Every month since the first #lockdown we have been publishing reports that document + analyse:
Complex lockdown laws π
Erratic policing π
Criminal justice failures β
Growing biosurveillance systems π‘
Attacks on protest rights πͺ§
March and April were no different.
As well as crackdowns on those attending vigils, *more* unlawful fines + prosections under complex lockdown laws & the continued evasion of Parliamentary scrutiny... the Government has made it clear they're pursuing Covid ID cards.
Boris Johnson confirms tonight that an announcement for Covid status certificates will come later this month.
We know Govnt has been:
βοΈ trialling them already
βοΈ posting job applications to work on them
The #QueensSpeech today referenced to a string of draconian laws the Government is planning to introduce. Big Brother Watch will have its ποΈ on the following:
πThe Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill: which will create 10-year sentences for protests that risk "annoyance", "inconvenience" or "disease", and reintroduce digital strip searches.
The Electoral Integrity Bill: which introduces #VoterID will prevent many thousands of people voting, despite no evidence of systemic ballot box fraud and only 1 fraud conviction per 20 million votes cast in the last 2 General Elections.
ποΈ For MONTHS Govnt ruled out Covid passes for domestic use.
Today Baroness @SalBrinton asked why there are plans for "unreliable tests as the mainstay for its passport scheme when ministers and experts have said this is wrong?"
π "Can the Minister guarantee maximum transparency during the review - and commercial #lobbying for such certificates in particular..?"
Baroness Chakrabarti warns of the risks of Covid passes to discrimination and privacy rights.
π£οΈFacebook + Twitterβs content moderation policies have risked stifling open debate on public health policies over the last year.
Today, a Parliamentary Committee looking at free speech online asked the platforms what competency they have to play judge & jury on public debateβ¬οΈ
Head of UK Public Policy at #Twitter was asked about why the platform marked a Tweet by a Professor of medicine at @harvardmed as "misleading" and limited the users' ability to share the Tweet.
How qualified was a fact-checker for Facebook to decide a Professor from @UniofOxford published 'false' information?
π¨BREAKING: The COVID-status certificate βtrialsβ are not going ahead.
Itβs unclear if they ever truly existed.
Thread! π§΅
At the start of April, the Government said it would trial COVID-status certificates to allow entry to 9 βpilotβ events in April and May... /1
However, reports conflicted on whether the COVID-status certificates to be trialled would start with test results only - or the long-term plan for vaccine, test and antibody statuses. /2
The 1st event was reported to be a comedy club in Liverpool. Only, the club had no idea about certification plans & had only signed up for testing research.
The owners tried to contact @DCMS, but got no reply.