Author: TheConversation

By Kerry Whigham, Assistant Professor of Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention, Binghamton University, State University of New York The newly formed United Nations passed its first international treaty on December 9, 1948, just three years after the Holocaust ended. The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was designed to prevent genocide from ever happening again. But governments worldwide currently remain far from the goal of preventing genocide – despite 152 of them eventually signing on to the Genocide Convention. Genocide, meaning actions taken with the intent to destroy a group of people because of...

By Dov Waxman, Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Professor of Israel Studies, University of California, Los Angeles Antisemitism has been in the news a lot lately. Hip-hop megastar Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, tweeted October 8, 2022 that he would “go death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE,” and then made antisemitic comments during a series of interviews. Basketball star Kyrie Irving has been embroiled in scandal after promoting a film that accuses Jews of controlling the trans-Atlantic slave trade and worshiping the devil. And former U.S. President Donald Trump posted on his social media platform that Jews must...

By Anne Toomey McKenna, Visiting Professor of Law, University of Richmond Data privacy in the U.S. is, in many ways, a legal void. While there are limited protections for health and financial data, the cradle of the world’s largest tech companies, like Apple, Amazon, Google, and Meta (Facebook), lacks any comprehensive federal data privacy law. This leaves U.S. citizens with minimal data privacy protections compared with citizens of other nations. But that may be about to change. With rare bipartisan support, the American Data and Privacy Protection Act moved out of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy...

By Elizabeth Stoycheff, Associate Professor of Communication, Wayne State University Website cookies are online surveillance tools, and the commercial and government entities that use them would prefer people not read those notifications too closely. People who do read the notifications carefully will find that they have the option to say no to some or all cookies. The problem is, without careful attention those notifications become an annoyance and a subtle reminder that your online activity can be tracked. As a researcher who studies online surveillance, I have found that failing to read the notifications thoroughly can lead to negative...

By Debra Rickwood, Professor of Psychology, University of Canberra You have probably found yourself weeping quietly, or even suddenly sobbing uncontrollably, while watching a movie. Common culprits include Marley and Me, The Color Purple, Schindler’s List and The Lion King. You may have tried to blubber discretely so your dry-eyed companions did not think you were weak, and no doubt you had a sneaky look sideways to see if they were glassy-eyed too. Or you may have boldly sobbed away. Why do we cry in movies? Is this a sign of emotional weakness – hence hiding it from your...