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The FBI Is Spending Millions on Social Media Tracking Software + More
The FBI Is Spending Millions on Social Media Tracking Software
The FBI is doubling down on tracking social media posts, spending millions of dollars on thousands of licenses to powerful social media monitoring technology that privacy and civil liberties advocates say raise serious concerns.
The FBI has contracted for 5,000 licenses to use Babel X, a software made by Babel Street that lets users search social media sites within a geographic area and use other parameters.
“Five-thousand licenses for social media monitoring in real time means that thousands of FBI agents will be looking for key words and topics on an ongoing basis with social media surveillance targeting at least eight languages,” said Greg Nojeim, a senior counsel and co-director at the Center for Democracy and Technology’s Security and Surveillance Project.
“It turns out that people dismissed as paranoid because they thought Big Brother was watching everything they say on social media were not paranoid after all,” Nojeim said.
Los Angeles County Supervisors Usurp Sheriff’s Authority in Enforcing COVID Vaccine Mandate
Los Angeles County, not the elected Sheriff Alex Villanueva, will now have the power to discipline and fire deputies who don’t comply with COVID-19 vaccine mandates after a new motion passed Tuesday.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved an ordinance Tuesday giving the county personnel director, instead of the department heads, the power to discipline or terminate employees who do not comply with the county’s COVID-19 vaccine requirements.
Though the move reneges this authority from all department heads, it’s largely viewed as a way to rein in Villanueva, who has for months refused to enforce the county’s vaccine mandate, instead allowing a regular testing option. He has argued that thousands of deputies could now lose their jobs.
Broadway Shows Canceling Performances — Again — As NYC COVID Cases Rise
At least two Broadway shows have canceled performances this week due to COVID-19 cases within the cast — and others are playing with understudies in major roles — with transmission beginning to rise again in New York City as the highly transmissible Omicron BA.2 subvariant spreads.
$28.8 million. That’s the combined gross of all Broadway shows playing last week, according to the Broadway League, with 224,053 audience members attending shows. Individual shows made anywhere between $200,000 and upwards of $1 million, showing how much money can be lost if performances have to be canceled.
Broadway shows still require audiences to wear masks and show proof of COVID-19 vaccination to enter, even as those requirements have been lifted by other NYC businesses. The Broadway League has extended those protocols through at least April 30.
There’s No End in Sight for China’s COVID Lockdowns. Here’s What You Need to Know.
Millions of people across China’s locked-down financial hub of Shanghai have been desperately seeking medical care and basic supplies like food. Parents have been forcibly separated from young children infected with COVID-19. And public anger is mounting, with no end in sight as China clamps down.
Since March, China has battled its biggest COVID wave yet, with Shanghai now the largest hotspot. All 25 million residents are under lockdown, with national healthcare workers and the Chinese military dispatched to boost the city’s response.
Vietnam Set to Issue Vaccine Passports From April 15
Vietnam will begin issuing vaccine passports from April 15, the Health Ministry announced on Monday.
Vietnam has so far reached agreements on the mutual recognition of ‘vaccine passports’ with 17 countries, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They are: the U.S., UK, Japan, Australia, Belarus, India, Cambodia, the Philippines, the Maldives, Palestine, Turkey, Egypt, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Singapore, Saint Lucia and the Republic of Korea.
The passport will be available on the PC COVID-19 or Digital Health (So suc khoe dien tu) apps. If people don’t have the apps, they can get their passports by accessing the health ministry’s portal and filling in the necessary information. They will then receive the passports by email.
Artificial Intelligence Is Already Upending Geopolitics
Geopolitical actors have always used technology to further their goals. Unlike other technologies, artificial intelligence (AI) is far more than a mere tool. We do not want to anthropomorphize AI or suggest that it has intentions of its own. It is not — yet — a moral agent. But it is fast becoming a primary determinant of our collective destiny. We believe that because of AI’s unique characteristics — and its impact on other fields, from biotechnologies to nanotechnologies — it is already threatening the foundations of global peace and security.
The rapid rate of AI technological development, paired with the breadth of new applications (the global AI market size is expected to grow more than ninefold from 2020 to 2028) means AI systems are being widely deployed without sufficient legal oversight or full consideration of their ethical impacts. This gap, often referred to as the pacing problem, has left legislatures and executive branches simply unable to cope.
After all, the impacts of new technologies are often hard to foresee. Smartphones and social media were embedded in daily life long before we fully appreciated their potential for misuse. Likewise, it took time to realize the implications of facial recognition technology for privacy and human rights violations.
Some countries will deploy AI to manipulate public opinion by determining what information people see and by using surveillance to curtail freedom of expression.
Europe Is Building a Huge International Facial Recognition System
The expansion of facial recognition across Europe is included in wider plans to “modernize” policing across the continent, and it comes under the Prüm II data-sharing proposals. The details were first announced in December, but criticism from European data regulators has gotten louder in recent weeks, as the full impact of the plans have been understood.
“What you are creating is the most extensive biometric surveillance infrastructure that I think we will ever have seen in the world,” says Ella Jakubowska, a policy adviser at the civil rights NGO European Digital Rights (EDRi). Documents obtained by EDRi under freedom of information laws and shared with WIRED reveal how nations pushed for facial recognition to be included in the international policing agreement.
The inclusion of facial images and the ability to run facial recognition algorithms against them are among the biggest planned changes in Prüm II. Facial recognition technology has faced significant pushback in recent years as police forces have increasingly adopted it, and it has misidentified people and derailed lives. Dozens of cities in the US have gone as far as banning police forces from using the technology. The EU is debating a ban on the police use of facial recognition in public places as part of its AI Act.
The Metaverse Is a Huge Opportunity for Education. Big Tech Must Not Ruin It.
The metaverse has the potential to transform education in the classroom. Yet we must be careful how we allow Big Tech companies to intrude into our schools. Next-generation educational technology must not come at the cost of turning our children into nothing more than yet another data extraction source.
Before we allow the likes of Meta, Google and Tencent into the fabric of our education system, we need clear assurance that it will not simply be “business as usual.” Before we let our children anywhere near the metaverse, we must be absolutely clear who is watching, and how.
In the next 10 years, the biggest development in education will be the introduction of the metaverse into everyday learning. Virtual Zoom classrooms have already become the norm thanks to the pandemic. What if instead of the teacher giving the lesson, it was a students’ favorite celebrity beamed into their bedroom via the metaverse?
For all the opportunities for educational enrichment, the metaverse also presents a big threat to child safety.
Amazon Is Planning a New Internal-Messaging App That Could Censor Terms Like ‘Union,’ ‘Slave Labor’ and ‘Restrooms,’ Report Says
Amazon is considering launching a messaging app for employees, but planning documents indicate it would flag or outright block employee posts containing words linked to unions and working conditions, among other things, according to The Intercept.
Among the blacklisted terms are “slave labor,” “prison,” “plantation,” “pay raise,” “compensation,” “living wage,” “restrooms,” “grievance,” “harassment,” “favoritism,” “ethics,” “unfair,” “slave,” “master,” “freedom,” “petition,” “coalition,” “diversity,” “injustice” and “fairness,” as well as phrases like “this is dumb” and “this is concerning,” The Intercept reported. Slurs and swear words would also be banned from the platform.
A pilot program for the app was scheduled to start later in April, according to The Intercept, but Amazon says the program hasn’t been greenlit yet, and it may never go live.
Pinterest Bans All Climate Change Misinformation on Its Platform
Pinterest announced today it’s becoming the first major digital platform to introduce a comprehensive misinformation policy designed to combat false and misleading claims around climate change on its platform. According to the company’s newly updated misinformation guidelines, Pinterest will now be able to remove content that denies the existence of impacts of climate change, denies human influence on climate change and denies climate change is backed by scientific consensus, among other things.
It will also remove false and misleading content about climate change solutions that contradict scientific consensus, content that misrepresents scientific data either by omission or cherry-picking in order to erode trust in climate science and experts and harmful and misleading content about public safety emergencies including natural disasters and extreme weather events.
The company noted the new Community guidelines don’t only apply to posts on the social network, but also to ads. Pinterest advertisers will have to follow the same rules and the Pinterest Advertising guidelines were updated to also prohibit ads containing conspiracy theories, misinformation and disinformation related to climate change.
Lawyer for NYC Fired After Grilling Mayor Over Kid Mask Rule + More
Lawyer for NYC Fired After Grilling Mayor Over Kid Mask Rule
A lawyer for New York City was fired after she crashed a news conference Monday to confront Mayor Eric Adams about the city’s mask mandate for children aged 2 to 4.
Daniela Jampel, who had worked for the city law department since 2016, was fired later on Monday, a department spokesperson said. Jampel was fired after she attended a City Hall press conference and demanded that Adams “unmask our toddlers.” The law department spokesperson said she had misrepresented herself as a journalist at the press conference.
The Democratic mayor announced last Friday that a mask rule for children under 5 in schools and daycare centers would remain in effect because of a rise in COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron BA.2 variant of the virus.
Jampel has been a vocal advocate for keeping schools open and for ending mask mandates during the coronavirus pandemic.
NYC Urged to Lift Coronavirus Vaccine Mandate for Public High School Students Attending Prom
Staten Island elected officials are calling on New York City to lift the vaccine mandate for public high school students following reports that the city could reconsider its guidance.
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn), along with several lawmakers, wrote a letter to Schools Chancellor David Banks on Monday calling for an end to the requirement that all public school students be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus (COVID-19) to attend prom or participate in high-risk extracurricular activities.
“We, as elected officials, urge you to re-evaluate your recent vaccine policy on public high school proms to reflect the easing of mask and vaccine mandates throughout our city at large.”
As of Tuesday, the vaccine mandate to attend prom in public schools remains in effect.
Activision Workers Walk out Over Lifting of Vaccine Mandate. It ‘Came as a Shock to Everybody.’
More than 100 Activision Blizzard employees participated in a virtual walkout Monday as the Santa Monica video game studio joined a growing wave of companies lifting COVID-19 vaccination requirements while pressing workers to return to the office.
The walkout came in response to the company announcing Thursday that it would no longer require employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to work in the office, according to an email from Chief Administrative Officer Brian Bulatao that was shared by employees and subsequently posted on Twitter.
Major companies such as Adidas, Starbucks and Intel have rescinded their vaccine mandates for workers in recent months after the Supreme Court in January struck down the Biden administration’s vaccine-or-testing rule for businesses with at least 100 workers. In California, a bill proposed by the Assembly that would have required all employees and independent contractors to be inoculated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment was shelved on March 29.
University Ends Testing Requirement for Unvaccinated
The University of Kentucky said a weekly testing requirement for students and employees who are vaccinated against the coronavirus would end Monday.
The move comes amid high vaccination rates at the school and lower rates of the virus on campus and in the Lexington community, news outlets reported, citing an email from UK President Eli Capilouto.
UK changed its mask policy last month, making them optional in common areas and some events, though they are still required in classrooms, labs and offices.
My Pupils Have Been Badly Set Back by the Pandemic. ‘Catch-up’ Lessons Aren’t What They Need.
Birthday parties are a small part of what young children have missed over the past two years. Since the first lockdown began, children have missed months of classroom learning, playdates, drama groups and football practice. Recent findings from Ofsted show the pandemic has delayed the social skills of young children — with some unable to understand facial expressions as a result. These will surprise no teacher.
There have been no national lockdowns or two-week “bubble” closures during this academic year, and this relative consistency has been wonderful. But being back at school has also given staff a clearer understanding of how the pandemic has affected children’s development.
In my school, some children are now struggling to articulate what they need or want, answer simple questions or follow short instructions. This has a knock-on effect on their social skills.
Those who haven’t had much practice taking turns in conversation or sharing with others find playing and using school resources difficult. Many children have missed out on physical development opportunities; it has been eye-opening to witness four- and five-year-olds choosing to crawl down the corridor into the toilets rather than walk.
Shanghai Puts Whole City on Lockdown as COVID Cases Surge
Shanghai has put all its 26 million residents under lockdown in China’s single-biggest city-wide imposition of the restrictions since the pandemic began as authorities admitted the difficulty in containing the fast-spreading Omicron variant.
Until this week, the megacity — also China’s most populous — adopted an approach of phased lockdown. Initially, the eastern side of the Huangpu River went into lockdown between 28 March and 1 April, then the western side followed suit for another four days.
But that approach has not worked as case numbers continued to rise. On Monday, the number of new daily positive cases exceeded 10,000 for the first time. Since March, the Shanghai government said, over 73,000 positive cases have been found.
Feds in Canada Consider Adding COVID Boosters to Be Considered Fully Vaccinated
The federal government will consider whether to include booster shots in the next version of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for its workers, the Treasury Board said as it reviews the rules.
The government must review the need for the policy, which currently requires federal public servants to get two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine or face unpaid leave, after six months.
While the review could deem the mandate is no longer necessary, the government could also opt to expand it to encourage more members of the public service to get a booster shot.
As it stands, any worker in the core public administration, as well as the RCMP, must attest that they are fully vaccinated or risk being put on leave without pay. The policy applies even to employees who work from home.
Elizabeth Stark’s Lightning Labs Raises $70 Million to ‘Bitcoinize’ the U.S. Dollar
Bitcoin developer Lightning Labs raised $70 million from early investors in Tesla and SpaceX to help turn the first major blockchain into a network capable of transacting trillions of dollars in volume annually, making it a competitor to the likes of Visa.
While bitcoin is conducting $50 billion in volume daily, the public network is only capable of handling a few transactions per second, compared to Visa’s 65,000. Since 2016, Lightning Labs has been working to fix that problem by developing the Lightning Network, a so-called layer-2 solution that sits on top of the bitcoin blockchain.
With the investment, the California-based Lightning Labs plans to build out Taro, a protocol that, it hopes, will open Lightning Network to assets other than bitcoin, including stablecoins and fiat currencies. “That’s really significant because the potential here is for all the world’s currencies to route through Bitcoin over the Lightning Network,” Elizabeth Stark, CEO and co-founder of Lightning Labs, told Forbes ahead of the announcement.
Amazon Lines up Satellite Launches to Take on Musk’s Starlink
Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) has secured 83 rocket launches over five years to put together a satellite constellation, called Project Kuiper, to beam broadband internet, the e-commerce giant said on Tuesday, as it looks to take on Elon Musk-owned SpaceX’s Starlink.
The deals were inked with Europe’s Arianespace, Jeff Bezos-founded Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture between Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) and Boeing Co (BA.N), Amazon said.
Project Kuiper aims to use over 3,000 satellites in low earth orbit to beam high-speed, low-latency internet to customers, including households, businesses and government agencies.
A Brief History of Elon Musk’s Special Relationship With Twitter
Elon Musk — once again — has everyone on Twitter talking.
But this time, the talk is about Twitter (TWTR) itself. On Monday, the company disclosed that Musk has purchased 9.2% of its shares, making him Twitter’s largest individual shareholder. And on Tuesday, Twitter announced that it is appointing Musk to its board. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO also confirmed he plans to push for changes at the company.
His tweets — which range from commentary about his companies, Tesla (TSLA) and SpaceX, to sometimes controversial statements about pop culture and current events to niche memes — are watched by more than 80 million followers, more than any other CEO on the platform.
His (often vague) comments about cryptocurrency have shown the potential to create massive upheaval in crypto markets. And just last month, more than 2 million people responded to a poll he tweeted asking, “Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy. Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?” Around 70% voted no.
How to Stop Spotify From Sharing Your Data, and Why You Should
Spotify is listening to you. It sounds like the setup to a bad joke, but the wildly popular music streaming service in fact collects, stores, and shares reams of seemingly mundane user data, adding up to an intrusion that’s much more than just the sum of its parts. While Spotify customers are busy rocking out, the company has its metaphorical hands’ full profiting off the data that rocking generates.
And it generates a surprising amount. What Spotify does with that data, and why that should concern you, are complex questions involving third-party advertisers, densely written terms of service, and inferences drawn from every piece of music or podcast you’ve ever listened to on the streaming platform.
But according to privacy experts, one aspect of this digital mess is absolutely straightforward: Spotify users should pay attention to how their data is used, and take the available steps to limit that use whenever possible.
WhatsApp to Further Limit Sharing of Forwarded Messages in Group Chats, Suggests New Report
WhatsApp is testing a new way to restrict the spread of fake news or information through forwards. In this bid, the Meta-backed platform has come up with new features that will limit sharing of forwarded messages in group chats to one group at a time. Moreover, the app was spotted testing the Communities tab that will soon replace the Camera tab on iOS. An upgraded camera interface is also on its way for Android users.
In 2020, WhatsApp reduced the count of allowing the sharing of frequently forwarded messages to one chat at a time to reduce misleading information on its platform. For regular forwarded messages, WhatsApp restricts them to up to five chats at a time. The new update is, therefore, likely to help put a limit to the spread of misinformation.
NFTs Are a Privacy and Security Nightmare
Venmo’s baffling decision to turn payments into a social media feed, where public transactions are the default, has rightly been met with criticism. But at the very least, it’s always been possible to make Venmo transactions private. Now, imagine a financial system that’s not just public by default, but can’t ever be made private, and nothing can ever be removed or deleted.
That’s how crypto works. And for years, it’s been too seldom recognized as an issue — in large part because systems like Bitcoin, Ethereum and other crypto platforms are technically “anonymous.”
More specifically, unlike a bank or financial app, you don’t have to attach your real name, address or other identifying information to a wallet. Sure, everyone can see what a random wallet is doing, but they don’t necessarily know who is doing it. NFTs, however, radically undermine this already tenuous anonymity.
Mayor Adams Prevails in Court to Keep NYC School Mask Rule for Kids Under 5 + More
Mayor Adams Prevails in Court to Keep NYC School Mask Rule for Kids Under 5
The city’s youngest children must continue to wear face masks in school after an Appellate Division judge stepped in late Friday to uphold Mayor Adams’ mandate on the controversial issue — for now.
The order signed by Brooklyn-based appeals judge Paul Wooten capped a confusing set of legal developments that unfolded earlier in the day on the school mask mandate for kids younger than 5.
First, Staten Island Supreme Court Justice Ralph Porzio rescinded the requirement for the toddlers with immediate effect, declaring in a ruling that it could no longer be enforced due to its “arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable” nature.
But Adams — who previously vowed to lift the mask rule for the youngsters next week barring a COVID-19 spike — immediately appealed Porzio’s ruling. Adams cited a recent uptick in infections in the city driven by the highly contagious BA.2 Omicron subvariant of the virus.
Cryptocurrency Could Help Governments and Businesses Spy on Us
Bitcoin, the original cryptocurrency, was designed to enable transactions using only digital identities and without the intervention of a trusted third party, like a bank. This seemed a godsend to those concerned about the rapid erosion of privacy in our increasingly digital age — and those looking for covert ways to exchange money.
Bitcoin’s introduction in early 2009, when the global financial crisis had decimated trust in governments and banks, was perfectly timed with a growing aversion to these big institutions.
It turns out that cryptocurrency does not, in fact, guarantee anonymity. Users’ digital identities can, with some effort, be connected to their real identities. Moreover, in an ultimate irony, the revolution that bitcoin started might end up destroying whatever vestiges of privacy are left in modern financial markets.
As the technology goes mainstream, it threatens to give big corporations and government a better view into our financial lives and greater control over how we spend our money.
Hennepin County Could Suspend or Fire More Than 100 Employees Who Haven’t Received COVID Vaccination
Star Tribune via Yahoo!News reported:
More than 100 Hennepin County employees are facing suspension or termination this week for refusing to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. The deadline for compliance is Monday, and some workers have exhausted their latest legal challenge.
All unvaccinated employees have until Thursday to prove to human resources that they are in compliance. If they refuse, the county will initiate disciplinary action, as it would for failure to comply with any mandatory policy, said County Administrator David Hough.
If the county follows through, it would be among the largest, or possibly the largest, mass firing of Minnesota public workers for failing to comply with a vaccination requirement.
The County Board voted in November to require its nearly 9,000 employees to get vaccinated unless they received a religious or medical exemption. As of Friday, approximately 475 employees had such exemptions, and those workers must be tested for COVID weekly.
Thomas More Law Center to U.S. Supreme Court: Stop N.Y. Governor From Dictating Which Religious Beliefs Are Allowed
The Thomas More Law Center, a national nonprofit public interest law firm, filed a brief last week in the U.S. Supreme Court opposing New York’s vaccine mandate for healthcare workers. From the beginning COVID-19 pandemic, these healthcare workers courageously manned the front lines, reads a news release from the firm which is based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and represents more than 400 physicians, surgeons, nurses and medical professionals.
Erin Mersino, the law center’s Chief of Supreme Court and Appellate Practice authored the brief. She highlighted the precarious position of New York’s Gov. Kathy Hochul — who instructed New Yorkers that “God wants” everyone to use these vaccines, and that individuals who have decided not to undergo COVID-19 vaccination “aren’t listening to God and what God wants.” Hochul published these statements on New York’s official state website.
Since Hochul claims to be the authority on what God wants, she removed all religious accommodations from the vaccine mandate. However, many individuals sincerely held religious beliefs that prohibit them from using the three COVID-19 vaccines on the market today and call for alternatives that have no connection to aborted fetal cell lines. The governor failed to consider the spectrum of diverse religious views allowed under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment.
Facebook Parent Company Backtracks on Requiring COVID Booster for Workers Coming to Office
Facebook’s parent company Meta Platforms (META) will stop requiring booster shots of COVID-19 vaccines for employees going into their U.S. offices.
“We updated our requirements in early March to align with CDC guidance and now COVID-19 boosters are no longer required for entry, though strongly recommended,” Meta Company Spokesperson Tracy Clayton told Fox Business on Saturday. “The primary vaccination requirement (1- or 2-shot series) remains in place.”
In January, Meta Platforms delayed its employees’ return to the office to March 28, requiring the boosters as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus spread around the nation.
It’s Time to Consider Relaxing Mask Requirements on Flights
In fact, it’s time for the Transportation Security Administration to take a step back and review its mask mandate for flights, which expires on April 18. The science supports relaxing the rule during flights — provided other key measures are in place to protect passengers.
As I’ve written previously, people are no more likely to contract diseases on a plane than in any other setting, contrary to conventional wisdom. I’ve studied airplane air quality for over a decade and served as one of the lead authors of a report for the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies on infectious-disease transmission in airports and on airplanes, so it’s a topic I know well.
Even at the beginning of the pandemic, the science was clear that although transmission can happen on an airplane, it’s very rare. The scientific evidence accumulated since the start of the pandemic confirms this.
California Ends Proof of COVID Vaccination, Test Mandate for Indoor Mega Events
California is no longer requiring people to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test to attend indoor mega events and sporting events. This includes Golden State Warriors and San Jose Sharks home games.
14,000 people crowded into SAP Center to watch the Sharks take on the Dallas Stars Saturday but the buzz was about fans no longer having to show proof of vaccine or a negative COVID test.
The state’s new guidelines went into effect Friday and impact mega events, that’s indoor events with a thousand or more people. That also includes Chase Center in San Francisco, where fans also didn’t need to show proof of vaccination for the first time.
New York Renews Mask-Wearing Recommendation in 5 Counties as COVID Cases Surge 17%
Health officials have renewed calls for indoor mask wearing in the Central New York region as COVID-19 cases surged 17% last week and parts of upstate faced some of the worst BA.2 subvariant outbreaks in the country.
Amid the uptick in infections, the state Health Department on Friday issued an alert recommending mask wearing — regardless of vaccination status — in all public indoor spaces in Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga, and Oswego counties. Previously, New York ended its indoor mask mandates for public places and schools on Feb. 10 and March 2, respectively.
Travel in the Time of COVID: Getting There Is Easy — It’s Getting Home That’s Hard
I’m being held captive in England by the U.S. government. On the day my wife and I were to fly home from London after a brief visit, we took a COVID-19 test, as required by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to travel to the U.S. The United States will not allow anyone to fly into the country who has tested positive for COVID, and it is up to the airlines to enforce that.
My wife’s test was negative. My test was positive. She flew out. I stayed put.
But while in Britain, I don’t have to quarantine. The British government says I’m free to do whatever I want. I can ride the stifling Underground, visit beautiful museums, or stand in line for a crowded indoor concert. I could go full Typhoid Mary, if I wanted, and wander into quaint pubs, all without a mask. Hardly anyone in England seems to bother to wear one.
What I can’t do is ride an airplane, with air recirculated every three minutes, among people required to wear masks the whole time. Had I caught COVID while in the U.S., I could freely fly from Washington, DC, to San Francisco — masked, of course — without a problem. But not over the Atlantic.
German Lawmakers Seek Elusive Compromise on Vaccine Mandate
German lawmakers who proposed a requirement for all adults to be vaccinated against COVID-19 sought a compromise on Monday after struggling to win a majority in parliament, suggesting a less sweeping mandate that would initially oblige everyone aged 50 and above to get shots.
The 237 lawmakers who backed a mandate for all adults are now proposing a plan under which people aged 50 and above would be required to prove that they have been vaccinated starting Oct. 1, news agency dpa reported.
Lockdown Extended in Shanghai as All 26 Million Residents Are Tested for COVID
Chinese authorities have extended a strict COVID-19 lockdown in Shanghai while they study the outcomes of an effort to test all of the city’s 26 million residents for the coronavirus.
The lockdown measures were initially supposed to conclude Tuesday at 5 a.m. local time, Reuters reported. The city did not say how long the extension would last.
New EU Rules Would Allow It to Shut Down AI Before It Got Dangerous
Artificial Intelligence is everywhere: the rise of “thinking” machines has been one of the defining developments of the past two decades — and will only become more prominent as computing power increases.
The European Union has been working on a framework to regulate AI for some time, starting way back in March 2018, as part of its broader Digital Decade regulations.
Work on AI regulations has been relatively slow while the EU focuses on the Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act, which focus on reigning in the American tech giants, but the work definitely continues.
The draft AI Act has been under a lot of scrutiny — and has received a fair amount of criticism — and will likely still fall short of the EU’s most expansive goals: creating the conditions for “trustworthy” and “human-centric” AI.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy’s Compensation Valued at $213 Million in 2021
Amazon. com Inc. Chief Executive Andy Jassy received compensation valued at $212.7 million in 2021, his first year as head of the tech and e-commerce giant.
The majority of his compensation was in stock awards to the tune of $211.9 million.
Mr. Jassy was named CEO in February 2021, succeeding founder Jeff Bezos after he announced his move from CEO to the role of executive chairman. Mr. Jassy officially stepped into the role in early July.
Class-Action Lawsuit Challenges Firing of 66 Unvaccinated Workers at Akron Children’s + More
Class-Action Lawsuit Challenges Firing of 66 Unvaccinated Workers at Akron Children’s
Akron Beacon Journal reported:
Akron Children’s Hospital is “confident” that its firing of dozens of unvaccinated employees will withstand a federal class-action lawsuit. And the attorney making a First Amendment issue of the matter is already preparing for an appeal.
The lawsuit names two lead plaintiffs: certified surgical technologist Brian Tessane and help desk worker Richard Brimer. Tessane worked five years at Akron Children’s Hospital and Tessane for two years before each was let go in late January, about two weeks after missing the hospital’s deadline for all staff members to get their initial COVID-19 vaccine shot.
The plaintiffs, according to the lawsuit, were denied “reasonable accommodations” due to their Christian faith. Mendenhall said his clients were ultimately forced “to choose between violating their sincerely held religious beliefs or losing their jobs.”
Lift Municipal Vax Mandate and Reinstate Workers, Bayside Police Demands
New Yorkers livid over Mayor Eric Adams’ executive order lifting the vaccine mandate for professional city athletes and performers but not municipal workers, gathered in Queens this week at a news conference organized by Bayside’s City Council Member.
“You guys showed up each and every day for work when it was at its worst and how were you rewarded? You were rewarded with a pink slip,” said Council Member Vickie Paladino Tuesday, speaking to an audience of mostly frontline workers, many of whom are among the 1,430 people who lost their jobs after choosing to not get vaccinated.
At the news conference, Paladino, who herself was granted a vaccine exemption by the city, called on the mayor to reinstate unvaccinated city workers and compensate them for missed wages.
“It’s not science to peel off the mandate from an athlete but not from a teacher,” said Brooklyn City Council Member Inna Vernikov.
COVID Vaccine: Court Injunction Stops Air Force Action Against Wright-Patterson Personnel
Springfield News-Sun reported:
A new federal court preliminary injunction stays any separation or disciplinary action against 18 Air Force plaintiffs who have refused the COVID-19 vaccine, as mandated by the Air Force.
Eleven of the 18 — 10 officers and one enlisted Airman — are serving at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base or served there recently.
“No disciplinary or separation measures can be taken against these folks” as their lawsuit proceeds, attorney Christopher Wiest, who represents the plaintiffs in the case, told the Dayton Daily News Friday. “A class-action motion is pending to extend it to all of the Air Force.”
Judge Matthew McFarland, in Cincinnati’s U.S. District Court, issued the ruling Thursday, enjoining the Air Force from taking action against the plaintiffs, who contend that the military branch has perfunctorily dismissed requests for exemptions for religious reasons from the service’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
In Finland, a Win for Free Speech Everywhere
A Finnish member of parliament has won on all charges in a groundbreaking free speech trial involving a Bible tweet. While far away in Finland for now, the magnitude of this victory promises to have a ripple effect across the world.
In a unanimous ruling, announced on March 30, 2022, the Helsinki District Court held that “it is not for the district court to interpret biblical concepts.” Free speech is a fundamental human right that no government can take away. The ruling represents a resounding rejection not only of censorious cancel culture, but also of the growing trend of criminalizing speech.
Long-time civil servant and former minister of the interior, Dr. Päivi Räsänen, was brought to trial on three criminal charges for sharing her faith-based beliefs, including on Twitter. Finland goes so far as to criminalize any “expression of opinion or another message” deemed to be “threaten[ing], defam[ing]” or even just “insult[ing]” with the penalty of up to two years jail time.
Germany Heads to Summer With Few COVID Rules
Starting Friday, a number of rules and restrictions went away in much of Germany. That means no more masks in most shops, and no more proof of vaccination or day-of test in restaurants. Though some public transportation systems, individual businesses and institutions will keep mask requirements in place, the move to drop the majority of mandates tracks with many of Germany’s neighbors.
Germany hasn’t undertaken certain surveillance measures, such as the comprehensive wastewater monitoring that the United Kingdom does as a sort of early-warning system.
One solution that has been discussed for months is a general vaccine mandate. However, there is little support for it. Although the three-party governing coalition put forward a bill in February, enough of their own lawmakers oppose it that getting it passed is unlikely.
Shanghai Moves to 2nd Part of Lockdown as Testing Lines Grow
About 16 million residents in Shanghai are being tested for the coronavirus during the second stage of the lockdown that shifted Friday to the western half of China’s biggest city and financial capital.
Meanwhile, residents of Shanghai’s eastern districts who were supposed to be released from four days of isolation have been told their lockdowns could be extended if COVID-19 cases are found in their residential compounds.
The lockdown in Shanghai, being done in two phases over eight days to enable testing of its entire population, has shaken global markets worried about the possible economic impact. China’s manufacturing activity fell to a five-month low in March, a monthly survey showed, as lockdowns and other restrictions forced factories to suspend production.
In China’s ‘Zero-COVID’ Lockdowns, Patients With Other Diseases Are Struggling to Survive
In a locked-down city in China’s northeastern Jilin province, Chang Liping had been struggling to get her husband, who suffers from a kidney condition, into dialysis for four days — a routine treatment that’s become a seeming impossibility after their city of Changchun was forced into a strict lockdown earlier that month, in response to an outbreak of COVID-19.
She’d taken him to the hospital designated for residents whose housing blocks — like theirs — had positive COVID-19 cases, Chang said. Even still, they were turned away. The best a community worker could do, according to Chang, was add her husband to a queue.
“But how can he wait? … He has been afraid to eat and drink for four days … for fear of poisoning his body,” Chang said. “The hospital won’t let us in, and we don’t know where to go …. now do I have to watch him die?”
Even After Singapore Lifts Restrictions, Residents Stick to Their Masks
Throughout the pandemic, Singaporean design student Andi Naszeri kept his mask practically glued to his nose. Last week, when the 22-year-old heard that the government was eliminating its outdoor mask mandate, he stepped outside barefaced and thrilled. Then he looked around.
“I felt like I was the only person not wearing one.”
For two years, Singaporeans have been forced to wear masks inside and out or face fines and jail time. But on Tuesday, after the country lifted an outdoor mask mandate that had been in place continuously since April 2020, a majority of people kept their masks firmly on.
According to the local Straits Times newspaper, a whopping 90 percent of residents seen on the streets, sidewalks and beaches of the tropical Southeast Asian country were still wearing masks.
Facebook’s Latest Faceplants
Facebook parent Meta found itself back in the spotlight this week, largely through controversies of its own making.
Meta’s stock has already struggled to rebound from the “Facebook Files” fiasco and Apple’s app changes (down 33% year-to-date), but it had begun to rally in March. Now, a series of setbacks could further hinder its comeback.
The Verge reported Thursday that, for months, misinformation has been flowing more freely into at least half of all Facebook users’ News Feeds because of a glitch in the system that is supposed to downrank potentially problematic content.
Meta’s AI Exodus: Top Talent Quits as the Lab Tries to Keep Pace With Rivals
Facebook parent Meta has lost some of its top artificial intelligence scientists this year as the company continues its pivot toward the metaverse.
At least four prominent members of Meta AI have departed in recent months, according to people familiar with the matter and LinkedIn analysis. Between them, the scientists have published dozens of academic papers in world-renowned journals and made multiple breakthroughs that Meta has used to enhance Facebook and Instagram.
Karl Hermann, an AI entrepreneur who used to work at rival lab DeepMind, told CNBC on Monday the true figure could be more like half a dozen, adding that the company’s London AI lab had seen an alarming number of exits.
Ex-Google CEO Promotes Digital West Point
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt hit Capitol Hill this week to urge lawmakers to create a digital service academy that would train Americans in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity in exchange for government service.
Schmidt told Axios in an interview that getting AI and cyber talent into the government is “crucial”: “The systems that are coming are so complicated that the government, who’s well-meaning, will not be able to manage them. You’re going to need better talent.”
The federal government faces a severe shortage of workers skilled in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, according to a Government Accountability Office report from November.
Central Bank Digital Currencies: The Next Money Milestone?
On March 8, President Biden announced a landmark executive order that, among other things, directs the Federal Reserve to study digital currencies stating “My Administration places the highest urgency on research and development efforts into the potential design and deployment options of a United States CBDC.”
The proliferation of privately-issued digital currencies such as Bitcoin has played a leading role in the transformation of the global economy. Because of the difficulties of effectively regulating these new forms of currency, central banks around the world have begun issuing their own Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) in an attempt to keep pace with or respond to these major developments. Now, the U.S. is joining the charge.
Critics cite a lengthy list of legal issues and risks raised by CBDCs that may delay or prevent their widespread use.
Lapsus$: Two UK Teenagers Charged With Hacking for Gang
Two teenagers from the UK have been charged by police over hacking for a notorious cybercrime gang.
The boys have been charged with multiple cyber-offenses and remain in police custody. The teens were arrested as part of an international police investigation into the Lapsus$ gang, which is relatively new but much-talked-about.
The cyber-crime group successfully breached major firms like Microsoft, and then bragged about it online.
According to Det Insp Michael O’Sullivan, from the City of London Police, both teenagers have been charged with three counts of unauthorized access to a computer with intent to impair the reliability of data, one count of fraud by false representation and one count of unauthorized access to a computer with intent to hinder access to data.