CoronaCrime #49

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a terrible toll on lives, illness, and economic devastation and it is having diverse effects on violence and crime. Daily Prevention News publishes weekly a Corona Crime Issue dedicated to collect related news and information.

1. Peace in Our Cities in a Time of Pandemic Series. City – National Government Relations: Implications for Violence Prevention
   Reducing urban violence requires concerted focus at the city level but also coordination with national governments. The relationship between city and national authorities creates both opportunities for and impediments to the work of violence reduction. Several cases evaluated in this brief demonstrate the inherent agency of globalized cities in the 21st Century. Yet, in their ascendancy, cities confront challenges in their relations with national governments. This brief identifies three national-local dynamics – coordination, competition and capacity – and demonstrates how cities have effectively sought to navigate these complex dynamics in the context of violence. Source: Peace in Our Cities platform
2. ISD study shows spike in anti-vaxx disinfo in France in last 6 months
   As France goes into another Covid-19 lockdown due to rising infections and further delays in vaccinations, a new ISD briefing finds a sharp increase in anti-vaxx discourse following the launch of France's vaccination campaign. ISD's report, COVID-19: aperçu de la défiance anti-vaccinale sur les réseaux sociaux, analyses anti-vaccine disinformation in France on Twitter and Facebook between September 2020 and February 2021 and provides an overview of key online trends, discussions and actors. France has experienced some of the highest levels of vaccine hesitancy in the world. The discourse also linked to anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, and anti-migrant narratives. Source: ISD Global
3. Arabic COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation Online
   This report is part of an ongoing series examining COVID-19 vaccine misinformation on Facebook in countries and regions across the world. This edition, focusing on Arabic-language communities in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) throughout January and February 2021, represents a landmark report in the series. By tracing a handful of anti-vaccination pages on Facebook, researchers found an elaborate network of non-exisent think tanks, vaccination watchdogs, and antisemitic, conspiracy-laden YouTube channels with hundreds of thousands of followers. Source: ISD Global
4. The impact of Covid-19 on Roma communities in the European Union and the Western Balkans
   Together with partners from seven EU Member States, five Western Balkan countries and Turkey, ERGO Network has prepared an in-depth study about the devastating impact that the Covid-19 pandemic had and continue to has on Roma and Travellers across Europe. Source: ERGO Network

Please find more information and news about the interlinkages between the Coronavirus, Crime and Violence in German published every Tuesday on our German News Service Tägliche Präventions News.