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Joe Rogan Responds to Neil Young and Spotify’s New Advisory for Podcasts That Discuss COVID
Joe Rogan has responded to criticism of his podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience,” after Neil Young said he wanted to leave Spotify because of Rogan’s contributions to spreading “false information about vaccines” on the platform.
Rogan took to Instagram to talk about how his “podcast has been accused of spreading dangerous information,” mentioning two episodes in particular that included controversial guests. He said he books the guests himself, and one thing he could change is having experts with differing opinions on directly after people with “controversial” opinions.
After Young and fellow musician Joni Mitchell removed their music in protest, calling on Spotify to prevent the spread of misinformation on their platform, the company said it will add an advisory to podcasts that discuss COVID-19.
The new Spotify advisory for podcasts will direct listeners to its “COVID-19 Hub” — a resource that “provides easy access to data-driven facts, up-to-date information as shared by scientists, physicians, academics and public health authorities around the world, as well as links to trusted sources,” CEO Daniel Ek wrote in a statement. The advisory is set to be implemented globally “in the coming days.”
Canadian Truckers Say They Have Enough Money to Keep Protesting for 4 Years
Organizers of a demonstration protesting vaccine mandates outside Canada’s Parliament have reportedly said they have enough money to keep trucks there for up to four years.
Thousands of protesters converged on Parliament Hill in Ottawa over the weekend, joined by truckers who had traveled across Canada as part of a “Freedom Convoy.”
Although initially organized to oppose vaccine mandates for truck drivers crossing the Canada-U.S. border, it has grown in recent days into a movement against COVID-19 restrictions in general, and Justin Trudeau‘s government.
A GoFundMe campaign called “Freedom Convoy 2022” surpassed more than $7.1 million ($9.1 million CAD) in donations. The page was launched earlier this month by Tamara Lich, the secretary of the Maverick Party, to help truckers with the cost of gas and other expenses for the demonstration.
‘This Is Creating More Loneliness’: The Metaverse Could Be a Serious Problem for Kids, Experts Say
If there’s one thing that tech companies, retailers, content creators and investors can agree on, it’s this: There’s plenty of money to be made from the metaverse.
But as CEOs try to elbow past their rivals to gain a foothold in the still nascent digital space, some psychologists and mental health experts say the race to turn a profit is taking attention away from a crucial question: Will the metaverse be a safe place, especially for kids and teens?
The answer isn’t encouraging. Recent research has shown myriad negative effects of social media on the psyches of children and adolescents, from the prevalence of bullying and harassment to self-esteem and body image issues. Those same pitfalls could be just as prevalent — if not worse — in the wide-open metaverse, with its series of vast virtual worlds intended for both work and play.
Taylor Swift Fans Call on Her to Pull Music From Spotify Over Joe Rogan
Fans of Taylor Swift are calling on the pop superstar to pull her music from Spotify in solidarity with other musicians over the Joe Rogan podcast furor.
Rogan’s podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, has been the focus of much controversy in recent weeks over his move to welcome guests onto the show who shared controversial and some say misinformative takes on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
As a growing number of stars share their collective stance in no uncertain terms, eyes have now turned to “Shake It Off” singer Swift.
T-Mobile to Terminate Corporate Employees Who Aren’t Vaccinated by April
T-Mobile US Inc (TMUS.O) will fire corporate employees who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Apr. 2, according to an internal company memo posted on the blog The T-MO Report.
The blog said T-Mobile’s new policy was announced on Friday in an email from its human resource chief to all staff. It follows a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Jan. 13 that blocked President Joe Biden‘s COVID-19 vaccination-or-testing mandate for large businesses.
“Employees who have not yet taken action to receive their first dose and upload proof by Feb. 21 will be placed on unpaid leave,” the blog quoted the memo as saying. “Affected employees who do not become fully vaccinated…by Apr. 2 will be separated from T-Mobile.”
Musk Mocks Trudeau, Says ‘Freedom’ Truckers Protest Proves ‘Small Fringe Minority’ Is the Government
Tesla CEO Elon Musk mocked Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government over a comment downplaying the massive protests that have formed over the country’s vaccine mandates.
“It would appear that the so-called ‘fringe minority’ is actually the government,” Musk tweeted on Sunday afternoon.
Trudeau attempted to downplay the Freedom Convoy of truckers who drove from Vancouver to Ottawa last week to protest the government’s vaccine mandates for cross-border truckers. He said the group was composed of a “small fringe minority” of people who hold “unacceptable views.”
The protests, however, have been anything but “small” in Ottawa. Thousands of people were seen on the streets of the nation’s capital supporting the truckers and denouncing Canada’s stringent restrictions and mandates surrounding the coronavirus.
England Plans to Revoke Mandatory COVID Jabs for Health Workers
The British government said on Monday it planned to revoke mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for health workers in England after warnings that an already-stretched service could face crippling staff shortages.
Health minister Sajid Javid said the government would launch a consulation into whether the policy announced in November was still needed.
Austria Lifts ‘Lockdown of the Unvaccinated’ as Europe Slowly Opens Up
Austria has lifted its “lockdown of the unvaccinated”, Switzerland is gearing up for a “turbo” reopening and Germany’s finance minister has demanded an end date for COVID curbs as more countries prepare to ease pandemic controls.
It follows the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium and France, who last week began to take steps to return to a semblance of normal life, with the Danish government declaring COVID-19 “should no longer be categorised as a socially critical disease” after Jan. 31.
Thousands of Czechs Protest Against COVID Curbs
Thousands of Czechs massed in Prague’s Wenceslas Square on Sunday, waving flags and chanting slogans against COVID-19 restrictions, even as infections surge.
Protesters mainly objected to harsher restrictions for the unvaccinated, including a ban on eating in restaurants.
Despite the soaring numbers, the government scrapped a decree last week making COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory for key professionals and over-60s to avoid “deepening fissures” in society.
From Kabul, Pregnant Reporter Fights New Zealand Government to Come Home
She reported on the difficult conditions mothers and babies face just to survive in desperate Afghanistan. Now, a pregnant New Zealand reporter has chosen Kabul as a temporary base for her uphill fight to return home because of her country’s strict COVID-19 entry rules.
Charlotte Bellis, 35, is expecting her first child with her partner, freelance photographer Jim Huylebroek, a Belgium native who has lived in Afghanistan for two years.
She said she has been vaccinated three times and is ready to isolate herself upon her return to New Zealand. “This is ridiculous. It is my legal right to go to New Zealand, where I have healthcare, where I have family. All my support is there,” she said.
Thousands of New Zealand citizens wanting to return home have faced delays due to a bottleneck of people in the country’s border quarantine system.
Your GPU Could Be Used to Track You Online
Experts have revealed that a computer’s Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) can be used to track users across the web.
A group of 10 researchers from universities in France, Israel, and Australia have published a report on a new “remote GPU fingerprinting” technique dubbed DrawnApart.
Explained as plainly as possible, this uses a cross-platform API for rendering 3D graphics in the browser, called WebGL. When combined with the GPU’s operations, it creates a unique fingerprint of the device.
Treasury Reconsiders IRS Use of ID.me Facial Recognition Amid Privacy Concerns
The Treasury Department is reconsidering the Internal Revenue Service’s use of ID.me for access to its website, according to Bloomberg. A department official said the agencies are exploring alternatives to the controversial facial recognition software, though that official didn’t specifically cite the privacy concerns around ID.me for the decision.
The Treasury Department’s decision to reevaluate its use of ID.me comes in the same week that the company disclosed its use of one-to-many facial matching.
Privacy advocates have criticized both approaches. Research indicates most facial recognition systems struggle to identify people with darker skin tones. Experts have also voiced concerns about the security risks of storing biometric data.
What Your Smart TV Knows About You — and How to Stop It Harvesting Data
Watching TV feels like a benign pastime, but as all TVs become “smart” — connected to the internet via your router — they are gaining the ability to watch you too.
As soon as you switch them on, smart TVs made by the likes of LG, Samsung and Sony are gathering data from the TV itself, as well as from the operating system and apps. Then there are the devices you plug into your TV, such as Google’s Chromecast, Apple TV and Amazon’s Fire Stick.
A TV is no longer just a device for showing you content — it has become a two-way mirror allowing you to be observed in real-time by a network of advertisers and data brokers, says Rowenna Fielding, director of data protection consultancy Miss IG Geek. “The purpose of this is to gather as much information as possible about your behaviour, interests, preferences and demographics so it can be monetized, mainly through targeted advertising.”
