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Facebook Hits $1 Trillion Value After Judge Rejects Antitrust Complaints + More
Facebook Hits $1 Trillion Value After Judge Rejects Antitrust Complaints
A U.S. judge on Monday dismissed federal and state antitrust complaints against Facebook Inc (FB.O) that sought to force the social media company to sell Instagram and WhatsApp, saying the federal complaint was “legally insufficient.”
Facebook shares rose more than 4% after the ruling. The share price rise put Facebook’s market capitalization over $1 trillion for the first time.
Public Citizen and Daily Kos Pinch-Hitting for Big Pharma in RFK Lawsuit
On Friday, June 11, resourceful process servers working for Children’s Health Defense (CHD) Chairman Robert F. Kennedy Jr. served a subpoena in San Francisco on Markos Moulitsas, founder of Daily Kos, a liberal progressive news and activist forum. The subpoena, from a Westchester County New York Supreme Court Judge, orders Moulitsas to disclose the true name of “Downeast Dem” — a blogger who libeled Kennedy on the Daily Kos platform on Aug. 29, 2020.
Moulitsas had been fighting the order in court since December 2020, when Kennedy filed, and dodging the subpoena for a fortnight. Earlier this month, Daily Kos security guards at the company’s San Francisco headquarters twice blocked Kennedy’s process servers from entering the building.
The Daily Kos’ malicious article claimed that Kennedy spoke at a Nazi rally in Berlin “organized by right-wing extremist organizations, including the AFD party and various anti-Semitic conspiracy groups as well as the neo-Nazi NPD party.”
Why Google Can’t Bring Itself to Make the Internet Respect Your Privacy
Google is in an interesting position when it comes to making the internet respect your privacy. It controls the world’s largest advertising platform, the most used search engine, and the most popular web browser. Together, that means Google has more influence over how your data is gathered and tracked online than any other company.
It’s significant then, that, over the past few years, Google has joined the effort to eliminate the worst offender when it comes to tracking, third-party cookies. Those are the little pieces of code websites use to track your activity across other sites and apps.
VIDEO: Airlines Fear Chaos Over Digital COVID Passports
Airlines have warned of chaos over the EU’s digital COVID certificates plan, due to start on July 1, unless countries work together better.
SSM Health to Require COVID Vaccination by September
Wisconsin State Journal reported:
SSM Health will require COVID-19 vaccination by the end of September for its nearly 40,000 employees, providers and volunteers, the organization said Monday, becoming the first hospital group in Wisconsin known to announce a mandate.
SSM Health said employees can request an exemption for medical or religious reasons, which is consistent with the organization’s practice for other required vaccines.
Henry Ford Health System to Mandate COVID Vaccines for Workers
Henry Ford Health System will become the first Michigan health system to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for its workforce, the hospital system announced this morning.
The mandate will take effect Sept. 10, and applies to “all team members, students, volunteers and contractors,” a press release said.
“We acknowledge the magnitude of this decision and we did not make it lightly,” President and CEO Wright Lassiter III said in the press release.
N.J. to Lift COVID Mask Mandate in Schools This Fall
When New Jersey students, teachers and staff return to the classroom for full-time, in-person learning this fall, face masks will no longer be required.
Barring any “dramatic change in our situation before the beginning of the school year,” Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday that the state will drop its COVID-19 mask mandate in schools when the 2021-22 academic year begins.
Rep. Kevin Mccarthy Reveals GOP Framework for Big Tech Legislation
Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is offering a framework for what appears to be a counterproposal to the set of bipartisan bills to rein in Big Tech circulating in the House — saying House Republicans are ready to make tech behemoths “face the music.”
The California Republican explained that their framework would be based on three principles: accountability, transparency and strengthening antitrust review.
COVID Vaccine for Latinos: CDC Steps up Efforts With WhatsApp to Increase Vaccinations
International Business Times reported:
The Delta variant has presented a new challenge for the Department of Health and Human Services to close the vaccine gap among the disproportionately unvaccinated Latino population.
In efforts to reduce this vaccine disparity, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention partnered Monday with WhatsApp, a texting platform used widely among the Latino community, to deliver vaccine information to Spanish speakers. The chat is called “Mi Chat Sobre Vacunas COVID.”
U.S. Senate Republicans Press CDC to End Mask Mandate on Airplanes, Transit
A group of Senate Republicans urged the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday to stop requiring fully vaccinated Americans to wear masks on public transportation, including airplanes, trains and buses but also in airports and train stations.
“Over 150 million people in the United States are fully vaccinated and mask mandates have been lifted across the country. But the CDC inexplicably still hasn’t lifted the mask mandate for public transportation,” Cruz said. “It’s long past time for President Biden and the CDC to follow the science.”
Why Some Biologists and Ecologists Think Social Media Is a Risk to Humanity
Social media has drastically restructured the way we communicate in an incredibly short period of time. We can discover, “Like,” click on, and share information faster than ever before, guided by algorithms most of us don’t quite understand.
And while some social scientists, journalists, and activists have been raising concerns about how this is affecting our democracy, mental health, and relationships, we haven’t seen biologists and ecologists weighing in as much.
That’s changed with a new paper published in the prestigious science journal PNAS earlier this month, titled “Stewardship of global collective behavior.”
Consumers Satisfied With Smart Home Devices, but Data Privacy Concerns Linger
A new report from the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative (SECC) found that current owners of smart home devices, such as smart thermostats, appliances and speakers, are overwhelmingly satisfied with these technologies; however, upfront costs and data privacy concerns remain key barriers for those who do not yet own any smart home devices.
Hospitals Want Mandatory COVID Vaccinations for All Maine Healthcare Workers
Portland Press Herald reported:
The association representing Maine hospitals is advocating for the state to mandate vaccinations for all healthcare employees in Maine once federal regulators grant the vaccines full approval.
“We would prefer if there is a mandate, that we want the mandate to cover all health care providers,” said Steven Michaud, president of the Maine Hospital Association. “Job No. 1 for us, however we can get it done, is to get them vaccinated.”
Anti-Vaccine Protesters Gather at ‘Springsteen on Broadway’ + More
‘No Vax Passports’: Anti-Vaccine Protesters Gather at ‘Springsteen on Broadway’ Reopening
A group of anti-vaccine protesters showed up to the opening night of Bruce Springsteen’s “Springsteen on Broadway” Saturday, holding signs against the theater policy that required show attendees to have proof of vaccination by a WHO– or FDA-approved vaccine.
Protesters held signs reading messages including “no vax passports” and “Bruce Springsteen is for segregation on Broadway.” The small group also shouted slogans such as “stop segregation” as attendees arrived for the show.
Principal Brief Filed in Children’s Health Defense’s Case Against FCC Rule Allowing Base Station Antennas on Homes
On June 23, Children’s Health Defense (CHD) filed the opening brief in its case against the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) “Over-the-Air Reception Devices” (OTARD) Rule Amendment, which went into effect March 29. This submission is the main brief for CHD in the case it filed on Feb. 2 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit.
CHD will hold an information and Q&A session about the brief this Wednesday, June 30 at 2:30 p.m. Eastern time. Register here.
Health Experts Urge Biden Administration to Push COVID Vaccine Passports, Mandates
Health experts are pressuring the Biden administration to promote the use of COVID-19 vaccine orders and passports, after the White House ruled out implementing such measures on the federal level.
In April, the White House emphatically said no to mandating federal COVID-19 vaccine passports and argued that the rights and privacy of citizens should be protected. “The government is not now, nor will we be supporting a system that requires Americans to carry a credential,” said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki. “There will be no federal vaccinations database and no federal mandate requiring everyone to obtain a single vaccination credential.”
Google Starts Warning Users if Search Results Are Likely to Be Poor
Google has started warning users when they search for a topic that is likely to have poor results, as part of its effort to tackle “data voids” on the search engine.
The new warning was spotted by Renee DiResta, an academic who studies misinformation at Stanford University. “It looks like these results are changing quickly,” Google will now caution users. “If this topic is new, it can sometimes take time for results to be added by reliable sources.”
I Spy: Are Smart Doorbells Creating a Global Surveillance Network?
I have got a new doorbell. It’s brilliant. It should be; it cost £89. It’s a Ring video doorbell; you’ll have seen them around. There are others available, made by other companies, with other four-letter names such as Nest and Arlo. When someone rings my doorbell, I’m alerted on my smartphone. I can see who is there, and speak to them.
My phone is ringing! C major first inversion chord, arpeggiated, repeated, for the musically trained – you’ll recognise it if you’ve heard it. It’s a delivery. Amazon, as it happens; Amazon acquired Ring in 2018, reportedly for more than $1bn.
Vaccination Mandatory For Aged Care Workers as Astrazeneca Made Available to All Australian Adults
Under-40s will finally be allowed to get the AstraZeneca vaccine if they want it, while aged care workers will have to get at least one vaccine dose by mid-September, as Australia moves to “war game” its bungled vaccine program.
Scott Morrison, who spent more than two hours with the nation’s premiers and chief ministers in an “emergency” national cabinet meeting on Monday evening, emerged to announce long called-for changes to the commonwealth’s vaccine rollout.
New Coronavirus Rules Enacted for Moscow Restaurants
Restaurants and cafes in Moscow on Monday began requesting that patrons provide proof of vaccination or a negative coronavirus test as the Russian capital faces a surge of new infections.
According to a decision by city authorities last week, all Moscow restaurants, cafes and bars must only admit customers who have been vaccinated, have recovered from COVID-19 in the past six months or can provide a negative coronavirus test from the previous 72 hours.
Britain and EU Closing in on Vaccine Passport Deal to Unlock Quarantine-Free Holidays Despite Merkel Bid To Blacklist UK
Britain and the EU are closing in on a deal to accept each other’s vaccine passports for quarantine-free travel in a major foreign holidays boost.
Negotiators are nearing an agreement to unlock travel despite Angela Merkel’s attempts to ban UK tourists from the continent over Delta variant fears.
Telstra Ramps Up 5G in Regional Australia Despite COVID Conspiracy Theories and Protests
COVID-19 conspiracy theories and protests did not prevent Telstra from ramping up its 5G network construction over the past year, with 75% of the population now able to access the new technology.
In the past year, despite lockdowns and restrictions, Telstra was able to keep up construction of its new 5G network. The telecommunications company now has 5G in more than 200 cities and towns, and at least 50% coverage in more than 2,700 suburbs.
Pennsylvania Legislature Passes Vaccine Passport Ban, Gov. Wolf Plans Veto + More
Pennsylvania Legislature Passes Vaccine Passport Ban, Limits on Secretary of Health, Gov. Wolf Plans Veto
Pittsburgh Post Gazette reported:
Citing government overreach and intrusions into citizen privacy, the Republican-controlled General Assembly on Thursday passed a ban on many uses of “vaccine passports” and a halt to the secretary of health’s ability to issue masking, social-distancing and travel-limiting orders to people who are not sick.
The final approval in the Senate by a party-line vote of 29-21 included one independent senator siding with 28 Republicans, and all Democrats voting “no.”
The bill already has been approved in a similar party-line vote by the House. It will head to the desk of Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, who plans to veto it.
Ohio House Passes Controversial Bill to Ban Vaccine Requirements
The Ohio House on Thursday approved a controversial bill to ban employers from making workers get vaccinated. Although the bill was tweaked to satisfy critics.
Earlier this week, the bill that would prevent businesses and schools from requiring employees or students to get vaccinations stalled in committee. Now, the House has passed a similar measure by tacking an amendment onto a Senate approved bill.
College Vaccine Mandates Rile GOP States
Conservative state lawmakers are moving to block public and private universities from requiring returning students to have proof of COVID vaccinations or get the vaccine itself, in a push that could complicate President Joe Biden’s effort to get shots to young adults.
Executive orders or legislation in states like Arizona and Florida ban universities from mandating students show proof of vaccination status and come as the more transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus is surging. College-age Americans have the lowest vaccination rates and are least likely to make plans to get a shot, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
San Francisco Leaders Receive Backlash After Vaccine Mandate
KRON Channel 4 San Francisco reported:
San Francisco leaders are receiving backlash to its latest vaccine mandate for city employees.
A group that represents Black city employees calls the mandate harsh and insensitive.
They’re known as the Black Employee Alliance and Coalition Against Anti-Blackness and they represent more than 400 Black employees in the city.
They say their members shouldn’t have to choose between a vaccine and their job, especially considering the historical medical treatment of African Americans.
Google Delays Phase Out of Tracking Tech by Nearly 2 Years
Google will delay by nearly two years the phase out of Chrome web browser technology that tracks users for ad purposes, saying that it needs more time to develop a replacement system.
The tech giant on Thursday moved its deadline to remove so-called third-party cookies to late 2023 rather than January 2022 as was initially planned.
Amazon and Google Are Being Investigated for Failing to Remove Fake Product Reviews
British regulators are investigating whether Amazon and Google have broken consumer protection law by not doing enough to protect shoppers from fake product reviews.
The probe is the latest in a string of investigations piling up against tech giants around the world, as officials and policymakers scrutinize claims of anti-competitive behavior. The investigations could result in hefty fines and increase pressure on companies including Facebook (FB) and Apple (AAPL) to change the way they do business.
Russia Mandates Vaccinations for Some as Virus Cases Surge
They tried grocery giveaways and lotteries for new cars and apartments. But an ambitious plan of vaccinating 30 million Russians by mid-June still has fallen short by a third.
So now, many regional governments across the vast country are obligating some workers to get vaccinated and requiring the shots to enter certain businesses, like restaurants.
Israel Prepares to Reinstate Mask Mandate as Delta Variant Drives New COVID Surge
Israel is set to reinstate an indoor mask mandate in a bid to contain outbreaks of COVID-19, the latest setback for one of the world’s most vaccinated countries as the infectious Delta variant drives a surge of cases in children and vaccinated people.
The mandate will be restored when the average number of daily COVID-19 cases over the course of a week exceeds 100, Israel’s health ministry said Thursday, a threshold its public health director Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis believes will be met Sunday.
WHO: Mask Mandates, Social Distancing Should Continue Indefinitely + More
WHO Official Says Mask Mandates & Social Distancing Should Continue Indefinitely
A top WHO official says that mask mandates and social distancing should continue indefinitely in order to protect against new variants of COVID-19.
The comments were made on Sky News by the Special Envoy on COVID for the World Health Organization (WHO). Dr David Nabarro.
Nabarro suggested that there would be a long list of mutations of the Indian variant which would in some cases evade the protection offered by vaccines.
Pete Buttigieg Says Federal Government Should ‘Encourage’ Vaccine Passports
Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said that the federal government should “encourage” private businesses to implement vaccine passports when he was asked this week about Texas’s ban on the practice.
“If a company, a business wants to take steps to keep their workers and their passengers safe, I would think that, from a government perspective, we want to do everything we can to encourage that,” Buttigieg told KDFW FOX 4 in Dallas on Monday. “And that’s certainly our view at the federal level.”
America’s Largest Healthcare Union Vows to Fight Mandatory COVID Vaccines
Earlier this month, New York-Presbyterian became the first hospital system in the state to required employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19. It’s a step that a growing number of hospitals across the country are taking, but one that 1199SEIU, the largest health care union in the country, is prepared to fight.
“Whether there is a legal challenge that we can make, or whether it’s just a pure organizational challenge that we can make, we are not going to just give in,” George Gresham, president of 1199SEIU, told WNYC/Gothamist. The union is headquartered in New York City but represents health care workers throughout the state and in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maryland, Florida and Washington, D.C.
University Fires Surgeon Who Voiced Safety Concerns About COVID Vaccines for Kids
Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms reported:
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms represents Dr. Francis Christian, clinical professor of general surgery at the University of Saskatchewan and a practicing surgeon in Saskatoon. Christian was called into a meeting Wednesday, suspended from all teaching responsibilities effective immediately, and fired from his position with the University of Saskatchewan as of September 2021.
There is a recording of Christian’s meeting yesterday between Christian and Dr. Preston Smith, the Dean of Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan, College of Medicine, Dr. Susan Shaw, the Chief Medical Officer of the Saskatchewan Health Authority and Dr. Brian Ulmer, head of the Department of Surgery at the Saskatchewan College of Medicine.
Florida Urges Judge To Reject Facebook Censorship Arguments
Accusing social media platforms of censorship, Florida attorneys late Monday pushed back against an attempt to block a new state law that would put restrictions on companies such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
The state, in a 61-page court filing, argued that U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle should reject a request by online industry groups for a preliminary injunction against the law, a top priority of Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The law, which is scheduled to take effect July 1, seeks to prevent large social media companies from barring political candidates from their platforms and would require companies to publish — and apply consistently — standards about issues such as blocking users.
Pennsylvania House Votes on Issue of ‘Vaccine Passports,’ Health Secretary Limits
Republicans in the Pennsylvania House are advancing legislation to ban the use of so-called COVID-19 “vaccine passports” by colleges, universities or government buildings and to put new restrictions on the health secretary’s powers during a health emergency.
Representatives voted on party lines Wednesday to approve the measure that supporters described as a way to protect private health information. But opponents warn it would needlessly endanger public health.
The bill would prevent the state health secretary from ordering closures and from requiring people who have not been exposed to a contagion to physically distance, wear a mask, “conduct a specific hygienic practice” such as hand-washing, quarantine or restrict travel.
Taiwan Says Discussing COVID Vaccine Passports
U.S. News and World Report reported:
Taiwan is in talks with international bodies about COVID-19 vaccine passports, the head of its Centres for Disease Control said on Thursday, which could help ease long-standing travel restrictions.
Taiwan has previously considered such a scheme, but has been extremely cautious about opening its largely-closed borders lest it lets in more infections, and is currently on high alert to stop the highly contagious Delta variant.
San Francisco Will Mandate COVID Vaccinations for Every City Employee
COVID-19 vaccinations will be required for all city workers in San Francisco once a vaccine has received full approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, city officials said Wednesday.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported the latest move would make San Francisco the first city or county in California, and probably in the country, to require COVID-19 vaccinations for government workers.
City employees who don’t have a medical or religious exemption and don’t comply with the vaccine requirement could lose their jobs.
Why the Tech Antitrust Reform Bills Are Struggling to Move Forward
Watching Congress debate a package of tech reform bills this week has been sort of like watching a group of people ordered to eat a giant submarine sandwich all at the same time. Everyone has started in a different place, no one agrees on a path forward, and people almost can’t help butting heads.
This should be a moment of huge importance in the history of tech and democracy in the United States. The House Judiciary Committee investigated competition in the tech industry for a year. During that time, Congress held 10 hearings. In the end, a 449-page report on the subject was produced. And from that report came a package of bills that, if passed, would reshape the tech industry and probably some other large corporations as well.
Hong Kong’s Apple Daily to Live on in Blockchain, Free of Censors
Reuters via U.S. News reported:
Hong Kong cyber activists are backing up articles by pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily on censorship-proof blockchain platforms after the newspaper was forced to shut down as it became embroiled in a national security law crackdown.
The latest drive to preserve the paper’s content comes after activists rushed to upload documentaries by local broadcaster RTHK investigating people in power after the media outlet said it would remove materials older than one year from its social media platforms.
Under the national security law, the Hong Kong government can request the blocking or removal of content it deems subversive or secessionist, raising fears over internet freedom in the global financial hub.
Antitrust Overhaul Passes Its First Tests. Now, the Hard Parts
New York Times via Atlanta Business Journal:
Capitol Hill politicians have groused for years about the power and influence of the country’s largest tech companies. But they took little action to match their rhetoric.
That started to change on Wednesday, when House lawmakers took their first votes on a suite of bills that are meant to weaken the dominance of Big Tech. The bills, six in all, would bulk up antitrust agencies, make it harder to acquire potential rivals, and prevent platforms from selling or promoting their own products to disadvantage competitors.
The votes by members of the Judiciary Committee to advance some of the bills showed the growing bipartisan agreement for taking on the tech companies. A handful of Republicans joined the widespread support among Democrats for the bills.