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by Paolo Cappelli
January 12, 2021
Welt
Controversy in Germany on the closure of schools
The Christmas holidays have been extended to thousands of students in order not to aggravate the infections.
But the Landers are moving forward in no particular order, each with its own strategy to counter the pandemic.
Within 24 hours another 891 deaths, 12 thousand new positives.
Experts: "The easing of restrictions, including schools, will only come gradually, not all at once."
From the point of view of German doctors, it will be difficult to drop below 50 new infections per 100,000 population per week by the end of January.
Tagesspiegel
What's happening in the learning cloud
In Brandenburg, the school cloud has become the target of a hacker attack.
It is used by at least 562 distance learning schools.
In Berlin for the first time all three coronavirus traffic lights are red: the officially detected incidence is just under 200 cases per 100 thousand on a weekly scale.
Today the Berlin Senate will decide to block travel beyond a radius of 15 km for Berliners.
In Saxony and Thuringia this value would exceed 500. The virus changes more and more often, we must be quicker in countermeasures
Le Parisien
Is the school the seat of outbreaks to the nth degree?
The rate of positives explodes among the youngest, school canteens one of the centers of spread of the virus.
The concern of parents and teachers is
increasing. Bouillon de coulture
(like Bernard Pivot's talk of the 90s), but this broth is the breeding ground for contagions
"Does anyone want to finish my dish?".
At the table, a boy laughs loudly, yesterday at noon.
Mask under the chin, we bring ourselves close to each other, we make the world again, we dip the bread in the neighbor's plate.
We interact.
"It is our moment of freedom in a day with the obligation to wear a mask for 8 hours", summarizes, from the next table, Zélie, one of the 200 students of the Colège Colonel-Fabien, in Montreuil.
Social distancing, a rather vague concept.
Despite the strict health protocol implemented in the refectory, this moment of freedom focuses all the attention, while the Covid-19 positive rate rises strongly among the Under 20s: from 2.6% to 10% in a few days at the beginning. 2021.
La Vanguardia
Moves third wave out of control thanks to Christmas social relations
Fifteen autonomous communities are at extreme risk and the Department of Health warns that two very tough months are coming.
Excluding for now the connection with the British variant, the increase in infections is linked to a relaxation of the measures during the Christmas holidays
Daily Mail
Are we ready for the 3 meter spacing rule?
Boris Johnson under pressure for the government to increase physical distancing to curb the spread of the virus.
Experts recommend going from 'at least one meter' to 'over two meters', practically approaching the three-meter limit, a drastic proposal that comes as Health Minister Matt Hancock returns to pick on those who don't respect the rules.
Times
Police will fine those who break restrictions, lockdown deniers.
The chief of police condemns irresponsible behavior while the number of infected remains above 46 thousand and deaths more than 500. For the government, vaccination target for all over 50s by the end of April
Daily Mirror
Chaos in pandemic prescriptions
Let's get settled The government threatens to tighten the rules if people do not respect the restrictions… but Johnson is cycling around London.
The number 10 Downing Street forced to specify that he did not specify what is meant by 'local physical exercise' and manages to clarify: can we or not leave the house to have a tea while walking?
FT
Merkel attacks Twitter's ban on Trump as a violation of free speech
Democrats in the US House of Representatives yesterday launched a second attempt to indict Donald Trump, while Angela Merkel criticized Twitter for banning the president American from the platform, calling this decision a "problematic" violation of the "fundamental right to free speech".
Steffen Seibert, spokesperson for Merkel, said freedom of speech is a "vital fundamental right" that can be restricted, "but only in accordance with the law and within a framework defined by the legislator - not platforms. of social media ".
His speech highlights a central area of disagreement between the US and Europe over how to regulate social media.
The EU wants to give regulators more power to force companies like Facebook and Twitter to remove illegal content.
In the United States, tech companies have been left to monitor their sites, even as political pressures are mounting to limit their freedom to self-regulate.
FT
The Limits of Free Speech in the Internet Age
While the "permanent" nature of Twitter's suspension is questionable, not taking action would have created even greater risks.
In the exceptional circumstances of America today, social media platforms have done well to suspend Mr Trump's account at least until the end of his presidential term.
The president justified the violence and issued a challenge to the institutions that left five dead.
Critics are right that the move came cynically late.
It is misleading to say that Trump has been "silenced" when he maintains access to the mighty US presidential pulpit.
Furthermore, freedom of speech cannot be completely free, there are limits to hate speech and incitement online.
Merkel says the US would be better off following Germany in passing laws that restrict such behavior rather than letting social media make and control its own rules.
Such legal restrictions in the United States could face First Amendment problems.
Yet the last few days above all highlight the need for a debate on the limits of free speech in the US and the power of tech companies.
Clearer regulation must be a priority for the incoming Biden administration and Congress.
And we shouldn't overlook the responsibility of TVs like Fox News, which has allowed Trump to say everything for too long, and according to a study has been more influential in spreading hoaxes than social media.
FAZ
Merkel criticizes the blocking of Trump's Twitter profile
Reinhard Mueller: who has the power?
The blocking of his Twitter account seems to slow the American president for the moment more effectively than the instruments of the constitution.
This shows the power of such global platforms.
Twitter is not the state, it cannot and must not replace it.
The company must adhere to the rules that apply (for everyone), and these include not posting and disseminating incitement to violence and criminal content.
Now it is possible to discuss the extent of freedom of expression in each individual case.
Should Twitter, Facebook, Google and others (based on algorithms or otherwise) decide what and who is allowed to speak in front of an audience of millions of people?
After all, in many places these platforms are the only forums open to opponents of the regime.
Hence the criticism of Navalny, poisoned by the Russian state, of the cancellation of Trump's twitter profile, and that is why Chancellor Merkel sees the decision as "problematic".
The state must not free itself from its responsibilities, especially towards those who are sometimes more powerful than it.
Jerusalem Post
The Great Purge, by EMILY SCHRADER
Social media platforms have long been overdue for a change in their policies, but it seems at every step of the way they are too little - or last week, with Trump, too much.
Previously, Trump had threatened to repeal parts of Section 230, which protects platforms from legal responsibility to moderate speech on their site, in response to what he considered politically motivated censorship.
Now, Democratic lawmakers are reportedly discussing legal action to hold the social media giants accountable for failing to act earlier, right up until the Capitol Hill riots.
It is entirely reasonable that private companies like Twitter or Facebook have specific content policies.
After all, they're a free service that people gladly (or not) choose to join.
But given their disproportionate influence on elections, coupled with the fact that we know that state actors have intentionally used the fast and free flow of social media information to disseminate politically motivated misinformation, there is a legitimate argument for government regulation. of Big Tech.
NYT
The House finalizes the process to open a second impeachment procedure against Donald Trump.
In the hall, many MPs still in shock from the assault on Capitol Hill take the floor.
Democrats are pressing Vice President Pence to authorize the 35th amendment procedure in the next few hours, and if he doesn't, they've already put a vote on starting impeachment tomorrow.
150 people are investigated by the Justice Department for the events of last Wednesday.
We need another Trump impeachment
President Trump's efforts to stay in office by challenging democracy cannot be allowed to go unanswered, lest they invite more lawlessness from this president or those who come after him.
Mr. Trump is not the only person at fault.
Many Republican lawmakers angered his supporters for weeks with false allegations of electoral fraud and continued to oppose the electoral vote even after the attack.
The Fourteenth Amendment excludes from office any federal or state legislator who has "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" or has given "help or comfort" to those who have done so.
Congressional leaders will have to contend with which of their colleagues are demanding censorship for their actions and perhaps even expulsion.
Washington Post
Punishing President Trump, not Joe Biden and the country
Congressional leaders must find a way to punish the president without blocking the incoming administration, which must be able to take immediate action on the grounds of national security and the fight against the pandemic .
WSJ
The House plans a vote on Trump's impeachment for tomorrow.
Parler, the platform created in 2018 as an alternative to Fb and Twitter, shut down by Amazon's servers now struggles to survive amid accusations of having spread content that contributed to the Capitol Hill clashes.
Fb removes all content: 'stop the steal', let's stop the theft.
Joe Biden's Impeachment Moment
Last Friday we explained why Trump's actions on Wednesday are criminal and why his resignation is the best option now.
However, it seems that he will not resign.
But that doesn't mean impeachment is now wise or good for the country if the goal is to overcome the Trump era.
It can hurt more to let Mr. Trump play the victim role.
And then, the first obstacle is the timing.
In eight days, Trump will be leaving the White House.
A vote in the House this week means no investigation or time for a presidential defense.
The Senate will not meet again until January 19, the day before Biden's inauguration.
Even if the senators got together earlier, Republicans are unlikely to agree to hold a trial without giving Trump a chance to prepare his defense.
This would leave a process underway when Trump is no longer president.
Opinions diverge as to whether the Constitution allows impeachment after a president leaves office, and the point has already been made with compelling arguments by lawyers who have anticipated it would become part of Trump's defense.
This then is a time for Joe Biden to establish his leadership by calling the House impeachment advocates to bear responsibility to serve his motto: it is time to heal.
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