3 Stories You Should Read 10/01/2020: Trump Campaign Lies, Covid Increases Extreme Poverty, Breonna Taylor
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In the category of: Fake Ads
Facebook removes Trump ads tying refugees to COVID-19
Facebook said Wednesday that it was removing a series of ads from President Trump’s campaign that linked American acceptance of refugees with increased coronavirus risk, a connection Facebook says is without merit.
Why it matters: The ads were pulled after they received thousands of impressions and are a sign that the Trump campaign continues to test the limits of social media rules on false information.
“We rejected these ads because we don’t allow claims that people’s physical safety, health, or survival is threatened by people on the basis of their national origin or immigration status,” Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone said in a statement.
The big picture: The move comes as the social media platforms prepare for an intense period through the November election and until the race is decided. Facebook said last week it wouldn’t allow ads that prematurely declare victory and has also said it will stop allowing new political ads a week before Election Day.
- On Wednesday, it said it was expanding its election-related policy to limit additional types of ads that could interfere with voting.
In the category of: Less than a $1.90/day???
Extreme poverty is getting worse across the globe for the first time in decades
For decades, one of the most important indicators of global well-being has kept moving in the right direction: Extreme poverty has been falling.
Although experts can and do debate the details, hundreds of millions of families moved from subsisting on less than $1.90/day (the World Bank’s standard for “extreme poverty”) to living on a little more. To be sure, it’s still not enough, but it has meant less hunger, less premature death, and more opportunity. Despite wars, famines, and natural disasters, extreme poverty has fallen for the last 50 years.
In just one year, Covid-19 has changed that picture profoundly.
The World Bank predicts the number of people living in extreme poverty will rise by anywhere from 70 million to 100 million this year, and may stay that way for several years as the coronavirus-related slowdown in economic growth is expected to linger — especially in countries such as Nigeria and India, where many of the world’s poorest people live.
The number of people surviving on less than $3.20/day (the World Bank’s standard for “poverty”) is also expected to rise, by between 170 million and 220 million people. By other means of measuring poverty, the toll might be even worse: The United Nations has a metric that tracks access to clean water, adequate food, electricity, and schools, and it estimates that 490 million people will lose access to one of those things within the next year.
In the category of: I forgot to mention…
Kentucky AG Says He Did Not Recommend Charges Against Two Breonna Taylor Officers
