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Republican Lawmakers Sue CDC to End Airplane Mask Mandate + More
Republican Lawmakers Sue CDC to End Airplane Mask Mandate
Republican lawmakers have sued the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to force an end to the requirement that face masks be worn on airplanes amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Monday, a group of 16 House members led by Representative Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and joined by Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) filed a lawsuit to end what they described as an “illegal mask mandate for individuals traveling on commercial airlines.”
The lawsuit argues that Congress did not approve the mandate and that the CDC did not have the “authority” to issue it. The requirement was extended through April 18 by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) following a CDC recommendation last week and also applies to trains, buses and transit hubs.
Instagram, TikTok Could Get Sued for Addicting Kids Under California Proposal
Big Tech companies could face a slew of lawsuits for harming children under a new California proposal that takes the toughest industry-accountability stance yet on the mental health toll of intense social media use.
The bipartisan measure from Assemblymembers Jordan Cunningham (R-Templeton) and Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland), which rolls out on Tuesday, would hold social media companies legally liable for deploying features and apps that addict children to their detriment.
Significantly, the legislation is retroactive, which would put the companies at legal risk for any past damage their products caused for teens and younger children. In an exclusive interview about the bill, Cunningham compared its potential effect to the landmark legislation against Big Tobacco’s marketing to kids.
Nets Fined $50,000 for Allowing Kyrie Irving to Enter Locker Room During Home Game vs. Knicks
The Brooklyn Nets picked up another victory on Sunday afternoon, holding off the New York Knicks, 110-107, to extend their winning streak to three games. Kevin Durant led the way, pouring in a season-high 53 points, but his brilliant performance was not the only headline.
That’s because Kyrie Irving, who is still not allowed to play in home games at Barclays Center, was in attendance for the first time all season. He showed up late in the first half and took a courtside seat as a fan. During halftime, however, he made his way to the locker room, and as a result, the Nets have been fined $50,000.
From a health perspective, it does not make much sense that Irving can enter the building without a mask and watch the game from a courtside seat, but cannot play. The Nets and Irving seemingly tried to make that point by having him show up to a national TV game, and stars such as LeBron James and Kevin Durant both voiced their displeasure with the rule.
COVID Mask and Vaccine Mandates Have Ruined the World Forever
COVID-19 mask restrictions have been lifted for New Yorkers, including for schoolchildren above the age of 5. It should be a happy, liberating moment. It’s what many of us have waited for. But it hasn’t been that easy. There’s much that isn’t as straightforward any more, thanks to the pandemic.
Not everybody wants to take their masks off. Some kids want to keep them on. They still feel in danger from the virus. They could face peer pressure in school if all the other kids want to take their masks off. Some parents may not agree with lifting the mandate and will want their kids to keep their masks on. The kids may disagree with mom and dad. Parents themselves may disagree with each other over whether their kids should keep their masks on.
We’re seeing these differences in the larger world as well. Many people are choosing to keep their masks on in the supermarket, in the park, while driving their cars.
Police Divert ‘People’s Convoy’ Away From Downtown DC
District police blocked a key interstate highway ramp to divert a group of protesting truckers away from downtown DC Tuesday, redirecting them instead onto the Anacostia Freeway rather than allowing them to cross the Anacostia River and head on roads closer to center of the city.
Participants in the “People’s Convoy,” who have been driving around the District to protest the government’s response to the pandemic, were greeted with a dump truck blocking their route from Interstate 295 toward Interstate 695. Once on the Anacostia Freeway, off-ramps, including one toward Pennsylvania Ave., were blocked by police.
On Monday afternoon, hundreds of trucks, cars and SUVs that were part of the convoy converged with thousands of other motorists on I-395 and encountered severe backups. They had said earlier that they planned to take the same route on Tuesday.
Axios-Ipsos Poll: Americans Ditch Masks, Gain Confidence
Americans’ emotional and physical health is bouncing back, along with record confidence about life returning to “normal” as mask mandates are abandoned, according to the latest installment of the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index.
Sixty-four percent of survey respondents now favor federal, state and local governments lifting all COVID-19 restrictions, up 20 percentage points since early February.
“As the mandates ended, behaviors changed across the board,” said Cliff Young, president of Ipsos U.S. Public Affairs. “The mandate itself was signaling risk, and as the mandate went down that signal went dormant.”
Travelers to U.K. Will No Longer Face COVID Restrictions Beginning Friday
Travelers entering the United Kingdom will no longer face COVID-19 restrictions starting this week, according to the transportation secretary.
Due to the vaccine rollout, all travel measures will be suspended for those entering the U.K. starting on Friday at 4 a.m. which will make travel easier for the upcoming holidays, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps posted on Twitter.
Those traveling to the U.K. were previously required to fill out a passenger locator form including their travel details such as where they were staying and their vaccination status. Additionally, people who were unvaccinated had to take a PCR test prior to departure and two days after arriving in the U.K. These restrictions will no longer be in effect beginning this week.
Vaccine Skeptics Fear Communist Party as Much as Side Effects in Hong Kong
Cases, growing by tens of thousands a day, have already spilled into mainland China. There has been an alarming outbreak in the manufacturing hub of Shenzhen, home to assembly plants run by iPhone manufacturer Foxxcon, among other production lines. Shenzhen’s 12.6 million residents are in lockdown in one of several cities experiencing their worst spikes since the early days of the pandemic.
According to Hong Kong’s official figures, just over 72% of its 7.5 million residents had been fully vaccinated as of Tuesday — three weeks after the peak of its Omicron wave.
Analysts have put vaccine skepticism down to both psychological and political reasons. Like in the United States, the fear of side effects is real, a sentiment that creates panic among the elderly due to amplification by the media. However, the low vaccination rate also reflects a deep mistrust in Hong Kong’s authorities, which have spent the past two years executing the Chinese Communist Party‘s heavy-handed crackdown on democratic freedoms.
Dutch to Drop Last Remaining COVID Restrictions Next Week
The Dutch government will drop its last remaining COVID-19 restrictions on March 23, despite a recent rise in infections, as the nation learns to live with coronavirus.
The country already has already ended a nationwide lockdown and scrapped most virus measures. As of March 23, wearing a face mask on public transport will no longer be obligatory. Facemasks will still have to be worn on airplanes and behind security screening at airports.
The government also is halting the use of a digital COVID pass to get into nightclubs and other large-scale events, the only place where they were still required.
The FTC Is Probing How Amazon Allegedly Tricks People Into Signing Up for Prime
Someone at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has had it with free trials that turn out not to be so free months later. The federal agency thought that the online signup for Amazon Prime was so shady it conducted an official inquiry into it.
The ecommerce giant is facing the FTC’s scrutiny over its use of “dark patterns” — manipulative online interface tricks — that supposedly lured users into signing up for costly Prime memberships without their overt knowledge.
Amazon has been persuasive in promoting Prime, perhaps too much so. Manipulative, even. Federal investigators have spent the past several years looking into the tech giant’s UX/UI choices in response to ongoing reports that consumers have felt tricked into Prime enrollment via the company’s design choices.
Facebook Fined $18.6M Over String of 2018 Breaches of EU’s GDPR
Facebook‘s parent company, Meta, has been fined €17 million (~$18.6M) by the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) over a string of historical data breaches.
The security lapses in question, which appear to have affected up to 30 million Facebook users, date back several years — and had been disclosed by Facebook to the Irish regulator in 2018.
The DPC, which is Meta/Facebook’s lead privacy regulator in the European Union, opened this security-related inquiry in late 2018 after it received no less than 12 data breach notifications from the tech giant in the six-month period between June 7, 2018 and Dec. 4, 2018.
LeBron James, Durant Slam NYC Vax Mandate: ‘Makes Absolutely Zero Sense’ + More
LeBron James, Durant Slam NYC Vax Mandate: ‘Makes Absolutely Zero Sense’
NBA stars Lebron James and Kevin Durant criticized New York City’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for private-sector employees that bars Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving from playing in home games.
The comments by James came shortly after Irving was seen sitting courtside at the Nets vs. Knicks game on Sunday, despite the point guard being prohibited from playing in home games since he is unvaccinated.
In New York City, the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for consumers was recently lifted amid decreasing virus case rates, but a vaccine mandate for private-sector employees remains in place. While Irving is not allowed to play home games for the Nets, he is allowed to practice with the team at their facility in Brooklyn. Other NBA players who are unvaccinated are also allowed to play games in New York City, but Irving is not.
In addition to James, Irving’s teammate, Durant, also criticized the city’s vaccine mandate after the point guard was seen courtside. “It’s ridiculous. I don’t understand it at all,” Durant said during a post-game press conference on Sunday. “It just feels like, at this point now, someone is trying to make a statement or point to flex their authority.”
These Schools Did Less to Contain COVID. Their Students Flourished.
As school systems around the country were battening down for their first remote start-of-school in the fall of 2020, the Lewis-Palmer district, in the suburbs of Colorado Springs, was embarking on another kind of experiment: Elementary students would be in class full time, sitting maskless at communal tables. The band program would resume in-person classes, saxophonists and flutists playing a few feet apart. The high school football teams would practice and compete.
In the country’s largest school systems, such as those in New York City, Los Angeles, D.C. and Chicago, teacher unions and concerned parents fought plans to reopen. Public health officials warned that social distancing would save lives, and schools responded by devising hybrid programs or simply sticking with virtual learning. But, over time, these measures also imposed costs: Today, students are contending with significant learning loss and mental health issues.
Thousands of school districts — typically small ones in conservative-leaning counties — reacted to the pandemic like Lewis Palmer District 38 did. Officials in this largely White and affluent school district of 6,600 students near the U.S. Air Force Academy argue they took the right approach to reopening schools. No child was hospitalized with the virus; two school system employees were admitted, though contact tracers did not determine where they contracted the virus, school officials said.
DuckDuckGo Updates Search Engine, Will Penalize Sites ‘Associated With Disinformation’
The search engine DuckDuckGo has begun penalizing sites linked to “Russian disinformation” amid the Russia–Ukraine war, according to the company’s CEO.
DuckDuckGo is an alternative to Google that has been growing in popularity in recent years in part because it doesn’t track users. Weinberg has in the past promised “unbiased results” as part of his pitch to people to switch from Google.
Some users quickly questioned the CEO’s update, including Tom Fitton, president of the Judicial Watch nonprofit. DuckDuckGo, “contrary to its implicit promises to the contrary, is now in the censorship business,” he wrote on Twitter. “Are there any search engines that respect users?”
Los Angeles Unified School District Says It’s Keeping Mask Mandate
Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) said it’s keeping its mask mandate in place — at least temporarily — even as California drops its requirement for masks in indoor public settings.
Several K-12 schools across the state dropped their face covering requirements Monday after the state lifted its mandate over the weekend.
LAUSD, the second-largest school district in the country, said it does not want to drop the mask requirement yet as it works towards a plan with partners, including teachers’ unions, to move away from mandates and towards “strongly recommending” masks indoors.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot Warns Police and Other City Employees Will Lose Pay if They Don’t Get 1st COVID Vaccine by Sunday
Mayor Lori Lightfoot will put Chicago Police officers and other city workers who don’t get their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by Sunday on non-disciplinary no-pay status, her administration said late Friday.
The city will also consider disciplining workers, though it will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis as the Lightfoot administration balances its public health policies with staffing problems in the police department.
Lightfoot’s latest pronouncement comes after the city won another round in court this week in its legal battle with the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police over the vaccine mandate. But she faces pressure not just from the police union — which has appealed the latest legal ruling and claims the mandate will results in an exodus of officers — but also from a group of aldermen still seeking to undo the rule.
Chicago Public Schools Will Still Require Masks in Some Settings; Mask-Optional Policy Begins Monday Despite CTU Opposition
Students in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) are slated to shift to a mask optional policy Monday, despite an agreement with the teachers union, which had successfully negotiated for the COVID-19 safeguard to remain in place through the end of the school year.
The vast majority of Illinois schools ended masking requirements late last month, following Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s halting of the school mask mandate and prompted by new federal guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But CPS officials had continued to uphold their mask mandate, in large part due to an agreement they’d reached with the Chicago Teachers Union following five days of canceled classes in January, after union members declined to teach in person due to safety concerns.
JPMorgan Rolls Back COVID Precautions Including Masking and Mandatory Testing as U.S. Cases Drop
JPMorgan Chase on Monday told its U.S. employees that the bank was rolling back several coronavirus precautions as cases continue to drop.
Wearing a mask at corporate buildings will be “completely voluntary” for workers starting today, regardless of their vaccination status, the bank said in the memo. Next month, the bank will stop mandatory testing for unvaccinated workers and will open up hiring to the unvaccinated, it added.
JPMorgan said New York City employees are still covered by the local vaccine mandate, and workers will need to continue logging responses into the bank’s vaccine program.
France Lifts COVID Rules on Unvaccinated, Mask Wearing
France lifted most COVID-19 restrictions on Monday, abolishing the need to wear face masks in most settings and allowing people who aren’t vaccinated back into restaurants, sports arenas and other venues.
Starting from Monday, people aren’t required anymore to show proof of vaccination to enter places like restaurants and bars, cinemas, theaters, fairs and to use interregional transport. The so-called vaccine pass had taken effect at the end of January.
In hospitals and nursing homes, unvaccinated people must provide a recent negative test or proof of recent recovery to enter. Wearing masks are no longer required in schools, businesses and offices. They remain mandatory on public transportation and at hospitals and other health facilities.
Chinese Stocks Continue to Melt Down as Spike in COVID Cases Spurs New Lockdowns and Threatens Global Supply Chain
Chinese stocks continued their decline on Monday, with the MSCI China ETF falling as much as 6% after a surge in COVID-19 cases led to lockdowns in areas including Shenzen and Shanghai.
Lockdowns in China are threatening its local economy and could exacerbate ongoing constraints in the global supply chain, as tech-hub Shenzen was targeted with lockdowns. Those lockdowns shut down factories operated by Foxconn that are used to assemble products for Apple, including the iPhone.
How Silicon Valley’s Russia Crackdown Proves Its Power — and Its Threat
Less than a day after Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine, the head of security at Meta (formerly Facebook) announced the company would no longer accept ad money from Russian state media outlets like Russia Today and Sputnik. Twitter said it would pause all ads from both Russia and Ukraine. And the next day, Feb. 26, YouTube quietly shared that it had begun blocking a handful of Kremlin-run media outlets from monetizing and running ads on their channels too.
It was the start of a cascade of corporate denials of service: one after the other, prominent social media and tech companies intensified restrictions on Russian state media’s presence on their platforms.
Together, the moves to take down Russian state content, which ultimately led to RT shutting down its American operations entirely, highlight that tech companies play a crucial role in deciding what information gets disseminated in times of crisis and which narratives can gain traction. But without real regulations and without companies crafting and consistently following policies of their own, we can only expect more confusion.
Meta Changes Stance on Violent Posts in Ukraine as Russia Bans Instagram
Meta Platforms said this weekend that it will narrow a content moderation policy for Ukraine that temporarily allowed users to call for violence against Russian soldiers or the death of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The decision came as Russia moved to ban Instagram from the country over the issue.
“We are now narrowing the focus to make it explicitly clear in the guidance that it is never to be interpreted as condoning violence against Russians in general,” Meta announced in an internal company post on Sunday, according to Reuters. “We also do not permit calls to assassinate a head of state.”
The company’s latest decision comes after it initially announced on Thursday that users could call for violence against Russians within the context of war. Meta also temporarily allowed users in Russia, Ukraine, Poland and other eastern European countries to post calls for the death of Putin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Exclusive: Ukraine Has Started Using Clearview AI’s Facial Recognition During War
Ukraine’s defense ministry on Saturday began using Clearview AI’s facial recognition technology, the company’s chief executive told Reuters, after the U.S. startup offered to uncover Russian assailants, combat misinformation and identify the dead.
Ukraine is receiving free access to Clearview AI’s powerful search engine for faces, letting authorities potentially vet people of interest at checkpoints, among other uses, added Lee Wolosky, an adviser to Clearview and former diplomat under U.S. presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
The plans started forming after Russia invaded Ukraine and Clearview Chief Executive Hoan Ton-That sent a letter to Kyiv offering assistance, according to a copy seen by Reuters.
The Clearview founder said his startup had more than 2 billion images from the Russian social media service VKontakte at its disposal, out of a database of over 10 billion photos total.
Google ‘Hijacked Millions of Customers and Orders’ From Restaurants, Lawsuit Says
Google is being sued by a Florida restaurant group alleging that the tech company has been setting up unauthorized pages to capture food orders rather than directing them to the restaurant’s own site.
Google uses “bait-and-switch” tactics to get customers to place takeout or pickup orders through “new, unauthorized, and deceptively branded webpages,” according to the lawsuit, filed on behalf of Left Field Holdings, a restaurant company that runs Lime Fresh Mexican Grill franchises. On those pages, customers are prompted with large buttons to order with food delivery companies like GrubHub, DoorDash, or Seamless.
“Google never bothered to obtain permission from the restaurants to sell their products online,” the lawsuit says. “Google purposefully designed its websites to appear to the user to be offered, sponsored, and approved by the restaurant, when they are not — a tactic, no doubt, employed by Google to increase orders and clicks.”
A U.S. Surveillance Program Tracks Nearly 200,000 Immigrants. What Happens to Their Data?
The Biden administration is proposing to expand a controversial surveillance program that tracks the whereabouts of more than 180,000 immigrants awaiting their day in court. But there is little transparency about what data is collected by the private company with an exclusive contract to run the program, or what may happen to that data in the future.
In a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. lawmakers on Feb. 23 raised fresh concerns about the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program, and the data collection practices of BI Inc, the private company running the effort for U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement (Ice).
Without sweeping federal laws regulating consumer data, there are few mechanisms to compel BI to share much beyond the basics and even fewer to limit its ability to collect, store and share personal data as it wishes.
How a New Digital Dollar Could Shake the U.S. Financial System + More
How a New Digital Dollar Could Shake the U.S. Financial System
President Joe Biden yesterday issued an executive order that could lead to the U.S. creating a digital currency.
Biden’s order said a U.S.-issued digital currency could be used to “support efficient and low-cost transactions, particularly for cross‑border funds transfers and payments, and to foster greater access to the financial system, with fewer of the risks posed by private sector-administered digital assets” such as bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. But there are “potential risks and downsides to consider,” and Biden ordered federal agencies to prepare a report within six months analyzing the implications.
Digital currency issued by a central bank can be used as a tool for government surveillance of citizens and control over their financial transactions. This has been a concern with China’s digital currency, which is in the early stages of rollout.
Priest Who Balked at COVID Precautions Removed From Parish
A priest who balked at some of the Vermont Roman Catholic diocese’s COVID-19-related precautions has been removed from his parish. Bishop Christopher Coyne announced the decision about the Rev. Peter Williams in a letter to the Holy Family Parish of Springfield and Chester community on Tuesday, myNBC5 reported.
Williams posted a message on the parish’s YouTube page in January objecting to the bishop’s request that priests get vaccinated against COVID-19 or be required to wear a mask in certain situations and get tested every other week, which Williams said he would not do.
He said he had hired a lawyer and was asked by the diocese to resign from the parish but had no intention of doing so.
The Vaccine Mandate Remains at Some New York City Restaurants
On Tuesday night, about 20 people descended on Dame, in Greenwich Village, to protest the restaurant’s request that indoor diners provide proof of vaccination, a day after the city dropped its vaccine mandate.
When the city on Monday ended its requirement that restaurants ask indoor diners for proof of vaccination, it left it up to owners to decide whether to voluntarily continue those requests. And some restaurants, like Dame, are not ready to let go of the safety measure, which they see as a way to protect their customers and employees.
House OKs Bill Protecting Disclosure of COVID Shot Status
The Kentucky House voted Thursday to prevent state and local governments and public colleges from requiring employees or students to disclose their COVID-19 immunization status.
The measure also would allow parents to opt out of a coronavirus vaccine for their school-aged children on the basis of “conscientiously held beliefs.” The proposal won 71-22 House passage and moves on to the Senate. Republicans hold supermajorities in both chambers.
The bill was introduced more than two months ago, but it didn’t start advancing until this week. Its sponsors agreed to a more limited version that dropped a proposed ban on private employers from inquiring about the vaccination status of their employees or customers.
High Fuel Costs Put Damper on Trucker Convoy Encircling DC
Rising gas prices across the nation are making it difficult for the “People’s Convoy,” a group of truck drivers protesting COVID-19 mandates and currently encircling Washington, DC.
The People’s Convoy, similar to Canada’s Freedom Convoy that cut off major supply routes to the U.S. while protesting COVID, left Southern California on February 23 for a cross-country trip to Washington, DC. Republican Senator Ted Cruz visited the convoy in Maryland and claimed high gas prices were hurting the truckers’ protest.
Cruz confirmed his visit and shared photos and videos with the convoy. He dubbed the truckers “patriots” and was seen riding in the passenger seat of the convoy’s lead truck. “Thank you to The People’s Convoy for speaking out for freedom,” Cruz tweeted. “Petty government tyrants shouldn’t force people to make private healthcare decisions.”
Brown University Lifts Mask Mandate, Makes COVID Testing Optional for Undergraduates
Brown University is shedding its mask mandates for students and employees starting Monday, according to an email sent Friday by Russell Carey, executive vice president of planning and policy.
Undergraduate students also won’t have to be tested regularly for COVID-19, according to the university. Undergraduates were previously required to take two COVID-19 rapid antigen tests per week since the beginning of the spring semester due to the surge caused by the highly contagious Omicron variant.
“As with vaccination status, no one should ask another individual about their personal choice to wear a mask,” he wrote Friday.
Brown announced last year it would require COVID-19 vaccines — including booster shots —for all employees and students who would be on campus or engage in any level of in-person instruction. Those with a medical or religious exemption, however, will still have to test twice per week and wear a mask indoors, said Carey.
GiveSendGo Says It Will Refund Remaining Donations to Truckers Convoy
GiveSendGo, the fundraising platform turned to by many who looked to support the Canadian trucker convoy after GoFundMe refunded donations made to campaigns supporting the group, announced Thursday that it will also be refunding donations from several campaigns.
“The Canadian government has criminalized the receiving of funds from the Canadian trucker campaigns and are now trying to seize the funds to redistribute,” the company said in a Thursday morning tweet.
“In order to protect our Givers and the intended purposes of their gifts, funds not already transferred to the recipients from the ‘Freedom Trucker Convoy’ campaign will be refunded. Additional information will be posted shortly. Thank you for your patience.”
Last month, Canadian officials allowed banks to begin freezing the accounts of people who were confirmed to be involved in the protests, which included those who donated to the GoFundMe and GiveSendGo fundraisers for the convoy.
Students Trapped in Quarantine Beg for Help Online as China Faces Biggest COVID Outbreak Since 2020
China is fighting its biggest COVID-19 outbreak since the early days of the pandemic, with discontent spreading on social media after one university cluster left students reportedly without access to bathrooms or drinking water.
Throughout the pandemic, China has adhered to a strict zero-COVID policy that aims to stamp out all outbreaks and chains of transmission using a combination of border controls, mass testing, quarantine procedures and lockdowns.
At the Jilin Agricultural Science and Technology University in northeastern Jilin province, students took to social media to plead for help, saying they had been left to fend for themselves after a cluster was detected on campus.
Facebook Allows Posts With Violent Speech Toward Russian Soldiers in Specific Countries
Facebook and Instagram have instituted a temporary change in policy that allows users in some countries to post content that’s usually forbidden, including calls for harm or even the death of Russian soldiers or politicians. The change first surfaced in a report by Reuters, citing internal emails to moderators. In them, the outlet reports mods are told that calls for the death of Russian President Vladimir Putin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko will be allowed, as long as they don’t contain threats toward others or “indicators of credibility” like saying where or how the act will take place.
In a statement sent to The Verge, Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said, “As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine we have temporarily made allowances for forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules like violent speech such as ‘death to the Russian invaders.’ We still won’t allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians.”
The New York Times confirmed this policy applies to people using the service from Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania.
The Observer: Living in the Age of Surveillance Capitalism
You’ve probably had the experience. You go online to look into buying something, a pair of walking shoes perhaps. You land on a website, search styles, prices and reviews. You’re not ready to purchase so you quit and move on.
Soon you begin receiving ads for shoes, socks and even walking tours. You start visiting these websites, too, and eventually more ads come your way. You are experiencing what Harvard Business Professor Shoshana Zuboff called surveillance capitalism. It is the focus of her 2019 book “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism.”
EU and UK Open Antitrust Probe Into Google and Meta Over Online Ads
Regulators in Europe and the UK have opened an antitrust probe into a deal between Google and Meta on online advertising, in the latest effort to tackle the market power of the world’s biggest technology companies.
The move follows U.S. antitrust investigators who are also probing an agreement informally known as “Jedi Blue.” The search engine giant and Facebook’s parent company have been accused of working together to carve up advertising profits, acting together to buttress their businesses.
The EU and UK probes represent the latest assault on Big Tech from global regulators that are also preparing to unleash new rules designed to challenge the primacy of groups such as Google, Meta and Amazon. In response, U.S. tech groups have launched lobbying efforts in Washington and Brussels in an effort to protect their interests.
Novak Djokovic to Skip Two More Tournaments Over Vaccination Status + More
Novak Djokovic to Skip Two More Tournaments Over Vaccination Status
Novak Djokovic, the world’s top men’s tennis champion, will not compete in two upcoming U.S. tennis tournaments because he is unvaccinated, the same reason he was kept out of the Australian Open.
Djokovic had been waiting for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to possibly grant him an exception to travel to the United States despite being unvaccinated.
However, in a Wednesday afternoon tweet, Djokovic said that he won’t compete in The Indian Wells Masters tournament (also known as the BNP Paribas Open) held in California from March 7 to 20. He also said he will not compete in the Miami Open tournament held in Florida from March 21 to April 3.
It’s likely that Djokovic’s vaccination status will also prevent him from playing in the French Open in May and the French Monte Carlo Masters in April. He will also likely be barred from Spain’s Mutua Madrid Open in May due to the country’s vaccination requirements.
United Airlines Will Let Unvaccinated Employees Return to Their Jobs This Month
United Airlines, citing a steep decline in COVID-19 cases, told staff Thursday that it will allow unvaccinated workers to return to their jobs starting March 28, a shift from a company that had one of the country’s strictest inoculation mandates. Last August, United said it would require U.S. employees to be vaccinated against COVID or face termination.
In January, CEO Scott Kirby said the company didn’t have any COVID deaths among unvaccinated workers over the past eight weeks, despite a surge in cases of the Omicron variant, which has since subsided.
United had said the roughly 2,200 workers who received exemptions on medical or religious grounds would go on unpaid leave or be moved to non-customer-facing roles. For example, unvaccinated flight attendants couldn’t work their regular jobs. Roughly 200 employees were fired for not being vaccinated or having an accommodation.
Spotify Says Joe Rogan Not to Blame as It Loses 1.5 Million Subscribers
Streaming giant Spotify is bracing for a loss of about 1.5 million paying subscribers in the first quarter of 2022, and it said that Joe Rogan isn’t to blame.
Rogan has faced a backlash over the past several weeks amid accusations of spreading COVID vaccine misinformation on his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience. Several musicians also pulled their work from Spotify, protesting the platform’s decision to stand by him.
While the embattled comedian had faced what appeared to be a tide of detractors vowing to pull their Spotify subscriptions, the company revealed that its decision to suspend its premium service in Russia, amid its invasion of Ukraine, has had more of an impact.
Big Bureaucracy Fumbled COVID and Our Faith in Institutions
From locking us all down to frequently providing conflicting information and lying that the “science” had “changed,” our health agencies were a complete disaster.
Again and again, they pushed failed mitigation policies that had actual harm on Americans. The leaders at the agencies, Dr. Rochelle Walensky at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or Dr. Anthony Fauci at the National Institutes of Health either straight-out bungled any task or comment or simply lied to us. This isn’t about the fog of the pandemic, the spring of 2020, this is to the present day.
As late as November 2021, Walensky was alleging that masking was at least 80% effective in stopping all viruses! That would be miraculous if true. It is not true. There has not been a single study that showed masking to be an effective way of stopping COVID-19, let alone the common cold.
And yet, right now, in New York City, toddlers are masked because of the broken and unscientific policies pushed by these organizations.
U.S. Extends Airplane Mask Mandate Through April 18
The Transportation Security Administration is extending a federal requirement that travelers wear masks on airplanes, at airports and on trains and buses through April 18, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.
The mandate was set to expire on March 19. An extension of the mandate comes as the Biden administration, cities and states have rolled back mask mandates and other pandemic policies elsewhere as COVID cases drop.
The Biden administration ordered air, bus and rail travelers to wear masks, including at airports and train stations, shortly after the president took office in 2021. The government repeatedly extended it over the past year.
Sen. Cruz Rides With ‘People’s Convoy’ Truck to DC As Beltway Protest Enters Fourth Day
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) visited the “People’s Convoy” at the Hagerstown Speedway on Thursday and rode shotgun in the lead truck, with plans for the vehicle to head into Washington for a news conference, while the rest of the convoy circles the Capital Beltway to protest pandemic health restrictions aimed to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Though many pandemic-related restrictions at the federal and local levels have been blocked or rescinded, the convoy organizers have rallied supporters by calling mandates an infringement on their freedoms.
Brian Brase, the group’s organizer, said the convoy will continue to protest until mandates for health workers, federal employees and military personnel are eliminated, but he warned the convoy against heading into the capital.
COVID Vaccine Verification Requirements to Be Lifted in More States, Cities
With COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths falling around the U.S., more cities and states have moved to lift pandemic restrictions this week.
On Wednesday, officials in Los Angeles took steps to end requirements patrons to show proof of full vaccination at certain businesses. It also eliminates proof of vacation requirements for large outdoor events.
Traveling up California’s Highway 1, San Francisco will stop requiring proof of vaccination to enter indoor businesses starting on Friday. The San Francisco Department of Public Health said it will be up to businesses to choose whether to require proof of vaccination or a negative test from their staff and customers.
Mississippi Advances Bill Against COVID Vaccine Mandates
Anyone in Mississippi could cite “a sincerely held religious objection” to avoid a public or private employer’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate, under a bill that advanced Wednesday at the state Capitol.
The bill says Mississippi government entities could not withhold services or refuse jobs to people who choose not to get vaccinated against COVID-19. That prohibition includes state agencies, city and county governments and schools, community colleges and universities.
The bill specifies that COVID-19 vaccinations could not be required for children to attend school or daycare, although Mississippi has some of the tightest requirements in the nation for other types of childhood vaccinations.
Chicago Public Schools’ COVID Vaccine Mandate Challenged in Court by Employees
Chicago Tribune via MSN reported:
A small group of Chicago Public Schools employees is asking a judge to stop the district from enforcing its policy requiring staff members to receive the COVID-19 vaccination or undergo weekly testing.
“The Plaintiffs are suffering continuing harm in that each is being subjected to an unlawful vaccination or testing policy without being provided their statutorily protected rights of due process of law,” read the paperwork downstate attorney Tom DeVore submitted Thursday to Sangamon County court.
According to the filing, two of DeVore’s six CPS clients were told to submit proof of vaccination or test by Friday or risk being placed on a non-disciplinary administrative leave of absence without pay starting Monday.
Thursday’s filing is the latest in DeVore’s fight with CPS over policies such as universal masking and quarantine for unvaccinated people who come in close contact with a person infected with COVID-19.
Seattle Schools Will Drop COVID Mask Mandate
Seattle Public Schools says it will lift its COVID-19 mask mandate beginning Monday.
Late last month Gov. Jay Inslee said the statewide mask requirement for schools would lift on March 12 as cases and hospitalizations have been declining following a surge during caused by the Omicron variant. Inslee had said going forward decisions about masking would be left to local districts.
NC Governor’s Veto of School Mask Mandate Opt-Out is Upheld
The North Carolina legislature failed on Wednesday to override another of Gov. Roy Cooper’s vetoes, this one on a bill that would have allowed K-12 students to opt-out of COVID-19 mask-wearing mandates, even as those schools with such directives have become few.
The Senate’s 27-22 vote fell short of the three-fifths majority required to overcome Cooper’s most recent veto. The result means the Democratic governor’s streak of upheld vetoes — stretching from early 2019 — continues.
The legislation would have given children, with their parents’ permission, the option not to wear a mask in school districts that have ordered students and staff to wear face coverings. Mask mandates have been issued to control the spread of the coronavirus.
Red Rocks Amphitheater Will No Longer Use Amazon’s Palm-Scanning Tech
Red Rocks Amphitheater, one of the most recognizable concert venues in the U.S., no longer plans to use Amazon’s palm-scanning technology for ticketless entry. Activists and artists including Fight for the Future, Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine) and Kathleen Hanna (Bikini Kill) pressured Denver Arts and Venues to refrain from using Amazon One at the venues it manages.
Amazon announced in September that it was expanding the tech beyond its stores for the first time at Red Rocks and other venues, including sports stadiums. Hundreds of artists, activists and human rights groups called on Red Rocks, its ticketing provider AXS and AXS parent AEG to drop the technology and to ban all biometric surveillance at their venues.
“Other venues should similarly listen to the hundreds of artists, organizations and fans who don’t see this technology as ‘convenient’ but recognize it as a tool of corporate surveillance and super-charged state violence,” said Fight for the Future campaigner Leila Nashashibi.
It Took a War for Big Tech to Take a Side
The internet is global. But tech companies do business in individual countries. So tech companies have to obey those countries’ rules, even if they’re onerous or worse.
That’s the rubric that Big Tech companies — almost all of which are based in the United States — have used for years, even when it’s been uncomfortable for the companies, their employees, or their customers.
Now that’s over: Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Big Tech has finally taken a side. It’s a move that has real-world consequences today but may be even more meaningful down the line.
One by one, Google, Meta, TikTok, and every other consumer tech company have sided with Ukraine in some way.
Tech’s Dealmaking Cry: Damn the Lawsuits, Full Speed Ahead
Google is plowing ahead with a $5.4 billion acquisition as it fends off a Justice Department lawsuit charging monopolistic practices and inquiries by lawmakers who argue the search giant is already too big.
An increasingly hostile regulatory climate over the past five years hasn’t stopped Big Tech giants from making billion-dollar deals. Google’s bid to buy cybersecurity firm Mandiant is the latest in a string of high-dollar acquisitions by Big Tech.
Google is already facing a lawsuit from the Justice Department accusing it of illegally monopolizing the online search and search advertising markets.