Pandemics and infodemics: How COVID-19 is reshaping content regulation

The debate about tackling online misinformation and disinformation is not unique to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the health crisis has elevated the danger of misleading information circulated on social media. Labelled as 'infodemic', the problem of COVID-19-related misinformation and disinformation prompted governments and social media platforms around the globe to impose various speech restrictions. The public and private policy frameworks aiming to curb the spread of the infodemic were adopted in a state of emergency and without proper scrutiny. Yet, they are shaping the future of content regulation, possibly affecting freedom of speech and other democratic values for years to come. This chapter looks at the key problematic aspects of actions taken by governments and social media platforms to address COVID-19-related misinformation and disinformation and discusses the possible long-term effects of these measures. © 2023 the authors.

Telemedical and Self-Managed Abortion: A Human Rights Imperative?

Early into the cOVID-iota 9 pandemic, abortion rights advocates highlighted the importance of maintaining access to abortion through telemedicine. It was argued that telemedical and self-managed abortion was, in the pandemic context, a human rights imperative. This article argues that providing for telemedical and self-managed abortion remains a human rights imperative beyond the duration of the pandemic. Telemedical and self-managed abortion is safe and effective, supports the pregnant person's preferences and reproductive autonomy, and minimises many of the physical and structural barriers faced by pregnant people in accessing abortion services. International and European human rights standards access to abortion require states to take positive measures to guarantee access to abortion, and this article argues that such measures include telemedical and self-managed abortion.

The Concept of Humanitarian Intervention in the Context of Constitutional and Legal Policy of the State

Current events in the world have exposed new threats to humanity i. e. nuclear terrorism, artificial grain famine, new forms of ecocide, and biocide. All this significantly changes the priorities of international politics and the constitutional as well as the legal policy of nation-states, where natural disasters and the global COVID-19 pandemic have faded into insignificance, and the issue of re-sovereignization is gaining relevance. The article provides a thorough analysis of the essence of the concept of humanitarian intervention. The discussion is based on the analysis of the consequences of humanitarian intervention on the fate of nation-states and their citizens. The article aims to substantiate the harmfulness of the concept of humanitarian intervention for the sovereignty of nation-states and natural human rights. It is noted that state sovereignty does not contradict the nature of human rights. On the contrary, humanitarian intervention allows certain aggressive political actors to violate the sovereignty of the nation-state and harm a person's constitutional and natural rights, first of all, to peaceful coexistence, life, health, and human dignity. It is argued that modern international law needs to be modernized, which should redefine the concepts of "genocide", "ecocide", "biocide", etc. The concept of humanitarian intervention should be openly recognized as not meeting the expectations of the modern international community.

The challenge of 'COVID-19 free' Australia: international travel restrictions and stranded citizens

This paper uses Australia as a case study to analyse restrictions on international movement during the COVID-19 pandemic. Restrictions on inbound and outbound travel have been a key tool deployed by governments across the globe to suppress the COVID-19 pandemic. We use 'COVID zero' Australia as a case study to assess an extreme response to restricting international movement. We look at the recent complaint launched before the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. The action was raised with the support of a group of Australian citizens stranded abroad with the assistance of the expert in Australian constitutional law who is the second author of this paper. We argue that the measures implemented by Australian governments to effectively eliminate COVID-19 domestically have provided insufficient consideration of, and alternatives to, the current system's failure to facilitate essential international travel. For this reason, Australia's framework for restricting international movement lacks proportionality and necessity from the perspective of human rights and freedoms. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of International Journal of Human Rights is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

How Did Governments Address the Needs of People With Disabilities During the COVID-19 Pandemic? An Analysis of 14 Countries' Policies Based on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities

Background: People with disabilities have experienced heightened social risks in the context of the pandemic, resulting in higher rates of infection and mortality. They have also borne elevated burdens associated with public health measures. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) obliges its 184 state parties to eliminate discrimination and ensure equality and inclusion for persons with disabilities, including protection and safety in situations of emergency. It remains unclear to what extent national COVID-19 policies have aligned with these commitments under the UNCRPD. Our objective in this exploratory study was to assess alignment between the UNCRPD indicators and COVID-19 policies from 14 countries with the goal of informing policy development that is inclusive of persons with disabilities and responsive to rights under the UNCRPD. Methods: We identified COVID-19 policy documents from 14 purposively selected countries. Country selection considered diversity based on geographic regions and national income levels, with restriction to those countries that had ratified the UNCRPD and had English or French as an official language. We used a computational text mining approach and developed a complex multilevel dictionary or categorization model based on the UNCRPD Bridging the Gap indicators proposed by the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR). This dictionary was used to assess the extent to which indicators across the entirety of the UNCRPD were represented in the selected policies. We analyzed frequency of associations with UNCRPD, as well as conducting ‘key word in context' analyses to identify themes. Results: We identified 764 COVID-19 national policy documents from the period of January 2020 to June 2021. When analyzed in relation to the Articles of the UNCRPD, the most frequently identified were Articles 11 (risk and humanitarian emergencies), 23 (home and family), 24 (education), and 19 (community living). Six countries produced 27 policies that were specifically focused on disability. Common themes within these documents included continuation of services, intersectionality and equity, and disability considerations in regulations and public health measures. Conclusion: Analyzing country policies in light of the UNCRPD offers important insights about how these policies do and do not align with states' commitments. As new policies are developed and existing ones revised, more comprehensive approaches to addressing the rights of persons with disabilities are urgently needed. © 2023 The Author(s);Published by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

The many shades of violence against women: a call to action

Confronting gender-based violence is a key area of concern and one that calls for urgent action. These debates have become particularly relevant in light of the Covid-19 pandemic and the unveiling of underlying inequalities. Amongst the many unintended consequences of the pandemic lies the increased risk of domestic violence for vulnerable women who have been required to self-isolate. There is increasing evidence that we are facing more than one pandemic with quite worrying and widespread problems in global systems, whether they relate to public health or to human rights. As academics, we can contribute by theorizing with intersectionalities, translating research into practice, engaging with our local communities and creating non-stigmatized environment. But most of all, we can advocate for victims.

The Pandemic in Latin America and the challenges of Human Rights

The purpose of the present study is to know the impacts of Covid19 on the structures of governmental institutions in Latin America and the effects on Human Rights in terms of health and education, for example. For the analysis, we consider some elements such as the functioning of political parties, the arbitrariness of power, fiscal transparency and public spending, allowing us to take a picture of the reality to be studied regarding the quality of democracy in these countries, and also considering the cooperation efforts, in the normative and institutional scopes inside and out. As we seek to relate Human Rights and Democracy, we focus on the ethical dimension of the new challenges facing Latin America. The exposition, sometimes detailed, of situations that illustrate the malfunctioning of institutions came from observation and review of a diverse literature, and from different perspectives specifically in the scope of International Relations. © 2022, UNIV CARLOSIII MADRID. All rights reserved.

Crisis politics of dehumanisation during COVID-19: A framework for mapping the social processes through which dehumanisation undermines human dignity

The COVID-19 global pandemic is understood to be a multidimensional crisis, and yet undertheorised is how it reinforced the politics of dehumanisation. This article proposes an original framework that explains how dehumanisation undermines the human dignity of individuals with minoritised socio-economic identities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The framework identifies four interrelated mechanisms of crisis-driven dehumanisation: threat construction, expanded state coercion, reinforcement of hierarchies, and normalisation of deaths. The article argues that an understanding of these mechanisms is crucial for capturing the complexity of human rights deterioration during the COVID-19 pandemic. The article uses the plausibility probe method to demonstrate macro-processes of dehumanisation, with illustrative empirical examples from diverse societies during COVID-19. It proposes a framework for understanding these dehumanisation processes that can apply to other transnational crises. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of British Journal of Politics & International Relations is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Legal Education and Legal Profession During and Beyond COVID-19 Building Bonds Between Academia and Practice

Professor Suzanne Rab, professor of commercial law and practising international barrister and mediator offers a unique perspective on the challenges of digitisation and legal education in a post-COVID-19 world. Operating at the conflation of academia and practice Professor Rab explores the following themes using a blend of case study experience from the UK and from a comparative perspective: (1) the future of legal education in changing times;(2) the practitioner perspective and the digitised courtroom;(3) the academic experience and lived in experiences through COVID-19;(4) the role of online learning;(5) the implications for continuing legal education;(6) blended approaches to executive learning;(7) the impact on specific legal practices areas;(8) diversity and accessibility;(9) new world approaches to assessment of performance;and (10) humanising our legal education for the digital generation. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022.

Human rights protection under the ICCPR: when can and should States derogate? A critical analysis in the context of New Zealand's COVID-19 response

Public emergencies like global pandemics subject human rights to extraordinary vulnerability. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) permits States to restrict rights by enacting permissible limitations on them at any time and by derogating from their protection in emergencies. This article argues that States should rely on the ICCPR's permissible limitations provisions rather than lodge formal derogations in times of crisis, unlike what many States have done during the COVID-19 pandemic. It draws upon New Zealand's highly successful public health response to support this proposition. The article argues that the accountability machinery for compliance with States' rights obligations is stronger when permissible limitations are enacted. Where States do rely on the right to derogate, the article suggests some improvements to existing international accountability mechanisms. These include enhancing the analysis to be contained in notices of derogation and advance capacity-building to enable States to better decide if derogation is necessary in the first place. Ultimately, the article argues that keeping States within the international human rights system is ideal. This can be achieved through reliance on the flexibility built into the ICCPR via its permissible limitations provisions rather than its right of derogation. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of International Journal of Human Rights is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

The impact of COVID-19 on the right to education

This chapter examines the impact of the measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 on the fundamental right to education. School closures and the transition to online learning have worsened the pre-existing digital divide and educational inequalities. We discuss how students with limited or no access to internet connectivity and necessary digital equipment were the most severely affected by these changes. We conclude by repeating the need for digital equity as an inherent aspect of the right to education. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021. All rights reserved.

The right to healthcare during the covid-19 pandemic under the European Convention on human rights

The article presents the challenges exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic from a European perspective, especially its consequences in light of the European Convention on Human Rights' (ECHR) guarantees of the right to health. It is the first attempt to comprehensively examine these challenges for the State Parties of the ECHR. The right to health has traditionally been included in the second generation of human rights;therefore, presumably, it does not in itself give rise to any specific rights for an individual. However, the European Court on Human Rights (ECtHR) has recently been linking the right to health with specific provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights, in particular with Articles 2, 3, and 8. We analyse the Court's relevant rulings and their possible consequences for the assessment of the actions taken by the States Parties in order to fight COVID-19, with special emphasis on possible State responsibility for violating the Convention. This can happen when the State's actions result in different levels of health care access available to different groups of patients (patients with COVID-19 and patients with other conditions). The analysis reveals the weakness of the approach taken by ECtHR in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Summary: 1. Introduction;2. Health care and the fight against covid-19 in light of the ECHR;2.1. Article 2 of the ECHR;2.2. Article 3 of the ECHR;2.3. Article 8 of the ECHR 3. The convention and the 'herd immunity' strategy;4. The fight against covid-19;dancing on a minefield;5. Concluding remarks [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of International Journal of Human Rights is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Publics and their health: Historical problems and perspectives

The nature of the relationship between publics and their health has long been a concern for those seeking to improve collective and individual health. Attempts to secure the health of the population of any given place are one of the oldest forms of governmental action. Whether it be providing clean water or preventing the spread of disease, such efforts require the involvement of the publics these measures are designed to protect. Despite its importance, surprisingly little attention has been paid to who or what the ‘public' of public health consisted of. This collection addresses this gap by considering ‘who' the public of public health was in an array of places and around a variety of public health problems. Ranging across Europe and North and South America, and from the interwar period to the near present, this book explores the construction of ‘problem publics' to deepen our understanding of the ‘who' of public health. This book offers detailed case studies of the making of ‘problem' publics and public health problems in different places and at different times. By placing examples of the construction of problem publics in contexts as diverse as the USA in the interwar period, East Germany in the 1980s and contemporary Argentina, this collection identifies what is general and what is specific to the processes that make certain kinds of publics appear problematic. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, this volume offers fresh insights into the nature of public health problems, practices and publics. © Manchester University Press 2023.

DEATH LANDSCAPES AND COVID-19 IN THE AMERICAS: NORMATIVE RESPONSES OF THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION OF HUMAN RIGHTS TOWARDS VULNERABILITY-DEATH

The article engages with the death landscapes of the Americas' two largest democracies – Brazil and the United States – during the Covid-19 crisis, offering a conceptual tool entitled vulnerability-death binomial to consider the extent to which a politics of tragedy is a turning point in the ways institutional politics addresses vulnerability and death, emphasizing the work of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). When analyzing the normative responses of IACHR, no articulation was found between vulnerability and death but, instead, a bifurcation of each. Although it reveals that there is not a normative interplay between vulnerability and death, the bifurcation does not mean a choice between binary paths. While the two democracies have raised institutional challenges, the IACHR deepened certain senses of vulnerability and a normative movement towards death: issues historically absent from the international basic structure and capable of challenging the international justice theory © 2023, Lua Nova.All Rights Reserved.

The "epidemic within the pandemic”: meeting the needs of racially minoritised women experiencing domestic abuse during the Covid-19 pandemic

PurposeIn March 2020, the UK entered its first lockdown responding to the Covid-19 pandemic. In the same month, the Domestic Abuse Bill had its first reading in Parliament. Charities and non-governmental organisations critiqued the Bill for failing to protect migrants from domestic abuse, and not complying with the Istanbul Convention. Drawing on interviews with staff from Southall Black Sisters, this paper aims to foreground the experiences of practitioners within the women's sector to explore the unique experiences and challenges migrant and racially minoritised women encountered when seeking support from domestic abuse during the Covid-19 pandemic. It highlights how the pandemic-related lockdowns created barriers to accessing support services and housing, creating an epidemic within the pandemic, and how minoritised women and the organisations that supported them had to overcome structural barriers and racism.Design/methodology/approachIn-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with staff from a leading women's organisation that supports migrant and racially minoritised women. Four participants were asked questions within four themes: domestic abuse before and during the pandemic;accessing support from and reporting domestic abuse;accessibility of resources;and post-pandemic challenges. A phenomenological approach was used to analyse the transcribed interviews.FindingsParticipants consistently highlighted the unique threats and barriers migrant and racially minoritised women faced when seeking support. Barriers included racism, language barriers, cultural constraints, the triple threat of destitution, detention, deportation, and political resistance to protect migrant women from destitution/homelessness.Originality/valueThis paper provides a unique insight into the experiences of staff members within a specialist by and for women's support organisation in England and their perspectives on the barriers racially minoritised and migrant women experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic. It offers rare insights into how service users' needs changed during the lockdowns and how the pandemic affected their ability to operate.

US POLICY TOWARDS LATIN AMERICAN MIGRANTS: HUMAN RIGHTS VS. SECURITY*

The paper analyzes the transformation of the US migration policy towards Latin American and Caribbean immigrants and refugees. This policy is treated within the framework of the closeness/security – openness / fairness. Currently, the Mexican-American border has become the epicenter of the migration crisis. During the COVID-19 pandemic, sanitary measures reinforced negative trends in dealing with potential asylum seekers. A new feature of the crisis has become the descent diversity of migrants trying to cross the border barrier, it blurred the usual regional context of the problem and affected the nature of the border states migration policy. The article concludes that on the background of the acute migration crisis, the J.Biden administration's attempts to shift the regulatory measures towards liberalization and greater openness remained ineffective. © 2023, Iberoamerica (Russian Federation). All Rights Reserved.

Males' experiences of gender-based violence in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA): A review of literature

Globally, gender-based violence (GBV) continues to be a serious global health, human rights, and development issue. There is no standard definition of GBV, but it can be enacted under different forms such as physical violence, sexual violence, economic violence, psychological and emotional aggression (including coercive tactics) directed at someone because of their biological sex or gender identity. Most literature focuses on violence against females (both heterosexual and homosexual) and children, with little focus on males' perspectives. Most GBV narratives present males as perpetrators of violence. Recent statistics show that intimate partner violence (IPV) increased during the COVID-19 pandemic due to increased unemployment, substance abuse and reduced economic status. Recent country specific statistics are sparse but understanding the males' perceptions and experiences of GBV can assist with identifying appropriate interventions to deal with GBV. This critical review highlights critical knowledge gaps in the existing literature and a need for future research within Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Repatriation in Latin America during the pandemic: humanitarian drama and human rights

The article analyzes the governmental measures implemented by Chile and El Salvador during the pandemic to manage the repatriation of their nationals and resident citizens who were stranded abroad due to the closing of borders, a decision imposed by governments worldwide as a measure to contain the health crisis generated by COVID-19 in their territories. The restriction to the freedom of movement of people across borders caused in several countries of the region an additional humanitarian drama to the devastating effects of the global health crisis, so this paper examines this problem from the coverage given by the Latin American media to the repatriation processes of Chileans and Salvadorans as case studies, through a qualitative documentary analysis of the news about the main difficulties and consequences generated by this humanitarian drama. An important conclusion of the study recognizes the relevance of the administrative, logistic, and communicational capacity that the diplomatic missions of Latin American countries should develop, as well as the preeminence of human rights in international relations in order to face more responsibly the migratory crisis caused by the closing of borders for sanitary reasons.

Constitutional Resilience and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Perspectives from Sub-Saharan Africa

This book explores the resilience of constitutional government in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, connecting and comparing perspectives from ten countries in sub-Saharan Africa to global trends. In emergency situations, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, a state has the right and duty under both international law and domestic constitutional law to take appropriate steps to protect the health and security of its population. Emergency regimes may allow for the suspension or limitation of normal constitutional government and even human rights. Those measures are not a license for authoritarian rule, but they must conform to legal standards of necessity, reasonableness, and proportionality that limit state action in ways appropriate to the maintenance of the rule of law in the context of a public health emergency. Bringing together established and emerging African scholars from ten countries, this book looks at the impact government emergency responses to the pandemic have on the functions of the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary, as well as the protection of human rights. It also considers whether and to what extent government emergency responses were consistent with international human rights law, in particular with the standards of legality, necessity, proportionality, and non-discrimination in the Siracusa Principles. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.