Every Monday on Global Comment, we share the slow, thoughtful, considerate words that our brains – and souls – need but that it’s easy to miss in our busy world. We distil the best of the web and recommend just three links every week that you absolutely must see.
No fluff, no fuss, just three exceptional reads.
Here are this week’s recommendations:
Fake sign language is spreading on TikTok. Deaf people are worried. (Amanda Morris / WaPo)
John Troumbley, 29, of Kokomo Ind., who is Deaf, estimates that he only understands half of what is being signed on some popular TikTok accounts.
“It’s already hard enough for us to communicate with the hearing community and then you have people learning incorrect sign language and that complicates things even more,” he said. “Some signs are really close to each other, and if you don’t know what you’re doing, you’re going to cause problems.”
Deaf people say that fake signs like those seen on TikTok can have serious consequences. There have been several cases of “fake interpreters,” which prevented deaf people from accessing critical information. For instance, in 2017, a news conference for Hurricane Irma featured an interpreter who signed gibberish like “pizza” and “bear monster” instead of information about evacuation orders. Other notable ‘fake interpreters’ include the man who interpreted Nelson Mandela’s funeral in 2013, and a woman who delivered an incoherent sign language translation during a 2017 Florida news conference about a murder suspect.
UK is a hostile environment for LGBTQ+ journalists, study suggests (Kevin Rawlinson / The Guardian)
Publication of the research comes two years after a large-scale study led by Unesco painted a dark picture of the threats facing female journalists around the world.
The UN said its report detailed unprecedented levels of attack designed to belittle and discredit female reporters – as well as to undercut public trust in critical journalism and facts more generally. It suggested nearly three-quarters had experienced online hostility, while a quarter had been threatened with sexual violence and death. It also said the likelihood of attack increased greatly if the women belonged to a minority.
The LHC, which is based at Birmingham City University, said its research showed online abuse targeting journalists’ sexual orientation and gender identity had also become commonplace.
Is the future bright for Millennials and Gen Z? YES! (Femi_Sorry)
@femi_sorry Is the future bright for #Millennials and #GenZ ? YES! Because WE will actually change things! My speech at @dmuleicester #politics ♬ original sound – Femi
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Image: Tom Rumble