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Snapchat’s Disappearing Message Function Helped Teenagers Obtain Fentanyl With Deadly Consequences, Lawsuit Argues

Insider reported:

Snapchat’s disappearing message feature helped enable the sale of fentanyl to teenagers who went on to die of overdoses, a lawsuit claimed.

According to a filing in a Los Angeles court seen by Insider, parents of teens who died from Fentanyl overdoses are pursuing Snap for strict product liability over what they claim is a design defect in the social media app Snapchat.

The lawsuit stated that Snapchat is marketed to minors and that the erasing messages function encourages drug dealers to use the social media app.

One of the parents’ lawyers, Laura Marquez-Garrett of the Social Media Victims Law Center, previously led a lawsuit against Meta alleging Instagram caused eating disorders among children.

Judge Rules Fauci Be Deposed in Lawsuit Alleging White House Worked With Big Tech to Censor Speech

Fox News reported:

A federal judge has ordered Dr. Anthony Fauci and other Biden officials to be deposed as part of a lawsuit against the Biden administration, alleging that the government colluded with social media companies to censor free speech related to the coronavirus and other controversial topics.

According to a court order from the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty concluded that Fauci’s high-profile public comments have made him a key figure in the lawsuit from the Republican attorneys general of Louisiana and Missouri who allege that “collusion” between the Biden administration and social media companies to censor coronavirus-related speech that could be damaging to the White House.

In addition to Fauci, several other current or former White House officials will be required to testify, including former White House press secretary Jen Psaki.

Test Scores Show Historic COVID Setbacks for Kids Across U.S.

Associated Press reported:

The COVID-19 pandemic spared no state or region as it caused historic learning setbacks for America’s children, erasing decades of academic progress and widening racial disparities, according to results of a national test that provide the sharpest look yet at the scale of the crisis.

Across the country, math scores saw their largest decreases ever. Reading scores dropped to 1992 levels. Nearly four in 10 eighth graders failed to grasp basic math concepts. Not a single state saw a notable improvement in their average test scores, with some simply treading water at best.

Those are the findings from the National Assessment of Educational Progress — known as the “nation’s report card” — which tested hundreds of thousands of fourth and eighth graders across the country this year. It was the first time the test had been given since 2019, and it’s seen as the first nationally representative study of the pandemic’s impact on learning.

It’s no surprise that children are behind. The pandemic upended every facet of life and left millions learning from home for months or more. The results released Monday reveal the depth of those setbacks and the size of the challenge facing schools as they help students catch up.

Inslee’s $1K COVID Booster Bonus Largely Unpopular, New WA Poll Shows

The Seattle Times reported:

Gov. Jay Inslee’s plan to offer $1,000 to state workers who get their Omicron-specific COVID-19 booster was met with widespread skepticism among Washingtonians, with 57% unsupportive of a financial incentive in general, a new statewide poll shows.

Results from the WA Poll, conducted among 875 Washington adults earlier this month, showed widespread uncertainty about the plan, which was announced in early September. Over 1 in 5 people instead supported a booster mandate.

Overall, about 27% of respondents approved of the booster incentive, while about 22% thought the state should require the booster without an incentive and 35% disapproved of a bonus and requirement.

Your COVID Vaccine Records Might Eventually Be Destroyed Because of Texas Law

Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported:

The COVID-19 vaccination records of at least 9.6 million Texans will be destroyed five years after the statewide public health disaster ends unless state officials manage to contact all vaccine recipients and ask whether they want the records preserved.

The unusual situation is a result of state law. In most states, when a patient receives a vaccine, that information is shared with the state’s vaccine registry unless a patient opts out. But in Texas the situation is flipped: Vaccine information is automatically not stored in the state’s vaccine registry, unless the person receiving the vaccine signs paperwork to consent to share that information.

In a public health emergency, like COVID-19, that requirement is waived: All vaccines and treatments given during an emergency must be reported to the Texas government, regardless of whether the patient has signed a consent agreement. But five years after the disaster is declared over, all of that information must be destroyed, unless the patients agree to preserve it, according to Texas statute.

Youngkin, Gilbert Oppose Adding COVID Vaccines to State List

Associated Press reported:

Virginia Republican elected leaders said this week they will oppose any legislative effort to add the COVID-19 vaccine to the state’s list of required immunizations.

The announcement from GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin and House Speaker Todd Gilbert came after the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a panel of U.S. vaccine experts, said that COVID-19 shots should be added to lists of recommended vaccinations for kids and adults.

Virginia, for example, does not require the annual flu vaccine to attend school — even though it appears on the CDC’s schedule.

“Under state law, the only way to create a mandate would either be through rule-making by the Board of Health, which would not happen until 2024 or through an action of the General Assembly, which will not happen while I am Speaker,” Gilbert said in a statement Friday.

Spain Drops All Remaining COVID Travel Restrictions, Including for U.K. Citizens

Euronews reported:

Spain has lifted all its remaining COVID restrictions. It was the only European country that still had restrictions in place for non-EU travelers.

From October 21, 2022, both EU and non-EU citizens no longer had to show proof of vaccination, recovery or a negative COVID test. Tourists are also no longer required to complete a health control form prior to travel.

Last month, the popular destination dropped all entry rules for anyone arriving from the EU or Schengen area. But U.K., U.S. and other tourists were still subject to restrictions. It was thought these would last until at least mid-November, but they have been lifted earlier than expected.

How Google’s Former CEO Eric Schmidt Helped Write AI Laws in Washington Without Publicly Disclosing Investments in AI Startups

CNBC reported:

About four years ago, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt was appointed to the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence by the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

It was a powerful perch. Congress tasked the new group with a broad mandate: to advise the U.S. government on how to advance the development of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and other technologies to enhance the national security of the United States.

Five months after his appointment, Schmidt made a little-noticed private investment in an initial seed round of financing for a start-up company called Beacon, which uses AI in the company’s supply chain products for shippers who manage freight logistics, according to CNBC’s review of investment data in database Crunchbase.

Schmidt’s investment was just the first of a handful of direct investments he would make in AI start-up companies during his tenure as chairman of the AI commission. “It’s absolutely a conflict of interest,” said Walter Shaub, a senior ethics fellow at the Project on Government Oversight, and the former director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics.

How Tiktok’s Algorithm Made It a Success: ‘It Pushes the Boundaries’

The Guardian reported:

It is, quite literally, the trillion-dollar question: how did TikTok go from a niche social network for lip-syncing teens to the most popular app in the western world, threatening to knock Facebook off its perch entirely, in just a few short years?

The most powerful tool TikTok has to grab users and keep them hooked is the company’s feted “For You Page”, the FYP, and the algorithm that populates it.

The FYP is the default screen new users see when opening the app. Even if you don’t follow a single other account, you’ll find it immediately populated with a never-ending stream of short clips culled from what’s popular across the service. That decision already gave the company a leg-up compared to the competition: a Facebook or Twitter account with no friends or followers is a lonely, barren place, but TikTok is engaging from day one.

It’s what happens next that is the company’s secret sauce, though. As you scroll through the FYP, the makeup of videos you’re presented with slowly begins to change, until, the app’s regular users say, it becomes almost uncannily good at predicting what videos from around the site are going to pique your interest.