Published: 17 May 2019

Facebook has closed 23 mostly pro-government pages in Italy which were spreading fake news and anti-immigrant content, after an investigation by Avaaz, the civil rights group said on Monday.

More than half of the pages, which had a total of almost 2.5 million followers, supported the far-right anti-immigrant League party or the anti-establishment Five Star Movement, which form the ruling coalition, Avaaz said in a statement.

The most active page translates as "We want the Five Star Movement in government" which had shared a quote wrongly attributed to anti-mafia writer Roberto Saviano that he would "prefer to save migrants than Italian earthquake victims."

Saviano was forced to publicly deny having said it.

A pro-League page shared a video which it wrongly said depicted migrants smashing up a police car.

The footage was in fact filmed for a movie, but was viewed almost 10 million times, days ahead of next week's European parliament elections in which Italian populist parties hope to do well.

"This is more proof that lies designed to sow hate and division in our societies are being spread deliberately on social media ahead of the EU elections," said Avaaz's Christoph Schott.

"Facebook has done a good job in taking these pages down, but it says a lot that a multi-billion dollar company is relying on a crowd-funded Avaaz investigation to defend Europe’s democracy. Facebook need to do more, and they need to do it fast."

Avaaz also noted the practice of "recycling followers" used by some supporters of the two ruling parties, whereby a page with non-political content changes its name to become political or partisan, retaining likes and followers.

One such page "was started as an agricultural breeders’ association of the Messina province and eventually became a League-supporting local chapter. The change was made one word at a time, gradually, using the ambiguity of the word 'League' to avoid the automatic checks carried out by Facebook," Avaaz said.

Facebook and other social networks are regularly accused of not doing enough to eliminate fake news from its platform.AFP

Published: 24 April 2019

Organizers canceled a conference at a Paris university featuring an address by Jewish philosopher Alain Finkielkraut following the threat of protests.

 “Security is our top priority and it’s preferable to take no risks,” organizers of the event at Sciences Po university wrote Tuesday.

The conference on Europe’s future was to include other speakers, but they were not named in the letter threatening protests. Finkielkraut was accosted recently on a Paris street for being a “Zionist.”

In their statement, the authors of the call to demonstrate outside the conference at Sciences Po wrote: “We cannot accept Finkielkraut’s ‘modern Europe’ and his islamophobic, racist, sexist and homophobic rhetoric.”

The university recently canceled an event on “Israeli apartheid,” which the protesters alleged as showing a pro-Israeli bias by faculty.

Finkielkraut is a centrist thinker who has criticized the far right, as well as Muslim communities and far-left activists, for failing to integrate. A best-selling author, Finkielkraut entered the pantheon of French academia in 2016 when he was admitted into the Academie Francaise, a council of 40 greats elected for life.

A Zionist supporter of Israel, he is a member of the dovish J Call group styled after the J Street lobby in the United States.JTA

In February, police extracted Finkielkraut from a hostile crowd after he was recognized on the street by participants of so-called yellow vests demonstrations over the cost of living. His assailants called him a “dirty Zionist” and told him to “go back to Tel Aviv.” photo by Maxou-44/wikimedia

Published: 28 April 2019

Published: 23 April 2019

Ugandan police said Tuesday it had placed pop star MP Bobi Wine under "preventive arrest" as the fiery government critic warned his opposition movement would not be cowed into silence.

Wine's confinement under house arrest in Kampala came as the United States rebuked the government for its heavy-handed crackdown on the political opposition and urged it respect democratic rights.

In recent days, police cancelled one of Wine's concerts and fired tear gas at fans who rallied behind the colourful singer-turned-MP, who has emerged a potential challenger to veteran President Yoweri Museveni.

Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, tried to leave his home in the capital Tuesday only to come face-to-face with riot police encircling his leafy residence.

The singer, eschewing his trademark red beret for a dark suit and red tie, said he was "under siege" but would still urge supporters to exercise their right to demonstrate.

"This is our country", the 36-year-old local music sensation told reporters at the gates of his home.

Police spokesman Fred Enanga told AFP that Wine "planned to disrupt public order" and officers would stay put outside his home until further notice.

"The preventive arrest policy works when someone is about to commit a crime, and officers stop him from committing that crime," Enanga said.

Wine's charisma and music steeped in anti-government messaging has attracted a muscular response from Kampala, which has charged him with treason and repeatedly shut down his rowdy concerts that double as political rallies.

The cancellation of a much-hyped performance Monday sparked clashes between opposition supporters and baton-wielding police.

- People are 'fed up' -

The US embassy in Kampala rebuked the government for resorting to heavy-handed tactics.

"Strong leaders and states do not stifle speech –- they allow their citizens to participate fully and without fear in a vibrant multi-party democracy," the statement said.

Museveni seized power in 1986 at the head of a rebel army and has ruled Uganda ever since.

The Supreme Court last week upheld the constitutional validity of removing age caps for presidents, clearing the way for 74-year-old Museveni to run again.

But he faces a fight in Wine, who has rallied Uganda's youth behind his defiant music and provocative challenges to a leader twice his age.

Wine warned that the toppling of long-serving autocrats in Algeria and Sudan recently under the weight of popular protest had not gone unnoticed in Uganda.

"This is what we are left with -- to call on all Ugandans to protest peacefully until Museveni leaves power," Wine told AFP.

"Museveni should be aware the people are fed up and the earlier the better, he will be swept out of power."