Industry rep slams Vancouver restaurant’s defiance of COVID-19 order

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rn"Governments across the country are asking people to stay in place, asking people to tighten up their social circles (again) and be smart but it seems a certain crowd just arenu2019t getting the picture," Diamond's post reads.rn

"Me, personally... I donu2019t want your money right now, I want you to go home, be safe and stay healthy," Diamond writes.

rnHis decision caught the attention of Brittny Anderson, the MLA for Nelson-Creston.rnrnShe tells NEWS 1130 she was devastated when she found out what Diamond had to deal with.rnrn"I know that Nick, and every restaurant owner, and restaurant worker, and tourism operator, has been working so hard to keep the community safe," she explained.rnrn"Having a large influx of tourists, and I think they think that these rural areas are safe but what they don't realize is that we could end up in a really scary situation of increased numbers and we do not have the capacity to deal with that," Anderson said.rnrnB.C.u2019s daily COVID-19 counts topped 1,000 both for the time periods between Thursday to Friday, and Friday to Saturday.rnrnrn

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rnrnrnThis weekend also saw the highest single-day total recorded in B.C. since the pandemic began.rnrnCurrent restrictions ban, among other activities, indoor dining at restaurants, pubs, bars, and food courts. Outdoor patio seating and take-out or delivery are allowed under current public health orders, which were announced last week amid a spike in COVID-19 cases.rnrnAnderson says Diamond's decision was a courageous move.rnrn"Nick is very, very community-minded," she said of Diamond, whom she grew up with. "I've known him since we were in junior high and he loves this community just as much as I do."rnrnhttps://twitter.com/martinmacmahon/status/1379053690997235720rnrnShe understands the impact restrictions have had on businesses like Diamond's and worries it'll take people having personal experiences with COVID-19 to change behaviours.rnrnWhen it comes to reports of out-of-province visitors among those in attendance at the Nelson restaurant, Anderson stresses now is not the time to be visiting or travelling -- no matter where you are coming from.rnrn"I'm concerned about the amount of people that came in from anywhere outside of our community. It doesn't matter to me if they're from Alberta or from the Lower Mainland -- if they were coming as tourists to our community, that was not appropriate this weekend," she explained. "We've been asked by our public health officials to stay home and we really need to start listening to this."rnrnMeanwhile, B.C.'s public safety minister says there will be a price to pay for restaurants that ignored a ban on indoor dining as COVID-19 cases hit record highs.rnrnMike Farnworth's warning came after two Vancouver restaurants defied public health orders, and were in turn served with closure notices because of their actions.rnrnFarnworth says harassment of enforcement officers will not be tolerated, and that closure orders by any health authority must be respected.","post_title":"Nelson, B.C. restaurant owner shuts down over long weekend due to 'pushy, rude' out-of-town crowd","post_excerpt":"A restaurant owner in Nelson is being applauded by the region's MLA after he shut down his patio over the long weekend because of crowds of customers flouting COVID-19 rules. ","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"nelson-restaurant-owner-shuts-down-long-weekend-crowd","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2021-04-05 08:19:06","post_modified_gmt":"2021-04-05 15:19:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https://www.citynews1130.com/?p=3428657","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw","permalink":"https://www.citynews1130.com/2021/04/05/nelson-restaurant-owner-shuts-down-long-weekend-crowd/","post_title_shortened":"Nelson, B.C. restaurant owner shuts down over long weekend due ...","post_thumbnail":""},{"ID":3428632,"post_author":"1020","post_date":"2021-04-05 06:53:55","post_date_gmt":"2021-04-05 13:53:55","post_content":"NORTH VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) - North Shore Rescue crews were kept busy over the long weekend, with four call outs, adding to an already busy 2021.rnrnThe group says its four weekend rescues brings the total number so far this year up to 52, putting NSR on pace to exceed last year's record-call volume by about 25 per cent.rnrnOn Friday, members were called to an area near Norvan Falls in Lynn Headwaters for reports someone had a "serious medical issue." Crews were able to get that person out to safety, but as that call was happening, NSR was notified by staff at Rice Lake Gate that "an individual had wandered away from his family and could not be located despite their efforts."rnrnrn

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rnrnrnSome NSR members who were standing by to assist with the first call were instead sent to help find this second person, who was quickly located and reunited with his family.rn

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rnThe third call of the weekend came on Sunday. A skier was seriously hurt after they fell into a snowpack assessment pit -- which is used to analyze snow crystals and look for evidence of a potential avalanche -- that had not been filled in.rnrnThe skier was rescued with the help of a helicopter and taken to the hospital.rnrn"Whoever dug this pit and did not fill it back in, left a hazard that seriously injured someone," NSR wrote Sunday. "This should be obvious - but apparently itu2019s not to whoever dug this snow pit - if you dig a pit you must fill it back in."rn

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rnBut three calls isn't where the weekend ended for NSR's teams. Crews were also called out on Sunday to help a backcountry skier at Cypress who had fallen into a creek gully and gotten hurt.rnrn"Working with our friends at Cypress ski patrol, that subject was rescued and brought out of the field," North Shore Rescue's Facebook post reads.","post_title":"North Shore Rescue on track for another record-breaking year after busy long weekend","post_excerpt":"North Shore Rescue says its long-weekend rescues puts it on pace to exceed 2020's record-call volume by about 25 per cent.","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"north-shore-rescue-busy-long-weekend","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2021-04-05 06:54:56","post_modified_gmt":"2021-04-05 13:54:56","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https://www.citynews1130.com/?p=3428632","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw","permalink":"https://www.citynews1130.com/2021/04/05/north-shore-rescue-busy-long-weekend/","post_title_shortened":"North Shore Rescue on track for another record-breaking year af...","post_thumbnail":""},{"ID":3428691,"post_author":"361","post_date":"2021-04-05 10:51:23","post_date_gmt":"2021-04-05 14:51:23","post_content":"What started out as an exciting Instagram post about a pregnancy announcement for one Toronto woman, ended with her account being deactivated due to what she fears is a bias algorithm that is facing increased scrutiny.rnrnSarah Taylor, a plus-size model and personal trainer, posted a photo of three running shoes beside a onesie and her babyu2019s sonogram. Soon after, she said she received an alert from Instagram, telling her that there was suspicious activity on her account and would therefore need to go through a verification process to authenticate her page. Despite doing so, she was told her account was being disabled for 24 hours.rnrnu201cMy page was gone, there was nothing there and it looked like I didnu2019t exist,u201d said Taylor. u201cI wasnu2019t given a reason, I had never had any community violations. To be shutdown with no warning at all and no previous faults against my account, made no sense at all.u201drnrnrnrnThe soon-to-be mom lost over 8,000 followers, over 90 per cent of whom were women. She depends on her social media page for her livelihood, keeping her Toronto business - a fitness studio that was forced to shut down during the pandemic - running virtually.rnrnAfter taking numerous steps to get her page back and following up with the social media app to appeal the removal of her account, she was told via email that her account was deactivated due to community guidelines being violated. An allegation she disputes.rnrnu201cI had no hate speech, no bullying, I am not nude on my photos and mostly in fitness gear,u201d said Taylor. u201cAll of my posts are all about empowering women, itu2019s my lifeu2019s work to help women advocate for themselves.u201drnrnMore than two weeks later, Taylor still doesnu2019t know why her account was deactivated, adding that she is unaware of whether or not she was reported by someone else and if Instagram investigated prior to removing her page.rnrnu201cThe fact that no one got back to me with details is really disheartening as an influencer, as a business owner, and somebody who owns a small business and is trying to survive during COVID,u201d Taylor said. u201cI want them to give me actual reasons as to why it was shut down in the first place because there was no cause for it. I want to see change in the long run in algorithms. Stop filtering different groups if they arenu2019t the typical beauty standard.u201drnrnCityNews reached out to Instagram last week to ask why Tayloru2019s account was removed but a response has not yet been provided.rnrnTHE ALGORITHM DILEMMArnrnTaylor took to her other Instagram page to bring attention to her experiences and found that her story was just one of many that highlighted issues surrounding Instagramu2019s algorithm, a set of computerized rules and instructions used by the social media site.rnrnu201cI discovered there were a couple other accounts that I know off who talk about very similar topics as me that have been shut down, or have had community violations, and have been shadow banned,u201d said Taylor. u201cThere are so many other things that have happened when it comes to silencing the voices who are in marginalized bodies."rnrnFor years now, a community of social media users have criticized Instagramu2019s algorithms for being bias towards plus-size account holders, and especially those from racialized communities.rnrnYuan Stevens, Policy Lead on Technology, Cybersecurity & Democracy at Ryerson University, said a computeru2019s system rule, in this case algorithms, can discriminate against persons. One of the issues identified by Stevens is that algorithms are assumed to be neutral and math-based, but the technology isnu2019t impartial, and itu2019s made with u201cbiases of their creatorsu201d. The biases built into algorithms and automated technology are also reflective of their databases and can therefore favour people who hold similar values as the creators.rnrnStevens said that has significant implications for plus sized people on social media.rnrnu201cIu2019m not surprised that plus-sized models could be targeted on social media apps like Instagram,u201d she said. u201cWe know that automated decision making algorithms like face recognition technologies can be extremely inaccurate.u201drnrnJust recently, over 50 content creators who are plus-size signed up to participate in the u2018Donu2019t Delete My Bodyu2019 project, calling on Instagram to u2018stop censoring FAT bodiesu2019 and that Queer and BIPOC account holders are targeted at higher rates. The influencers, who are from diverse backgrounds, posted photos with the caption u2018Why does Instagram censor my body but not thin bodies.u2019rnrnu201cThereu2019s a bot in the algorithm and it measures the amount of clothing to skin ratio and if thereu2019s anything above 60 per cent, itu2019s considered sexually explicit,u201d said Kayla Logan, one of the creators of the project. u201cSo if youu2019re fat and youu2019re in a bathing suit, compared to your thin counterpart, thatu2019s going to be sexually explicit. Itu2019s inherently fat phobic and discriminatory towards fat people.u201drnrnLogan, who is a body positive and mental health content creator, adds that this issue has persisted for years. Thatu2019s why dozens participated in the project, taking photos of themselves in swimwear, lingerie, and some posed semi-nude while covering parts of their bodies. Logan said the photos taken for this project, are similar to what Instagram has allowed other account holders to post without penalty.rnrnu201cInstagram is doing everything they possibly can to silence you. They will delete posts, they will flag your stories and remove them,u201d Logan said. u201cEveryone shared their experience of censorship, especially on Instagram. Itu2019s not an isolated incident being fat and being silenced on Instagram or losing your platform.u201drnrnLogan describes herself as a body-positive fat liberation activist who has posted photos in lingerie posing next to iconic places around the world. These algorithms have also impacted her account, locking her out without any notice numerous times for posting content thatu2019s similar to non plus-sized accounts.rn

u201cIu2019m all about showing your body in very artistic, beautiful, non sexualized ways. But on Instagram, fat bodies are considered sexualized.u201d

rnLogan, claims sheu2019s also been shadowbanned for years now, which is the practice of restricting content and limiting an accountu2019s reach where photos and videos donu2019t appear on the explorer page. For social media users who depend on these apps for business, that may mean losing customers and opportunities. Logan also adds that her story views have decreased by half and her branded content feature was removed, which impacts her ability to do business with companies.rnrnu201cI did have that confirmed by one of the largest companies in Canada, when their IT department looked into it for me,u201d said Logan. u201cA company wanted to put money in to a sponsored post we were doing and I didnu2019t have that feature. I felt really embarrassed and ashamed and I had to tell them that I believe Iu2019m shadowbanned.u201drnrnu201cItu2019s like this hush thing in the community where us plus size influencers talk about it a lot but Instagram denies that it exists,u201d Logan added.rnrnBoth Taylor and Logan have said that contacting Instagram has been one of the biggest challenges, and thereu2019s been a lack of transparency and accountability, especially when theyu2019re accused of violating community rules and their content is repeatedly removed.rnrnu201cThereu2019s no human entity to speak with so weu2019re shouting into this void,u201d said Logan. u201cTheyu2019re losing their community and their livelihood, and even they canu2019t get a hold of Instagram. These are people that have half a million viewership and they canu2019t have this conversation with Instagram.u201drnrnu201cStart hiring people to actually look at things,u201d Taylor added. u201cIf I submit an appeal to my account, someone should be looking at it and give me an actual answer rather than just a link with no details. Itu2019s unfair and something has to change. Thatu2019s my hope in speaking up.u201drnrnCriticism over Instagramu2019s algorithms started long before Tayloru2019s account was removed.rnrnLast June, when the world saw mass protests, highlighting the death of Black people by police officers and calling on governments and institutions to address systemic racism, the head of Instagram made a post standing in solidarity with the Black community.rnrnInstagram CEO Adam Mosseri wrote then that the company will be doing a better job at serving underrepresented groups on four areas, including addressing algorithmic bias.rnrnrnrnCityNews reached out to Facebook, which owns Instagram, to ask about the issue of algorithm biases, shadowbanning, and how the company investigates flagged accounts prior to removing them. A response has not been yet been provided.rnrnu201cThis is a greater conversation, itu2019s not just about you shutting my business page with no reason,u201d Taylor said. u201cIu2019m wondering if itu2019s a bigger conversation about censorship. If thatu2019s the case, I will continue to be loud because thatu2019s not okay.u201drnrnTHE ALGORITHM DEBATErnrnAlgorithms used by social media sites have sparked big debates on not only censorship, but the responsibility companies have in addressing issues such as online hate, white supremacy, harassment and misogyny.rnrnu201cIt is worse for those who are Black, Indigenous and Asian because they do get targeted even more and thatu2019s not okay,u201d Taylor said. u201cItu2019s very frustrating.u201drnrnStevens said technology works in favour of some people and against others because of its bias and potential for discrimination, adding that Instagramu2019s algorithms arenu2019t perfect.rnrnu201cAutomated decision making technology is important because it speeds up human decision making processes and allows decisions to be made at a significant scale,u201d she explained. u201cWhereas Facebook is removing content, historically it would have relied on a person to make that decisions, automation would speed that process up and allow content to be removed at an incredible scale and speed.u201drnrnStevens, is part of a team at Ryerson Labs, looking at face recognition technology and how algorithms work. She cites the work of Shoshana Zuboff, a scholar and leader in the field of 'surveillance capitalism,' saying algorithms play a role for social media companies who are collecting data.rnrnu201cThese companies are in the business of understanding how we think and work and nudging us in certain directions, and thatu2019s really significant,u201d said Stevens. u201cWe expect to know how technology works but algorithmic technology sometimes, it teaches itself because we feed it data.u201drnrnStevens and her team are hoping to highlight the work of Joy Buolamwini, a computer scientist and digital activist who founded the Algorithmic Justice League, focusing on creating equitable and accountable technology. As explained by Stevens, the organization has identified how face recognition algorithms, which are being used by social media companies, can often be inaccurate. Recently AGL analyzed 189 face algorithms submitted by developers around the world and found concerning results.rn

u201cWhat they found was that the algorithms were 10 to 100 times more likely to inaccurately identify a photograph of a Black or East Asian person compared to a white person,u201d said Stevens. u201cWhat this means is that if you are in a data base and you are being chosen for something or if they wanted to remove content or for some reason target you in some way, the chances of you being misidentified are so much greater if youu2019re East Asian or Black.u201d

rnStevens adds that there needs to be more research in Canada that looks at the use of algorithms and how decisions are made, not only on social media, but also when it comes to policing. Most of the research sited comes from the US, where there have been instances of people being wrongly accused of committing a crime as police services have also been known to use facial recognition technology.rnrnu201cThere needs to be solutions,u201d argued Stevens. u201cSocial media companies are increasingly using algorithms and AI to make decisions. Our work uncovered that in 2020 Facebooku2019s Community Standards Enforcement report demonstrated that theyu2019re continuously expanding their use of algorithms to make content removal decisions.u201drnrnAttention has also turned to Canadau2019s privacy laws when it comes to facial recognition technology. Stevens said itu2019s important that our governmentu2019s laws advance to prevent what she calls u2018wrongful takedownsu2019 and instead, require social media companies to be more transparent about how they make their decisions.rnrnu201cPeople should understand how decisions are made. Right now companies arenu2019t required to make these decisions transparent,u201d Stevens said. u201cItu2019s incredibly important that companies are required by the Canadian government to be open about how they decide how content is removed. Right now we donu2019t have that transparency.u201drnrnUNFAIRLY TARGETEDrnrnNot having access to her account has resulted in a loss of business for Taylor, who was crowned Miss Plus Canada 2014. Since the pandemic closed down her physical gym, sheu2019s moved her operations online and Instagram has become a key component of growing her community. The expectant mother also depends on social media as she works with big brands like Nike, Lululemon and Penningtons. Sheu2019s created a community with people from all around the world, which is why sheu2019s hoping Instagram will give her her page back.rnrnrnrnu201cIt wasnu2019t just a page, it was a community,u201d she said. u201cTo lose that makes me really sad, and itu2019s also disheartening that it happened after announcing my pregnancy. Iu2019ve definitely lost opportunities. Itu2019s basically slowed to a halt.u201drnrnLogan, who has nearly 38,000 followers on Instagram, adds that she and others who have been unfairly targeted by algorithms have had to create back-up accounts just in case their pages are removed.rnrnu201cI donu2019t know any thin bloggers who have a backup account in case they lose their page,u201d Logan said. u201cAlmost all of my friends I know, we have backup accounts because we are terrified every single day that our accounts will be gone. So just in case we have that second platform.u201drnrnItu2019s been said for decades now, that society needs to do a better job of being representative and inclusive of communities who havenu2019t always had a platform for representation. The same can be said about social media. Centering empowerment of other women who havenu2019t always seen themselves reflected has been central for both Taylor and Logan.rnrnu201cI grew up as a big kid, I was a size 12 and I was bullied heavily, not just verbally, I was beat up by the guys in grade school,u201d Taylor said. u201cIt became my infernal dialogue and I grew up hating myself. It affected all the decisions I made and led me to marry a man who was abusive.u201d","post_title":"The growing criticism over Instagramu2019s algorithm bias","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"the-growing-criticism-over-instagrams-algorithm-bias","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2021-04-05 10:51:23","post_modified_gmt":"2021-04-05 14:51:23","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https://toronto.citynews.ca/?p=2416761","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw","permalink":"https://www.citynews1130.com/2021/04/05/the-growing-criticism-over-instagrams-algorithm-bias/","post_title_shortened":"The growing criticism over Instagramu2019s algorithm bias","post_thumbnail":""}]}; /* ]]> */