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  • Social Media Companies Survived Election Day. More Tests Loom.

    Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube implemented pre-planned measures that limited the ability to use their sites to spread election-day disinformation. Twitter quickly added warning labels to election day tweets from political figures, including the president, that falsely claimed vote fraud or victory. Sharing and commenting on the tweets was also limited. Facebook also labeled disinformation posts but did not prevent commenting, liking, or sharing them. Some election-related videos on YouTube were removed for spreading disinformation, violating the company’s policy prohibiting deceptive practices and scams.

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  • 2020 is a curveball for civics. How Chicago classrooms are responding

    Chicago-area high school teachers are approaching the mental-toll of election cycles on their students by rethinking curricula. Some teachers are approaching election anxiety by hosting empathetic dialogues by addressing students' anxieties and exploring their individual powers. Students also completed lessons that required them to have conversations with the adults in their lives regarding general voting information. Other educators are placing emphasis on exploring media literacy and understanding online propaganda with students.

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  • Indigenous Colombians mount a spiritual defense of the Amazon

    Five different Indigenous groups formed an alliance known as the Union of Traditional Age Medics of the Colombian Amazon to practice spiritual ceremonies and community healing based on the ingestion of a potent hallucinogenic tea known as yagé. These groups are at risk of physical and cultural extermination due to deforestation. By engaging in traditional yagé ceremonies, they use their traditional knowledge and spiritual wisdom to help make decisions and retain their autonomy in the rainforest.

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  • How Norway Built an Economy That Puts People First

    Despite a nationwide months-long coronavirus lockdown in Norway, the economy was able to remain stable due to a "decades-long effort to create an equitable economy" that helped the government to enact a package that provided businesses and self-employed individuals' tax relief and deferrals. Although Norwegians pay roughly the same amount of taxes that Americans do, their taxes largely pay for social welfare programs which include unemployment benefits, retirement pay, and health care coverage. This "national ethos of economic equity" is what helped the country to navigate the pandemic.

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  • The Sweet Fruits of the Chilean War on Sugar

    To fight obesity concerns, a law in Chile is now requiring that foods high in sugar, have a high content of saturated fats, are high in sodium, or high in calories carry a label (or labels) to help inform consumers of their contents. Although the strategy has received pushback from some companies, others have redesigned recipes to avoid the label and consumers report that it has influenced their shopping habits.

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  • How to Combat Disinformation Targeting Black Communities

    Several groups are working to counter disinformation aimed at the Black community by spreading accurate information and elevating local voices as trusted messengers. Organizations have disseminated accurate information via social media, used hackathons and video game launches to get Black and other youth of color interested in voting, provided shareable content to progressive organizations, and created a guide to help people identify fake accounts and bots. Nonprofit First Draft also provides a two-week disinformation training course in English and Spanish with daily lessons sent by text.

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  • Take Me Out To The Ballot Box

    The coronavirus made cramped or high-risk polling locations untenable so at least 39 sports arenas have opened up their facilities for voting. Their expansive size allows them to welcome large numbers of voters while maintaining social distancing protocols. Many are outdoors, which lowers the risk of transmitting the virus even further. Prompted by calls from athletes, arena owners’ site the summer’s racial-justice demonstrations as inspiration for supplying the spaces since voting is a key way to create definitive changes. Voters were thrilled to cast their ballots in a sports arena.

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  • Gamification in Urban Planning: Participation Through Minecraft

    Urban planning using gamification is a viable way of engaging diverse parts of the population and placing people and communities at the center of the process. “Block by Block” is a collaboration between UN Habitat and the game company Mojang that holds participatory workshops, where people design public spaces using the game Minecraft. Over 25,000 people from diverse backgrounds and age groups have participated. Professional advisers are present and they adjust the designs for implementation. The method has been used by the City of Stockholm and to create the first skatepark in Kosovo.

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  • HIV/AIDS Network Helps Build Black Clevelanders' Trust In COVID-19 Studies

    Black and Latinx enrollment in clinical studies has nearly doubled in HIV vaccine clinical trials due to the HIV Vaccine Trials Network in Cleveland implementing an engagement model that addresses community distrust through education and community participation. Now, as clinical studies are launched for a COVID-19 vaccine, the organization has pivoted to ensuring that institutions don't engage in "helicopter research," but instead involve the communities in the research efforts.

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  • How AI Can Help Save Forests

    Satellite-based forest monitoring, paired with other sophisticated measures of a forest's health, is transforming the speed, precision, and economics of finding and eradicating infestations and pinpointing acreage where preventing wildfires and deforestation will prove most effective. Rather than rely on ground-based, manual surveys of vast tracts, forest managers are refining their ability to observe more useful data from space. As success stories pile up, however, the science still must rely on the political will to enact needed policies for a healthier climate and forests.

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