rate of other health issues and the difficulty of accessing medical care in the remote communities where some Aboriginal people live.

McCarthy says that Aboriginal people are avid consumers of social media, particularly Facebook. During the pandemic, Aboriginal media organizations, working with governments and community health organizations, have been crucial for getting information about the virus to remote communities, says McCarthy.

Videos translated into local languages to promote hand-washing, animations demonstrating the impact of lockdowns and local leaders sharing health messages have all been promoted by Indigenous media outlets on Facebook.

Misinformation could ‘dominate’ Facebook feeds

Australia’s Health Minister Greg Hunt has warned that Facebook’s actions could lead to misinformation from non-verified sources being further amplified.

Facebook tells TIME that it remains committed to combatting misinformation, and that it is working with governments to direct people to authoritative health information and notify them of new updates via its global COVID-19 Information Centre.

Read More: The U.S. Exported QAnon to Australia and New Zealand. Now It’s Creeping Into COVID-19 Lockdown Protests

But as other content fills the gap left by news sources, misinformation may become increasingly problematic. This issue may be even more pronounced among Aboriginal communities, where trust in government and some institutions is low due to historical mistreatment.

“Urgent action is needed to ensure misinformation does not dominate people’s Facebook feeds,” warns McCarthy, “which is certainly a risk without trusted First Nations media organizations available on Facebook.”

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

India records 43,082 new Covid-19 cases, 492 deaths in a day; tally breaches 93 lakh-mark https://ift.tt/3mdvWjd

India on Friday reported 43,082 new coronavirus cases and 492 deaths, taking total number of cases in the country to 93 lakh. According to the Union Health Ministry data, there are currently 4 lakh active cases across the country, while over 87 lakh patients have been discharged.

Gene Henderson: Honoring Muni’s First Black Division Manager

Gene Henderson: Honoring Muni’s First Black Division Manager By Jeremy Menzies In recognition of Black History Month, we bring you the story of Gene Henderson, the first Black man to become the head of a Muni bus division, Muni’s Kirkland Division. Henderson’s Background Gene Henderson was born in Houston, Texas, in 1916. He married his wife Naomi in 1939 and then served in the U.S. Army during World War II. Following the war, Gene and his family moved to San Francisco where he began his career at the San Francisco Municipal Railway. Early Career On February 1, 1946, Henderson was hired as a streetcar motorman out of Sutro Division, which was located on the corner of 32nd Ave. and Clement St. He was hired just five years after Muni’s first Black transit operator, Audley Cole, had successfully fought to integrate the carmen’s union in 1941. In his early days at Muni, Gene worked one of the three lines running out of Sutro Division from the Ferry Building to the Richmond District o...

SFMTA’s Cable Car Signal Tower Gets a Refresh

SFMTA’s Cable Car Signal Tower Gets a Refresh By Jeremy Menzies At the corner of California and Powell Streets stands a diminutive but important building that has been in use for well over 100 years. This octagonal signal tower controls the crossing of the Powell and California Street cable car lines, and recently underwent a full restoration thanks to the skilled craftspeople at the Cable Car Division. A group photo of Muni craftspeople and shop management who worked to restore the signal tower in 2020-2021. The tower’s history dates to 1888 when the original was built by the Ferries and Cliff House Railroad, which operated cable cars on Powell Street at the time. That tower was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake and fires that ravaged Nob Hill. In March 1907, it was rebuilt by then-owner United Railroads of San Francisco (URR) and went back into operation. Photo showing signal tower in 1908 with the Fairmont Hotel and passengers waiting for a cable car in the background. Photo c...

PM Modi extends birthday wishes to Sonia Gandhi https://ift.tt/3lYD7eu

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday extended birthday greetings to Congress Interim President Sonia Gandhi. Taking to Twitter, Prime Minister Modi said, "Birthday greetings to Smt. Sonia Gandhi Ji. May God bless her with a long and healthy life."

Muni Service Changes Starting June 13

Muni Service Changes Starting June 13 By Mariana Maguire Beginning Saturday, June 13, the SFMTA will increase Muni service and frequency, add select routes into service and extend some current routes to continue to support essential trips. A key goal of these service increases is to support the community’s economic recovery by providing more connections to neighborhood commercial districts as businesses begin to reopen. We are also adding more frequent service on targeted routes to help address crowding and improve onboard physical distancing. These service changes will improve transit access through Chinatown, SoMa and the Excelsior neighborhoods, identified by the Muni’s Service Equity Strategy as neighborhoods that rely on transit service the most based on the percentage of households with low incomes, private vehicle ownership and race and ethnicity demographics. Although Muni continues to be for essential trips only, many people have no choice but to use transit to r...

New Muni Service Changes Start Saturday, August 19

New Muni Service Changes Start Saturday, August 19 By Clive Tsuma 28R 19th Avenue will run on weekdays between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. starting Monday, August 21.  Back to School  With SFUSD students returning to school August 16, many families who rely on Muni to get to school will see service increase after school as part of the new schedule. Because Muni vehicles often become crowded during morning peak hours and sometimes pass up stops when there is not enough room for more riders, families are encouraged to plan their trips ahead of time and hop on Muni early to make sure students get to school on time.  With every public school in the San Francisco Unified School District being served by at least one Muni route , students can expect extra Muni service on the first day of the school this fall and continue providing service throughout the school year. While the Muni service changes won’t be implemented until August 19, school tripper service will be offered starting Au...

New top story from Time: U.S. Agents to Pull Back in Portland But Will Remain on Standby

https://ift.tt/3gclOEH (PORTLAND, Ore.) — The Trump administration and Oregon leaders declared victory after it was announced that U.S. agents guarding a federal courthouse during violent demonstrations in Portland will pull back, but it wasn’t clear the agreement will reduce tensions that have led to more than two months of protests. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said Wednesday agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement will begin leaving the city’s downtown area on Thursday, but Acting Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security Chad Wolf wouldn’t specify where they would go. He insisted a federal presence would remain in Portland until the Trump administration was assured the agreement was working and the Oregon State Police was sufficiently protecting federal property. Many demonstrators are peaceful, but smaller numbers have thrown fireworks, flares, rocks and ball bearings at federal agents, used green lasers to blind them ...

Safer and Easier Parking in Every City-Owned Facility

Safer and Easier Parking in Every City-Owned Facility By Pamela Johnson Parking at any of our 22 city-owned facilities is now easier and safer than ever. Late last month we completed the Parking Access Revenue and Control Systems (PARCS) project. This four-year effort replaced aging parking equipment with modern technology and significant operational upgrades. Customer using new PARCS kiosk at North Beach parking garage Patrons will notice enhanced lighting, new wayfinding signs, audible alarms, cameras, gate arms, and payment machines with two-way digital intercoms . Behind the scenes is an all-new parking management system and 24/7 command center, connected to every machine. Can’t find your ticket to pay for parking?  No worries! Thanks to license plate recognition technology, cameras located at every facility’s entrance capture patrons’ plate numbers as they arrive . If a customer loses her ticket, the manager is able to re-issue a ticket based on her license plate...

Hop Onboard Muni and Enjoy Downtown Union Square

Hop Onboard Muni and Enjoy Downtown Union Square By Pamela Johnson The iconic Cable Cars are just one of the many options to get you to all the holiday festivities in Downtown Union Square! The SFMTA would like to wish you a Happy Holidays! With festivities, dining, shopping and all the many holiday activities to choose from, Downtown Union Square, much like the rest of the city is making optimistic strides in the city’s economic recovery. Catching Muni, paratransit or a taxi to downtown supports small businesses and is a big boost to our transit goals. Below is a comprehensive list of transit and parking options to head into the heart of the downtown shopping and festivities this holiday season.    Central Subway Special Weekend Shuttle  The Central Subway’s Special Weekend Shuttle has got you covered on Saturday and Sunday’s every 12 minutes from 8 am to 12 am. Deboard at our new Union Square/Market Street Station . From here, you can also transfer to BART’s Po...

How Muni is Tackling the 10 Worst Delay Hot Spots Across SF

How Muni is Tackling the 10 Worst Delay Hot Spots Across SF By Cassie Halls The SFMTA has had its fair share of ribbon-cutting ceremonies  over the last two years. These celebrations draw attention to some of our biggest projects. Also attention-worthy are some of the more incremental efforts happening at the agency. One such effort led by the Muni Forward team is the Transit Delay Hot Spots Program , launched in February 2020 . Muni Forward is known for corridor projects such as the L Taraval Improvement Project , 16 th Street Improvement Project , and M Oceanview Transit and Safety Project . These efforts are increasing the already sizeable 80 miles of transit reliability upgrades since 2014. There are also other ways we’re working to slash travel times and improve reliability across the Muni network. The Transit Delay Hot Spots Program aims to tackle the 10 worst “delay hot spots” each year, where buses crawl between stops at four miles an hour or less. We’re looking cl...