The Lens: San Francisco must tackle its homeless problem

San Francisco, once a thriving city and a magnet for immigrants seeking prosperity, now grapples with drug abuse, a soaring crime rate and a rapidly worsening unemployment crisis.

However, despite these challenges, the city hosted the prestigious Apec summit earlier this month, which attracted influential figures from around the world.

It is evident that the sight of discarded needles and the ever- growing homeless population in the city has created a negative perception of the nation as a whole. The logical answer to this issue lies in removing homeless people and drug users from the streets to improve the overall outlook.

Although this approach may appear unsympathetic, it is crucial for the well-being of both local citizens and the troubled section of the population.

Many local communities have voiced their increasing concern about public defecation, drug use and the proliferation of discarded needles among the homeless. These issues disrupt daily life and cause repugnant odours, block roads, and, in some cases, facilitate the spread of disease through discarded needles.

Removing the homeless from the streets also protects them from various dangers. Given their vulnerability and lack of a strong support network and self-defence capabilities, they might fall victim to criminals, particularly those with mental illness. By relocating them from the streets, where their safety is largely ignored, they can be better cared for.

This strategy will improve morale among residents of San Francisco, reduce the number of drug-related fatalities, and improve safety on the streets.

In addition, with limited access to drugs after being relocated, the risk of overdose is reduced among the homeless population.

Read the original article in last week’s The Lens

ByteDance’s Douyin, the Chinese sibling of TikTok with over 600 million daily active users, has tightened the screening of its advertisers. This move comes in response to Beijing’s increased control of short video content.

Under Douyin’s new rules, advertisers looking to promote short-form dramas – budget productions with each episode lasting only a few minutes – will need to show proper licensing documents, according to a notice published by the company’s advertising arm last week.

The regulations, which Douyin said are intended to ensure that the industry is “developing on the right track”, effectively ban individuals and unlicensed studios from promoting content on the platform.

Short web dramas have seen rapid growth in China over the past two years. In the first half of 2023, some 480 short web dramas were released, according to data from film and television market consultancy DataWin.

This figure surpassed the 454 short online shows released in all of 2022.

However, as ByteDance’s influence grows, it is also under constant pressure from regulators to censor improper content.

Douyin’s enhanced vetting of advertisers comes days after broadcasting regulator, the National Radio and Television Administration, said it would “strengthen and refine [the] management” of short online dramas, according to a statement recently published by the China Netcasting Services Association, a trade body under the agency.

Under a range of proposed measures, the administration will conduct a sweeping review of each series’ cast, production, marketing and social values, according to the statement.

Staff writers

• Do you support the license requirement for short video creators? Why or why not? What impact could it have?

• Should Hong Kong introduce tighter measures on social media and advertising?