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Over 70% of Service Members Say They Felt ‘Coerced’ Into Taking COVID Vaccine: Survey
Over 70% of individuals serving in the U.S. military who responded to an Epoch Times survey said they felt “coerced” into taking the COVID-19 vaccine and/or booster after the Pentagon issued a 2021 mandate to do so.
The survey, conducted last fall, spanned all branches of the military and included both enlisted and officer ranks. The average length of service was around 16 years.
One 20-year Army combat veteran told the outlet that he opposed the mandate. “I’m not a lab rat and neither are the people I work with,” he said, adding “While holding out [from taking the vaccines], I was forced to wear a mask and was often singled out for being unvaccinated.”
Like Officer Johnson, a majority of survey participants said they were “coerced” into receiving a vaccine and/or boosters. Nearly 95% of those who objected to the mandate said they faced reprisals, including verbal threats of punitive legal action, loss of promotion, and exclusion from career-enhancing schools.
ChatGPT Will Soon Be Able to Remember Your Conversations
ChatGPT is getting a new feature: memory. OpenAI said Tuesday that it is testing a feature that will allow ChatGPT to remember things users discuss with the chatbot in future conversations.
The changes should make the chatbot, which amassed 100 million users in two months when it launched in 2022, more conversational.
OpenAI said that it was taking steps to ensure ChatGPT won’t automatically log what it calls “sensitive information,” such as information about your health.
However, like everything users feed into the chatbot, the company said it may use your memories to train future versions of the AI model — so be careful what you type into it.
Harvard University Receives ‘Lifetime Censorship Award’ From Free Speech Group: ‘No One Is Safe From the Possibility of Censorship’
A chaotic and controversial stretch at Harvard University has led to a dubious distinction from a free speech watchdog group.
The Cambridge campus has received the “Lifetime Censorship Award” from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. This comes after Harvard came in last on FIRE’s College Free Speech Rankings — achieving a worst-ever score last year.
The free speech group also noted that Harvard has punished faculty and students for their speech. Harvard joins Georgetown University, Yale University, Syracuse University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and DePaul University on FIRE’s list of Lifetime Censorship Award recipients.
“This year’s list goes to show that no one is safe from the possibility of censorship,” said FIRE President and CEO Greg Lukianoff. “Americans of all ages and professions are being pushed into a corner when trying to express themselves freely: Shut up or be shut up. Censorship is an abuse of authority and a poor substitute for honest dialogue, and FIRE is here to fight it every step of the way.”
FBI Reveals Controversial Spy Tool Foiled Terror Plot as Congress Debates Overhaul
The FBI revealed it used a controversial foreign surveillance tool to foil a terrorist plot on U.S. soil last year, part of a series of last-minute disclosures it hopes will sway Congress as lawmakers debate overhauling the measure later this week.
The bureau shared three newly declassified instances with POLITICO in which its access to data collected under the digital spying authority — codified in Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act — allowed it to protect national security, including one in which it thwarted a “potentially imminent terrorist attack” against U.S. critical infrastructure last year.
The House is expected to vote as early as Thursday on whether to approve a major change to the foreign surveillance authority, which has faced backlash because it also sweeps in data from Americans. That change would require bureau analysts to acquire a warrant or court order before searching a database of emails, texts and other digital communications of foreigners for information on U.S. citizens.
The proposal has support from lawmakers in both parties, and the FBI is on a campaign to sway those who are undecided or willing to reconsider.
Second Circuit Set to Hear Oral Arguments in Rumble’s Free Speech Case Against New York’s Online Censorship Law
The upcoming hearing on February 16 before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit represents a pivotal moment in the fight for free speech online.
This court session will address the significant concerns raised by Eugene Volokh, a renowned First Amendment professor and legal blogger, alongside social media platforms Rumble and Locals. These parties have joined forces with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a leading national group advocating for free speech, to challenge a contentious New York law.
Rumble’s Chairman and CEO, Chris Pavlovski, expressed a strong stance against the law, emphasizing Rumble’s dedication to safeguarding free speech.
Pavlovski remarked, “New York’s law commands social media platforms to crack down on a variety of forms of protected speech, and fighting to defend that speech is the very reason Rumble exists. We cannot let activist governments continue to chip away at the freedom of expression, which is one of the most basic of all human rights. We are grateful to our partners in this fight, Locals, Eugene Volokh, and FIRE, for helping to carry the torch of freedom with us.”
Google’s Gemini AI Keeps Your Conversations for up to 3 Years (Even If You Delete Them)
Have you got a secret you don’t want anyone to know? Don’t tell any of humanity’s fancy new AI-powered assistants because the companies behind these new tools are probably keeping your data a lot longer than you think.
Google’s Gemini, the AI assistant formerly known as Bard, has received rave reviews, with many people hailing it as heads above OpenAI’s ChatGPT. But if you plan on using Gemini, it might be a good idea to give the privacy policy a quick read-through.
Not only does Google explicitly warn users not to give Gemini any sensitive information they wouldn’t want a human reviewer to read, but Google is also retaining many of your questions to help make their tools better. In fact, everything you tell Gemini might be kept by the company for up to three years — even if you delete all your information from the app.
Microsoft and OpenAI Say Hacking Groups Are Using AI as Part of Cyberattack Efforts
Microsoft (MSFT) and OpenAI released a report on Wednesday saying that hacking groups from China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia are increasingly probing the use of AI large language models (LLMs) to improve their chances of successfully launching cyberattacks.
According to the report, the state-affiliated groups are using AI to understand everything from satellite technology to how to develop malicious code that can evade detection by cybersecurity software.
“Cybercrime groups, nation-state threat actors, and other adversaries are exploring and testing different AI technologies as they emerge, in an attempt to understand potential value to their operations and the security controls they may need to circumvent,” the companies said in the report.
The EU’s Online Content Rulebook Isn’t Ready for Primetime
“The time of big online platforms behaving like they are ‘too big to care’ has come to an end,” said Thierry Breton, whose role includes overseeing the new social media standards that come into full force on Feb. 17. “We now have clear rules.”
Despite Breton’s public confidence in the European Union’s landmark digital content playbook, internal power struggles, strained resources and limited expertise threaten to hamstring the legislation — with the European Parliament election mere months away.
EU politicians still hope the rules will thwart electoral digital interference, quell widespread political misinformation and show Europeans that Brussels could stand up to Big Tech. As things stand though, the rulebook may have more bark than bite.
