politicnewsbusterinsiderpostreview: Facebook won't stop pushing propaganda. Here's why.

Monday, 30 August 2021

Facebook won't stop pushing propaganda. Here's why.

August 30, 2021

Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana yesterday, 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. But this time, the levees held, protecting the city from potentially catastrophic flooding and saving countless lives.

Still, more than a million people in Mississippi and Louisiana, including all residents of New Orleans, are without electricity, and it could take weeks to restore power to the region, which is especially concerning given the hot, humid weather forecast. Officials are still surveying the damage, and the mayor of New Orleans is urging residents who have evacuated not to return anytime soon.

Only one death has been reported as of Monday, and while that number is likely to rise, it's still a far cry from the more than 1,800 people who lost their lives during Katrina. A look back at how that turned out.

—Abigail Weinberg

Why Facebook Won’t Stop Pushing Propaganda

Vaccine disinformation. The Big Lie. The hate poisoning your community. It all goes back to Mark Zuckerberg's business model.

BY MONIKA BAUERLEIN AND CLARA JEFFERY

With Hurricane Ida's landing, the climate change future is upon us

BY TIM MURPHY

England intends to ban single-use culinary plastics—very slowly

BY DAMIAN CARRINGTON

Odds of escape waning for at-risk Afghans, despite assurances

BY MADISON PAULY

Drought is complicating California's plans for a carbon-free future

BY BRIAN TARROJA

Yes, Let's Mandate Vaccines for Eligible School Children, Fauci Says

Requiring shots for deadly diseases is "nothing new"—and it will save lives.

BY MADISON PAULY

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SOME GOOD NEWS, FOR ONCE

The First Afghan Woman in the Paralympics Since 2004 Prepares to Compete

As Afghanistan starts the week with dire new developments, 23-year-old Zakia Khudadadi is forging ahead against a backdrop of unfolding crises at home. The taekwondo athlete is the country’s first woman to compete in the Paralympics in almost two decades. She's in Tokyo now, set to appear on Thursday after having safely left Kabul on the strength of a videotaped appeal to international officials: “I request from you all that I am an Afghan woman and as a representative of Afghan women ask for you to help me,” she said in a recording that galvanized global support.

"That announcement kickstarted a major global operation that led to their safe evacuation from Afghanistan…and now their safe arrival in Tokyo,” International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons said in reference to Khudadadi and 26-year-old sprinter Hossain Rasouli. Their journey from Kabul to Paris to Tokyo came as officials scrambled to move them through a network of fixers. More from the New York Times this morning:

Many details of their journey have not been disclosed, and officials have said that the athletes will not be speaking to the news media during the Paralympic Games. Several attempts to evacuate the athletes failed, and Paralympic organizers have said that their eventual arrival in Japan involved multiple steps and the assistance of many organizations and governments.

As one athlete on the US wheelchair basketball team said, Paralympic Village is "one of the most accepting places on the planet." More on Khudadadi and Rasouli here. For a bigger-picture look at the historical forces and rapidly escalating scenes facing women in Afghanistan right now, our colleague Madison Pauly has a sharp overview with more context. And Mariel Padilla at The 19th has an insightful glimpse.

—Daniel King