covid-19
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YouTube has pulled 30,000 videos to make false claims about COVID-19 vaccines
YouTube has pulled 30,000 videos for sharing misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccines, Axios reports. Details on the takedowns come six months after the company first updated its policies to address misinformation about the coronavirus vaccines.
Prior to October, YouTube had more general coronavirus misinformation policies, but those didn’t specifically address vaccines. The company has taken down more than 800,000 videos for spreading coronavirus misinformation since last February, according to Axios.
But as vaccine availability has increased, the issue of vaccine misinformation has become more urgent for platforms. Facebook and Twitter have also expanded their policies to combat misinformation about the vaccines in recent months. But unlike Facebook, which announced plans to curb misinformation about all vaccines, YouTube’s policies only address a specific subset of claims about the COVID-19 vaccines that contradict official guidance from the World Health Organization and other authorities.
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Russia is using online disinformation to trash rival COVID-19 vaccines
Russia's internet disinformation efforts extend well beyond election interference. State Department officials talking to the Wall Street Journal say Russia is running a disinformation campaign using at least four online publications and a host of social media accounts to shake confidence in COVID-19 vaccines competing with Sputnik-V. The outlets New Eastern Outlook, News Front, Oriental Review and Rebel Inside all cast unfounded doubts on vaccines like Pfizer's, falsely calling mRNA delivery a "radical experimental technology" that was dangerous and less effective.
All four sites are "directly" tied to Russian agencies like the FSB security service and SVR foreign intelligence, according to one US official. Social accounts linked to those publications have mostly been pulled, although some of their non-English accounts were active as recently as early 2021.
The State Department acknowledged the conclusions in a statement to the WSJ, but didn't supply direct evidence linking the sites to the Russian government. This was a "joint interagency" finding that Russia bore "direct responsibility" for spreading falsehoods, the representative said. Russia denied the allegations in its own response, but it also has a long history of denying misinformation and hacking campaigns despite strong evidence.
Russian leaders have a strong incentive to attack rival vaccines. The country is clearly hoping to boost sales of Sputnik-V, but it's also believed to be using the vaccine to exert influence worldwide. A country willing to buy these shots might be receptive to other Russian deals, for example.
There's not much the US can do to shut down the sites themselves when they're foreign-owned and operated. Nonetheless, the findings could easily increase pressure on the US government and social networks to crack down on vaccine misinformation. Much like conspiracy theories surrounding COVID-19, the bogus vaccine claims could be genuinely dangerous, leading people to skip life-saving shots or even attack agencies distributing and promoting vaccinations.
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Will label tweets with misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines twitter
Twitter has introduced new rules to prevent the spread of misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccines. Under the new policy, the company will label tweets with “misleading” information and ban accounts that repeatedly break the rules.
Twitter had previously banned “harmful” misinformation about the vaccines, such as claims that the vaccines are harmful or unnecessary. Under the new rules, Twitter will add prominent labels to tweets with “misleading information.” There will also be stricter penalties for accounts that repeatedly share such claims.
The new labels look similar to the ones Twitter used around the election. “This tweet is misleading,” it says. “Find out why health officials consider COVID-19 vaccines safe for most people.” Other users will also be prevented from retweeting the labeled tweets, though Twitter will allow quote tweets. The labels may link to Twitter Moments with "official public health information."
The company is also introducing a new strike system that will allow it to punish repeat offenders. After the first strike, users will face temporary suspensions for sharing vaccine misinformation. A fifth strike will result in a permanent ban. “Through the use of the strike system, we hope to educate people on why certain content breaks our rules so they have the opportunity to further consider their behavior and their impact on the public conversation,” Twitter wrote in a blog post.
Twitter is the latest platform to crack down on vaccine misinformation. Facebook recently announced that it was banning misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccines, as well as claims about other vaccines more broadly. TikTok and YouTube have also introduced policies to curb the spread of false claims about the vaccines.
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Apple reopens all 270 of its US stores, for the present time
For the first time in nearly a year, all 270 Apple Stores in the US are open. When the pandemic first made its way stateside and Apple announced it was temporarily closing some of its retail locations, the company said the plan was to start reopening on March 27th, 2020. But as the pandemic progressed and the situation changed, Apple was forced to adapt.
In May of last year, the company started to reopen the majority of its stores. However, following a recent set of closures in Texas, it wasn't possible to visit every store. That changed today when stores in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio reopened to the public. That said, as 9to5Mac notes, many locations are still operating with some form of restrictions in place. For example, your local Apple Store may only offer in-person shopping if you make an appointment. In yet other states and cities, they may only be open for express pickup and Genius appointments. It should go without saying, the situation could change at any moment as Apple responds to updated health guidelines.
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Google shall turn a few of its offices into COVID-19 vaccination sites
Google will convert some of its facilities into COVID-19 vaccination sites starting in New York City, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area and Kirkland, Washington. Partnering with One Medical and public health authorities, it will open “buildings...
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Yelp will tell you which restaurants aren’t following COVID-19 guidelines
Brendan McDermid / Reuters
Yelp recently introduced a COVID-19 section on its app, allowing businesses to detail the sanitary measures they’ve taken to protect clients. Now, the review site is allowing customers to provide feedback on those practices. You can report if staff are wearing masks and enforcing social distancing, in the same way that you can tell folks if a restaurant is “kid-friendly” or “great for groups.”
In several examples for “Darwin’s Diner” (nice one), Yelp shows users an “update the community” prompt with the question: “Is the staff wearing masks?”, letting you select “Yes,” “No,” “Sometimes” and “Not sure.” If you’re thinking about going there, the “COVID-19 Updates” section shows that “Social distancing enforced according to most users” or “Staff wears masks according to most users.”
However, if a majority report that the measures aren’t enforced, the updates are more equivocal. In those cases, an orange question mark is displayed with the text, “Social distancing might not be enforced according to most users” or “Staff might not wear masks according to most users.”
Yelp said it would only display the mask and social distancing information if it receives a consensus from multiple confirmed users within the previous 28 days. With the ambiguous orange warning, however, it might not be clear to some folks. Still, Yelp said that “it is not common for businesses to receive an orange question mark” for social distancing and masks, with only “a couple hundred out of the millions of businesses on Yelp.” The company also noted that it has removed 4,000 reviews that violated its COVID-19 review content guidelines.
You can also tell others whether a business offers outdoor seating, if sanitizing is done between customers, if contactless payment is supported and more. That information is entered either via survey questions, or using the “edit” icon at the top right of a business page’s COVID-19 updates section, as show in the image above (click to enlarge). The new features are now live — for more, check Yelp’s official blog.
In this article: Yelp, COVID-19, reporting, masks, social distancing, coronavirus, health & safety measures, news, gear
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