Big Brother News Watch
California Church Must Pay $1.2 Million for Breaking COVID Rules + More
California Church Must Pay $1.2 Million for Breaking COVID Rules
A California church that defied safety regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic by holding large, unmasked religious services must pay $1.2 million in fines, a judge has ruled.
Calvary Chapel in San Jose was fined last week for ignoring Santa Clara County’s mask-wearing rules between November 2020 and June 2021. The church will appeal, attorney Mariah Gondeiro told the San Jose Mercury News.
Calvary was one of several large California evangelical churches that flouted state and local mask-wearing and social distancing rules designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 during its deadliest period.
That has led to a tangled web of court rulings and challenges. Calvary Chapel sued the county, arguing the health orders violated its religious freedom. Various courts have ruled either in favor of the church or the county.
Meta Urged to Halt Plans Allowing Minors Into the Metaverse
Dozens of advocacy organizations and children’s safety experts are calling on Meta Platforms Inc. to terminate its plans to allow minors into its new virtual reality world.
Meta is planning to invite teenagers and young adults to join its metaverse app, Horizon Worlds, in the coming months. But the groups and experts that signed the letter, which was sent to Meta Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg on Friday, argue that minors will face harassment and privacy violations on the virtual reality app, which is only in its early stages.
“Meta must wait for more peer-reviewed research on the potential risks of the metaverse to be certain that children and teens would be safe,” wrote the groups, led by online safety groups including Fairplay, the Center for Countering Digital Hate, Common Sense Media and others.
The letter points to a March report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate that found users under 18 are already facing harassment from adults on the app. Researchers with the center witnessed 19 episodes of abuse directed at minors by adults, including sexual harassment, during 100 visits to the most popular worlds within Horizon Universe.
Meta has faced widespread scrutiny over the effect of its products on the mental health of youngsters. A Facebook whistleblower in 2021 accused the company of placing profits over safety and failing to protect children, particularly teenage girls who spent excessive amounts of time on Instagram.
TikTok Might Be Part of a Plot to Make Us Dumber
Palantir chief executive Alex Karp is best known for his artificial intelligence platform, but his biggest idea might be his insistence upon rescuing the West from influences that damage the nation’s intelligence.
I happened to catch Karp on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Thursday morning, talking to “Too Big to Fail” author Andrew Ross Sorkin about TikTok. When most people express concern about China’s most insidious export as a national security threat, they tend to think about the platform’s ability to retrieve massive amounts of data. They see TikTok as the ultimate spyware — a cartoonish medium that snatches our secrets while we’re distracted by the vanities.
Karp has a different take. He says China is deliberately and strategically using TikTok to make us, meaning the West, “dumber and slower.” It’s the ultimate sleeper agent and a weapon to weaken us from within. He isn’t alone in his thinking. National Security Agency Director Gen. Paul Nakasone has warned that Chinese control of TikTok’s algorithm could allow China to deploy influence operations among Western populations.
Lawyer: Return to Military Service a Challenge After Vaccine Mandate Lifted
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Military required service members to get the vaccine, with very few exceptions. Those refusing were usually given a �?general discharge’ and had to leave their careers. The vaccine mandate was dropped, and some of those who left service, want to return.
Military Law attorney Sean Timmons with Tully Rinckey PLLC has represented active duty and veterans for 15 years. He said for those separated when they refused the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine, it was a tough choice.
“They ruined 10,000-plus careers by sabotaging people’s livelihoods, throwing them out arbitrarily,” he said. He said quite a few want back in now that the pandemic has waned and COVID vaccine requirements were lifted by the Department of Defense back in January.
“Everyone else is kind of withering at the recruiting station to see if they’re going to be eligible to get back in because they have to go back through the screening process,” he said. Timmons said that includes background checks, physical fitness standards, and for some getting security clearances back, a process that takes months or years.
House Democrat Presses TikTok CEO for �?Unanswered’ Questions on Data Privacy, Kids’ Safety
The top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee is pressing TikTok to answer questions raised by members of the panel about data privacy, kids’ online safety and national security concerns.
Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (N.J.), ranking Democrat on the Energy and Commerce panel, sent a letter to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew pressing him to address “unanswered questions” raised by members of the panel during a hearing with the top executive last month.
“We were hoping that you could allay some of our concerns at the hearing, but unfortunately many of our questions remain unanswered,” Pallone wrote, asking Shou to reply by April 27.
The questions ask TikTok to detail how it collects and uses data, as well as specifically how it caters to minors on the platform.
Coalition Sues California Attorney General Over Alleged Social Media Censorship
A coalition including satire website The Babylon Bee, social media company Minds, Inc., and podcaster Tim Pool has sued California Attorney General Rob Bonta for enforcing a state law they claim is unconstitutional on the grounds it violates free speech.
The legislation, authored by Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel (D-Encino), regulates social media platforms, requiring them to report data on the enforcement of their moderation policies to the state.
“The public and policymakers deserve to know when and how social media companies are amplifying certain voices and silencing others,” Gabriel said in a statement. “This is an important first step in a broader effort to protect our democracy and better regulate social media platforms.”
The law also mandates social media companies publicly post their policies regarding “hate speech,” “disinformation,” “extremism,” and “radicalization” on their platforms.
Inside the U.S. Government’s Fight to Ban TikTok
For nearly three years, the U.S. government has tried to ban TikTok. Concerns over the app’s alleged risks to national security have spanned two presidential administrations and forged alliances among Republicans and Democrats. At a time of heightened partisanship, TikTok and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, have become the focus of anti-China policy — a convenient villain most lawmakers are prepared to fight.
Last month, that outrage hit a fever pitch. The Biden administration reportedly threatened to ban TikTok if it didn’t find an American owner. House lawmakers brought the company’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, in for an explosive hearing. At the same time, a group of senators introduced the RESTRICT Act, a bill authorizing the government to ban the app and others like it. This maelstrom of action has proved that the government is more determined to ban TikTok than ever before.
But with a ban seemingly on the horizon, critics fear actions to take TikTok offline could do more to chill free speech on the internet than to protect the safety and security of American user data. Other experts argue the government’s attacks against the app are unjustified, claiming there’s little evidence to prove the app has inflicted more harm than Facebook or Google.
Montana Close to Becoming 1st State to Completely Ban TikTok
Montana lawmakers moved one step closer Thursday to passing a bill to ban TikTok from operating in the state, a move that’s bound to face legal challenges but also serve as a testing ground for the TikTok-free America that many national lawmakers have envisioned.
Montana’s proposal, which has backing from the state’s GOP-controlled legislature, is more sweeping than bans in place in nearly half the states and the U.S. federal government that prohibit TikTok on government devices.
The House endorsed the bill 60-39 on Thursday. A final House vote will likely take place Friday before the bill goes to Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte. He has banned TikTok on government devices in Montana. The Senate passed the bill 30-20 in March.
European Data Protection Board Launches ChatGPT Task Force
The EU’s European Data Protection Board, or EDPB, is launching a task force to monitor ChatGPT, a move that indicates that the bloc’s privacy regulators are getting serious about looking into the LLM’s potential privacy violations.
The EDPB announced its new initiative in a brief, two-sentence statement in a press release on Thursday, the same day the Spanish Data Protection Agency, known as the AEPD in Spanish, stated it was launching a preliminary investigation into OpenAI over possible privacy violations by ChatGPT. The Spanish regulator joined Italy, which became the first country in the world to ban ChatGPT, albeit temporarily, in scrutinizing the chatbot.
The EDPB is charged with ensuring the General Data Protection Regulation, Europe’s landmark privacy law, is applied consistently throughout the EU and includes the data protection authorities of each member state. The Spanish regulator had asked the board to review the ChatGPT issue last week due to the chatbot’s “large potential impact on the public’s privacy rights.”
Joe Rogan Issues Warning After AI-Generated Version of His Podcast Surfaces + More
Joe Rogan Issues Warning After AI-Generated Version of His Podcast Surfaces
Joe Rogan has warned of the growing threats posed by artificial intelligence (AI) after a version of his podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience,” was created entirely through the use of AI technology, sparking concern among listeners. “This is going to get very slippery, kids,” Rogan wrote on Twitter on April 11 in response to a video of the fake show shared on the social media platform by content creator Farzad Mesbahi.
The fake video is titled “Joe Rogan AI Experience Episode #001” and features “guest” Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, the creator of the artificial intelligence system ChatGPT.
Throughout the fake podcast, the AI-generated host “Rogan” and AI-generated guest “Altman” discuss various subjects including the future of AI, ethical issues surrounding such advanced technology, whether or not advanced AI could take jobs away from American workers, and, rather ironically, concerns regarding fake AI content, among other issues.
Rogan fans expressed their concerns over the AI-generated show, with many noting how realistic it is. Others shared their worries about the pace at which AI technology is progressing. The video comes as experts have warned of limited planning and management regarding advanced AI systems despite companies in recent months racing to deploy more powerful AI technologies.
Amazon Leaps Headlong Into the AI Rat Race
If you thought big daddy Amazon would stay out of the AI rat race, then you’d be wrong. The online retail giant is initially staying away from any user-side generative AI to start and is instead offering a business-centric model through its Amazon Web Services.
The Wall Street Journal first reported that Amazon had finally decided to join its big tech brothers Microsoft, Google, and Meta in the AI shoving match. According to the report, Amazon isn’t really offering its own AI, but is sitting back and offering a “neutral platform” for businesses to incorporate separate AI models.
AWS is going to offer access to Anthropic’s Claude chatbot, Stability AI’s image generation services, and AI21 Labs’ large language model that powers programs like Wordtune Spices. There’s also Amazon Titan, the company’s own language model, but according to the report Amazon isn’t designing its own ChatGPT-like interface.
All this means the online retail giant isn’t putting any multi-billion dollar investments into a separate company like Microsoft has with OpenAI or sinking billions of dollars into generative artificial intelligence like Google and Meta have. The only direct competition is Amazon’s new CodeWhisperer, a generative AI model used to generate code. Microsoft’s similar GitHub CoPilot has already been sued by developers who say Microsoft blatantly ignored their code license.
Several News Organizations Go Silent on Twitter After Elon Musk Adds ‘Government-Funded Media’ Label to Some Accounts
Elon Musk‘s decision to label some news organizations as “government-funded media” on Twitter has led to various outlets quitting the platform.
Twitter on Sunday added the label to some media accounts, including NPR and the BBC. Twitter’s label has prompted at least four other news organizations to go silent on Musk’s platform.
Public Broadcasting Service, a U.S. broadcaster, told Axios it stopped sharing posts from its Twitter account after the “government-funded media” label was added to its account over the weekend.
Mayor Adams and NYPD Unveil Dystopian Robot Dog to Fight Crime
Mayor Eric Adams and the New York City Police Department have reintroduced the controversial robotic dog for surveillance patrols, and there’s another surprise this time: an R2-D2-style robot. These robots are set to debut in Times Square, making this already bustling area of the city appear even more than dystopian ever.
According to local news ABC 7, Mayor Adams said Tuesday he is modernizing the NYPD with the latest technology to fight crime.
The return of the $74,000 Boston Dynamics’ four-legged robotic dog called “Digidog” is set to assist the NYPD in investigating high-risk or hazardous incidents. Digidog first appeared on the streets in 2020 and was shelved months later after civil rights advocates called the technology ‘aggressive policing.’
Besides the robotic canine, the NYPD will add a K5 Autonomous Security Robot to its force and the StarChase GPS system. Think of the K5 robot as Robocop; Its R2-D2 style with real-time situational awareness and cameras will allow the NYPD to monitor streets. There’s yet to be a word if the police will be operating facial tracking software from the robot’s cameras.
Bill Would Let Parents �?Opt Out’ of School Mask Mandates
Alabama lawmakers on Wednesday advanced legislation aimed at letting parents bypass requirements for students to wear face masks in school.
The House Health Committee approved the legislation that harkens back to disputes over public health orders during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill says parents of a student at a K-12 school have the right to “opt his or her child out” of any policy for students to wear a face covering at school, at a school function, on a school bus or at a school bus stop.
The bill now moves to the full Alabama House of Representatives for debate. “This is a parental rights bill,” Republican Rep. Chip Brown, the sponsor of the bill, told the committee. “It’s a bill that basically says, as a parent, that I should make the health decisions for my children, not the state.”
Two Million People Bolted From America’s Major Cities Since the Lockdowns
Millions of people left major cities in the United States between 2020 and 2022, years dominated by government lockdown policies and elevated crime rates, according to an analysis released last week by the Economic Innovation Group.
Data released by the Census Bureau at the end of last month demonstrate that counties home to major cities in California, Illinois and New York witnessed the nation’s most stark numeric population decline last year, while those home to major cities in Arizona, Texas, and Florida saw the largest numeric population growth.
Los Angeles County, California, lost more residents than any other county in the United States as the population fell by 91,000 between July 2021 and July 2022. Cook County, Illinois, whose county seat is Chicago, saw its population decrease by 68,000 over the same time horizon.
Population trends correspond with the cities and states which enforced aggressive lockdown mandates. California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom only reversed the state of emergency established amid the spread of COVID as late as February 2023, while Chicago Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot informed unvaccinated residents as late as December 2021 that their “time is up” and said her health mandates were “inconvenient by design.”
Exclusive: Most People Are Put Off by TikTok’s Personal Data Gathering
People have strong feelings about TikTok harvesting and accessing sensitive data about them, according to our survey of 1,000 TechRadar Pro readers (500 in the U.S. and 500 in the U.K.).
We found that the majority of those that use the platform do care if the company tracks their biometric data, the way they look, or if it harvests the data generated through their devices’ sensors.
What’s more, the majority of those using the platform would either be “very nervous” or “cautious” about the possibility of TikTok accessing their sensitive data. When asked if they thought TikTok gathered more sensitive data compared to other social media companies, the majority on both sides of the pond said they didn’t know, and some also added that it didn’t really matter.
AI Experts Urge E.U. to Tighten the Reins on Tools Like ChatGPT
A group of prominent artificial intelligence researchers is calling on the European Union to expand its proposed rules for the technology to expressly target tools like ChatGPT, arguing in a new brief that such a move could “set the regulatory tone” globally.
The E.U.’s AI Act initially proposed new transparency and safety requirements for specific “high-risk” uses of the software, such as in education or law enforcement. But it sidestepped so-called “general purpose” AI, like OpenAI’s popular chatbot, which can serve many functions.
Now, as tech companies rush to integrate AI into more everyday products, a group of top AI scholars is calling on E.U. officials to treat tools like ChatGPT as “high risk,” too.
The brief, signed by former Google AI ethicist Timnit Gebru and Mozilla Foundation President Mark Surman, among dozens of others, calls for European leaders to take an “expansive” approach to what they cover under their proposed rules, warning that “technologies such as ChatGPT, DALL-E 2, and Bard are just the tip of the iceberg.”
While chatbots like ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Bard are currently generating significant attention, the group cautioned policymakers against focusing too narrowly on them, which “would ignore a large class of models which could cause significant harm if left unchecked.”
It’s Time to End the Five-Day Isolation Guidance for COVID + More
It’s Time to End the Five-Day Isolation Guidance for COVID
The United States is set to end its public health emergency in May, and the World Health Organization has indicated it will also declare an end to the pandemic soon.
But there is one lingering residual: the five-day isolation period following a COVID diagnosis. We believe it’s time for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to retire that policy and move to an alternative guidance: Stay home when sick; return to work and school when you are better.
This is especially important for kids. Extensive evidence shows that time away from school due to COVID has worsened learning loss, screen addiction, the teen mental health crisis and obesity rates. Schools are playing catch-up not only for academics but also social and emotional learning. While many schools have been open for in-person instruction for more than two years, the mandatory five-day isolation period means educational disruptions continue.
It is incumbent upon health officials to keep the number of days that children have to be out of school to an absolute minimum. We also must recognize that it’s not only children who are harmed by the five-day isolation requirements but also the caregivers of children who are too young to stay alone at home. During this time of staffing shortages across many industries, especially in healthcare, we must consider this negative impact on society.
Google Drops Vaccine Mandate for Its Buildings Worldwide
Google is dropping the COVID-19 vaccine requirement it has had in place since the life-saving shots became available as the coronavirus pandemic raged.
“Most people today have some level of immunity against COVID-19, case rates and hospitalizations have stabilized for many months now, and governments all around the world — including the U.S. — are ending emergency declarations, lifting restrictions and ending vaccination mandates,” the company’s vice president of global security Chris Rackow wrote in a memo obtained by CNBC. “Vaccines will no longer be required as a condition of entry to any of our buildings.”
During the height of the pandemic, Google was adamant about keeping unvaccinated people outside its doors, even threatening them with pay cuts or job loss. Twice it attempted office comebacks that were delayed by the onset of new strains.
San Diego Paying Out $110K to Settle Lawsuits Challenging Vaccine Mandate for City Workers
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported:
San Diego is paying out $110,000 to settle two lawsuits challenging the city’s controversial COVID-19 vaccine mandate for its workers, which the City Council repealed this winter.
The city is paying out $70,000 to a group called Protection for the Educational Rights of Kids, which sued over the mandate in state court, and $40,000 to ReOpen San Diego, which filed a federal lawsuit.
The controversial vaccine mandate led to the firing of 14 employees and to resignations by more than 130 police officers. The labor union representing city police officers suggested in January that the litigation helped prompt the repeal.
The union has called the mandate a “shortsighted” policy and blamed it for higher crime rates and slower response times to emergencies.
Alex Berenson Sues Biden, Pfizer Board Member Over Twitter Ban
Former New York Times reporter Alex Berenson on April 12 sued President Joe Biden and a Pfizer board member over the pressure placed on Twitter to ban him.
Berenson, now an independent journalist, was suspended from Twitter in 2021 after top Biden administration officials and Pfizer board member Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), urged the social media company to take action against him.
Twitter initially resisted the pressure but ultimately banned Berenson from the platform. Berenson later settled a suit with Twitter, which acknowledged it should not have banned him.
Now he’s targeting the officials who pressured Twitter, including Gottlieb and Dr. Andrew Slavitt, a one-time White House COVID-19 official.
GOP House Judiciary Chairman Subpoenas FTC Over Twitter Probe
House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan on Wednesday subpoenaed Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan as part of his panel’s investigation into the agency’s probe of Elon Musk‘s purchase of Twitter.
The House subcommittee investigating the so-called weaponization of the federal government has made Twitter — and the federal government’s relationship with the social media platform — a central focus of its investigative efforts, particularly as it relates to free speech and the First Amendment.
The subpoena demands the FTC turn over a series of documents and internal communications relating to the agency’s investigation of Musk’s acquisition of Twitter by April 26.
Jordan asserts in a letter accompanying the subpoena that the FTC has “abused its statutory and enforcement authorities” and cites a report released by the subcommittee last month alleging the agency “made inappropriate and burdensome demands coinciding with Elon Musk’s acquisition of the company.”
After an Investigation Exposes Its Dangers, Pinterest Announces New Safety Tools and Parental Controls
Following last month’s NBC News investigation into Pinterest that exposed how pedophiles had been using the service to curate image boards of young girls, the company on Tuesday announced further safety measures for its platform, including a new set of parental controls and updated age verification policies, among other things. However, the company also said that it would soon re-open some of its previously locked-down features for teens to allow them to once again message and share content with others.
Immediately after the report, two U.S. Senators reached out to Pinterest for answers about what was being done and to push for more safety measures. The company said it increased the number of human content moderators on its team and added new features that allow users to report content and accounts for “Nudity, pornography or sexualized content,” including those involving “intentional misuse involving minors.” Before, it had only allowed users to report spam or inappropriate cover images.
Now, the company is announcing even more safety controls are in the works. For starters, it says it will expand its age verification process. By the end of this month, if someone who entered their age as under 18 tries to edit their date of birth on the Pinterest app, the company will require them to send additional information to its third-party age verification partner. This process includes sending a government ID or birth certificate and may also require the users to take a selfie for an ID photo.
In addition, Pinterest announced it will soon offer more parental controls. Parents and guardians of children under the age of 18 will have the ability to require a passcode before their teen is allowed to change certain account settings. This would prevent a younger child from trying to change their account to an adult’s age — which matters because minors’ accounts have further protections.
Google Antitrust Cases at a Crossroads as Giant Seeks Early Knockout
A federal court this week will hear arguments over Google’s motion to dismiss a pair of blockbuster antitrust lawsuits targeting its sprawling search engine business, marking a critical juncture for U.S. authorities’ efforts to bring the tech giants to heel.
Google is pushing for summary judgment in the two cases, brought by the Justice Department and a bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general respectively. If granted, it would head off a high-stakes trial and deal a massive blow to antitrust enforcers.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, who is leading the state lawsuit against Google, called it the “most significant such case” since the landmark U.S. v. Microsoft Corp. antitrust case over two decades ago. And he said that if Google’s move succeeds, it would deprive the government of a chance to rein in anti-competitive harms they allege there’s already abundant proof of.
FBI Says Public Phone Chargers May Put Your Data at Risk: What to Know + More
FBI Says Public Phone Chargers May Put Your Data at Risk: What to Know
Many of us know the dread of a phone battery on 1% and the panic of watching its screen flicker out. But rushing to plug your phone into a public charging station in a hotel, airport or cafe could be risky, according to a recent warning from the FBI.
“Bad actors have figured out ways to use public USB ports to introduce malware and monitoring software onto devices,” FBI Denver wrote in a tweet. “Avoid using free charging stations in airports, hotels or shopping centers.” Its advice: Carry your own charger and USB cord and use an electrical outlet to power up your device instead.
The alert from the FBI is only the latest instance of government concern over what’s known as “juice jacking,” a cybercrime in which a hacker uses public USB ports to steal data, such as credit card numbers, or install malware on a user’s device.
Ritesh Chugh, an associate professor and technology and society expert at Central Queensland University, wrote in an email that public charging docks are a “significant privacy hazard.” Research has shown that in less than 10 seconds, a malicious charging station can identify the web pages loaded on your phone’s browser, he wrote, while “as little as one minute of charging time may be adequate for compromising a user’s phone.”
Should California Push Sexually Transmitted Disease Vaccine for Teens? Bill Could Mandate It
A California lawmaker wanted to push more middle schoolers to get vaccinated against a sexually-transmitted disease that causes cancer. But now she’s shifting her efforts to college students.
Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, D-Winters, authored a bill that would have added the human papillomavirus, or HPV, vaccine to a list of shots required for eighth-grade enrollment. But amendments to her bill have since stripped the enforcement provision from the middle school requirement, stating that students entering eighth grade are “expected to be fully immunized.”
The newer version of the bill would still require the HPV vaccine in the University of California and California State University systems. Students enrolling at public colleges would need to get HPV shots to attend classes.
Biden Administration Considers Rules for AI Systems Like ChatGPT
The Biden administration on Tuesday took a step toward regulating artificial intelligence, as the overnight explosion of A.I. tools like ChatGPT spurs scrutiny from regulators around the globe.
The Commerce Department asked the public to weigh in on how it could create regulations that would ensure A.I. systems work as advertised and minimize harm.
Tools like ChatGPT have dazzled the public with their ability to engage in humanlike conversations and write essays. But the technology’s swift evolution has prompted new fears that it may perpetuate bias and amplify misinformation.
In recent weeks, the government’s interest in A.I. has accelerated, as consumer advocates and technologists alike descend on Washington, aiming to influence the debate. As companies compete to bring new A.I. tools to market, policymakers are struggling to both foster innovation in the tech sector while limiting public harm.
Biden Ends COVID National Emergency After Congress Acts
The U.S. national emergency to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic ended Monday as President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan congressional resolution to bring it to a close after three years — weeks before it was set to expire alongside a separate public health emergency.
The national emergency allowed the government to take sweeping steps to respond to the virus and support the country’s economic, health and welfare systems. Some of the emergency measures have already been successfully wound down, while others are still being phased out. The public health emergency — it underpins tough immigration restrictions at the U.S.-Mexico border — is set to expire on May 11.
SUNY Announces End of COVID Vaccine Mandate for Students
SUNY announced that it is no longer mandatory for students to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in order to attend classes.
According to SUNY Chancellor John B. King, Jr., the updated guidance applies to all 64 campuses across the state. However, students, staff, and faculty will be strongly encouraged to stay up to date on the vaccines. King says that the safety of students is SUNY’s top priority.
This announcement comes after President Biden announced the end of the COVID-19 national emergency, with some emergency measures in the midst of being phased out.
Research With Exotic Viruses Risks a Deadly Outbreak, Scientists Warn
When the U.S. government was looking for help to scour Southeast Asia’s rainforests for exotic viruses, scientists from Thailand’s Chulalongkorn University accepted the assignment and the funding that came with it, giving little thought to the risks.
The goal was to identify unknown viruses that might someday threaten humans. But doubts about the safety of the research began to simmer after the virus hunters were repeatedly bitten by bats and, in 2016, when another worker stuck herself with a needle while trying to extract blood from an animal.
As if to underscore the risks, in 2018 another lab on the same Bangkok campus — a workspace built specifically to handle dangerous pathogens — was shut down for months because of mechanical failures, including a breakdown in a ventilation system that guards against leaks of airborne microbes. Then, in a catastrophe that began in Wuhan, a Chinese city 1,500 miles away, the coronavirus pandemic swept the globe, becoming a terrifying case study in how a single virus of uncertain origin can spread exponentially.
In spring 2021, the Thai team’s leader pulled the plug, deciding that the millions of dollars of U.S. research money for virus hunting did not justify the risk.
Governments and private researchers continue building high-containment laboratories to work with the most menacing pathogens, despite a lack of safety standards or regulatory authorities in some countries, science and policy experts said. Meanwhile, U.S. agencies continue to funnel millions of dollars annually into overseas research, such as virus hunting, that some scientists say exposes local populations to risks while offering few tangible benefits.
Nurse Fired Over COVID Concerns Sues Alberta Health Services for $3.7 Million
A nurse is suing Alberta Health Services (AHS) for firing her after she publicly criticized AHS’ handling of patient care during the pandemic and its treatment of unvaccinated patients and staff.
Debra Carritt says she first went through official channels with her concerns, from her direct manager up through to the province’s health minister. When that failed, she went to the media. Among the concerns she voiced about AHS, as outlined in her statement of claim filed March 17, was, “open discrimination, judgment, and hostility towards un-vaccinated patients and staff.”
Carritt says the AHS staff COVID-vaccination policy, which went into effect September 2021, caused staff shortages, something she had warned AHS about. She said AHS disregarded valid vaccine accommodation requests, such as requests by pregnant and breastfeeding staff worried about the novel nature of the vaccine.
The statement of claim says Carritt’s warnings proved valid when a staff shortage led AHS to modify its vaccination policy in December 2021 to allow for targeted virus testing as an alternative to vaccination.
Alibaba Now Has a ChatGPT Rival for Its Cloud Customers to Use
In an effort to keep pace with its Western rivals, the huge Chinese-based multinational Alibaba now has its own Large Language Model (LLM) to rival ChatGPT.
Just like the popular ChatGPT, Tongyi Qianwen, to give it its full name, can be given short instructions or prompts in natural language to automatically generate new content and perform other complex tasks in an instant. Eventually, Alibaba hopes to incorporate the chatbot into its numerous services.
