By DOUG JACOBSON <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-the-us-ban-tiktok-can-it-a-cybersecurity-expert-explains-the-risks-the-app-poses-and-the-challenges-to-blocking-it-202300">The Conversation</a>

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew <a href="https://energycommerce.house.gov/posts/energy-and-commerce-brings-tik-tok-ceo-before-committee-to-testify">testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee</a> on March 23, 2023, amid a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/18/opinion/tiktok-ban-china-spying.html">chorus of calls from members of Congress</a> for the federal government to ban the Chinese-owned video social media app and reports that the Biden administration is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/15/technology/tiktok-biden-pushes-sale.html">pushing for the company’s sale</a>.

The federal government, along with many state and foreign governments and some companies, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/08/03/its-not-just-united-states-these-governments-see-tiktok-growing-problem/">has banned TikTok on work-provided phones</a>. This type of ban can be effective for protecting data related to government work.

But a full ban of the app is another matter, which raises a number of
 questions: What data privacy risk does TikTok pose? What could the 
Chinese government do with data collected by the app? Is its content 
recommendation algorithm dangerous? And is it even possible to ban an 
app?

As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=KkGR-BwAAAAJ&amp;hl=en">cybersecurity researcher</a>, I’ve noted that every few years a new mobile app that becomes popular raises issues of security, privacy and data access.

Apps collect data for several reasons. Sometimes the data is used to 
improve the app for users. However, most apps collect data that the 
companies use in part to fund their operations. This revenue typically 
comes from targeting users with ads based on the data they collect. The 
questions this use of data raises are: Does the app need all this data? 
What does it do with the data? And how does it protect the data from 
others? 

So what makes TikTok different from the likes of <a href="https://pokemongolive.com/">Pokemon-GO</a>, Facebook or even your phone itself? TikTok’s <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/legal/page/us/privacy-policy/en">privacy policy</a>, which <a href="https://theconversation.com/nobody-reads-privacy-policies-heres-how-to-fix-that-81932">few people read</a>, is a good place to start. Overall, the company is <a href="https://brandonsilverman.substack.com/p/how-transparent-is-tiktok">not particularly transparent</a> about its practices. The document is too long to list here all the data it collects, which should be a warning.

There are a few items of interest in TikTok’s privacy policy besides 
the information you give them when you create an account – name, age, 
username, password, language, email, phone number, social media account 
information and profile image – that are concerning. This information 
includes location data, data from your clipboard, contact information, 
website tracking, plus all data you post and messages you send through 
the app. The company claims that current versions of the app <a href="https://docs.house.gov/meetings/IF/IF00/20230323/115519/HHRG-118-IF00-Wstate-ChewS-20230323.pdf">do not collect GPS information</a> from U.S. users. There has been speculation that TikTok is collecting other information, but that is hard to prove.

If <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/14/technology/personal-data-apple-google-facebook.html">most apps collect data</a>, why is the U.S. government worried about TikTok? First, they worry about the <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/emilybakerwhite/tiktok-tapes-us-user-data-china-bytedance-access">Chinese government accessing data</a> from its <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/tiktok-says-it-has-150-million-us-users-amid-renewed-calls-for-a-ban/ar-AA18UfZv">150 million users in the U.S.</a> There is also a concern about the algorithms used by TikTok to show content.

If the data does end up in the hands of the Chinese government, the 
question is how could it use the data to its benefit. The government 
could share it with other companies in China to help them profit, which 
is no different than U.S. companies sharing marketing data. The Chinese 
government is known for <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/essay/the-long-game-chinas-grand-strategy-to-displace-american-order/">playing the long game</a>, and data is power, so if it is collecting data, it could take years to learn how it benefits China.

One potential threat is the Chinese government using the data to spy 
on people, particularly people who have access to valuable information. 
The Justice Department is investigating TikTok’s parent company, 
ByteDance, for <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/a617dfba-4946-4977-a1f8-dcfb8997ef51">using the app to monitor U.S. journalists</a>. The Chinese government has an extensive history of <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/02/politics/china-hackers-espionage-defense-contractors/index.html">hacking U.S. government agencies and corporations</a>, and much of that hacking has been facilitated by <a href="https://www.csoonline.com/article/3648654/social-engineering-definition-examples-and-techniques.html">social engineering</a> – the practice of using data about people to trick them into revealing more information.

The second issue that the U.S. government has raised is algorithm 
bias or algorithm manipulation. TikTok and most social media apps have 
algorithms designed to learn a user’s interests and then try to adjust 
the content so the user will continue to use the app. TikTok has not 
shared its algorithm, so it’s not clear how the app chooses a user’s 
content. 

The algorithm could be biased in a way that influences a population 
to believe certain things. There are numerous allegations that TiKTok’s 
algorithm is biased and can <a href="https://counterhate.com/research/deadly-by-design/">reinforce negative thoughts among younger users</a>, and be used to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/tiktok-privacy-foreign-software-policy/">affect public opinion</a>.
 It could be that the algorithm’s manipulative behavior is 
unintentional, but there is concern that the Chinese government has been
 using or could use the algorithm to influence people.

If the federal government comes to the conclusion that TikTok should 
be banned, is it even possible to ban it for all of its 150 million 
existing users? Any such ban would likely start with blocking the 
distribution of the app through Apple’s and Google’s app stores. This 
might keep many users off the platform, but there are other ways to 
download and install apps for people who are determined to use them. 

A more drastic method would be to force Apple and Google to change 
their phones to prevent TikTok from running. While I’m not a lawyer, I 
think this effort would fail due to legal challenges, which <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tiktok-ban-whats-next-company-purchase/">include First Amendment concerns</a>. The bottom line is that an absolute ban will be tough to enforce.

There are also questions about how effective a ban would be even if 
it were possible. By some estimates, the Chinese government has already 
collected personal information on <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/08/26/1013501080/chinas-microsoft-hack-may-have-had-a-bigger-purpose-than-just-spying">at least 80% of the U.S. population</a>
 via various means. So a ban might limit the damage going forward to 
some degree, but the Chinese government has already collected a 
significant amount of data. The Chinese government also has access – 
along with anyone else with money – to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/darknet-markets-generate-millions-in-revenue-selling-stolen-personal-data-supply-chain-study-finds-193506">large market for personal data</a>, which fuels <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/20/opinion/tiktok-ban-big-tech-china.html">calls for stronger data privacy rules</a>.

So as an average user, should you worry? Again, it is unclear what 
data ByteDance is collecting and if it can harm an individual. I believe
 the most significant risks are to people in power, whether it is 
political power or within a company. Their data and information could be
 used to gain access to other data or potentially compromise the 
organizations they are associated with.

The aspect of TikTok I find most concerning is the algorithm that 
decides what videos users see and how it can affect vulnerable groups, <a href="https://theconversation.com/facebooks-own-internal-documents-offer-a-blueprint-for-making-social-media-safer-for-teens-169080">particularly young people</a>. Independent of a ban, families should have conversions about TikTok and other social media platforms and how they can be <a href="https://theconversation.com/6-ways-to-protect-your-mental-health-from-social-medias-dangers-117651">detrimental to mental health</a>. These conversations should focus on how to determine if the app is leading you down an unhealthy path.

By DOUG JACOBSON <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-the-us-ban-tiktok-can-it-a-cybersecurity-expert-explains-the-risks-the-app-poses-and-the-challenges-to-blocking-it-202300">The Conversation</a>TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew <a href="https://energycommerce.house.gov/posts/energy-and-commerce-brings-tik-tok-ceo-before-committee-to-testify">testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee</a> on March 23, 2023, amid a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/18/opinion/tiktok-ban-china-spying.html">chorus of calls from members of Congress</a> for the federal government to ban the Chinese-owned video social media app and reports that the Biden administration is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/15/technology/tiktok-biden-pushes-sale.html">pushing for the company’s sale</a>.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1679581245218.png" alt="Shou Zi Chew&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>Shou Zi Chew&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>The federal government, along with many state and foreign governments and some companies, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/08/03/its-not-just-united-states-these-governments-see-tiktok-growing-problem/">has banned TikTok on work-provided phones</a>. This type of ban can be effective for protecting data related to government work. But a full ban of the app is another matter, which raises a number of
 questions: What data privacy risk does TikTok pose? What could the 
Chinese government do with data collected by the app? Is its content 
recommendation algorithm dangerous? And is it even possible to ban an 
app?<figure>
 <iframe width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KzHLIqZyFr8"></iframe>
 <figcaption>Governments around the world have been banning TikTok on government-issued phones.</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Vacuuming up data</h2>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=KkGR-BwAAAAJ&amp;hl=en">cybersecurity researcher</a>, I’ve noted that every few years a new mobile app that becomes popular raises issues of security, privacy and data access.Apps collect data for several reasons. Sometimes the data is used to 
improve the app for users. However, most apps collect data that the 
companies use in part to fund their operations. This revenue typically 
comes from targeting users with ads based on the data they collect. The 
questions this use of data raises are: Does the app need all this data? 
What does it do with the data? And how does it protect the data from 
others? So what makes TikTok different from the likes of <a href="https://pokemongolive.com/">Pokemon-GO</a>, Facebook or even your phone itself? TikTok’s <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/legal/page/us/privacy-policy/en">privacy policy</a>, which <a href="https://theconversation.com/nobody-reads-privacy-policies-heres-how-to-fix-that-81932">few people read</a>, is a good place to start. Overall, the company is <a href="https://brandonsilverman.substack.com/p/how-transparent-is-tiktok">not particularly transparent</a> about its practices. The document is too long to list here all the data it collects, which should be a warning.There are a few items of interest in TikTok’s privacy policy besides 
the information you give them when you create an account – name, age, 
username, password, language, email, phone number, social media account 
information and profile image – that are concerning. This information 
includes location data, data from your clipboard, contact information, 
website tracking, plus all data you post and messages you send through 
the app. The company claims that current versions of the app <a href="https://docs.house.gov/meetings/IF/IF00/20230323/115519/HHRG-118-IF00-Wstate-ChewS-20230323.pdf">do not collect GPS information</a> from U.S. users. There has been speculation that TikTok is collecting other information, but that is hard to prove.If <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/14/technology/personal-data-apple-google-facebook.html">most apps collect data</a>, why is the U.S. government worried about TikTok? First, they worry about the <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/emilybakerwhite/tiktok-tapes-us-user-data-china-bytedance-access">Chinese government accessing data</a> from its <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/tiktok-says-it-has-150-million-us-users-amid-renewed-calls-for-a-ban/ar-AA18UfZv">150 million users in the U.S.</a> There is also a concern about the algorithms used by TikTok to show content. <h2>Data in the Chinese government’s hands</h2>If the data does end up in the hands of the Chinese government, the 
question is how could it use the data to its benefit. The government 
could share it with other companies in China to help them profit, which 
is no different than U.S. companies sharing marketing data. The Chinese 
government is known for <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/essay/the-long-game-chinas-grand-strategy-to-displace-american-order/">playing the long game</a>, and data is power, so if it is collecting data, it could take years to learn how it benefits China. One potential threat is the Chinese government using the data to spy 
on people, particularly people who have access to valuable information. 
The Justice Department is investigating TikTok’s parent company, 
ByteDance, for <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/a617dfba-4946-4977-a1f8-dcfb8997ef51">using the app to monitor U.S. journalists</a>. The Chinese government has an extensive history of <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/02/politics/china-hackers-espionage-defense-contractors/index.html">hacking U.S. government agencies and corporations</a>, and much of that hacking has been facilitated by <a href="https://www.csoonline.com/article/3648654/social-engineering-definition-examples-and-techniques.html">social engineering</a> – the practice of using data about people to trick them into revealing more information.The second issue that the U.S. government has raised is algorithm 
bias or algorithm manipulation. TikTok and most social media apps have 
algorithms designed to learn a user’s interests and then try to adjust 
the content so the user will continue to use the app. TikTok has not 
shared its algorithm, so it’s not clear how the app chooses a user’s 
content. The algorithm could be biased in a way that influences a population 
to believe certain things. There are numerous allegations that TiKTok’s 
algorithm is biased and can <a href="https://counterhate.com/research/deadly-by-design/">reinforce negative thoughts among younger users</a>, and be used to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/tiktok-privacy-foreign-software-policy/">affect public opinion</a>.
 It could be that the algorithm’s manipulative behavior is 
unintentional, but there is concern that the Chinese government has been
 using or could use the algorithm to influence people.<figure>
 <iframe width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nfczi2cI6Cs"></iframe>
 <figcaption>TikTok’s algorithm for serving you videos has also become a source of concern.</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Can the government ban an app?</h2>If the federal government comes to the conclusion that TikTok should 
be banned, is it even possible to ban it for all of its 150 million 
existing users? Any such ban would likely start with blocking the 
distribution of the app through Apple’s and Google’s app stores. This 
might keep many users off the platform, but there are other ways to 
download and install apps for people who are determined to use them. A more drastic method would be to force Apple and Google to change 
their phones to prevent TikTok from running. While I’m not a lawyer, I 
think this effort would fail due to legal challenges, which <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tiktok-ban-whats-next-company-purchase/">include First Amendment concerns</a>. The bottom line is that an absolute ban will be tough to enforce.There are also questions about how effective a ban would be even if 
it were possible. By some estimates, the Chinese government has already 
collected personal information on <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/08/26/1013501080/chinas-microsoft-hack-may-have-had-a-bigger-purpose-than-just-spying">at least 80% of the U.S. population</a>
 via various means. So a ban might limit the damage going forward to 
some degree, but the Chinese government has already collected a 
significant amount of data. The Chinese government also has access – 
along with anyone else with money – to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/darknet-markets-generate-millions-in-revenue-selling-stolen-personal-data-supply-chain-study-finds-193506">large market for personal data</a>, which fuels <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/20/opinion/tiktok-ban-big-tech-china.html">calls for stronger data privacy rules</a>.<h2>Are you at risk?</h2>So as an average user, should you worry? Again, it is unclear what 
data ByteDance is collecting and if it can harm an individual. I believe
 the most significant risks are to people in power, whether it is 
political power or within a company. Their data and information could be
 used to gain access to other data or potentially compromise the 
organizations they are associated with.The aspect of TikTok I find most concerning is the algorithm that 
decides what videos users see and how it can affect vulnerable groups, <a href="https://theconversation.com/facebooks-own-internal-documents-offer-a-blueprint-for-making-social-media-safer-for-teens-169080">particularly young people</a>. Independent of a ban, families should have conversions about TikTok and other social media platforms and how they can be <a href="https://theconversation.com/6-ways-to-protect-your-mental-health-from-social-medias-dangers-117651">detrimental to mental health</a>. These conversations should focus on how to determine if the app is leading you down an unhealthy path.

🎥 Should the US ban TikTok? Can it? Cybersecurity expert explains

WASHINGTON — On day five of the annual <a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/dirty-dozen">Dirty Dozen</a>
 campaign, the Internal Revenue Service today urged everyone to be on 
alert for scammers using fake charities to dupe taxpayers, especially 
following major disasters.

Whether an earthquake or wildfires, good-natured taxpayers rally to 
help victims after an emergency or disaster by donating money. 
Unfortunately, scammers often try to prey on well-intentioned donors by 
posing as fake charities, hoping to steal money, but also personal and 
financial data that can be used in tax-related identity theft.

"Following disasters, there are heart-wrenching situations where 
people want to help," said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel. "But scammers 
move quickly and use these events to try taking advantage of the 
public's generosity, stealing not just money, but personal information 
that can lead to identity theft. Scams requesting donations are 
especially common over the phone, as well as by email and texts. 
Taxpayers should never feel pressured to give immediately, and they 
should look to recognized, established charities to help victims."

As a member of the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/security-summit">Security Summit</a>,
 the IRS, with state tax agencies and the nation's tax industry, have 
taken numerous steps over the last eight years to warn people to watch 
out for common scams and schemes each tax season that can contribute to 
identity theft. Along with the Security Summit initiative, the Dirty 
Dozen aims to protect taxpayers, businesses and the tax system from 
identity thieves and various hoaxes designed to steal money and 
information.

The Dirty Dozen is an annual IRS list of 12 scams and schemes that 
put taxpayers and the tax professional community at risk of losing 
money, personal data and more. Some items on the list are new, and some 
make a return visit. While the list is not a legal document or a formal 
listing of agency enforcement priorities, it is intended to alert 
taxpayers, businesses and tax preparers about scams at large.

Bogus charities are a perennial problem that gets bigger whenever a 
crisis or natural disaster strikes. Scammers set up these fake 
organizations to take advantage of the public's generosity. They seek 
money and personal information, which can be used to further exploit 
victims through identity theft.

Taxpayers who give money or goods to a charity might be able to claim
 a deduction on their federal tax return if they itemize deductions, but
 charitable donations only count if they go to a qualified tax-exempt 
organization recognized by the IRS.

Fake charity promoters may use emails to solicit donations or alter 
or "spoof" their caller ID to make it look like a real charity is 
calling on the phone. They often target seniors and groups with limited 
English proficiency.

Here are some tips to protect against fake charity scams:

As part of the Dirty Dozen awareness effort, the IRS encourages 
people to report individuals who promote improper and abusive tax 
schemes as well as tax return preparers who deliberately prepare 
improper returns.

To report an abusive tax scheme or a tax return preparer, people should mail or fax a completed&nbsp;<a href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f14242.pdf">Form 14242, Report Suspected Abusive Tax Promotions or Preparers</a>PDF&nbsp;and any supporting material to the IRS Lead Development Center in the Office of Promoter Investigations.

Internal Revenue Service Lead Development Center 
Stop MS5040 
24000 Avila Road 
Laguna Niguel, California 92677-3405 
Fax: 877-477-9135

Alternatively, taxpayers and tax practitioners may send the information to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.irs.gov/compliance/whistleblower-office">IRS Whistleblower Office</a>&nbsp;for possible monetary reward. For more information, see&nbsp;<a href="https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/abusive-tax-schemes-and-abusive-tax-return-preparers-irs-lead-development-center">Abusive Tax Schemes and Abusive Tax Return Preparers</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1599869632873.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>IRSWASHINGTON — On day five of the annual <a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/dirty-dozen">Dirty Dozen</a>
 campaign, the Internal Revenue Service today urged everyone to be on 
alert for scammers using fake charities to dupe taxpayers, especially 
following major disasters.Whether an earthquake or wildfires, good-natured taxpayers rally to 
help victims after an emergency or disaster by donating money. 
Unfortunately, scammers often try to prey on well-intentioned donors by 
posing as fake charities, hoping to steal money, but also personal and 
financial data that can be used in tax-related identity theft."Following disasters, there are heart-wrenching situations where 
people want to help," said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel. "But scammers 
move quickly and use these events to try taking advantage of the 
public's generosity, stealing not just money, but personal information 
that can lead to identity theft. Scams requesting donations are 
especially common over the phone, as well as by email and texts. 
Taxpayers should never feel pressured to give immediately, and they 
should look to recognized, established charities to help victims."As a member of the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/security-summit">Security Summit</a>,
 the IRS, with state tax agencies and the nation's tax industry, have 
taken numerous steps over the last eight years to warn people to watch 
out for common scams and schemes each tax season that can contribute to 
identity theft. Along with the Security Summit initiative, the Dirty 
Dozen aims to protect taxpayers, businesses and the tax system from 
identity thieves and various hoaxes designed to steal money and 
information.The Dirty Dozen is an annual IRS list of 12 scams and schemes that 
put taxpayers and the tax professional community at risk of losing 
money, personal data and more. Some items on the list are new, and some 
make a return visit. While the list is not a legal document or a formal 
listing of agency enforcement priorities, it is intended to alert 
taxpayers, businesses and tax preparers about scams at large.<h2>Fake charities: Real scams</h2>Bogus charities are a perennial problem that gets bigger whenever a 
crisis or natural disaster strikes. Scammers set up these fake 
organizations to take advantage of the public's generosity. They seek 
money and personal information, which can be used to further exploit 
victims through identity theft.Taxpayers who give money or goods to a charity might be able to claim
 a deduction on their federal tax return if they itemize deductions, but
 charitable donations only count if they go to a qualified tax-exempt 
organization recognized by the IRS.Fake charity promoters may use emails to solicit donations or alter 
or "spoof" their caller ID to make it look like a real charity is 
calling on the phone. They often target seniors and groups with limited 
English proficiency.Here are some tips to protect against fake charity scams:<ul>
 <li>Don't give in to pressure. Scammers often use a
 tactic focused on an urgent need to pressure people into making an 
immediate payment. Legitimate charities are happy to get a donation at 
any time; so, people should feel no rush. Donors are encouraged to take 
time to do their own research.</li>
 </ul><ul>
 <li>Verify first. Scammers frequently use 
names that sound like well-known charities to confuse people. Potential 
donors should ask the fundraiser for the charity's exact name, website 
and mailing address so they can independently confirm it.</li>
 </ul><ul>
 <li>Be wary about how a donation is requested.
 Taxpayers should never work with charities that ask for donations by 
giving numbers from a gift card or by wiring money. That's a scam. It's 
safest to pay by credit card or check — and only after verifying the 
charity is real.</li>
 </ul><ul>
 <li>Don't give more than needed. Scammers are 
on the hunt for both money and personal information. Taxpayers should 
treat personal information like cash and not hand it out to just anyone.
 They should never give out Social Security numbers, credit card numbers
 or PIN numbers, and they should give bank or credit card numbers only 
after they've confirmed the charity is real.</li>
 </ul><h2>Help stop fraud and scams</h2>As part of the Dirty Dozen awareness effort, the IRS encourages 
people to report individuals who promote improper and abusive tax 
schemes as well as tax return preparers who deliberately prepare 
improper returns.To report an abusive tax scheme or a tax return preparer, people should mail or fax a completed&nbsp;<a href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f14242.pdf">Form 14242, Report Suspected Abusive Tax Promotions or Preparers</a>PDF&nbsp;and any supporting material to the IRS Lead Development Center in the Office of Promoter Investigations.Mail:Internal Revenue Service Lead Development Center 
Stop MS5040 
24000 Avila Road 
Laguna Niguel, California 92677-3405 
Fax: 877-477-9135Alternatively, taxpayers and tax practitioners may send the information to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.irs.gov/compliance/whistleblower-office">IRS Whistleblower Office</a>&nbsp;for possible monetary reward. For more information, see&nbsp;<a href="https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/abusive-tax-schemes-and-abusive-tax-return-preparers-irs-lead-development-center">Abusive Tax Schemes and Abusive Tax Return Preparers</a>.

IRS warns of scammers using fake charities to exploit taxpayers

NEW YORK — Attempted <a href="https://apnews.com/article/lgbtq-book-bans-91b2d4c086eb082cbecfdda2800ef29a">book bans and restrictions</a>
 at school and public libraries continue to surge, setting a record in 
2022, according to a new report from the American Library Association 
released Thursday.

More than 1,200 challenges were compiled by the
 association in 2022, nearly double the then-record total from 2021 and 
by far the most since the ALA began keeping data 20 years ago.

“I've
 never seen anything like this,” says Deborah Caldwell-Stone, who 
directs the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom. “The last two years 
have been exhausting, frightening, outrage inducing.”

Thursday's report not only documents <a href="https://apnews.com/article/libraries-american-library-association-book-banning-af7c9f312266b572c3dc189b1d109de4">the growing number of challenges</a>,
 but also their changing nature. A few years ago, complaints usually 
arose with parents and other community members and referred to an 
individual book. Now, the requests are often for multiple removals, and 
organized by national groups such as the conservative Moms for Liberty, 
which has a mission of “unifying, educating and empowering parents to 
defend their parental rights at all levels of government.”

Last 
year, more than 2,500 different books were objected to, compared to 
1,858 in 2021 and just 566 in 2019. In numerous cases, hundreds of books
 were challenged in a single complaint. The ALA bases its findings on 
media accounts and voluntary reporting from libraries and acknowledges 
that the numbers might be far higher.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-censorship-american-library-association-ea9804d9a573cd987dd86b40e074be25">Librarians around the country</a> have told of being harassed and threatened with violence or legal action.

“Every
 day professional librarians sit down with parents to thoughtfully 
determine what reading material is best suited for their child’s needs,”
 ALA President Lessa Kanani’opua Pelayo-Lozada said in a statement. 
“Now, many library workers face threats to their employment, their 
personal safety, and in some cases, threats of prosecution for providing
 books to youth they and their parents want to read.”

Caldwell-Stone
 says that some books have been targeted by liberals because of racist 
language — notably Mark Twain's “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” — 
but the vast majority of complaints come from conservatives, directed at
 works with LGBTQIA+ or racial themes. They include Maia Kobabe's 
“Gender Queer,” Jonathan Evison's “Lawn Boy,” Angie Thomas' “The Hate U 
Give” and a book-length edition of the “1619 Project,” the Pulitzer 
Prize-winning report from The New York Times on the legacy of slavery in
 the U.S.

Bills facilitating the restriction of books have been 
proposed or passed in Arizona, Iowa, Texas, Missouri and Oklahoma, among
 other states. In Florida, where <a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-florida-ron-desantis-school-boards-libraries-da50c9c4091868e121484425d290385b">Gov. Ron DeSantis has approved laws</a>
 to review reading materials and limit classroom discussion of gender 
identity and race books pulled indefinitely or temporarily include John 
Green's “Looking for Alaska,” Colleen Hoover's “Hopeless,” Margaret 
Atwood's dystopian novel “The Handmaid's Tale” and Grace Lin's picture 
story “Dim Sum for Everyone!”

More recently, Florida's Martin 
County school district removed dozens of books from its middle schools 
and high schools, including numerous works by novelist Jodi Picoult, 
Toni Morrison's Pulitzer Prize-winning “Beloved” and James Patterson's 
“Maximum Ride” thrillers, a decision which the bestselling author has 
criticized on Twitter as “arbitrary and borderline absurd.”

DeSantis
 has called reports of mass bannings a “hoax," saying in a statement 
released earlier this month that the allegations reveal “some are 
attempting to use our schools for indoctrination.”

Some books do 
come back. Officials at Florida's Duval County Public Schools were 
widely criticized after they removed “Roberto Clemente: The Pride of the
 Pittsburgh Pirates,” a children's biography of <a href="https://apnews.com/article/mlb-sports-los-angeles-dodgers-tampa-bay-rays-pittsburgh-pirates-4f05e3aee406b2c0c4a8b8717db7b770">the late Puerto Rican baseball star</a>.
 In February, they announced the book would again be on shelves, 
explaining that they needed to review it and make sure it didn't violate
 any state laws.

Associated PressNEW YORK — Attempted <a href="https://apnews.com/article/lgbtq-book-bans-91b2d4c086eb082cbecfdda2800ef29a">book bans and restrictions</a>
 at school and public libraries continue to surge, setting a record in 
2022, according to a new report from the American Library Association 
released Thursday.More than 1,200 challenges were compiled by the
 association in 2022, nearly double the then-record total from 2021 and 
by far the most since the ALA began keeping data 20 years ago.“I've
 never seen anything like this,” says Deborah Caldwell-Stone, who 
directs the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom. “The last two years 
have been exhausting, frightening, outrage inducing.”Thursday's report not only documents <a href="https://apnews.com/article/libraries-american-library-association-book-banning-af7c9f312266b572c3dc189b1d109de4">the growing number of challenges</a>,
 but also their changing nature. A few years ago, complaints usually 
arose with parents and other community members and referred to an 
individual book. Now, the requests are often for multiple removals, and 
organized by national groups such as the conservative Moms for Liberty, 
which has a mission of “unifying, educating and empowering parents to 
defend their parental rights at all levels of government.”Last 
year, more than 2,500 different books were objected to, compared to 
1,858 in 2021 and just 566 in 2019. In numerous cases, hundreds of books
 were challenged in a single complaint. The ALA bases its findings on 
media accounts and voluntary reporting from libraries and acknowledges 
that the numbers might be far higher.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-censorship-american-library-association-ea9804d9a573cd987dd86b40e074be25">Librarians around the country</a> have told of being harassed and threatened with violence or legal action.“Every
 day professional librarians sit down with parents to thoughtfully 
determine what reading material is best suited for their child’s needs,”
 ALA President Lessa Kanani’opua Pelayo-Lozada said in a statement. 
“Now, many library workers face threats to their employment, their 
personal safety, and in some cases, threats of prosecution for providing
 books to youth they and their parents want to read.”Caldwell-Stone
 says that some books have been targeted by liberals because of racist 
language — notably Mark Twain's “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” — 
but the vast majority of complaints come from conservatives, directed at
 works with LGBTQIA+ or racial themes. They include Maia Kobabe's 
“Gender Queer,” Jonathan Evison's “Lawn Boy,” Angie Thomas' “The Hate U 
Give” and a book-length edition of the “1619 Project,” the Pulitzer 
Prize-winning report from The New York Times on the legacy of slavery in
 the U.S.Bills facilitating the restriction of books have been 
proposed or passed in Arizona, Iowa, Texas, Missouri and Oklahoma, among
 other states. In Florida, where <a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-florida-ron-desantis-school-boards-libraries-da50c9c4091868e121484425d290385b">Gov. Ron DeSantis has approved laws</a>
 to review reading materials and limit classroom discussion of gender 
identity and race books pulled indefinitely or temporarily include John 
Green's “Looking for Alaska,” Colleen Hoover's “Hopeless,” Margaret 
Atwood's dystopian novel “The Handmaid's Tale” and Grace Lin's picture 
story “Dim Sum for Everyone!”More recently, Florida's Martin 
County school district removed dozens of books from its middle schools 
and high schools, including numerous works by novelist Jodi Picoult, 
Toni Morrison's Pulitzer Prize-winning “Beloved” and James Patterson's 
“Maximum Ride” thrillers, a decision which the bestselling author has 
criticized on Twitter as “arbitrary and borderline absurd.”DeSantis
 has called reports of mass bannings a “hoax," saying in a statement 
released earlier this month that the allegations reveal “some are 
attempting to use our schools for indoctrination.”Some books do 
come back. Officials at Florida's Duval County Public Schools were 
widely criticized after they removed “Roberto Clemente: The Pride of the
 Pittsburgh Pirates,” a children's biography of <a href="https://apnews.com/article/mlb-sports-los-angeles-dodgers-tampa-bay-rays-pittsburgh-pirates-4f05e3aee406b2c0c4a8b8717db7b770">the late Puerto Rican baseball star</a>.
 In February, they announced the book would again be on shelves, 
explaining that they needed to review it and make sure it didn't violate
 any state laws.

Library org: Book ban attempts hit record high in 2022

By MICHAEL TARM AP Legal Affairs Writer

CHICAGO — The image of gunmen in a row firing in unison at a 
condemned prisoner may conjure up a bygone, less enlightened era.

But the idea of using firing squads is making a comeback. Idaho lawmakers passed a bill this week seeking to add the state <a href="https://apnews.com/article/idaho-firing-squad-executions-410bd284ffbdb50d3b4a162fe8088dad?utm_source=homepage&amp;utm_medium=TopNews&amp;utm_campaign=position_07">to the list of those authorizing firing squads</a>, which currently includes Mississippi, Utah, Oklahoma and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-prisons-executions-south-carolina-f15a16e6186543e2fc1d93432ef1c614">South Carolina</a>.

Fresh interest comes as states scramble for alternatives to lethal injections <a href="https://apnews.com/article/5f4ef9172ded4399a6123b25dbd1de4b">after pharmaceutical companies barred</a> the use of their drugs.

Some,
 including a few Supreme Court justices, view firing squads as less 
cruel than lethal injections, despite the violence involved in riddling 
bodies with bullets. Others say it's not so cut-and-dry, or that there 
are other factors to consider.

A look at the status of firing squads in the United States:

WHEN WAS THE LAST EXECUTION BY FIRING SQUAD?

Ronnie
 Lee Gardner was executed at Utah State Prison on June 18, 2010, for 
killing an attorney during a courthouse escape attempt.

Gardner 
sat in a chair, sandbags around him and a target pinned over his heart. 
Five prison staffers drawn from a pool of volunteers fired from 25 feet 
(about 8 meters) away with .30-caliber rifles. Gardner was pronounced 
dead two minutes later.

A blank cartridge was loaded into one 
rifle without anyone knowing which. That's partly done to enable those 
bothered later by their participation to believe they may not have fired
 a fatal bullet.

Utah is the only state to have used firing squads
 in the past 50 years, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Death 
Penalty Information Center.

WHAT HAS CAUSED THE LETHAL DRUG SCARCITY?

Under Idaho’s bill, firing squads would be used only if executioners can’t obtain the drugs required for lethal injections.

As
 lethal injection became the primary execution method in the 2000s, drug
 companies began barring use of their drugs, saying they were meant to 
save lives, not take them.

States have found it difficult to 
obtain the cocktail of drugs they long relied on, such as sodium 
thiopental, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride. Some have 
switched to more accessible drugs such as pentobarbital or midazolam, 
both of which, critics say, can cause excruciating pain.

Other 
states have reauthorized the use of electric chairs and gas chambers — 
or are at least considering doing so. That's where firing squads come 
in.

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor is among those who say firing squads are a more humane method of execution.

That
 idea is based on expectations that bullets will strike the heart, 
rupturing it and causing immediate unconsciousness as the inmate quickly
 bleeds to death.

“In addition to being near instant, death by shooting may also be comparatively painless,” Sotomayor wrote in a 2017 dissent.

Her
 comments came in the case of an Alabama inmate who asked to be executed
 by firing squad. A Supreme Court majority refused to hear his appeal. 
In her dissent, Sotomayor said lethal drugs can mask intense pain by 
paralyzing inmates while they are still sentient.

“What cruel irony that the method that appears most humane may turn out to be our most cruel experiment yet,” she wrote.

BUT IS DEATH BY FIRING SQUAD REALLY PAINLESS?

In
 a 2019 federal case, prosecutors submitted statements from 
anesthesiologist Joseph Antognini, who said painless deaths by firing 
squads are not guaranteed.

Inmates could remain conscious for up 
to 10 seconds after being shot depending on where bullets strike, 
Antognini said, and those seconds could be “severely painful, especially
 related to shattering of bone and damage to the spinal cord.”

Others
 note that killings by firing squad are visibly violent and bloody 
compared with lethal injections, potentially traumatizing victims' 
relatives and other witnesses as well as executioners and staffers who 
clean up afterward.

If reliability means the condemned are more likely to die as intended, then one could make that argument.

An
 Amherst College political science and law professor, Austin Sarat, 
studied 8,776 executions in the U.S. between 1890 and 2010 and found 
that 276 of them were botched, or 3.15%.

The executions that went wrong included 7.12% of all <a href="https://apnews.com/article/capital-punishment-18a24913cdf8ab8bae1cb03e329365e0">lethal injections</a> — in one notorious 2014 case in Oklahoma, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/executions-oklahoma-00a761ac0ea241a4b89f386bfa841d38">Clayton Locket writhed and clenched his teeth</a> after midazolam was administered — as well as 3.12% of hangings and 1.92% of electrocutions.

By
 contrast, not a single one of the 34 firing squad executions was found 
to have been botched, according to Sarat, who has called for an end to 
capital punishment.

The Death Penalty Information Center, however,
 has identified at least one firing squad execution that reportedly went
 awry: In 1879, in Utah territory, riflemen missed Wallace Wilkerson’s 
heart and it took 27 minutes for him to die.

Firing
 squads have never been a predominant method of carrying out civilian 
death sentences and are more closely associated with the military, 
including the execution of Civil War deserters.

From colonial days through 2002, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/4f0fdc45151e38043b064a5d40192936">more than 15,000 people</a>
 were put to death, according to data compiled by death penalty 
researchers M. Watt Espy and John Ortiz Smykla. Just 143 died by firing 
squad, compared with 9,322 by hanging and 4,426 by electrocution.

High
 court rulings have required inmates who oppose an existing execution 
method to offer an alternative. They must prove both that the 
alternative is “significantly” less painful and that the infrastructure 
exists to implement the alternative method.

That has led to the spectacle of inmate attorneys bringing multiple cases in which they argue the merits of firing squads.

In
 2019, the Supreme Court ruled in Bucklew v. Precythe that some pain 
does not automatically mean a method of execution constitutes “cruel and
 unusual" punishment, which is prohibited by the Eighth Amendment.

The
 Constitution "does not guarantee a prisoner a painless death — 
something that, of course, isn’t guaranteed to many people,” Justice 
Neil Gorsuch wrote for the 5-4 majority.

Key factors in deciding 
whether a method is “cruel and unusual” include whether it adds extra 
pain “beyond what’s needed to effectuate a death sentence,” Gorsuch 
said.

By MICHAEL TARM AP Legal Affairs WriterCHICAGO — The image of gunmen in a row firing in unison at a 
condemned prisoner may conjure up a bygone, less enlightened era.But the idea of using firing squads is making a comeback. Idaho lawmakers passed a bill this week seeking to add the state <a href="https://apnews.com/article/idaho-firing-squad-executions-410bd284ffbdb50d3b4a162fe8088dad?utm_source=homepage&amp;utm_medium=TopNews&amp;utm_campaign=position_07">to the list of those authorizing firing squads</a>, which currently includes Mississippi, Utah, Oklahoma and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-prisons-executions-south-carolina-f15a16e6186543e2fc1d93432ef1c614">South Carolina</a>.Fresh interest comes as states scramble for alternatives to lethal injections <a href="https://apnews.com/article/5f4ef9172ded4399a6123b25dbd1de4b">after pharmaceutical companies barred</a> the use of their drugs.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/11/1574704569197.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Some,
 including a few Supreme Court justices, view firing squads as less 
cruel than lethal injections, despite the violence involved in riddling 
bodies with bullets. Others say it's not so cut-and-dry, or that there 
are other factors to consider.A look at the status of firing squads in the United States:WHEN WAS THE LAST EXECUTION BY FIRING SQUAD?Ronnie
 Lee Gardner was executed at Utah State Prison on June 18, 2010, for 
killing an attorney during a courthouse escape attempt.Gardner 
sat in a chair, sandbags around him and a target pinned over his heart. 
Five prison staffers drawn from a pool of volunteers fired from 25 feet 
(about 8 meters) away with .30-caliber rifles. Gardner was pronounced 
dead two minutes later.A blank cartridge was loaded into one 
rifle without anyone knowing which. That's partly done to enable those 
bothered later by their participation to believe they may not have fired
 a fatal bullet.Utah is the only state to have used firing squads
 in the past 50 years, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Death 
Penalty Information Center.WHAT HAS CAUSED THE LETHAL DRUG SCARCITY?Under Idaho’s bill, firing squads would be used only if executioners can’t obtain the drugs required for lethal injections.As
 lethal injection became the primary execution method in the 2000s, drug
 companies began barring use of their drugs, saying they were meant to 
save lives, not take them.States have found it difficult to 
obtain the cocktail of drugs they long relied on, such as sodium 
thiopental, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride. Some have 
switched to more accessible drugs such as pentobarbital or midazolam, 
both of which, critics say, can cause excruciating pain.Other 
states have reauthorized the use of electric chairs and gas chambers — 
or are at least considering doing so. That's where firing squads come 
in.ARE THEY MORE HUMANE?Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor is among those who say firing squads are a more humane method of execution.That
 idea is based on expectations that bullets will strike the heart, 
rupturing it and causing immediate unconsciousness as the inmate quickly
 bleeds to death.“In addition to being near instant, death by shooting may also be comparatively painless,” Sotomayor wrote in a 2017 dissent.Her
 comments came in the case of an Alabama inmate who asked to be executed
 by firing squad. A Supreme Court majority refused to hear his appeal. 
In her dissent, Sotomayor said lethal drugs can mask intense pain by 
paralyzing inmates while they are still sentient.“What cruel irony that the method that appears most humane may turn out to be our most cruel experiment yet,” she wrote.BUT IS DEATH BY FIRING SQUAD REALLY PAINLESS?In
 a 2019 federal case, prosecutors submitted statements from 
anesthesiologist Joseph Antognini, who said painless deaths by firing 
squads are not guaranteed.Inmates could remain conscious for up 
to 10 seconds after being shot depending on where bullets strike, 
Antognini said, and those seconds could be “severely painful, especially
 related to shattering of bone and damage to the spinal cord.”Others
 note that killings by firing squad are visibly violent and bloody 
compared with lethal injections, potentially traumatizing victims' 
relatives and other witnesses as well as executioners and staffers who 
clean up afterward.ARE FIRING SQUADS MORE RELIABLE?If reliability means the condemned are more likely to die as intended, then one could make that argument.An
 Amherst College political science and law professor, Austin Sarat, 
studied 8,776 executions in the U.S. between 1890 and 2010 and found 
that 276 of them were botched, or 3.15%.The executions that went wrong included 7.12% of all <a href="https://apnews.com/article/capital-punishment-18a24913cdf8ab8bae1cb03e329365e0">lethal injections</a> — in one notorious 2014 case in Oklahoma, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/executions-oklahoma-00a761ac0ea241a4b89f386bfa841d38">Clayton Locket writhed and clenched his teeth</a> after midazolam was administered — as well as 3.12% of hangings and 1.92% of electrocutions.By
 contrast, not a single one of the 34 firing squad executions was found 
to have been botched, according to Sarat, who has called for an end to 
capital punishment.The Death Penalty Information Center, however,
 has identified at least one firing squad execution that reportedly went
 awry: In 1879, in Utah territory, riflemen missed Wallace Wilkerson’s 
heart and it took 27 minutes for him to die.WERE FIRING SQUADS EVER IN WIDE USE?Firing
 squads have never been a predominant method of carrying out civilian 
death sentences and are more closely associated with the military, 
including the execution of Civil War deserters.From colonial days through 2002, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/4f0fdc45151e38043b064a5d40192936">more than 15,000 people</a>
 were put to death, according to data compiled by death penalty 
researchers M. Watt Espy and John Ortiz Smykla. Just 143 died by firing 
squad, compared with 9,322 by hanging and 4,426 by electrocution.HAS THE SUPREME COURT WEIGHED IN?High
 court rulings have required inmates who oppose an existing execution 
method to offer an alternative. They must prove both that the 
alternative is “significantly” less painful and that the infrastructure 
exists to implement the alternative method.That has led to the spectacle of inmate attorneys bringing multiple cases in which they argue the merits of firing squads.In
 2019, the Supreme Court ruled in Bucklew v. Precythe that some pain 
does not automatically mean a method of execution constitutes “cruel and
 unusual" punishment, which is prohibited by the Eighth Amendment.The
 Constitution "does not guarantee a prisoner a painless death — 
something that, of course, isn’t guaranteed to many people,” Justice 
Neil Gorsuch wrote for the 5-4 majority.Key factors in deciding 
whether a method is “cruel and unusual” include whether it adds extra 
pain “beyond what’s needed to effectuate a death sentence,” Gorsuch 
said.

Why executions by firing squad may be coming back in the US

By JAMES POLLARD Associated Press/Report for America

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina's embattled top accountant will 
step down next month after a $3.5 billion error in the year-end 
financial report he oversaw, according to a resignation letter written 
Thursday that was obtained by The Associated Press.

Republican 
Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom's decision to leave the post he has
 held for 20 years came after intense scrutiny of his performance 
following the blunder and amid rising calls for him <a href="https://apnews.com/article/south-carolina-accounting-error-comptroller-d86a4db4b85b1d64e4c482bf2e7e2283">to either quit or be removed.</a>

The
 Senate panel investigating the financial misstatement issued a damning 
report last week accusing Eckstrom of "willful neglect of duty.” As 
recently as last week, however, Eckstrom had said he would not resign.

“I
 have never taken service to the state I love or the jobs to which I 
have been elected lightly, endeavoring to work with my colleagues ... to
 be a strong defender of the taxpayer and a good steward of their 
hard-earned tax dollars,” Eckstrom wrote in the letter to South Carolina
 Gov. Henry McMaster. “They deserve nothing less.”

The governor accepted the resignation, effective April 30.

The
 Senate report concluded that Eckstrom was solely responsibile for the 
mapping error, which happened during the state's transition to a new 
internal information system from 2011 to 2017. State officials testified
 that Eckstrom ignored auditors' yearslong warnings of a “material 
weakness” in his office and flawed cash reporting.

Eckstrom has 
said the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report exaggerated the state's 
cash balances for a decade by double counting the money sent to colleges
 and universities. The mistake went unsolved until a junior staffer 
fixed the error this fall.

Officials have said the overstatement did not affect the state budget. But lawmakers <a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-south-carolina-state-government-e26ddb69b68e54067a9e30fd87ebd430">alarmed by Eckstrom's inconsistent testimony</a> slammed his failure to fulfill one of his primary constitutional duties: to publish an accurate account of state finances.

The fallout for the state agency that typically flies under the radar is expected to continue. A Senate subcommittee recently <a href="https://apnews.com/article/35-billion-comptroller-south-carolina-4e3cb862eeb304df10d507ffcccd1b52">approved a joint resolution</a>
 that would let voters decide whether the comptroller general should 
continue as an elected position or be appointed by the governor. 
Eckstrom reiterated his support for that change Thursday in his 
resignation letter.

The next comptroller general may also lead a 
much weaker office. The investigating panel suggested its 
responsibilities be transferred to one or more agencies. State Treasurer
 Curtis Loftis, an elected Republican, has testified that his office 
could absorb the main tasks.

Republican Sen. Larry Grooms, who led
 the investigation, said the comptroller general’s office could also be 
“done away with altogether.”

Grooms thanked Eckstrom for doing the
 “honorable thing” and sparing the General Assembly from using an 
obscure state constitutional provision to remove him from office.

Between
 a 104-7 House vote to cut the comptroller general’s annual salary to $1
 and the Senate’s scheduled April 11 vote to oust Eckstrom, Grooms 
suggested the rising heat had grown too intense for him to remain on the
 job.

The Senate must now select a replacement to serve out the 
rest of Eckstrom’s term, which ends in 2027. Grooms said the next 
comptroller general should be someone who recognizes that their job is 
to spend the next three years overseeing the office’s incorporation into
 other state agencies. He does not anticipate any other heads will roll.

“The buck stopped with him,” Grooms said. “The accountability was with him.”

A
 certified public accountant, Eckstrom, 74, spent four years as state 
treasurer before assuming his current office. He has run unopposed in 
the past two elections and last faced a Republican primary challenger in
 2010.

McMaster — who had resisted calls for impeachment and 
endorsed elections as the proper vehicle for accountability — thanked 
Eckstrom for his 24 years of “dedicated service.” The governor 
previously served as the state's attorney general alongside Eckstrom 
early in the comptroller general's tenure.

“The Eckstrom and 
McMaster families have been dear friends for decades,” McMaster said 
Thursday in a letter accepting the resignation. “I know that your every 
wish has been, and always will be, prosperity and happiness for the 
people of South Carolina.”

James Pollard is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. <a href="https://www.reportforamerica.org/">Report for America</a> is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1679678288234.jpeg" alt="South Carolina Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom holds up a book he wanted to present to his new Chief of Staff James Holly during his introduction at a Budget and Control Board meeting in 2009, (AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain)" />
 <figcaption>South Carolina Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom holds up a book he wanted to present to his new Chief of Staff James Holly during his introduction at a Budget and Control Board meeting in 2009, (AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain)</figcaption>
 </figure>By JAMES POLLARD Associated Press/Report for AmericaCOLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina's embattled top accountant will 
step down next month after a $3.5 billion error in the year-end 
financial report he oversaw, according to a resignation letter written 
Thursday that was obtained by The Associated Press.Republican 
Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom's decision to leave the post he has
 held for 20 years came after intense scrutiny of his performance 
following the blunder and amid rising calls for him <a href="https://apnews.com/article/south-carolina-accounting-error-comptroller-d86a4db4b85b1d64e4c482bf2e7e2283">to either quit or be removed.</a>The
 Senate panel investigating the financial misstatement issued a damning 
report last week accusing Eckstrom of "willful neglect of duty.” As 
recently as last week, however, Eckstrom had said he would not resign.“I
 have never taken service to the state I love or the jobs to which I 
have been elected lightly, endeavoring to work with my colleagues ... to
 be a strong defender of the taxpayer and a good steward of their 
hard-earned tax dollars,” Eckstrom wrote in the letter to South Carolina
 Gov. Henry McMaster. “They deserve nothing less.”The governor accepted the resignation, effective April 30.The
 Senate report concluded that Eckstrom was solely responsibile for the 
mapping error, which happened during the state's transition to a new 
internal information system from 2011 to 2017. State officials testified
 that Eckstrom ignored auditors' yearslong warnings of a “material 
weakness” in his office and flawed cash reporting.Eckstrom has 
said the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report exaggerated the state's 
cash balances for a decade by double counting the money sent to colleges
 and universities. The mistake went unsolved until a junior staffer 
fixed the error this fall.Officials have said the overstatement did not affect the state budget. But lawmakers <a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-south-carolina-state-government-e26ddb69b68e54067a9e30fd87ebd430">alarmed by Eckstrom's inconsistent testimony</a> slammed his failure to fulfill one of his primary constitutional duties: to publish an accurate account of state finances.The fallout for the state agency that typically flies under the radar is expected to continue. A Senate subcommittee recently <a href="https://apnews.com/article/35-billion-comptroller-south-carolina-4e3cb862eeb304df10d507ffcccd1b52">approved a joint resolution</a>
 that would let voters decide whether the comptroller general should 
continue as an elected position or be appointed by the governor. 
Eckstrom reiterated his support for that change Thursday in his 
resignation letter.The next comptroller general may also lead a 
much weaker office. The investigating panel suggested its 
responsibilities be transferred to one or more agencies. State Treasurer
 Curtis Loftis, an elected Republican, has testified that his office 
could absorb the main tasks.Republican Sen. Larry Grooms, who led
 the investigation, said the comptroller general’s office could also be 
“done away with altogether.”Grooms thanked Eckstrom for doing the
 “honorable thing” and sparing the General Assembly from using an 
obscure state constitutional provision to remove him from office.Between
 a 104-7 House vote to cut the comptroller general’s annual salary to $1
 and the Senate’s scheduled April 11 vote to oust Eckstrom, Grooms 
suggested the rising heat had grown too intense for him to remain on the
 job.The Senate must now select a replacement to serve out the 
rest of Eckstrom’s term, which ends in 2027. Grooms said the next 
comptroller general should be someone who recognizes that their job is 
to spend the next three years overseeing the office’s incorporation into
 other state agencies. He does not anticipate any other heads will roll.“The buck stopped with him,” Grooms said. “The accountability was with him.”A
 certified public accountant, Eckstrom, 74, spent four years as state 
treasurer before assuming his current office. He has run unopposed in 
the past two elections and last faced a Republican primary challenger in
 2010.McMaster — who had resisted calls for impeachment and 
endorsed elections as the proper vehicle for accountability — thanked 
Eckstrom for his 24 years of “dedicated service.” The governor 
previously served as the state's attorney general alongside Eckstrom 
early in the comptroller general's tenure.“The Eckstrom and 
McMaster families have been dear friends for decades,” McMaster said 
Thursday in a letter accepting the resignation. “I know that your every 
wish has been, and always will be, prosperity and happiness for the 
people of South Carolina.”James Pollard is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. <a href="https://www.reportforamerica.org/">Report for America</a> is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

South Carolina's top accountant to resign after $3.5B error

By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer

NEW YORK — It all started on a late morning on a highway. A 
camera panned to the cab of a large semi-trailer truck. The driver wore a
 plaid shirt and a day's growth of beard. Next to him was a mysterious 
hitchhiker in expensive clothes that were ripped and a fresh head wound.

That’s how <a href="https://www.cbs.com/shows/the_young_and_the_restless/">“The Young and the Restless</a>
 ” began on March 26, 1973, and a lot of people also stuck around Genoa 
City. The soap opera celebrates its 50th anniversary this month as the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/b80768204da7d34509bd9b53ee56c762">No. 1 daytime drama</a> for 35 consecutive years, with fans growing up alongside the actors.

“I
 think a huge reason why the audience has stuck with us for so long is 
because we are the same people. We are family members. We show up every 
day — sometimes more than a regular family member,” says Lauralee Bell, a
 star and daughter of the show's founders.

Created by the late 
William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell, “The Young and the Restless” 
concerns the goings-on of several Midwestern families, some of whom have
 a lot and some who don't. William Bell was head writer for decades, 
giving the show a singular vision, unusual for soaps.

<a href="https://www.cbs.com/shows/the_young_and_the_restless/cast/215206/">Lauralee Bell</a>,
 an Emmy-winner who plays good-girl Christine Blair Williams and first 
joined the show in 1983, says her dad would likely not be surprised by 
the show’s new milestone. “He said if you have two families that come 
from different backgrounds and good, solid characters, it’s endless 
material.”

One of the ways the show will celebrate its milestone 
is with a masquerade ball storyline starting Thursday and continuing 
through the following week. Creators promise “surprise visits from fan 
favorites and secrets are revealed, forever changing the lives for the 
residents of Genoa City.” "Entertainment Tonight" also plans a March 27 
special.

The CBS soap has helped launch the careers of such 
primetime and film actors as Vivica A. Fox, David Hasselhoff, Adam 
Brody, Tom Selleck, Penn Badgley, Shemar Moore, Eva Longoria, Justin 
Hartley and the late Paul Walker. Eric Braeden plays the male lead 
Victor Newman, a villain of the highest quality who once kept his wife’s
 lover locked in his basement.

Professor Elana Levine, who teaches media studies at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee and wrote <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Her-Stories-Television-Console-ing-Passions/dp/1478008016">“Her Stories: Daytime Soap Opera and US Television History,”</a> says the staying power of soaps is that they get passed down from one generation to the next.

“What
 streaming TV has shown us is that serialized narratives and stories 
that continue from episode to episode are really appealing and 
engaging," she says. "Soaps did that before anybody and are the maximum 
version of that because the story is going for decades.”

Among the
 cake-flinging food fights and evil twins on “The Young and the 
Restless,” there have also been important firsts — it aired the first 
live facelift on TV, back in 1984, and when veteran <a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-tv-kristoff-st-john-north-america-ea36cf373f474e15a869a7b469b329d3">actor Kristoff St. John</a> died in 2019, the cast and crew held a funeral for his character, bringing tears to a returning Moore.

It
 became the first daytime drama with a character who had a mastectomy, 
it was the first soap opera to broadcast in HD and, perhaps most 
importantly, it welcomed leading Black actors in the 1980s before many 
other soaps.

“'The Young and the Restless' attracted a big African
 American audience starting at that time because they were putting Black
 characters, front center, more so than some of the other soaps were,” 
says Levine.

That's a legacy Bell is proud of and she puts it 
squarely as a result of her parents, whom she calls hard-working 
creators who demanded a lot from their writers and actors, even their 
kids.

“My dad was not afraid of of being first. All the social 
issues he dealt with — date rape, AIDS, alcoholism, all of that. He 
really felt that if our audience bonded with these characters that they 
would learn,” says Bell. “If we could even help one person, it was worth
 it.”

Show veteran <a href="https://www.cbs.com/shows/the_young_and_the_restless/cast/61679/">Melody Thomas Scott</a>
 recalls a story that featured infant CPR, which is nothing like the 
adult version. “I think Bill and Lee wanted the world to know the 
difference,” she says. On the soap, a baby swallows a coin and Victor 
Newman — of course — becomes the hero by showing viewers the correct CPR
 technique.

“We got so many calls in our ‘Y&amp;R’ office the day 
after that episode aired, some mothers in tears, so grateful,” she says.
 “That is the ultimate goal of sneaking in some social issues because it
 can save lives. It can change people’s lives.”

One of Bill Bell’s
 hallmarks was telling stories in real time, for instance waiting for a 
couple’s first hand holding, then waiting a while before their first 
kiss. “If the audience doesn’t believe it and grow with them. It’s hard 
to buy sometimes,” his daughter says. The soap always stayed in the 
realm of reality: No getting possessed by the devil in Genoa City.

Scott
 is celebrating her 44th year on the show as Nikki Newman, a poor girl 
from the wrong side of the tracks. Her character has gone from a 
tempestuous, alcoholic stripper to the serial’s luminous and resourceful
 leading lady.

She says the show has stayed true to Bill Bell's 
vision of a show with compelling characters played by beautiful people. 
Visually, the soap has stayed lush and elegant, with plenty of fresh 
flowers or candles onset. “We look different from any other show,” she 
says.

Bell not only had a knack for storylines — he also knew his 
actors. Scott recalls being surprised when Bell paired her bratty 
character with tycoon Victor Newman, two people she thought had nothing 
in common.

“We discovered that we had this chemistry that we 
certainly didn’t expect. But I think Bill, in all of his wisdom, somehow
 saw it in us,” she says. “You can’t force yourself to have chemistry 
with another actor. It just either is or isn’t. So we are eternally 
grateful that Bill was so psychic in knowing that we would click.”

The
 Bell family has continued to be part of the DNA of modern soaps, with 
Lauralee acting, her brother Brad serving as executive producer and head
 writer for sister soap “The Bold and the Beautiful” and brother Bill 
Jr. as president of the family production companies who made a deal for 
“The Young and the Restless” to be seen overseas, with versions in 
Israel, Canada, Turkey and France, among others.

“It was one of 
the first daytime soaps that got sold internationally,” says Levine. “I 
think that has been a key to its continued success and profitability. 
The money that any daytime soap brings in domestically has lessened over
 time and the audience has gotten smaller.”

If any viewers need 
convincing the “The Young and the Restless” has penetrated popular 
culture, look for further than Mary J. Blige, who sampled the show’s 
theme song in her 2001 hit “No More Drama.”

That mysterious man in
 the very first scene was Brad Elliot and ahead of him was plenty of 
drama — a love triangle with a pair of sisters, a marriage, the 
heartache of a miscarriage, a diagnosis of blindness and a divorce 
petition. Surgery restored his sight but his marriage never recovered. 
He left Genoa City after five years. The show continued.

When 
Lauralee Bell looks at the TV landscape today, she sees variations on 
what her parents created in primetime shows like “The Crown” and 
“Succession.”

“Every show is a soap, every nighttime show is a 
soap, all of these streaming shows are versions of soap operas,” she 
says. “So we’re all sort of a little tired of the 
soaps-are-on-their-way-out — well, every show is a soap, really.”

<figure>
 <iframe width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gWFP-P9YBv0"></iframe>
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment WriterNEW YORK — It all started on a late morning on a highway. A 
camera panned to the cab of a large semi-trailer truck. The driver wore a
 plaid shirt and a day's growth of beard. Next to him was a mysterious 
hitchhiker in expensive clothes that were ripped and a fresh head wound.He got out at Genoa City. And he stayed.That’s how <a href="https://www.cbs.com/shows/the_young_and_the_restless/">“The Young and the Restless</a>
 ” began on March 26, 1973, and a lot of people also stuck around Genoa 
City. The soap opera celebrates its 50th anniversary this month as the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/b80768204da7d34509bd9b53ee56c762">No. 1 daytime drama</a> for 35 consecutive years, with fans growing up alongside the actors.“I
 think a huge reason why the audience has stuck with us for so long is 
because we are the same people. We are family members. We show up every 
day — sometimes more than a regular family member,” says Lauralee Bell, a
 star and daughter of the show's founders.Created by the late 
William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell, “The Young and the Restless” 
concerns the goings-on of several Midwestern families, some of whom have
 a lot and some who don't. William Bell was head writer for decades, 
giving the show a singular vision, unusual for soaps.<a href="https://www.cbs.com/shows/the_young_and_the_restless/cast/215206/">Lauralee Bell</a>,
 an Emmy-winner who plays good-girl Christine Blair Williams and first 
joined the show in 1983, says her dad would likely not be surprised by 
the show’s new milestone. “He said if you have two families that come 
from different backgrounds and good, solid characters, it’s endless 
material.”One of the ways the show will celebrate its milestone 
is with a masquerade ball storyline starting Thursday and continuing 
through the following week. Creators promise “surprise visits from fan 
favorites and secrets are revealed, forever changing the lives for the 
residents of Genoa City.” "Entertainment Tonight" also plans a March 27 
special.The CBS soap has helped launch the careers of such 
primetime and film actors as Vivica A. Fox, David Hasselhoff, Adam 
Brody, Tom Selleck, Penn Badgley, Shemar Moore, Eva Longoria, Justin 
Hartley and the late Paul Walker. Eric Braeden plays the male lead 
Victor Newman, a villain of the highest quality who once kept his wife’s
 lover locked in his basement.Professor Elana Levine, who teaches media studies at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee and wrote <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Her-Stories-Television-Console-ing-Passions/dp/1478008016">“Her Stories: Daytime Soap Opera and US Television History,”</a> says the staying power of soaps is that they get passed down from one generation to the next.“What
 streaming TV has shown us is that serialized narratives and stories 
that continue from episode to episode are really appealing and 
engaging," she says. "Soaps did that before anybody and are the maximum 
version of that because the story is going for decades.”Among the
 cake-flinging food fights and evil twins on “The Young and the 
Restless,” there have also been important firsts — it aired the first 
live facelift on TV, back in 1984, and when veteran <a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-tv-kristoff-st-john-north-america-ea36cf373f474e15a869a7b469b329d3">actor Kristoff St. John</a> died in 2019, the cast and crew held a funeral for his character, bringing tears to a returning Moore.It
 became the first daytime drama with a character who had a mastectomy, 
it was the first soap opera to broadcast in HD and, perhaps most 
importantly, it welcomed leading Black actors in the 1980s before many 
other soaps.“'The Young and the Restless' attracted a big African
 American audience starting at that time because they were putting Black
 characters, front center, more so than some of the other soaps were,” 
says Levine.That's a legacy Bell is proud of and she puts it 
squarely as a result of her parents, whom she calls hard-working 
creators who demanded a lot from their writers and actors, even their 
kids.“My dad was not afraid of of being first. All the social 
issues he dealt with — date rape, AIDS, alcoholism, all of that. He 
really felt that if our audience bonded with these characters that they 
would learn,” says Bell. “If we could even help one person, it was worth
 it.”Show veteran <a href="https://www.cbs.com/shows/the_young_and_the_restless/cast/61679/">Melody Thomas Scott</a>
 recalls a story that featured infant CPR, which is nothing like the 
adult version. “I think Bill and Lee wanted the world to know the 
difference,” she says. On the soap, a baby swallows a coin and Victor 
Newman — of course — becomes the hero by showing viewers the correct CPR
 technique.“We got so many calls in our ‘Y&amp;R’ office the day 
after that episode aired, some mothers in tears, so grateful,” she says.
 “That is the ultimate goal of sneaking in some social issues because it
 can save lives. It can change people’s lives.”One of Bill Bell’s
 hallmarks was telling stories in real time, for instance waiting for a 
couple’s first hand holding, then waiting a while before their first 
kiss. “If the audience doesn’t believe it and grow with them. It’s hard 
to buy sometimes,” his daughter says. The soap always stayed in the 
realm of reality: No getting possessed by the devil in Genoa City.Scott
 is celebrating her 44th year on the show as Nikki Newman, a poor girl 
from the wrong side of the tracks. Her character has gone from a 
tempestuous, alcoholic stripper to the serial’s luminous and resourceful
 leading lady.She says the show has stayed true to Bill Bell's 
vision of a show with compelling characters played by beautiful people. 
Visually, the soap has stayed lush and elegant, with plenty of fresh 
flowers or candles onset. “We look different from any other show,” she 
says.Bell not only had a knack for storylines — he also knew his 
actors. Scott recalls being surprised when Bell paired her bratty 
character with tycoon Victor Newman, two people she thought had nothing 
in common.“We discovered that we had this chemistry that we 
certainly didn’t expect. But I think Bill, in all of his wisdom, somehow
 saw it in us,” she says. “You can’t force yourself to have chemistry 
with another actor. It just either is or isn’t. So we are eternally 
grateful that Bill was so psychic in knowing that we would click.”The
 Bell family has continued to be part of the DNA of modern soaps, with 
Lauralee acting, her brother Brad serving as executive producer and head
 writer for sister soap “The Bold and the Beautiful” and brother Bill 
Jr. as president of the family production companies who made a deal for 
“The Young and the Restless” to be seen overseas, with versions in 
Israel, Canada, Turkey and France, among others.“It was one of 
the first daytime soaps that got sold internationally,” says Levine. “I 
think that has been a key to its continued success and profitability. 
The money that any daytime soap brings in domestically has lessened over
 time and the audience has gotten smaller.”If any viewers need 
convincing the “The Young and the Restless” has penetrated popular 
culture, look for further than Mary J. Blige, who sampled the show’s 
theme song in her 2001 hit “No More Drama.”That mysterious man in
 the very first scene was Brad Elliot and ahead of him was plenty of 
drama — a love triangle with a pair of sisters, a marriage, the 
heartache of a miscarriage, a diagnosis of blindness and a divorce 
petition. Surgery restored his sight but his marriage never recovered. 
He left Genoa City after five years. The show continued.When 
Lauralee Bell looks at the TV landscape today, she sees variations on 
what her parents created in primetime shows like “The Crown” and 
“Succession.”“Every show is a soap, every nighttime show is a 
soap, all of these streaming shows are versions of soap operas,” she 
says. “So we’re all sort of a little tired of the 
soaps-are-on-their-way-out — well, every show is a soap, really.”

'The Young and the Restless' celebrates 50 years of drama

By JONATHAN LANDRUM JR. AP Entertainment Writer

LOS
 ANGELES — Hip-hop became a cultural phenomenon against the 
backdrop of American history, and now Public Enemy’s Chuck D has 
committed himself to explore the artform's origins.

Chuck D 
rounded up several rap greats — including Ice-T, Run DMC and MC Lyte — 
who offered their firsthand accounts ahead of this year's 50th 
anniversary of hip-hop. Their reflections are explored in the four-part 
docuseries <a href="https://www.pbs.org/show/fight-power-how-hip-hop-changed-world/">“Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World,”</a> that aired on PBS and is available to stream on its platforms and YouTube with a premium subscription.

The
 series delves into the history of hip-hop including the genre’s radical
 rise from the New York City streets, creating a platform for political 
expression and being a leading voice for social justice

“Fight the
 Power” touches on how the hip-hop has played an impactful role in 
speaking up against injustice in the aftermath of America’s racial and 
political reckoning in 2020 after <a href="https://apnews.com/article/death-of-george-floyd-minneapolis-police-reform-d109eb0d3094119ddbcb560676467f19">George Floyd's killing by Minneapolis police</a>.
 The series, executive produced by Chuck D, features archival footage 
and insightful interviews from of rap’s most integral figures including 
Fat Joe, Lupe Fiasco, Grandmaster Caz, B-Real of Cypress Hill, Melle 
Mel, will.i.am, John Forte, Roxanne Shanté and Abiodun Oyewole of The 
Last Poets.

In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Chuck
 D talked about hip-hop’s cultural growth in 50 years, the genre being 
the backbone for Black men’s voices and how rap could last for another 
half century.

Remarks have been edited for clarity and bravery. 
___ AP: You mentioned in your docuseries that hip-hop was a catalyst for
 the Black Lives Matter movement. How so?

CHUCK D: It’s a 
collective where people felt the same way. It spoke politically to the 
injustice regarding George Floyd and was a spark that connected around 
the world. Hip-hop has done the same thing. Hip-hop ties human beings 
for their similarities and knocks the differences to the side. It’s a 
movement, when you talk about collective people feeling similar, enact 
upon something and still even stay within the constraints of the law. 
Younger people say, “OK, listen, we’re going to speak truth to power 
right now. We’re going to protest march. We're going to show you numbers
 that you ain’t seen in a long time about something you probably didn’t 
care about." That’s hip-hop, right?

AP: During the birth of hip-hop, how do it help encourage Black voices?

CHUCK
 D: Black men didn’t have a voice. You might’ve sung records for people 
who were fortunate to become recording artists. Our music has always 
been code. Hip-hop is the term for our creativity, maybe for the last 50
 years. But before that, we always was creative and musicianship, 
vocalization, arts and craft, and also the movement of dance. Just that 
the elements had gotten refined in another period in the '70s out of 
another Big Bang Theory of socio political environments. That’s where 
that voice came out and it came out culturally. It still speaks loudly, 
culturally.

AP: How does your documentary amplify that notion?

CHUCK
 D: Some people like to deal with hip-hop where they first started. I 
think what this documentary series says is “Nah, this is where it 
started.” You might have picked up on it after you were born in the 
1990s and picked up maybe 2000, but it started before you.

AP: What do you want people to take away from your documentary?

CHUCK
 D: I don’t want people to do what they don’t want to do. If you say you
 love hip-hop, then you should be able to know about what you love. You 
don’t have to love hip-hop. I used to ask people straight out, “Do you 
love hip-hop?” They would respond “Oh yeah. I love it.” Then I was ask, 
“Do you love Black people?” They would say “What’s that got to do with 
it?” I’m here to tell you that the culture and the music comes out of 
the people. Sometimes your love of it got to infuse and give something 
back to the people. That’s the cycle.

AP: How do you feel about hip-hop being misinterpreted at times?

CHUCK
 D: I’m 12 years older than hip-hop, so I’m not in awe of it. I’ve seen 
the trajectory and my involvement in it was to see if I can make it go 
head-to-head, stand shoulders and shoulders next to everything else that
 gets bragged and talked about. I’m a big sports fan. You know, a lot of
 people in New York broke up because the Giants lost. That’s how they 
tied into their loyalty for something that they say that they love. 
Well, people love music, too. They seem to know less about it than they 
know about sports, because sports make sure you’re not stupid. Stephen 
A. Smith now is a superstar journalist who makes sure that if you come 
in the room, you’re not stupid about sports. You can’t go off the top of
 your head and freestyle what you think when it’s fact. This four-part 
series at least deals with facts, especially in this misinformation age.
 Facts are important. Facts is not opinion, bro.

CHUCK
 D: Africa is the future of hip-hop. It’s 54 African nations. Not only 
are they spitting like crazy, but they’re also braiding languages. 
Hip-hop is going to like 3.0 when you talk about Africa. Hip-hop is 
there. So that’s the sustaining power if you want to pay attention to 
it.

AP: Do you feel like rappers can still be commercially successful while being socially conscious?

CHUCK
 D: Depends on where they are and who they’re talking to. If you’re in 
France, it might work for you. Each level that you get into it, you got 
to go deeper because you build a fan base that’s three times harder than
 you. If you’re an activist, you’re going to bring on activists that's 
really doing this. You as an artist could engage on it and group them 
together.

Now, as far as what’s going to make that artists keep a 
light on or go out and get the Lamborghini, that’s a personal thing. 
Money is relative. There’s pressure put on the arts. That’s an illusion.
 It’s a little unfair to any art — which is not supposed to bring you an
 industry. It’s supposed to be able to bring a canvas to the world.

AP: What’s it going to take for hip-hop to live for another 50 years?

CHUCK
 D: Commitment collective, people recognizing that this is a part of us 
and recognizing more parts of us that have been part of our cultural 
history around the world. We got to recognize the world too.

By JONATHAN LANDRUM JR. AP Entertainment WriterLOS
 ANGELES — Hip-hop became a cultural phenomenon against the 
backdrop of American history, and now Public Enemy’s Chuck D has 
committed himself to explore the artform's origins.Chuck D 
rounded up several rap greats — including Ice-T, Run DMC and MC Lyte — 
who offered their firsthand accounts ahead of this year's 50th 
anniversary of hip-hop. Their reflections are explored in the four-part 
docuseries <a href="https://www.pbs.org/show/fight-power-how-hip-hop-changed-world/">“Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World,”</a> that aired on PBS and is available to stream on its platforms and YouTube with a premium subscription.The
 series delves into the history of hip-hop including the genre’s radical
 rise from the New York City streets, creating a platform for political 
expression and being a leading voice for social justice“Fight the
 Power” touches on how the hip-hop has played an impactful role in 
speaking up against injustice in the aftermath of America’s racial and 
political reckoning in 2020 after <a href="https://apnews.com/article/death-of-george-floyd-minneapolis-police-reform-d109eb0d3094119ddbcb560676467f19">George Floyd's killing by Minneapolis police</a>.
 The series, executive produced by Chuck D, features archival footage 
and insightful interviews from of rap’s most integral figures including 
Fat Joe, Lupe Fiasco, Grandmaster Caz, B-Real of Cypress Hill, Melle 
Mel, will.i.am, John Forte, Roxanne Shanté and Abiodun Oyewole of The 
Last Poets.In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Chuck
 D talked about hip-hop’s cultural growth in 50 years, the genre being 
the backbone for Black men’s voices and how rap could last for another 
half century.Remarks have been edited for clarity and bravery. 
___ AP: You mentioned in your docuseries that hip-hop was a catalyst for
 the Black Lives Matter movement. How so?CHUCK D: It’s a 
collective where people felt the same way. It spoke politically to the 
injustice regarding George Floyd and was a spark that connected around 
the world. Hip-hop has done the same thing. Hip-hop ties human beings 
for their similarities and knocks the differences to the side. It’s a 
movement, when you talk about collective people feeling similar, enact 
upon something and still even stay within the constraints of the law. 
Younger people say, “OK, listen, we’re going to speak truth to power 
right now. We’re going to protest march. We're going to show you numbers
 that you ain’t seen in a long time about something you probably didn’t 
care about." That’s hip-hop, right?AP: During the birth of hip-hop, how do it help encourage Black voices?CHUCK
 D: Black men didn’t have a voice. You might’ve sung records for people 
who were fortunate to become recording artists. Our music has always 
been code. Hip-hop is the term for our creativity, maybe for the last 50
 years. But before that, we always was creative and musicianship, 
vocalization, arts and craft, and also the movement of dance. Just that 
the elements had gotten refined in another period in the '70s out of 
another Big Bang Theory of socio political environments. That’s where 
that voice came out and it came out culturally. It still speaks loudly, 
culturally.AP: How does your documentary amplify that notion?CHUCK
 D: Some people like to deal with hip-hop where they first started. I 
think what this documentary series says is “Nah, this is where it 
started.” You might have picked up on it after you were born in the 
1990s and picked up maybe 2000, but it started before you.AP: What do you want people to take away from your documentary?CHUCK
 D: I don’t want people to do what they don’t want to do. If you say you
 love hip-hop, then you should be able to know about what you love. You 
don’t have to love hip-hop. I used to ask people straight out, “Do you 
love hip-hop?” They would respond “Oh yeah. I love it.” Then I was ask, 
“Do you love Black people?” They would say “What’s that got to do with 
it?” I’m here to tell you that the culture and the music comes out of 
the people. Sometimes your love of it got to infuse and give something 
back to the people. That’s the cycle.AP: How do you feel about hip-hop being misinterpreted at times?CHUCK
 D: I’m 12 years older than hip-hop, so I’m not in awe of it. I’ve seen 
the trajectory and my involvement in it was to see if I can make it go 
head-to-head, stand shoulders and shoulders next to everything else that
 gets bragged and talked about. I’m a big sports fan. You know, a lot of
 people in New York broke up because the Giants lost. That’s how they 
tied into their loyalty for something that they say that they love. 
Well, people love music, too. They seem to know less about it than they 
know about sports, because sports make sure you’re not stupid. Stephen 
A. Smith now is a superstar journalist who makes sure that if you come 
in the room, you’re not stupid about sports. You can’t go off the top of
 your head and freestyle what you think when it’s fact. This four-part 
series at least deals with facts, especially in this misinformation age.
 Facts are important. Facts is not opinion, bro.AP: How have you seen hip-hop transcend?CHUCK
 D: Africa is the future of hip-hop. It’s 54 African nations. Not only 
are they spitting like crazy, but they’re also braiding languages. 
Hip-hop is going to like 3.0 when you talk about Africa. Hip-hop is 
there. So that’s the sustaining power if you want to pay attention to 
it.AP: Do you feel like rappers can still be commercially successful while being socially conscious?CHUCK
 D: Depends on where they are and who they’re talking to. If you’re in 
France, it might work for you. Each level that you get into it, you got 
to go deeper because you build a fan base that’s three times harder than
 you. If you’re an activist, you’re going to bring on activists that's 
really doing this. You as an artist could engage on it and group them 
together.Now, as far as what’s going to make that artists keep a 
light on or go out and get the Lamborghini, that’s a personal thing. 
Money is relative. There’s pressure put on the arts. That’s an illusion.
 It’s a little unfair to any art — which is not supposed to bring you an
 industry. It’s supposed to be able to bring a canvas to the world.AP: What’s it going to take for hip-hop to live for another 50 years?CHUCK
 D: Commitment collective, people recognizing that this is a part of us 
and recognizing more parts of us that have been part of our cultural 
history around the world. We got to recognize the world too.

Q&A: Chuck D talks rap's rise through 'Fight the Power' doc

By TAMMY WEBBER Associated Press

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testified Thursday at a congressional hearing
 over concerns about user data collected by the popular video-sharing 
app and potential Chinese spying.

Under his helm, TikTok reached 
150 million users in the U.S., the majority of them teens and young 
adults who are attracted to the app’s simple interface and addictive 
algorithm that serves up short videos on just about any imaginable 
topic.

Lawmakers have said they're <a href="https://apnews.com/article/tiktok-ceo-shou-zi-chew-security-risk-cc36f36801d84fc0652112fa461ef140">worried about American data</a>
 falling into the hands of the Chinese government and claim it threatens
 national security and user privacy and could be used to promote 
pro-Beijing propaganda and misinformation.

Chew attempted to 
persuade lawmakers not to pursue a ban on the app or force Chinese 
parent company ByteDance to give up its ownership stake, testifying that
 TikTok prioritizes the safety of young users. He says the company plans
 to store all U.S. user data on servers maintained and owned by the 
software giant Oracle.

Chew,
 40, is a native of Singapore, where he lives with his wife, Vivian Kao,
 and their two children. He graduated in 2006 from University College 
London and worked for two years at Goldman Sachs before moving to the 
U.S. to pursue a master's degree at Harvard Business School. Chew had a 
two-year internship with Facebook.

After earning his MBA, he 
became a partner at venture capital firm DST Global, where he worked for
 five years and helped facilitate investment in the company that became 
ByteDance. He then worked for five years at Xiaomi, a Chinese smartphone
 company, before being appointed TikTok CEO in 2021, replacing Kevin 
Mayer, a former Disney executive. Chew reports to ByteDance CEO Liang 
Rubo.

The U.S. public knows 
relatively little about Chew compared with Silicon Valley social media 
giants such as Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, said Brooke Erin Duffy, who 
studies social media platforms as an associate professor of 
communications at Cornell University.

“Chew has been in the 
background on public discourse until now, so he doesn't have the same 
reputation we would associate with the Silicon Valley set, especially 
Zuckerberg,” Duffy said.

Most Americans likely first heard of Chew
 when he released a video this week speaking directly to TikTok's U.S. 
users, she said, "so he doesn't have the same reputation as someone we 
know, and (we) don't have sense of who he is.”

But Chew is 
well-respected within the U.S. and China tech communities, and was 
considered a good fit for TikTok because of his background in investment
 banking and his time at Facebook and DST Global, said Dan Ives, 
managing director of New York-based Wedbush Securities.

“He gained
 a lot of respect just by taking that high risk, in-the-hot seat role at
 TikTok,” Ives said, adding that the company likely thought he was the 
right person to ease tensions with U.S. lawmakers.

Chew's
 decision to emphasize TikTok's reach in the U.S. might have backfired, 
and “actually strengthened U.S. lawmakers’ argument that TikTok poses a 
threat to both national security and young people,” said Jasmine Enberg,
 a social media analyst at Insider Intelligence.

Enberg said there
 was little Chew could say to convince lawmakers that TikTok is not 
monitored or influenced in some way by the Chinese government.

Ives
 said Chew's testimony was always going to be fraught, but his lack of 
concrete answers about data access and security was “a disaster” and 
likely set the stage for a ban.

“It was a perfect storm and lawmakers were ready,” Ives said.

But
 Shelly Palmer, a professor of advanced media at Syracuse University who
 studies social network business models, said Chew did the best he could
 given the grilling he received from lawmakers who “in my opinion were 
not actually listening" but instead were grandstanding.

“I don't 
think he has the ability, because of who he is and what he does, to be 
satisfying to this audience,” said Palmer, adding that he believed 
Chew's answers were not unlike those given by CEOs from U.S.-based 
social media companies who have been questioned in the past about 
privacy.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1679580589228.png" alt="Shou Zi Chew" />
 <figcaption>Shou Zi Chew</figcaption>
 </figure>By TAMMY WEBBER Associated PressTikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testified Thursday at a congressional hearing
 over concerns about user data collected by the popular video-sharing 
app and potential Chinese spying.Under his helm, TikTok reached 
150 million users in the U.S., the majority of them teens and young 
adults who are attracted to the app’s simple interface and addictive 
algorithm that serves up short videos on just about any imaginable 
topic.Lawmakers have said they're <a href="https://apnews.com/article/tiktok-ceo-shou-zi-chew-security-risk-cc36f36801d84fc0652112fa461ef140">worried about American data</a>
 falling into the hands of the Chinese government and claim it threatens
 national security and user privacy and could be used to promote 
pro-Beijing propaganda and misinformation.Chew attempted to 
persuade lawmakers not to pursue a ban on the app or force Chinese 
parent company ByteDance to give up its ownership stake, testifying that
 TikTok prioritizes the safety of young users. He says the company plans
 to store all U.S. user data on servers maintained and owned by the 
software giant Oracle.Here's a closer look at Chew:WHAT IS HIS BACKGROUND?Chew,
 40, is a native of Singapore, where he lives with his wife, Vivian Kao,
 and their two children. He graduated in 2006 from University College 
London and worked for two years at Goldman Sachs before moving to the 
U.S. to pursue a master's degree at Harvard Business School. Chew had a 
two-year internship with Facebook.After earning his MBA, he 
became a partner at venture capital firm DST Global, where he worked for
 five years and helped facilitate investment in the company that became 
ByteDance. He then worked for five years at Xiaomi, a Chinese smartphone
 company, before being appointed TikTok CEO in 2021, replacing Kevin 
Mayer, a former Disney executive. Chew reports to ByteDance CEO Liang 
Rubo.WHAT'S HIS REPUTATION?The U.S. public knows 
relatively little about Chew compared with Silicon Valley social media 
giants such as Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, said Brooke Erin Duffy, who 
studies social media platforms as an associate professor of 
communications at Cornell University.“Chew has been in the 
background on public discourse until now, so he doesn't have the same 
reputation we would associate with the Silicon Valley set, especially 
Zuckerberg,” Duffy said.Most Americans likely first heard of Chew
 when he released a video this week speaking directly to TikTok's U.S. 
users, she said, "so he doesn't have the same reputation as someone we 
know, and (we) don't have sense of who he is.”But Chew is 
well-respected within the U.S. and China tech communities, and was 
considered a good fit for TikTok because of his background in investment
 banking and his time at Facebook and DST Global, said Dan Ives, 
managing director of New York-based Wedbush Securities.“He gained
 a lot of respect just by taking that high risk, in-the-hot seat role at
 TikTok,” Ives said, adding that the company likely thought he was the 
right person to ease tensions with U.S. lawmakers.HOW DID HE DO IN HIS TESTIMONY?Chew's
 decision to emphasize TikTok's reach in the U.S. might have backfired, 
and “actually strengthened U.S. lawmakers’ argument that TikTok poses a 
threat to both national security and young people,” said Jasmine Enberg,
 a social media analyst at Insider Intelligence.Enberg said there
 was little Chew could say to convince lawmakers that TikTok is not 
monitored or influenced in some way by the Chinese government.Ives
 said Chew's testimony was always going to be fraught, but his lack of 
concrete answers about data access and security was “a disaster” and 
likely set the stage for a ban.“It was a perfect storm and lawmakers were ready,” Ives said.But
 Shelly Palmer, a professor of advanced media at Syracuse University who
 studies social network business models, said Chew did the best he could
 given the grilling he received from lawmakers who “in my opinion were 
not actually listening" but instead were grandstanding.“I don't 
think he has the ability, because of who he is and what he does, to be 
satisfying to this audience,” said Palmer, adding that he believed 
Chew's answers were not unlike those given by CEOs from U.S.-based 
social media companies who have been questioned in the past about 
privacy.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew: Three things to know

WASHINGTON
 — The Internal Revenue Service reaches out in multiple ways to educate 
taxpayers while ensuring it fairly enforces the nation's tax laws. There
 are important factors to keep in mind about when the IRS may initiate 
direct contact with a taxpayer.

For people who owe taxes, the IRS provides many different payment 
options to help taxpayers meet their obligations. Taxpayers can avoid 
late filing and interest penalties by submitting their tax return and 
using one of <a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/tax-time-guide-using-electronic-payment-and-agreement-options-for-taxpayers-who-owe-can-help-avoid-penalties-and-interest">these options</a> to pay what they owe by April 18.

For those struggling to pay in full by the deadline, the IRS offers several different <a href="https://www.irs.gov/payments">options</a>. For example, most individual taxpayers qualify for a payment plan and can use the IRS' <a href="https://www.irs.gov/paymentplans">Online Payment Agreement</a> to set up a payment plan (including an installment agreement) to pay off an outstanding balance over time.

People encountering a tax issue, such as an unpaid bill or a question
 about their taxes, will typically receive multiple letters in the mail 
from the IRS. People are encouraged to respond to these letters quickly,
 since interest and penalties can compound quickly.

Most IRS contacts with taxpayers are through regular mail delivered 
by the United States Postal Service. However, there are limited <a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/how-to-know-if-its-really-the-irs-calling-or-knocking-on-your-door">circumstances</a>
 when the IRS will come to a home or business as part of a collection 
investigation, an audit or an ongoing criminal investigation.

IRS employees that may make face-to-face visits outside an IRS office
 include revenue officers, revenue agents and IRS Criminal Investigation
 special agents. IRS employees are trained to respect taxpayer rights, 
and there are some important facts to keep in mind about the different 
types of visits.

Revenue officers are IRS civil 
enforcement employees who work to resolve compliance issues such as 
unfiled returns and/or taxes owed – all situations where the taxpayer 
typically would have received multiple IRS letters in advance.

These in-person visits may be unscheduled and can be to share 
information, inform taxpayers of their tax filing and payment 
obligations and work with taxpayers to resolve their tax issues and 
bring them into compliance.

They conduct interviews to gather financial information and provide 
taxpayers with the necessary steps to become and remain compliant with 
the tax laws.

Revenue agents usually conduct in-person field 
audits that are normally at the taxpayer's home, place of business 
or&nbsp;accountant's office where the organization's financial books and 
records are located. Revenue agents will make contact via mail or phone 
prior to any visit.

Revenue officers and agents always carry two forms of official 
credentials with a serial number and their photo. Taxpayers have the 
right to see each of these credentials and can also request an 
additional method to verify their identification.

Remember, taxpayers should know they have a tax issue before these visits occur since multiple mailings occur.

More information on <a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/how-to-know-if-its-really-the-irs-calling-or-knocking-on-your-door">identifying legitimate IRS representatives and how to report scams</a> can be found at IRS.gov.

IRS-CI special agents investigate potential criminal
 violations of the Internal Revenue Code and related financial crimes. 
IRS-CI's investigative jurisdiction includes tax, money laundering and 
Bank Secrecy Act laws. IRS-CI special agents always present their law 
enforcement credentials when conducting investigations.

IRS-CI may visit a taxpayer's home or business unannounced during an 
investigation. However, they will not demand any sort of payment. Learn 
more <a href="https://www.irs.gov/compliance/criminal-investigation/about-criminal-investigation">about IRS-CI</a> on IRS.gov.

If a person doesn't have a previously known tax issue and suspects 
someone is trying to impersonate an IRS employee, there are a variety of
 options to report phone, email and other impersonation scams:

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1599869632873.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>IRSWASHINGTON
 — The Internal Revenue Service reaches out in multiple ways to educate 
taxpayers while ensuring it fairly enforces the nation's tax laws. There
 are important factors to keep in mind about when the IRS may initiate 
direct contact with a taxpayer.For people who owe taxes, the IRS provides many different payment 
options to help taxpayers meet their obligations. Taxpayers can avoid 
late filing and interest penalties by submitting their tax return and 
using one of <a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/tax-time-guide-using-electronic-payment-and-agreement-options-for-taxpayers-who-owe-can-help-avoid-penalties-and-interest">these options</a> to pay what they owe by April 18.For those struggling to pay in full by the deadline, the IRS offers several different <a href="https://www.irs.gov/payments">options</a>. For example, most individual taxpayers qualify for a payment plan and can use the IRS' <a href="https://www.irs.gov/paymentplans">Online Payment Agreement</a> to set up a payment plan (including an installment agreement) to pay off an outstanding balance over time.People encountering a tax issue, such as an unpaid bill or a question
 about their taxes, will typically receive multiple letters in the mail 
from the IRS. People are encouraged to respond to these letters quickly,
 since interest and penalties can compound quickly.Most IRS contacts with taxpayers are through regular mail delivered 
by the United States Postal Service. However, there are limited <a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/how-to-know-if-its-really-the-irs-calling-or-knocking-on-your-door">circumstances</a>
 when the IRS will come to a home or business as part of a collection 
investigation, an audit or an ongoing criminal investigation.<h2>IRS in-person visits</h2>IRS employees that may make face-to-face visits outside an IRS office
 include revenue officers, revenue agents and IRS Criminal Investigation
 special agents. IRS employees are trained to respect taxpayer rights, 
and there are some important facts to keep in mind about the different 
types of visits.Revenue officers are IRS civil 
enforcement employees who work to resolve compliance issues such as 
unfiled returns and/or taxes owed – all situations where the taxpayer 
typically would have received multiple IRS letters in advance.These in-person visits may be unscheduled and can be to share 
information, inform taxpayers of their tax filing and payment 
obligations and work with taxpayers to resolve their tax issues and 
bring them into compliance.They conduct interviews to gather financial information and provide 
taxpayers with the necessary steps to become and remain compliant with 
the tax laws.Revenue agents usually conduct in-person field 
audits that are normally at the taxpayer's home, place of business 
or&nbsp;accountant's office where the organization's financial books and 
records are located. Revenue agents will make contact via mail or phone 
prior to any visit.Revenue officers and agents always carry two forms of official 
credentials with a serial number and their photo. Taxpayers have the 
right to see each of these credentials and can also request an 
additional method to verify their identification.Remember, taxpayers should know they have a tax issue before these visits occur since multiple mailings occur.More information on <a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/how-to-know-if-its-really-the-irs-calling-or-knocking-on-your-door">identifying legitimate IRS representatives and how to report scams</a> can be found at IRS.gov.IRS-CI special agents investigate potential criminal
 violations of the Internal Revenue Code and related financial crimes. 
IRS-CI's investigative jurisdiction includes tax, money laundering and 
Bank Secrecy Act laws. IRS-CI special agents always present their law 
enforcement credentials when conducting investigations.IRS-CI may visit a taxpayer's home or business unannounced during an 
investigation. However, they will not demand any sort of payment. Learn 
more <a href="https://www.irs.gov/compliance/criminal-investigation/about-criminal-investigation">about IRS-CI</a> on IRS.gov.<h2>How to report impersonation scams</h2>If a person doesn't have a previously known tax issue and suspects 
someone is trying to impersonate an IRS employee, there are a variety of
 options to report phone, email and other impersonation scams:<ul>
 <li>Report impersonation scams to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration on the <a href="https://www.tigta.gov/hotline?type=IRSScamsandFraud">TIGTA Report Waste, Fraud and Abuse</a>&nbsp;webpage. Taxpayers can also call <a href="tel:800-366-4484">800-366-4484</a> to report impersonation scams.</li><li>Protect your community by reporting fraud, scams and bad business 
practices. Report phone scams to the Federal Trade Commission at <a href="https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/?orgcode=IRS">Report Fraud FTC</a>.</li><li>Report an unsolicited email claiming to be from the IRS or an 
IRS-related system like the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System to the
 IRS at <a href="mailto:phishing@irs.gov">phishing@irs.gov</a>.</li><li>For a comprehensive listing of recent tax scams, consumer alerts and how to report them, visit <a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/tax-scams-consumer-alerts">Tax Scams/Consumer Alerts</a>.</li>
 </ul>

Misc