The 113th Block: Only Singaporeans will be safe from Nazi paraphernalia and misinformation online
Thanks to the Guardian of the Internet, the PAP government
This week…
This may not be up for long, but googling “desk ornament” returns images of Nazi paraphernalia.
Anyway others have other things to say. So here’s a selection of top stories on my radar, a few personal recommendations, and the chart of the week.
Singapore’s proposed online safety laws look like more censorship in disguise
Kirsten Han for Rest of World:
The PAP government has a habit of claiming harm as and when it suits them, and there are real reasons to worry about overreach, given its track record. To Singapore, with Love, an award-winning documentary film about Singapore’s political exiles, was banned from public screening in the country on the grounds of harming national security. More recently, the Ministry of Manpower refused to renew the work permit of a Bangladeshi worker who had been vocal about discriminatory and exploitative treatment of migrant workers in the country. It claimed, retrospectively, that a Facebook post he’d written over half a year ago could have incited other migrant workers into public disorder. It gels with a wider context of harassing or attacking activists and critics and enforcing laws that restrict basic civil liberties.
The authorities have also demanded Netflix remove shows with drug-related content from its offerings in Singapore, citing the need to “protect the young from unsuitable content (including inappropriate content that glorifies or encourages drug and substance abuse), maintain community norms and values, and safeguard public interests, while allowing adults to make informed choices.”
It doesn’t serve Singaporeans to have the government acting as our nanny, covering our eyes while clutching her pearls.
Meet the Twitch, YouTube streamers who deradicalise while they debate
Oscar Gonzales for CNET:
Hunter Avallone’s job is to argue with strangers on Twitch and YouTube. Last August, he was taken aback when one person sent him an outlandish message about the COVID-19 vaccines.
“Once someone takes it, they lose their soul,” David Argenti, who grew up in Canada’s Bible Belt, told Avallone in a message he shared with his streaming audience. “Nothing has led me to believe otherwise.”
For more than a half-hour, the two argued back and forth in a debate that was as biblical as it was scientific. Avallone threw out facts and dissected the meaning of biblical passages Argenti presented him with. The debate ended amicably, and a week later, Argenti got vaccinated.
Dangerous herbal abortion misinformation is thriving on WitchTok
Jessica Lucas for Input:
Videos published since the high court’s June 24 decision — which offer advice about using herbs like mugwort, cinnamon, feverfew, and papaya seeds as alternatives to medical abortions — have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times, and more are appearing on [TikTok] each day.
Onlookers and medical professionals are worried that such misinformation could do more harm than good, putting pregnant people at risk — by endangering their lives or leading them away from resources that could help them.
According to herbalists and witches who are active on TikTok, the spread of misinformation about herbal abortions can be traced back to last fall’s SB8 ruling in Texas, when concerns about the sanctity of Roe v. Wade were raised by women across the U.S. One of the more recent videos — which gave recommended doses of papaya seeds, goji berries, black cohosh, chamomile tea, evening primrose oil, and mugwort as DIY abortifacients — has been viewed over one million times since it was published on May 4.
What I read, watch, and listen to…
I’m reading about the colonial roots of indigenous tourism in Asia by Zafirah Mohamed Zein for Kontinentalist.
I’m watching Ann Reardon debunking the deadly fractal wood burning ‘hack’. (This video was initially taken down by YouTube for dangerous content before reinstating after the collective effort of the channel’s viewers. The damage is done – the debunking video’s ‘algorithmic momentum’ has been halted in the process. Meanwhile, the original how-to hack videos are still online.)
I’m listening to an episode of Conversation’s podcast Don’t Call Me Resilient, hosted by Vinita Srivastava, on whether the meaning behind the Canadian flag has changed.
More stray links:
The iPhone turns 15: A look at the past (and future) of one of the 21st century’s most influential devices by Ismini Vasileiou and Paul Haskell-Dowland for The Conversation.
How will TV and streaming adapt to TikTok? by Peter Kafka for Vox.
How stories and narrative move the heart—literally by Carolyn Beans on PNAS.
Ontario’s online betting boom makes it hard to be a recovered gambling addict by Adam Pettle for Maclean’s.
Chart of the week
Greenhouse emissions rise to record, erasing drop during pandemic by P. Bhanumati, Mark de Haan and James William Tebrake, with article on IMF.