scholarly journals Truth Distancing? Whistleblowing as Remedy to Censorship during COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 375-381
Author(s):  
Vigjilenca ABAZI

In the COVID-19 pandemic, whistleblowers have become the essential watchdogs disrupting suppression and control of information. Many governments have intentionally not disclosed information or failed to do so in a timely manner, misled the public or even promoted false beliefs. Fierce public interest defenders are pushing back against this censorship. Dr Fen and Dr Wenliang were the first whistleblowers in China to report that a new pandemic was possibly underway, and ever since, numerous other whistleblowers around the world have been reporting on the spread of the virus, the lack of medical equipment and other information of public interest. This paper maps the relevant whistleblowing cases in China, the USA and Europe and shows that many whistleblowers are initially censored and face disciplinary measures or even dismissals. At the same time, whistleblowing during the COVID-19 pandemic has drawn public attention to the shortcomings of institutional reporting systems and a wider appreciation of whistleblowers as uniquely placed to expose risk at early stages. Ultimately, whistleblowing as a means of transparency is not only becoming ever less controversial, but during COVID-19 it has become the “remedy” to censorship.

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dhina Setyo Oktaria ◽  
Agustinus Prasetyo Edi Wibowo

Land acquisition for public purposes, including for the construction of railroad infrastructure, is a matter that is proposed by all countries in the world. The Indonesian government or the Malaysian royal government needs land for railroad infrastructure development. To realize this, a regulation was made that became the legal umbrella for the government or royal government. The people must agree to regulations that require it. Land acquisition for public use in Malaysia can be completed quickly in Indonesia. The influencing factor is the different perceptions of the understanding of what are in the public interest, history and legal systems of the two countries as well as the people's reaction from the two countries


2015 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 926-946 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen MacDonald

AbstractFrom the mid-twentieth century, England's coroners were crucial to the supply of organs to transplant, as much of this material was gleaned from the bodies of people who had been involved in accidents. In such situations the law required that a coroner's consent first be obtained lest removing the organs destroy evidence about the cause of the person's death. Surgeons challenged the legal requirement that they seek consent before taking organs, arguing that doing so hampered their quick access to bodies. Some coroners willingly cooperated with surgeons while others refused to do so, coming into conflict with particular transplanters whom they considered untrustworthy. This article examines how the phenomenon of “spare part” surgery challenged long-held conceptions of the coroner's role.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth E Timme ◽  
Maria Sanchez ◽  
Marc Allard

This protocol outlines the all the steps necessary to become a GenomeTrakr data contributor. GenomeTrakr is an international genomic reference database of mostly food and environmental isolates from foodborne pathogens. The data and analyses are housed at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), which is a database freely available to anyone in the world. The Pathogen Detection browser at NCBI computes daily cluster results adding the newly submitted data to the existing phylogenetic clusters of closely related genomes. Contributors to this database can see how their new isolates are related to the real-time foodborne pathogen surveillance program established in the USA and a few other countries, and at the same time adding valuable new data to the reference database. ------ Although originally published as a Chapter in Methods and Protocols, Foodborne Bacterial Pathogens, the protocol has since been adapted and split into four separate protocols all of which are contained in this collection.


Author(s):  
Przemysław Potocki

The article is based on an analysis of certain aspects of how the public opinion of selected nations in years 2001–2016 perceived the American foreign policy and the images of two Presidents of the United States (George W. Bush, Barack Obama). In order to achieve these research goals some polling indicators were constructed. They are linked with empirical assessments related to the foreign policy of the U.S. and the political activity of two Presidents of the United States of America which are constructed by nations in three segments of the world system. Results of the analysis confirmed the research hypotheses. The position of a given nation in the structure of the world system influenced the dynamics of perception and the directions of empirical assessments (positive/negative) of that nation’s public opinion about the USA.


Author(s):  
Simon James Bytheway ◽  
Mark Metzler

This concluding chapter examines the hierarchical nature of the markets in capital, which constitute the peak markets of the world capitalist system. It also reconsiders the central-bank connections between Tokyo, London, and New York as vital inner links within a larger set of world-city geographies. In a century of violent changes, these “capital city” geographies have been remarkably persistent. The great Tokyo bubble of 1989–90 was the greatest yet of its kind, but it now seems relatively modest next to the New York and London bubbles of 2007–8. Each of these “capital city” bubbles showed a mix of classic and novel features. Each also revealed, again, the centrality of the central banks themselves.


Author(s):  
James L. Newell

The chapter takes its point of departure from the fact that scandals of the kind considered in the previous chapter are important in driving efforts to tackle problems like corruption because they create the public pressure needed to ensure they are taken seriously. Against this background the chapter considers, first, the conditions under which measures to tackle corruption are likely to be more or less successful, bearing in mind that any given measure may work well in some contexts, less so in others. Then it asks about the conditions under which the authorities’ efforts to tackle corruption will be greater or lesser – bearing in mind that in order for the authorities to make any attempt to combat corruption, they have to be aware of it; they have to want to combat it, and they have to have adequate means to do so. Finally, in light of the factors influencing the efforts the authorities are likely to make in tackling corruption, the chapter considers what they are actually doing.


Author(s):  
Glen Davis

Serious misconduct, or breaches of duty by a company or its directors affecting the company’s relationships with members of the public, may trigger an investigation by the Secretary of State into the manner in which the company’s business has been conducted, or even the appointment of inspectors and publication of a formal report. In an appropriate case, the Secretary of State or a regulatory authority may petition the court to wind the company up on the basis that it is ‘just and equitable’ to do so in the public interest. Such a liquidation need not be predicated on insolvency. A winding-up order terminates the directors’ powers of management and is the logical response to misconduct or mismanagement by directors which is revealed by an inspector’s report.


2004 ◽  
Vol 49 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 23-33
Author(s):  
C.W. Randall

Because adequate nutrient controls were not established in the USA and other countries when there were past opportunities to do so, nutrient pollution of estuaries and coastal waters has resulted in the impairment of ecosystems and major reductions or collapse of fisheries at numerous sites around the world, resulting in major economic and societal impacts. The root problem is that political policies and processes have permitted municipalities, developers, industries and farmers to expand and operate without paying the full cost of their activities. Their expanded activities have occurred at the expense and displacement of those who rely on the productivity and recreational value of our estuarine and coastal waters. Some governments have developed remedial nutrient control programs, but most of them have been poorly conceived, under funded and inadequately enforced, resulting in small increments of progress that tend to be lost because of inadequate land use and immigration controls. It is proposed that establishment of comprehensive nutrient controls is needed throughout the world to preserve and protect estuarine and coastal waters, and to protect or re-establish fisheries, for both economic and societal stability. Nitrogen is the key nutrient for the establishment of control strategies. It is recommended that nutrient recovery from wastewaters and controlled reuse of both water and nutrients be widely implemented as a part of nutrient control strategies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-101
Author(s):  
Dina I. Waked

This article proposes the use of antitrust law to reduce poverty and address inequality. It argues that the antitrust laws are sufficiently malleable to achieve such goals. The current focus of antitrust on the efficiency-only goals does not only lead to increasing inequality further but is also inconsistent with the history of antitrust. This history is presented through the lens of the public interest that emerges into the balance between private property and competition policy. Tracing the public interest at different historical moments, we get to see how it has been broad enough to encompass social welfare concerns. Over time, the public interest concern of antitrust was narrowed to exclusively cover consumer welfare and its allocative efficiency. Once we frame antitrust as public interest law, in its broadest sense, we are empowered to use it to address inequality. A proposal to do so is exposed in this article.


Author(s):  
Laura DeNardis

This chapter demonstrates the significance of the emerging field of Internet governance, highlighting issues over standards, names and numbers, and net neutrality, which are unfolding in a variety of contexts around the world, including the Internet Governance Forum. It describes how technology could bias outcomes across policy arenas, such as privacy or freedom of expression. Internet governance generally refers to policy and technical coordination issues related to the exchange of information over the Internet. Governance has had immediate implications for freedom of expression online. Despite the significant public interest implications, Internet governance is largely hidden from public view. A crucial role of Internet governance research is to evaluate the implications of the tension between forces of openness and forces of enclosure, examine the implications of the privatisation of governance, and bring to public light the key issues at stake at the intersection of technical expediency and the public interest.


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