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‘They’re Going to Get Their Ministry of Truth One Way or the Other’: Twitter Announces ‘Crisis Misinformation Policy’
Just one day after the White House confirmed that the Department of Homeland Security’s Disinformation Governance Board had been put on hold — and that board chief Nina Jankowicz had resigned — Twitter announced plans to implement a new “crisis misinformation policy.”
The plan, according to a tweet from @TwitterSafety, would be implemented to ensure that Twitter as a platform did not amplify or contribute to the spread of misinformation.
A lengthier explanation from Yoel Roth, Twitter’s head of Safety and Integrity, introduced the measure as “a global policy that will guide our efforts to elevate credible, authoritative information, and will help to ensure viral misinformation isn’t amplified or recommended by us during crises.”
Critics were immediately wary of the new policy. Nationally syndicated radio host Dana Loesch commented, “They’re gonna get their Ministry of Truth one way or the other folks.”
‘Uterus Surveillance’: The Scramble to Keep Abortion Data From Prying Eyes
Telemedicine abortion groups, fearful of digital surveillance from states curbing access in a potential post-Roe nation, are shoring up privacy defenses and urging people seeking abortions to take steps to protect their data.
“We’ve seen pregnant people being arrested and prosecuted for years using electronic surveillance. … We can only imagine how much worse it will get in the post-Roe world,” said Albert Fox Cahn, head of the nonprofit organization Surveillance Technology Oversight Project.
“We’re going to see a huge focus on surveillance of telemedicine and online abortion services because for millions of Americans, that’s going to increasingly be their only way to secure safe abortion care.”
Privacy organizations, legal groups and abortion rights advocates fear that state law enforcement could issue broad warrants for information like internet search histories or phone location data to identify people who seek abortion care or to obtain records on patients who use online abortion services.
How Breaking up Big Tech Could Save Global Democracy, According to Proton Founder Andy Yen
Andy Yen is the founder and CEO of Proton, the company behind the encrypted email service ProtonMail and a suite of other privacy-focused products that are threatening to turn the data-centric Big Tech industry on its head.
Proton’s VPN service is currently one of the most-used privacy tools in Russia, helping millions of Russians evade Kremlin censorship amid the war in Ukraine.
Here, in an extended interview excerpt from a profile published earlier this month in TIME, staff writer Billy Perrigo speaks with Yen about the rise of encrypted tech and what it means for the antitrust fight against the likes of Google and Facebook and the future of the internet.
Broadway Extends Mask Mandate As NYC COVID Cases Rise
Broadway theaters will require audiences to wear masks through June amid rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in New York City, the Broadway League announced Friday, breaking with Mayor Eric Adams, who has refused to reimpose mask mandates in the city.
The mask mandate for audiences at all Broadway theaters has been extended through “at least” June 30, the Broadway League said.
Broadway’s mask announcement came days after Adams said earlier this week he would not reimpose restrictions like mask mandates, saying the city was entering a “new norm” and could not “shut down” with “every variant that comes.”
Why Is Novak Djokovic Cleared to Play the 2022 French Open?
Novak Djokovic has said he is willing to skip any tennis tournaments due to COVID-19 vaccine mandates if it means he gets to maintain his freedom. The good news for him — he won’t have to miss out on the upcoming 2022 French Open.
The world’s No. 1-ranked men’s tennis player, who was deported from Australia in January due to his unvaccinated status, days after he arrived in the country, said in an interview with BBC that it’s “because the principles of decision making on my body are more important than any title or anything else … I’m trying to be in tune with my body as much as I possibly can.”
On March 14, France regained some normalcy for the first time since the pandemic started, lifting restrictions in the majority of public spaces besides public transport, nursing homes and hospitals.
Two days later, French Open tournament director and former WTA player Amelie Mauresmo revealed at a news conference that the Serbian was cleared to play the major due to France’s removal of most COVID-19 restrictions.
Philadelphia’s COVID Cases and Hospitalizations Are Climbing. Officials Are Not Looking to Reinstate Mask Mandates.
Philadelphia health leaders warned Thursday that in the past three weeks, reported COVID-19 infections have more than doubled and hospitalizations have nearly doubled as well.
“The entire Philadelphia region is seeing COVID-19 cases rise dangerously,” Health Commissioner Dr. Cheryl Bettigole said in a statement but added health officials will not be reinstating a mask mandate at this time. “We strongly recommend that every Philadelphian and visitors wear a mask whenever they’re indoors in public.”
The case surge is happening nationwide: roughly a third of people in the U.S. live in areas with medium or high COVID-19 community levels, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a White House briefing Wednesday. In the Northeast, about 40% of people are in counties considered to have high community levels, CNN has reported.
This Is How China Rounds up Thousands of People for Quarantine
Thousands of people in a village near the Chinese port city of Tianjin were ordered into government quarantine, with videos circulated on social media showing residents being marched through streets and onto buses as officials continue to deploy the country’s strict COVID Zero playbook on new outbreaks.
Residents of Liuanzhuang village in northern Tianjin were ordered on Monday to pack their belongings and prepare to be transported into isolation centers, a voice can be heard saying over a loudspeaker in one of the videos after dozens of COVID-19 cases were detected in their district. Footage shared on social media networks like Weibo and Twitter showed crowds of people, luggage in tow, walking toward or waiting in line for buses.
New U.S. Bill Could Deliver a Gut-Punch to Google and Facebook
A coalition of U.S. senators has proposed new legislation that would dismantle the digital advertising businesses of Google and Facebook.
The Competition and Transparency in Digital Advertising Act would prevent companies with ad revenues exceeding $20 billion from taking part in more than one stage of the advertising chain. As recently explained in Congress, Google currently acts on behalf of both market suppliers and purchasers, as well as presiding over the auction process.
The new bill also contains conditions affecting smaller market players with ad revenues in excess of $5 billion, broadly designed to increase transparency around pricing.
Although the online advertising business is sprawling and complex, with many moving parts, the space is ultimately dominated by two players: Alphabet and Meta, the parent companies of Google and Facebook.
AI’s Role Is Poised to Change Monumentally in 2022 and Beyond
The latest developments in technology make it clear that we are on the precipice of a monumental shift in how artificial intelligence (AI) is employed in our lives and businesses.
First, let me address the misconception that AI is synonymous with algorithms and automation. This misconception exists because of marketing. Think about it: When was the last time you previewed a new SaaS or tech product that wasn’t “fueled by” AI? This term is becoming something like “all-natural” on food packaging: ever-present and practically meaningless.
Real AI, however, is foundational to supporting the future of how businesses and individuals function in the world, and a huge advance in AI frameworks is accelerating progress.
As a product manager in the deep learning space, I know that current commercial and business uses of AI don’t come close to representing its full or future potential. In fact, I contend that we’ve only scratched the surface.
Meta Defends Its Gamble on the Metaverse, Says It’ll Be Worth $3 Trillion
Meta (FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg is betting the future of his 3.64-billion-member social media empire on the metaverse. And so far, all he’s got to show for it is billions in expenses and a plummeting stock price. Shares of the company are off 38% over the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 is down 4.95%.
On Wednesday, Meta’s president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, published a lengthy blog post defending Meta’s heavy investments in the metaverse, outlining how he believes the technology will change the way consumers access the internet. According to Clegg, the transition will be similar to how we went from using large, clunky desktops to sleek smartphones.
The metaverse is expected to be a series of interconnected, persistent online worlds accessible via virtual reality and augmented reality headsets and apps.
Elon Musk Says He’s Wading Into Politics to Stop the ‘Woke Mind Virus’ From Destroying Civilization
Elon Musk said on Twitter on Thursday that he is becoming politically active to stop “the woke mind virus” from preventing humankind from reaching Mars.
Over the last month, Musk has mentioned the “woke mind virus” on several occasions. On Wednesday, he called Yale the “epicenter of the woke mind virus attempting to destroy civilization.”
Musk also bashed the Democratic party in a tweet on Wednesday, calling it “the party of division and hate.” In the same tweet, he doubled down on his resolution to vote Republican this election — several days after he first stated that stance during a tech conference.
