* [UK] Government officials have drawn up deeply controversial proposals to broaden the definition of extremism to include anyone who “undermines” the [UK]’s institutions and its values.*

If this is applied to protesters, it would be a tool for repression. However, it might do some good if applied to Tories. Would Bogus Johnson qualify as "undermining", perhaps? How about various current Tory ministers?

Unionized drivers in NYC compelled Guber and Lyft to pay benefits that they owed the drivers under state law, including sick pay.

I celebrate this victory for the drivers, but remember that both of those companies continue exploiting drivers in large parts of the US, and in other countries. And that's not to mention their injustice to the customers: making them run nonfree software, and identify themselves to be tracked.

The insurrectionist in the US, and Putin in Russia, attack Truth in the same way. However, Putin adds censorship to disinformation and uses the two together.

China is charging penalties to many poor countries that can't pay back what China lent them a few years ago.

This makes me think of what the US, and the IMF, have done to poor countries. Will China be worse, or better, as a creditor?

Junk food advertisers using antisocial media now lure children on-line into working for the advertising campaign themselves, by "building a relationship" with individual children.

If a child believes this relationship involves real concern about per on the company's part, that is an abusive relationship. Society should not allow that sort of abuse.

When the media says "children", we often don't know how old those people really are. Often some of the "children" are really adolescents. In this case, I don't think that alters the conclusion. Manipulation like this is done to adolescents, and it is done to adults — it's abusive and wrong regardless of the victim's age.

If "building a relationship" with a victim requires an employee's time, the number of victims a company can do this to will be limited. But using a chatbot to talk with each victim would enable the company to use any number of victims in parallel.