Instagram censors post for linking Joe Biden's 1994 law to mass incarceration

Facebook-owned Instagram on Wednesday censored as “false” a user’s claim that President-elect Joe Biden’s 1994 crime law contributed to the mass jailing of black people.

That claim is vehemently supported by both left-wing and conservative criminal justice reform advocates, and by lawyers for people with long prison sentences.

Artist Brad Troemel, who has more than 100,000 Instagram followers, posted a photo of Biden and then-President Bill Clinton, writing: “Find someone that looks at you the way Biden looked at Clinton after Clinton signed Biden’s crime bill into law. Bringing mass incarceration to black Americans.”

The post was quickly censored with an interstitial warning saying it is “False Information.”

A message explaining the censorship says, “Independent fact-checkers say this information has no basis in fact.” Users are told the claim was rated “False” by a USA Today reporter, Doug Stanglin, in July.

Facebook spokeswoman Stephanie Otway told The Post that Instragram won’t end its censorship unless USA Today changes its assessment.

“People can appeal a rating by contacting a fact-checking partner directly. Fact-checking partners are ultimately responsible for deciding whether to update a rating, which will lift enforcement on the content,” she said.

Whether Biden’s law contributed to mass incarceration is a matter of debate.

The 1994 law included $12.5 billion in grants to encourage states to adopt “truth in sentencing” laws that required inmates to serve most of their sentence. A separate three-strikes provision gave many drug dealers federal life sentences.

USA Today’s analysis leans in part on a report from New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice, which found the law “helped fuel a prison construction boom” and that “while some states had already started to enact tougher sentencing laws, the legislation rewarded states for those decisions, providing powerful incentives for others to adopt them.”

USA Today focused heavily on whether the law increased the percentage of blacks within the prison system.

“Black prisoners in 1995 accounted for 45.7% of prisoners, and in 2002 accounted for 45.1%,” USA Today wrote.

The total number of prisoners in the US, however, increased from fewer than 1.6 million in 1995 to more than 2 million in 2002, meaning there were more blacks in prison.

https://nypost.com/2020/12/16/instagram-censors-post-for-linking-joe-bidens-1994-law-to-mass-incarceration/

Disney+ blocks under-sevens from watching 'racist' Peter Pan, Dumbo and The Aristocats for breaching 'content advisories'

Generations of children have been charmed by the magical tale of the boy who never grew up, but Peter Pan is now on a list of banned movies.

Bosses at Disney have blocked anyone under the age of seven from watching the 1953 animated classic on its streaming service over concerns that it portrays racial stereotypes, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Three other long-standing family favourites – The Aristocats, Swiss Family Robinson and Dumbo – have also been removed from children’s accounts for breaching ‘content advisories’ that were recently put in place.

Parents have been left dumbfounded after trying to watch the films on Disney’s £5.99-per-month service. One said: ‘I wanted to watch Peter Pan with my daughter, but I couldn’t find it anywhere.

‘Then I realised they had all gone – they had been removed from the kids’ accounts. It was shocking.’

It is understood the main reason behind Peter Pan being blocked is because it features a Native American tribe whose members are referred to as ‘redskins’.

Meanwhile, the 1970 movie The Aristocats has a Siamese cat character called Shun Gon, whose slanted eyes and prominent teeth have been described as a caricature of East Asian people.

Swiss Family Robinson, which was made in 1960, has been criticised for its ‘yellow face’ and ‘brown face’ pirates.

Dumbo, the 1941 cartoon about a lovable flying elephant, has been accused of ridiculing enslaved African-Americans on Southern plantations. At one point during a musical interlude, faceless black workers toil away to offensive lyrics such as, ‘When we get our pay, we throw our money all away’.

Disney implemented a revised content advisory in October to flag up any issues surrounding racial stereotypes and concerns were raised in relation to Peter Pan and the other productions. The decision to ban the films from children’s accounts was made by a group of external experts who were brought in to assess if the content ‘represented global audiences’.

While the films remain available on adult accounts, they come with a disclaimer that says: ‘This programme includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures. These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now.

‘Rather than remove this content, we want to acknowledge its harmful impact, learn from it and spark conversation to create a more inclusive future together.’

Disney says on its website that it is committed to creating stories with inspirational and aspirational themes that reflect the diversity of the human experience around the globe. The statement reads: ‘We can’t change the past, but we can acknowledge it, learn from it and move forward together to create a tomorrow that today can only dream of.’

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9179987/Disney-blocks-sevens-watching-racist-Peter-Pan-Dumbo-Aristocats.html

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