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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-61239221

What is moral panic?

Moral panic, a term created by Stanley Cohen, is the exaggerated reaction and fear from the community by the threat that someone or something interferes with the personal values and interests of the individuals, communities or societies.

How has our chosen news article created moral panic?

Immediacy

The event article was published on BBC news just less than 24 hours after his execution. The relevancy of this article might come as a shock to the readers, even though he has been on the death penalty for over ten years.

Unexpectancy

It may come as a shock to everyone as this is something that usually wouldn’t happen. The man was a unique individual that can grasp the viewer’s attention, having an IQ of 69 (a level that most people do not reach). This makes the news much more unpredictable and unexpected.

Personalisation

This article is focused on one person which allows them to dive into detail about Nagaenthran. Him having a lower IQ than the others, IQ69, is a personal issue that people wouldn’t have known if it wasn’t stated

Negative news

Death is a sensitive subject for most people, so the execution of a man with a potential mental disability would create some tension and fear.

Analysing the use of ‘moral panic’ in our chosen news article.

BBC is quite a neutral-sided platform. It is not run by the British government and is independent. Because of this, it maily informs the readers on the facts and not the opinions. Moral panic is created in this news article because this is an unexpected and shocking piece of news, despite the fact that Nagaenthran has been sentenced to death for over 10 years. This is because many have always believed that he was suffering from an intellectual disability, and that he should not be executed under the international human rights law. It is explained in the article that Singapore has one of the most strict drug laws in the world, as anyone caught carrying over 15g of heroin into Singapore is sentenced to death.  The fact that even after 10 years of committing the offence, the man was still executed, could create fear that Singapore might be even stricter with their death-penalty laws in the future which is concerning for many. Even though BBC is usually a neutral platform, it does provide some quotes and statements that express both left and right sides of the argument.

For example of an opinion on the left side is from the Singapore government “International law does not prohibit the death penalty and that there is no international consensus on the use of it.” This suggests that Singapore is likely to continue using their death penalty law which mainains the tension for the residents in singapore. “Under Singapore law, he would not have been given the death penalty if the court had found him to be "suffering from an abnormality of mind which substantially impaired his mental responsibility”. This suggests that the Singapore government have already carefully thought this through before deciding on the death penalty.

Another left-sided statement given is that Nagaenthran’s statement was different every time he went to court.

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What is moral panic?

Moral panic is an exaggerated outburst of public concern and fear over the morality or behaviour of a group in society. It is often about an evil person threatening the values, interests or well-being of the society.

How has our chosen news article created moral panic?

Elon Musk has struck a deal with Twitter, and will be taking over the company for $44 billion US dollars. Twitter is an extremely popular online microblogging, news and social networking site, where users post and interact with messages, and communicate in short messages known as ‘tweets’. According to the Forbes magazine, Elon Musk is the world’s wealthiest person, with an estimated net worth of $274 billion.

For more than a decade, Twitter users have relied on the site’s microblogging and networking services as their source of information. As such, these Twitter users are worried about what is lying ahead for their favourite online platform after the Musk takeover. He has expressed publicly that he considers himself as a ‘free speech activist’, and desires to get rid of the site’s spam bots and authenticate all users.

According to an article on ‘the Guardian’, doing so would require users to submit some form of identification, which defeats the original purpose of Twitter - anonymity, also creating a ‘risky proposition’ for many users around the world, as the site would have to comply with government requests for data when needed.

News value of this news article:

1. Immediacy - Elon Musk’s deal with Twitter has just happened recently and it is new so a lot of newspapers talked about it since it “just happened”

2. Surprise - The deal was unexpected and unexpected events are more likely to be considered newsworthy, audiences also love surprises

3. Familiarity - A big amount of people uses Twitter, so Elon Musk taking over Twitter is definitely something that concerns them

4. Elite people - Elon Musk is someone who is very well-known, so it’s considered newsworthy and receive more attention to people

Analyse the use of moral panic in our chosen news article.

BBC’s perspective and view on such subjects is very neutral, and they choose to inform its readers rather than subliminally forcing ideas on them. Because of this, it is quite difficult for us to pinpoint where they are on the political stance chart. BBC might be trying to keep moral panic at the bare minimum while simply placing facts into the articles at the same time.

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The board of Twitter has agreed to a $44bn (£34.5bn) takeover offer from the billionaire Elon Musk.

Mr Musk, who made the shock bid less than two weeks ago, said Twitter had "tremendous potential" that he would unlock.

He also called for a series of changes from relaxing its content restrictions to eradicating fake accounts.

The firm initially rebuffed Mr Musk's bid, but it will now ask shareholders to vote to approve the deal.

Mr Musk is the world's richest person, according to Forbes magazine, with an estimated net worth of $273.6bn mostly due to his shareholding in electric vehicle maker Tesla which he runs. He also leads the aerospace firm SpaceX.

"Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated," Mr Musk said in a statement announcing the deal.

"I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans," he added.

"Twitter has tremendous potential - I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it."

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Skip twitter post by Elon Musk

Allow Twitter content?

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

The move comes as Twitter faces growing pressure from politicians and regulators over the content that appears on its platform. It has drawn critics from left and right over its efforts to mediate misinformation on the platform.

In one of its most high-profile moves, last year it banned former US President Donald Trump, perhaps its most powerful user, citing the risk of "incitement of violence".

At the time Mr Musk observed: "A lot of people are going to be super unhappy with West Coast high tech as the de facto arbiter of free speech."

News of the takeover has been cheered by the right in the US, although Mr Trump on Monday told Fox News he had no plans to re-join the platform.

The White House declined to comment on the takeover but spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters: "No matter who owns or runs Twitter, the president has long been concerned about the power of large social media platforms."

On Twitter, MP Julian Knight, chairman of the UK's Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, called the deal an "extraordinary development in the world of social media".

"It will be interesting to see how a privately owned Twitter (run by a man who is an absolutist over free speech) will react to global moves to regulate."

BBC environment analyst Roger Harrabin says scientists are nervous about the potential impact of the takeover on the climate debate.

He notes that Twitter announced last week it would ban advertisements that deny the scientific consensus on the climate crisis, with the firm admitting that misleading information can undermine efforts to protect the planet.

Controversial history

Mr Musk, who has more than 80 million followers on Twitter, has a controversial history on the platform himself.

In 2018 US financial regulators accused him of misleading Tesla investors with his tweets, claims that were resolved in a $40 million settlement and that Mr Musk continues to deny.

And in 2019 he was hit with a defamation suit - which he successfully defeated - after calling a diver involved in rescuing schoolboys in Thailand "pedo guy" on the platform.

On Monday, Mr Musk, who has been known to clash with journalists and block critics, suggested that he saw Twitter as a forum for debate.

"I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means," he wrote just hours before the deal was announced.

Can Musk turn Twitter around?

As part of the takeover, which is expected to close later this year, Twitter's shares will be delisted and it will be taken private.

Mr Musk has suggested this will give him freedom to make the changes he wants to the business.

Among other ideas, he has suggested allowing longer posts and introducing the ability to edit them after they have been published.

Twitter shares on Monday closed more than 5% higher after the deal was announced.

But the price remained lower than Mr Musk's $54.20 per share offer, a sign that Wall Street believes he is overpaying for the firm.

Mr Musk has said he doesn't "care about the economics" of the purchase. However, he will take on a company with a chequered record of financial performance.

Despite its influence, Twitter has rarely turned a profit and user growth, particularly in the US, has slowed.

The company, founded in 2004, ended 2021 with $5bn in revenue and 217 million daily users globally - a fraction of the figures claimed by other platforms such as Facebook.

Bret Taylor, chair of Twitter's board, said it had fully assessed Mr Musk's offer and it was "the best path forward for Twitter's stockholders".

It is not clear who will lead the company moving forward. Twitter is currently led by Parag Agrawal, who took over from co-founder and former boss Jack Dorsey last November.

But in his offer document, Mr Musk told Twitter's board: "I don't have confidence in management."

Mr Agrawal told employees on Monday that the future of Twitter is uncertain.

"Once the deal closes, we don't know which direction the platform will go," he said, according to the Reuters news agency.

Mr Musk's targeting of Twitter has moved at remarkable speed. It emerged at the beginning of April that he had become the largest shareholder in the firm with a 9.2% stake.

He was then invited to join Twitter's board but turned down the offer before launching a surprise bid for the company on 14 April, saying he wanted to "unlock" its potential as a bastion of freedom of speech.

Twitter tried to fend off his bid, threatening to dilute the shareholdings of anyone who bought more than a 15% stake in the firm. However, its stance shifted after Mr Musk revealed more financial details about his proposed bid.

He has secured $25.5bn of financing for the deal and will take a $21bn stake in the business.

The board unanimously approved the bid, which will now be presented to shareholders for a vote.

Elon Musk: Twitter's new king

The speed this move has happened at had many heads in Silicon Valley spinning.

From nowhere, Elon Musk is the absolute monarch of Twitter.

He himself has said it's not about the "economics", this is about power and influence.

By taking the company private he will exercise total control over Twitter.

He has the power to do with the company as he pleases. In practice that will mean a much lighter moderation policy.

He also says that he will make its algorithm public - so that people can better understand how Twitter works.

The move leaves the door open to Donald Trump's return to the platform, though he apparently says he would rather use his own social media platform Truth Social for now.

For years conservatives have argued that Twitter is biased against them - and the news has left Republicans in the US delighted.

Others have been left dismayed at what Twitter might look like without strong platform moderation.

You only need to look at how much criticism Facebook has received for not taking down groups linked to the QAnon conspiracy theory, or the Stop the Steal movement to imagine how much criticism Elon Musk is in store for.

The danger that Twitter now faces is that unfettered free speech on social media can become very ugly, very quickly.

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Elon Musk strikes deal to buy Twitter for $44bn

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Mr Musk, who made the shock bid just over a week ago, said he would "unlock" the social media firm's potential.

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What is moral panic?

Moral panic is an exaggerated and Irrational overreaction by society to a perceived problem, this reaction enlarges the problem out of all proportion to its real seriousness.

How has our chosen news article created moral panic?

Our chosen news article creates panic by emphasising the amount of people (2 billion users) being told to delete the text immediately, the title of the article also has an exaggerated tone, which can be seen from the word “SCRAP-CHAT”.  All whatsapp users are being warned to look out for a dangerous type of scam text.  There are ‘crooks’ on whatsapp who pose as WhatsApp support to entice you into handing over private information, using profile pictures that look official and verified, threatening the safety of everyone who uses whatsapp.  The news values associated with this article are as follows:

Familiarity, we can relate to any news about scammers as it is a common occurrence, with scammers being very common on messaging platforms everywhere.

Size/threshold, size matters when it comes to news stories, the larger the amount of people being affected, the higher the value, the more it will entice people to read about the article.

Negative, bad news, the fact that 2 billion users are getting these messages and some of them having their information stolen is negative.

Amplitude, whatsapp is one of the biggest social media applications on the internet, it has a large amount of users, therefore a lot of people will be affected by hearing this news.

Analysing the use of ‘moral panic’ in our chosen news article?

We can see in the article that the writer uses “Crooks are now posing as Whatsapp Support” this quote on quote shows the reader panic by using the word as “crooks”, which in this article we basically are given steps to show how to fix the scam and what we are supposed to do if we do get scammed. It’s as if the article uses an overexaggerated title to pull in the audience and uses words such as “2 BILLION” which only ended up being an instruction of how to prevent the scam.

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ALL WhatsApp users are being warned to look out for a dangerous type of scam text.

Crooks are now posing as WhatsApp Support to hoodwink you into handing over private info.

Messaging apps are popular with scammers who want to steal your information or money.

Popular WhatsApp blog WABetaInfo is now warning users to watch out for fake "support accounts".

These tricksters use profile pictures that look official and verified.

But there's an easy way to confirm whether the account is real or not.

The genuine Meta-owned WhatsApp Support will have a green verified tick next to the name.

This verified badge isn't available to crooks.

But they may try to trick you by placing the badge on their profile picture.

If an account like this messages you, ignore it and delete the text immediately.

They will likely ask for your six-digit verification code, which would give them access to your account.

Or they may even be bold enough to demand your credit card info to stop you from being locked out of WhatsApp.

These are complete scams so ignore them - don't reply or hand over info.

You can also block and report the scammer within WhatsApp, which will alert the real support team about the issue.

If anyone ever asks for your login code or banking info over WhatsApp, be very cautious and don't reply.

WhatsApp security tips

Worried about your online safety?

Here are three WhatsApp security settings that could help to keep you safe...
WhatsApp lock
Locking your WhatsApp separately to your iPhone is very important.

It means people who are using your phone can't read your texts.

To set this up you need to head to your WhatsApp settings.

Then click "Account" and then "Privacy".

From here, you can switch on "Screen Lock" with either Touch ID or Face ID.

You'll also be able to pick a duration time for when the ID is required again.

Now whenever you go to open the app, it'll ask you for your prints or a picture of your face to check it's really you reading your private chats.

You can still read and quick reply to messages in your notification window, so the tool isn't foolproof.

You'll also be able to answer WhatsApp calls.

You can always disable all message previews in your iPhone settings.
WhatsApp self-deleting texts
WhatsApp also has a recently-added feature that will automatically self-destruct new texts after a day.

The new update is aimed at boosting your privacy - by destroying old WhatsApp messages.

You can set Disappearing Messages to automatically turn on for all new chats - without affecting existing conversations.

And two new durations have been added for Disappearing Messages, 24 hours and 90 days.

So now you can choose from four options in total: 24 hours, 7 days, 90 days or Off.

Go to Settings > Account > Privacy and then turn on Default Message Timer.
WhatsApp two-step verification
Finally, you should turn on two-step verification right now.

It's an extra step for verifying your phone number, to help keep hackers out.

Hackers regularly try to break into WhatsApp accounts.

Hijacking a WhatsApp account is an easy way to gain the trust of your friends and family, allowing even more sinister scams to be enacted.

To turn on two-step verification, go to Settings > Account and toggle the setting to On.
Featured Image Credit: WhatsApp / Unsplash / The Sun We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online Tech & Science team? Email us at tech@the-sun.co.uk

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Urgent WhatsApp warning as all 2billion users told to delete text immediately

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ALL WhatsApp users are being warned to look out for a dangerous type of scam text. Crooks are now posing as WhatsApp Support to hoodwink you into handing over private info. Messaging apps are popular with scammers who want to steal your information or money.

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How has our chosen news article created moral panic?

Our chosen news article has created moral panic as the SCMP has described Omicron as having brought Hong Kong to its “knees”. When something is on its knees, it usually means whatever is on its knees is about to die, in this case Hong Kong. This is understandably disturbing for the 7.5+ million people currently living in the community on top of the SCMP asking “can the city go back to it’s COVID Zero days”

1. Immediacy - As the news of Hong Kong’s zero covid program coming to a halt whilst the city is still very much in need of one in place to keep infection rates low, life has been very restricted over the past 2-3 years but such restrictions are about to be lifted which raises the question of the sixth outbreak, with restaurants and businesses having faced a meteor shower of difficulties with reduced capacity and opportunity for business in the time the city is still currently facing.

2. Familiarity - Everybody knows about the coronavirus and it is common to have relatives or friends who have gotten it. It is an indiscriminate virus in which anyone could have the chance to get infected. This means it is prominent for everyone to know, as well as being very known and familiar to us

3. Amplitude - The virus is a global pandemic that has had a great impact and influence on governments and society as we live in. A more serious virus would mean more serious actions placed on the people

4. Surprise - a few months ago HK was seen to be very controlled with the virus, handling it very well with very little controls of the citizens movement and activity. Only in recent months has it become much more serious.

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Omicron has brought Hong Kong to its knees. How did it all go wrong?

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The city managed to keep the virus at bay for two years, so when did Hong Kong start to lose control, and what went wrong with preparations for the fifth wave of infections?

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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10756707/Russia-target-UK-diplomats-Ukraine-capital-British-minister-backs-bombing-Russia.html

What is Moral panic?

moral panic is a widespread feeling of fear, often an irrational one, that some evil person or thing threatens the values, interests, or well-being of a community or society.

How has our chosen news article created moral panic?

The current situation of the war going on with Russia and Ukraine is quite terrifying. Also with Putin stating that they are threatening Britain bring fear to the people to the possibility of world war 3 happening. The word threat tells us that the states are high and anything can happen at any any moment.

The news values that are present  in the news article are:

Immediacy this has just happened

Frequency , events such as this never happens

Surprise , threatening a country of bombing is a surprise

Elite nations, Russia is a giant country that contributes a lot to the world economy

Negativity , Bombing a country is never a good thing

Analysing the use of ‘moral panic’ in our chosen news article

The article repeatedly states that Russia could bomb Britain in the headline, but expands very little on how Britain minister also threatened to use air strikes on Russian soldiers. This article has other political aims to inspire pity for Ukraine and apprehension against Russia, so their actions for sending heavier military weapons to Ukraine seem a lot more reasonable.

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"We will continue to take steps to strengthen and develop our nation's nuclear capabilities at the fastest pace," he said, adding that their nuclear forces "must be ready" to be exercised anytime, according to a report by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

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North Korea: Kim Jong-un vows to step up nuclear weapons programme

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"We will continue to take steps to strengthen and develop our nation's nuclear capabilities at the fastest pace," he said, adding that their nuclear forces "must be ready" to be exercised anytime, according to a report by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

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What is moral panic?

Moral panic is an instance of public anxiety that leads to a over-exgaerraterted story in media which makes people believe that a problem or event is much more detrimental to their country/community than it actually is.

How has our articles sparked moral panic?

The language, “Pakistan blast” is a soft exmaple of extereme langauge.

News values; The news values include…

Impact, Bizarre and conflict.

Impact; This story is very impactful one and people would like to know the relevance of this story and the suicide bombing. The importance of this is promiment as China is showing remorse for the fallen tutors that taught at that school.

Bizzare; It isn’t every day that somone sees an attack that was motivated by the stands in goverment. The BLA which stands for The baloch libertaion army. Which compeled this women to kill herslef to blow up a van, She was most likely thresatned with death.

The article seems pretty neutral if you look at it. From my perspective you can see that the author is clearly trying their best to stay neutral by asking question that aren’t sided. Question like “What is the significance of the Confucius Institutes?”

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Pakistan attack: China condemns killing of tutors in Pakistan blast

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Three Chinese nationals died after a van carrying them was targeted by a female suicide bomber.

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What Is Moral Panic?
Moral panics are based on fake or exaggerated perceptions or information that transcend the actual threat. This concept was invented by Stanley Cohen in the 1960's and the purpose of this invention was to analyse the social reaction of a social problem

This is a classic example of an article designed to instigate illogical and fallacious moral panic.

As always, there is a grain of truth in this statement- Russia is threatening to attack strategic military locations linked to Her immortal Majesty’s government. However, the phrase “bomb brits” gives off the notion that Russia is posing a threat to UK mainland and everyday, run-of-the-mil British people as a whole, a preposterous, deplorable (to the British), and tactically futile act if it were to be true. To everybody’s relief, it isn't, so no WW3 for today.

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What is moral panic?

Moral panic is an exaggerated and irrational overreaction by society to a perceived problem. The reaction enlarges the problem out of all proportion to its real seriousness. This concept and term was first introduced to us through the research of Stanley Cohen.

How has our chosen news article created moral panic?

The Olympics is an event which is held every 4 years and is watched across the globe. A major event like this does not usually postpone. The Covid 19 virus has spread a lot of irrational and widespread panic amongst citizens all over the world. The virus threatens the safety of everyone in not just our community, but society at large. The news values associated with this particular news article are as follows:

1. Immediacy - the outbreak of the new Covid-19 coronavirus is quite recent, newspapers are all covering any news about the virus because it has “just happened” and it is a current affair that everyone is concerned and talking about

2. Familiarity - we can all relate to any news about the virus as everyone is currently facing the consequences, with schools being suspended, services being shut down, everyone is facing some kind of problem, so news about the olympics being postponed is something we can all understand.

3. Amplitude - the olympics is probably one of the biggest events on the planet, it involves several countries hence there are a lot of people who will be affected by hearing this news.

4. Surprise - it may come as a shock to many people that one of the world’s biggest events has to be postponed as this is usually something that doesn’t happen, also the fact that such a big event is being postponed will only create more moral panic amongst citizens’ because there will be more growing concern about the seriousness of the virus.

Analysing the use of ‘moral panic’ in our chosen news article
It’s hard to pinpoint the use of ‘moral panic’ in the BBC’s writing has a neutral perspective. The BBC is a statutory corporation which is independent from direct government intervention. In terms of where they are on the political bias chart, the BBC is placed in the mainstream section. This means that the BBC has minimal political bias and it focuses more on the analytical side of news. The news about the 2020 Olympics being postponed by all means stirs moral panic on its own because it’s quite a shocking piece of news that no one was really expecting. As mentioned before, postponing such a huge event will only cause growing concern amongst citizens’ and people will start spreading the news that even big events like the Olympics are having to be postponed. Despite the BBC’s efforts to simply place facts on the table, it seems as though the article may be trying to keep ‘moral panic’ minimal by enforcing the fact that the government is “trying their best” to keep things in control. Evidence to prove this point:

‘Seiko Hashimoto says Tokyo 2020 organisers are "doing all we can" to make sure the Games go ahead as planned’

‘“We are doing all we can to ensure that the Games go ahead as planned," Hashimoto added.’

‘"We will continue to support the athletes and their NOCs with regular updates of information, which we will provide," Bach added.’

The article uses a lot of positive and hopeful language to juxtapose the grave seriousness of the issue, it's as though the article has been written to reassure fans that the Olympics will be completely fine and that the issue will be resolved soon.

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Japan's Olympic minister says the Tokyo 2020 Games could be postponed from the summer until later in the year amid fears over the coronavirus outbreak.

In a response to a question in Japan's parliament, Seiko Hashimoto said Tokyo's contract with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) "calls for the Games to be held within 2020".

She added that "could be interpreted as allowing a postponement".

The Games are due to be held from 24 July to 9 August.

"We are doing all we can to ensure that the Games go ahead as planned," Hashimoto added.

IOC president Thomas Bach said last week that the organisation is "fully committed" to hosting the event as scheduled.

Under the hosting agreement the right to cancel the Games remains with the IOC.

A number of high-profile sporting events have already been cancelled or postponed as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, including the 2020 World Athletics Indoor Athletics Championships and the Chinese Grand Prix, which was scheduled for 19 April.

The coronavirus, which originated in China, has spread to more than 60 countries and claimed more than 3,000 lives so far.

Coronavirus & sport: What now for Six Nations, Tokyo Olympics, F1, Euro 2020 & Cheltenham?

Timeline: Coronavirus impact on sport

Tokyo Olympics still 'business as usual', says IOC's Dick Pound

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Coronavirus: Tokyo 2020 could be postponed to end of year - Japan's Olympic minister

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Japan's Olympic minister says the Tokyo 2020 Games could be postponed from the summer until later in the year amid fears over the coronavirus outbreak. In a response to a question in Japan's parliament, Seiko Hashimoto said Tokyo's contract with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) "calls for the Games to be held within 2020".