President. Stepped down after a week of unrest following a disputed election Prime Minister says hell assume the presidency he was named Prime Minister on wednesday just days after supporters freed him from prison. Human rights watch says russian and syrian air strikes and syrias rebel held city of live last year may constitute crimes against humanity the Global Rights Group has released a report that looks into dozens of what it said were unlawful strikes on civilian targets over a period of 12 months it says the strikes were deliberate. This is due to be a news from berlin follow us on twitter and instagram f. T. W. News or visit our website eat up you dot com. On january 1st of next year the u. K. s transition period for leaving the European Union will end how will both sides do business with each other after bread sit well that was supposed to be decided by today that all important u. K. E. U. Trade deal is nowhere close to being a done deal will there even be a deal british Prime MinisterBoris Johnson will reportedly measure the mood of european leaders this week and then hell decide yes or no to more negotiations to stay at the table or to get up and walk away im burnt off in berlin this is the day. We want to the grievances but we want also to protect the little plain truth and thats be a fair greenman how much both counts and benefits can bring to this group and the prospects for there that the treaty and fair competition and the but we didnt choose breaks is different britain did it all through the world with the same theres really the same practices in the same places at least on the east side you know if you keep going to this Point Richard their European Union is united we have a clear position we want a good deal but not at any cost. Also coming up as the 2nd wave of the coronavirus rolls over Europe Germany is tightening restrictions to slow the spread but chester im going to hold shes not convinced that thats enough. Trodden thats if youre off quite where its me it is the exponential rice and we have to stop it otherwise it would not end well kind of. But to our viewers watching on p. B. S. In the United States and to all of you around the world welcome 2021 could very well begin with chaos confusion and no deal for both the u. K. And the European Union were going to have more on that in just a moment so we begin the day with an attempt to shield u. S. Voters and the president ial election from mis information a move against fake news that is controversial problematic and over due to facebook and twitter have prevented users from sharing a story published in the New York Post about hunter by the son of democratic president ial candidate and former u. S. Vice President Joe Biden the New York Post claims the story is based on emails from Hunter Bidens laptop but journalists outside of the post have called the. Its sources and its alleged claims into question so much so that the social media giants took the unusual step of intervening in the dissemination of user content facebook and twitter are using stricter moderation rules that we know but todays moves go further than ever before and they are drawing fire from republicans who claim that social Media Companies are biased against conservatives today u. S. President trump accused big tech of colluding with the Mainstream Media to help the Biden Campaign take a listen. Here family or drug it and they were caught they got caught now theyre being protected by big fat and a big fat persists in coordination with the Mainstream Media we must strip them of this section 230 protect. We all believe in freedom of the press but dont forget the big tent got something years ago that let them become big that they got total protection they dont get so they dont get anything totally protected all right social media and the us president ial election theres a lot to unpack with this story tonight and to do that im joined by ethan porter hes assistant professor in the school of media and Public Affairs at George Washington university ethan its good to have you on the day let me ask you what appear what would have been the reaction to facebook and twitter if they done nothing and just a well the post article to be shared and reach we did as much as people wanted. Well this is a situation with no easy answers had twitter and facebook allowed this false information to circulate unchecked through their networks they would have been accused in my mind rightfully so of spreading in advancing the spread of misinformation at a critical time instead what they did is they intervene and that intervention is open to question but there is no rule world in which facebook or twitter is actions here were going to make that criticism and we know that the c. E. O. Of twitter jack dorsey he was not happy with what happened he tweeted and you see i can read that our communication around our article on the New York Post was not great and blocking u. R. L. Sharing via tweet or direct messaging with 0 context as to why were blocking well that is the nick sceptical of what he said that twitter and facebook they they they do have the 1st amendment on their side but they also have an extreme amount of power at the moment do you think they have too much power well i think leaders of large Media Companies have always had outsized power so think of it this way if if if someone wrote into a newspaper today it wanted a letter to the editor to be published that spread scurrilous rumors about a candidate the editor of that newspaper would likely not publish that letter today social Media Companies are playing the role of editor of really large platforms and people are criticizing him for it but in some ways its not that different from what has happened in the past so what does that mean in terms of legislation do you think that Congress Needs to change the legislation that has basically exempted platforms from being responsible for the content that happens to be on the platform. I dont think a legislative response is the appropriate response here instead regulation needs to be focused on mandating companies such as twitter and facebook to compel users to see corrections to take years thats the fix that needs to happen in some ways the controversy today is a byproduct of the fact that these companies for too long have been too lax about misinformation theyre now playing catch up and their sloppiness is coming under criticism and you dont see what has happened with the New York Post story you dont see it setting a troubling precedent. Its a worrisome precedent but i would argue that the decisions of companies proud of both companies prior to today were far more worrisome facebook in particular allowed misinformation to go unchecked and its after all for years and in many respects still its im so this is a case of too little too late. Weve got what less than 3 weeks to go until the election on t. V. And on social media there is a Public InformationCampaign Underway and its supposed to be educating voters about misinformation i want to take a look at one of the clips. Deciding who to vote for is important the our People Organisation think governments trying to trip up manipulate vote or keep us from voting altogether watch out for phrases that frequently accompany political decision from a scene like make this gunfire or conspiratorial statements like the media wont cover this its your fault not the mares voting the paines one that you democracy depends on us. So isnt theres a clip there that people are seeing how effective do you think this type of campaign can be i mean we see the long lines of people waiting to cast their vote in early voting in some us states we know that interest in the election is very high what about knowledge and information that are needed to turn those citizens into responsible voters i love this campaign ive heard about this campaign and im a big fan of it i like the optimism that is behind it recent research makes clear newsletters he campaigns can Work Research also makes clear that attempts to educate the public can be effective whether or not this campaign will be effective i dont know but it certainly wouldnt surprise me were to be effective if enough people see it thats crucial. Hopefully if if we wanted to be effective its being seen by lots of people across the country they you know you talk about information diet in the news diet that americans have is part of the problem the fact that news and information are treated like a commodity in the United States you know you have the commercialization of t. V. News for example in the states were shown on p. B. S. Which is public t. V. But thats a very small part of the market if it were a broad part of the market do you think you would have more or better informed voters. Absolutely i think that public support for p. B. S. In this country for public broadcasting has been too small for too awful. A better funded public broadcasting system would do wonders for the quality of the american publics political knowledge to some extent we would not have the problems that we have in this country if we were to adopt a approach to broadcasting as you do in germany ive heard that said many many times especially since the 2016 president ial election and we we know as you said the social media was used to meddle in the 2016 election and here we are 4 years later i want you to consider social media consider the voters are they as prepared and as a quipped as they should be going into this election i do think that voters are better prepared i think weve all learned from our previous experiences research has shown that only a small fraction of social media users are actively sharing misinformation i think people have gotten better at distinguishing Factor Fiction social media the number of people who are sharing will still worrisome it is not overwhelmingly high alright even puerto joining us tonight from washington d. C. And we appreciate your time your insights and lets hope that the optimism wins out thank you. It will. British Prime MinisterBoris Johnson says that hell lay out his approach to breaks it on friday now this after britains chief rights because she described demands made by the European Union it summit talks in brussels as disappointing and surprising the e. U. Issued a statement from those talks calling on britain to make the necessary moves to make an agreement possible brussels clearly believes that its up to london to make concessions to avoid a chaotic exit from the e. U. Free trade zone on january 1st next year. The bricks and saga continues after years of talks and the cut off date looming the most pressing question remaining is who will get up and leave the negotiating table 1st e. U. 14 u. K. Meanwhile at the e. U. Summit in brussels at a quarter of goldman leaves and pumpkins serves as a reminder this year is coming to an end and with it the transition period without a plan on the future relationship between the u. K. And the bloc patience is in short supply here see. If the right terms cant be found at the end of these discussions were ready for a no deal for our future relations since the u. K. Had left the e. U. January 31st there has been little progress on key issues such as trade and fishing rights with the parties still oceans apart obviously the issues of considerable concern remain a level Playing Field thats important for europe. The governance of a subsequent deal that would be arrived at between the United Kingdom and Europe Clearly fisheries which is very important to us in our land our coastal communities are protected in an overall deal. On breaks that true raises for a sensible and fair fisheries deal pressure is high on the German Council presidency a deal could save hundreds of thousands of jobs in an economy hit hard by covert 90. 51. 00 in an upcoming course we want an agreement but not it any price and it has to be a fair deal that would benefit the both sides but all the effort is worth it and the of course will support chief negotiator Michel BarnierCommission President person of underlining and commission on the c 131 just its. But time for talks is running out for an agreement to come into force at the beginning of next year the deal would have to be done by the end of this month and concessions seem unlikely at this point when someone asked me so where are you able to give up or to give up. For the moment we dont have to give up anything because the solidarity is the principle that you know problems from your country can be other problems for another country and so the package should be really defend they also do interest of the 27 not just the one or 2 countries and also not just of british interest it has been a decision from the u. K. And now we have to find a deal to get out of the situation. Walking away doesnt appear to be an option for now and so this saga goes on. The 2nd wave of the coronavirus pandemic is rolling across europe on wednesday germany recorded a massive increase in corona virus cases with more than 6 and a half 1000 new infections over a 24 hour period thats the biggest since the pandemic began the thinkers were released just after just hours after german chancellor Angela Merkel met with the leaders of the countrys 16 federal states they agreed to tighten restrictions across the country to slow the spread of the. One seen as a role model for Europe Germany now feels the pandemic is getting out of hand that a country has fed every day to the west so far with cases rapidly rising im going to america has issued a stern warning. As much blogging does if you ask what worries me it is the exponential rise and we all stop it otherwise it will not end well. We can see death all over the place and i dont need to look at germany here i only need to look in the neighboring countries thats a point of regional leaders have agreed to shut hospitality venue some 11 pm in areas today become virus hotspots a regulation already adopted by some cities like barely known frankfurt contact restrictions will also be enforced in hotspots social gatherings will be limited to 10 people from a maximum of 2 households in a bid to curb the number of infections at the political level one bone of contention remains leaders cant agree on Domestic Travel rules that mean travelers from hotspots cannot stay in hotels without a recent negative test im putting this commendation ban is to contest a demand to stay disease someone to keep it up at any cost to majority of states are skeptical because its related the inefficient to prevent infections but in the end it causes a lot of agitation anger and disruption but some under street say its not more roads that are needed. Thats going to be a fearsome day existing rules are not being followed and theyre not being enforced all too often you see people beat out a mosque on fesses and subways in a foreign house i believe the ruse should be better executive its a fine line when you see all the weddings are kind of course understand but on the other hand its also risk for others as well as the other these i think we all need to be reasonable with the numbers right now in the fund and if the number of infections keep rising im going to america has warned that even tougher steps may be needed. When now im joined by Emily Schulte heise she is a fellow at the institute of current World Affairs and shes a freelance journalist based here in berlin in leeds good to have you on the program just by chance we wanted to talk with you about the pandemic in germany and i find out that youre here in berlin and that youre in quarantine why use that. I am so i returned yesterday evening from vienna i was there for a couple weeks for work and. Has been since the middle of september again or risk area but in a country of germany so when i come back from a risk area and that means you have to be tested upon arrival or shortly after arrival you have to go into quarantine until you receive those results and thats where you found you know and did everything go smoothly i mean were you were you surprised by how things went. It was it was an incredibly easy process i came in by trains arrived after im in Central Station there are signs everywhere directing you to the tests locations i came in they asked for proof that i had just come from a risk area should my ticket and all and all between filling out paperwork waiting to be tested and then receiving the test they took i would say less than 20 minutes ok less than 20 minutes and you get the test results what within 5 days is the latest right. Yet they say 3 to 4 days so i was given all the information im eagerly awaiting that that result in the corona app and hope that maybe it will come sooner but yes they said 3 to 4 days before out of here ok let me ask you about the meeting that took place between the german chancellor and the leaders of the federal states wasnt really thrilled by the amount of agreements that i guess that she got from the regional leaders what she. She was not and you know thats something if you look back to the spring obviously these meetings were taking place on a weekly basis or so you know every time there w