Canada’s newspapers are asking the federal government to follow France and Australia in forcing companies such as Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Facebook, Inc. to pay to display their news content.
“Both France and Australia have set deadlines to have mandatory solutions in place by July. That means paying for copyrighted content and sharing the advertising dollars and data that flow from it,” said a letter signed by newspaper executives including Andrew MacLeod of Postmedia and The Globe and Mail’s Phillip Crawley. “The situation is urgent, with media companies suffering huge advertising declines because of the coronavirus pandemic.”
Friday, May 1, would have been Gianna Bryant’s 14th birthday. Gianna, the second oldest daughter of the four daughters Kobe and Vanessa Bryant had together, had dreams of playing for the University of Connecticut’s illustrious basketball program and, shortly after, the WNBA.
Unfortunately, Gianna, Kobe and seven other people — including two of her basketball teammates — were tragically killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas on Jan. 26. Gianni is survived by her mother, Vanessa, and her three sisters, Natalia, Bianka and Capri.
In honor of what would have been Gianna’s 14th birthday, Vanessa started an Instagram challenge on Friday.
“Gianna loved to wear a red bow in all of her school pictures. Red means love and life. To commemorate Gigi’s birthday today, please consider wearing red, caption an act of kindness or show how you will play Gigi’s way since she always gave everything she did her all and led with kindness. Please use the hashtag #PlayGigisWay,” Vanessa said in her Instagram post.
Vanessa also announced that the bracelets will be sold to benefit the Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation. A few of them Bryant family’s famous friends, , including Kim and Khloe Kardashian, Kelly Clarkson, and Ciara, got their hands (or wrists) on the bracelets earlier than everyone else to help spread the word on Friday.
Kobe’s former teammate, Pau Gasol, and Gasol’s wife, Cat, showed their support for the Bryant family by sending them a cake for Gigi’s 14th birthday. Pau and Cat also sent Vanessa flowers for Kobe and Vanessa’s wedding anniversary, because he’s the best.
It’s hard to fathom what the Bryant family is going through today, so kind gestures from friends and strangers alike are appreciated. If you would like to participate in Vanessa’ Instagram challenge, all you have to do is:
Post a picture of you wearing red
Write an act of kindness you’ve done in the caption
It’s simple enough, and it would mean a lot to the Bryant family.
Twitch is facing backlash for their inconsistent bans.
Twitch streamer Fedmyster gets suspended from the site but blames it on Alinity’s NSFW mistake.
Alinity was banned from the site last month after an accidental nip slip while playing Just Dance.
Some have suggested that this shows that Twitch’s new nudity policy isn’t working.
Fans of Twitch streamer Fedmyster were shocked this week when he tweeted that he’d been suspended from the site. His Fedmyster2 account, a secondary account to his main Fedmyster, was suspended for three days for “sharing content featuring nudity.”
The streamer said that the ban was because he’d been on Twitter when someone posted a photo of Alinity’s bare nipples from her NSFW accident last week.
Fedmyster’s Ban Sparks Outrage
Fans were furious about the ban and began to tweet the Twitch Support account, asking for the site to review it. Many didn’t understand why Fedmyster had been suspended for longer than Alinity.
This story has a positive turn as just hours later, Fedmyster confirmed that Twitch had reversed its decision. “Twitch has gone ahead and unbanned me,” tweeted the streamer, and this allowed him to stream from all of his accounts again.
While some fans were unhappy with how Twitch reacted, it does show that their new nudity policy is working. The policy will look at things closely, not just banning anyone for showing the smallest bit of skin. The quick reversal of Fedmyster’s ban means that while Twitch may not always get it right, it’s getting much better at fixing things.
The latest TikTok challenge encourages users to pee in their pants — and its creator said he started it as ‘a parody’ to show that social media trends are ‘pointless’
TikTok users are peeing in their pants for the aptly named “pee your pants challenge.”
A new TikTok trend involves one thing and one thing: Peeing in your pants.
The “pee your pants challenge” started with an April 21 video from Liam Weyer. Videos of the challenge purport to demonstrate people actually urinating on themselves.
The hashtag used for the challenge has 1.9 million views as of Friday morning.
“I am definitely surprised that the challenge actually became a trend. I created the challenge as a parody of the other challenges that have gone viral on the internet in an attempt to show how pointless they are,” Weyer told Insider.
One recent trend, the “pee your pants challenge,” is certainly low on effort — though it may take some extra post-production cleanup.
Videos of the challenge do demonstrate people actually urinating on themselves.
Step one: Film yourself in front of the mirror saying “pee your pants challenge.” Step two: Pee your pants.
The challenge began with an April 21 post by Liam Weyer. The hashtag he started has 1.9 million views as of Friday morning, and dozens of other videos recreating the challenge (and reacting to it).
TikTok users also used the hashtag to mock or parody the trend itself, either pretending they were unable to pee or just appearing horrified at the challenge altogether.
Weyer, the creator of the challenge, is a 19-year-old filmmaker and comedian from Kansas who hopes to write for TV one day. While others were quick to both copy and poke fun at his challenge, he said he created it as a parody to begin with.
“I am definitely surprised that the challenge actually became a trend. I created the challenge as a parody of the other challenges that have gone viral on the internet in an attempt to show how pointless they are,” Weyer, who also creates sketch comedy videos, told Insider in an email. “I am surprised to see that people on the internet will pee themselves if you call it a challenge and add a hashtag.”
While the challenge may be disturbing to some, it’s at least not outright dangerous like the nutmeg challenge, which encourages creators to consume highly toxic levels of the spice.
The letter said Amazon, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube had amplified “Icke’s racism and misinformation about Covid-19 to millions of people”.
It was co-signed by MP Damian Collins, as well as celebrity medics Dr Christian Jessen, Dr Dawn Harper and Dr Pixie McKenna.
The CCDH said videos of Mr Icke making “untrue and conspiracist claims about Covid-19” had been watched more than 30 million times online.
As examples, it cited:
a YouTube interview in which Mr Icke falsely claimed that a Jewish group was behind coronavirus
an Instagram post in which he falsely claimed 5G mobile networks left people unable to absorb oxygen
a YouTube video in which he falsely claimed it was not possible to catch a virus from shaking hands
a Twitter post in which he falsely claimed Germany was moving to “legalise rape” for Muslim men
The letter was published after Facebook had removed Mr Icke’s page.
In April, YouTube removed an interview with Mr Icke in which he said there “is a link between 5G and this health crisis”.
When asked for his reaction to reports of 5G masts being set on fire in England and Northern Ireland, he responded: “If 5G continues and reaches where they want to take it, human life as we know it is over… so people have to make a decision.”
Facebook later removed the same video saying it broke its rules on misinformation.
By Marianna Spring, Specialist disinformation and social media reporter
David Icke has promoted several conspiracy theories on social media throughout the pandemic – and has consequently found himself in hot water with social media sites and broadcasting regulators.
The health misinformation that he’s been spreading, including linking 5G to coronavirus, has played a role in platforms like YouTube tightening their policies about conspiracy theories.
This is a difficult area for social media sites to tackle.
Medical myths and speculation that could cause harm are easier to act on, while conspiracy theories occupy a grey area where companies risk accusations of censorship if they take action.
But the setting alight of mobile phone towers and abuse of telecommunications workers linked to this 5G coronavirus conspiracy has pushed sites like Twitter and TikTok to tighten their rules.
Facebook has also recognised that the conspiracy theories repeatedly promoted by Icke fall into their bracket of harmful misinformation. This isn’t the first time it has removed content from him – but the platform has gone one step further in taking down his page.
Governments and social media sites alike grapple with the fine balance between stemming harmful narratives and allowing freedom of expression. But experts point out that they can do both with effective moderation and collaboration.
THIS week, the actor Chris Hemsworth was photographed with his agreeable-looking child, in the sunshine, outside their beachfront home in the exclusive Australian surfing resort of Byron Bay.
And I guess everyone thought when they saw the picture: “Well, lockdown’s working pretty well for him.”
Chris Hemsworth takes a break from self isolation and heads to the beach with one of his twin sonsCredit: Splash News
Yeah, and it can’t be too bad either for Mrs Hemsworth. Living by the sea, in paradise, with a triangular- torsoed Hollywood hunk.
But then if you take a glance at your social media, you’ll notice that absolutely everyone else is living the Hemsworth dream.
It’s an endless parade of people’s perfect sourdough baking and of jolly board games with the kids.
This morning, my Instagram feed featured a young family doing a fancy dress dinner, a girl on an enormous horse, a woman sprawled on the bonnet of a Mercedes SL, a man with a cute dog, doing exercises, and a shot of some cows taken through a wisteria bush.
On Instagram, no one is ever bored, it never rains and everyone’s breasts are perfect. Especially Chris Hemsworth’s.
FAT WIFE SLOBBING OUT
This is having an effect on the nation’s teenagers. They have been told there will be no exams this year and that all their school work was for nothing. They’ve been told they have to stay indoors and that they can’t see their friends.
And it’s driving them mad because they do not read newspapers. They do not listen to the BBC news. And they replaced Radio 1 with Spotify five years ago.
This means they never hear any actual news. So they don’t know what’s going on.
Instead they look at their phones (constantly) and all they can see are pretty girls with swimsuits up their a*** cheeks, and Chris Hemsworth, and parents who have turned the cellar into a nightclub and lots of cute ducklings.
And they’re thinking, as they watch the rain trickle down the windows at their house: “Why can’t I have some of that?”
Chris Hemsworth’s wife Elsa Pataky shows off her incredible figure in a sun-kissed shoot
In the olden days we’d have smacked their bottoms and told them to stop being spoiled, but that’s not allowed any more. So I’ve come up with another idea . . .
If you are an old person stuck in a tower block, waiting for Covid-19 to stick its warty little head through the letterbox, post a picture of your surroundings on Instagram. Don’t hold back. Show us the overflowing cat litter and the photograph of your husband, alone in his hospital bed.
Show us also pictures of your sister who is in a care home and hasn’t had a visitor for five weeks.
And your food cupboard which has nothing in it any more. And your empty bottle of Senokot.
REALITY OF LOCKDOWN
In fact, we should all get in on the act. Don’t wait for a joyous moment to photograph and share. Send us instead pictures of stuff you didn’t enjoy.
The particularly gruesome bit of wax you’ve just pulled out of your left ear. The turd your dog just did on the mat. Your fat other half slobbing out in front of the TV.
Your kids throwing Monopoly pieces at one another after a row over Fenchurch Street station.
Instead of sharing your perfect loaf, send pictures of the charred wreck that went wrong, the scarf full of dropped stitches, the wonky self-assembly garden furniture that broke the first time you sat on it.
Hit us with the reality of lockdown. Admit that it’s one part happiness and nine parts ditch water.
And then maybe teenagers will start to understand that life is bookended by the lucky and the not so lucky. At one end you’ve got the Hemsworths. At the other you’ve got a frightened old man in a tenement block in Bermondsey.
Maybe then they will understand they are somewhere in the middle, and stop bloody complaining.
Cocoa-vid-19
There is much debate about what increases your chances of dying from Covid-19. But there’s one thing everyone agrees on. It likes to kill fatties most of all. And how have we responded to this?
Cadbury’s Fruit & Nut chocolate is getting Brits through lockdown
Well, I don’t know about you but I’ve addressed the issue by sitting on a sofa for six hours a day, eating slabs of Cadbury’s Fruit & Nut chocolate and getting up only to go to the fridge for another bottle of wine.
I guess I’m working on the principle that soon I’ll be so fat, there won’t be room in the house for me and the virus as well.
But there is one problem.
There are now so many empty bottles sitting by the bins at the bottom of the drive I just know my neighbours will assume I’ve been throwing illegal parties, and call the police.
Tube boob
A nurse made headlines this week after moaning about the cramped conditions on a London Tube train at 5.45am.
She said she was risking her life at work and pointed out that she shouldn’t have to risk it even more while commuting. Fair point, you might think. But hang on.
Commuting on a cramped Tube is dangerous during this pandemicCredit: Alamy
In the olden days – before March – people may well have been on a Tube train at that time because they were coming home from a club.
But these days, nobody on a Tube train at quarter to six in the morning is there for fun. They’re ALL going to work.
There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s what most of us have been told to do all along. But I do agree that commuting on a cramped Tube is bloody dangerous.
So I ask once again for parking restrictions to be lifted immediately, as this would allow people to go to work in the blissful self-isolation of their own cars.
Portsmouth from above
An aerial photograph of Portsmouth taken this week showed that the colour of the sea has turned from the usual mud brown to a shimmering, aquamarine blue.
It’s the sort of colour you usually associate with the Caribbean, and it is genuinely amazing.
Incredible photographs captured by drone in Portsmouth, Hants, show the sea now looking almost tropicalCredit: Solent News
Naturally, green people are saying it happened because the lockdown means less traffic. And they may be right.
Or, let me just lob this one in . . . it happened because the photographer was experimenting with some of the filters on his new phone.
My phone’s got so many that if you gave me long enough, I could take a selfie and make me look like Chris Hemsworth. Or his wife.
Shell shock
For the past couple of years, farmers have not been allowed to spray their bright yellow oil seed rape with insecticides called neonicotinoids.
As a result, a lot of my crop is dead.
Enjoy nature while in lockdown and look out for tortoiseshell butterflies in the gardenCredit: Iain H Leach
But on the upside, I’m now seeing more bumble bees than I have in years. And yesterday I saw a tortoiseshell butterfly, the first I’ve found since about 1972.
But that said, my eyesight is so bad these days, it could have been an actual tortoise.
