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| Presented By Bank of America |
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| Axios AM |
| By Mike Allen ·Oct 16, 2020 |
| Happy Friday! Today's Smart Brevity™ count: 1,199 words ... 4½ minutes. 🗳️ I'll host an Axios virtual event on our political road ahead with White House editor Margaret Talev at 3:30 p.m. ET, featuring Senate Judiciary Committee member Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Trump 2020 senior adviser Steve Cortes. |
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| 1 big thing: Tech platforms become reluctant gatekeepers |
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| Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios |
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| Fast action this week by Facebook and Twitter to limit the reach of a sketchy New York Post story about Hunter Biden showed what aggressive misinformation policing by social-media platforms looks like — and much of the world didn't like what it saw, Axios managing editor Scott Rosenberg writes. - On the right, pundits cried "censorship," with lawmakers demanding in-person testimony from CEOs to defend their choices.
- On the left, observers worried about the "Streisand effect" — trying to suppress or remove online information only draws attention to it.
What happened: The two companies took different measures and relied on different rationales. - Facebook decided to send the article to its third-party fact-checking partners for review. (The fact check is still in process.) While awaiting a report, the social network said it would limit the story's reach to reduce the likelihood of spreading misinformation.
- Twitter declared some of the information in the story, including photos and personal information, to be "hacked materials" and blocked sharing of links to the article.
- Last night, Twitter announced it will change its "hacked materials" policy, and will no longer remove such content unless it is directly shared by hackers or those acting in concert with them.
Between the lines: The companies were reacting to criticism of their performance during the 2016 election — and responding to what looked to them like a "hack and leak" operation similar to the pilfering of DNC emails. Our thought bubble: These companies didn't set out to be gatekeepers of political news, but their success made them ubiquitous. Now, they can't duck tough calls. |
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| 2. Your split-screen future |
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| Photos: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images; Evan Vucci/AP |
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| Both candidates promised further disclosures last night, during dueling town halls that replaced the second presidential debate, after President Trump refused to participate virtually: - Trump, under persistent questioning by NBC's Savannah Guthrie about whether he owes money to any foreign bank or entity, said in Miami: "I will let you know who — who I owe whatever small amount of money. ... When you look at vast properties like I have — and they're big and they're beautiful and they're well located — when you look at that the amount of money [that he owes], $400 million is a peanut. It's extremely under-levered. And it's levered with normal banks — not a big deal."
- Joe Biden suggested he'd provide more clarity on his court-packing position before Election Day, depending on how the confirmation process for Judge Amy Coney Barrett is "handled": "[F]or example, if there's actually real live debate on the floor, if people are really going to be able to have a time to go through this ... [Voters] do have a right to know where I stand. And they will have a right to know where I stand before they vote."
Go deeper: Our "Axios AM Thought Bubble" on the town halls dropped into your inbox last night just before 11 p.m. ET. |
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| 3. How colleges are combating the coronavirus |
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| Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios |
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| Some colleges are creating a blueprint for how to safely remain open during the pandemic — relying heavily on regular testing, and doing what they can to curb parties and other large gatherings, Axios' Caitlin Owens writes. - "We weren't able to do this as a country, but it's totally doable in the university context," Vanderbilt University Chancellor Daniel Diermeier said.
At Vanderbilt, the majority of classes are in-person, and spread of the virus has been minimal. - The university had the benefit early on of in-house experts and good connections with Nashville's public health system, Diermeier said. Undergraduate students have mandatory weekly testing.
- Early on, the school used positive messaging — rather than threats — to encourage students to behave responsibly, and it hasn't had any problems so far with large gatherings.
The bottom line: Containing the virus hasn't been cheap or easy for the colleges that have managed to do it. But the alternative — widespread deferrals or dropouts — is worse. |
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| A message from Bank of America |
| Meet the Blue Angels of Tucson |
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| Bank of America is supporting El Rio Health with new technology and other resources it needed to adapt and continue its community services during the coronavirus by providing the organization with a $50,000 grant, part of their $100 million commitment to support local communities in need. |
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| 4. Cities prep for 10G |
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| Illustration: Rebecca Zisser/Axios |
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| The tantalizing prospect of 10G internet service — 10 times faster than today's networks — is starting to take shape, writes Axios' Jennifer Kingson. - But today's networks are still available to only 80% of Americans, though that's a huge jump from 4% in 2016.
Why it matters: 10G internet is "really going to be needed to ensure that the U.S. is at the forefront of global economic growth and opportunity," says Angie Kronenberg of INCOMPAS, the internet and competitive networks trade association. |
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| 5. Graphic of the day |
| "The rise since mid-September has been especially profound in the Midwest and Mountain West, where hospitals are filling up and rural areas are seeing staggering outbreaks," the N.Y. Times reports. - "We are starting from a much higher plateau than we were before the summer wave," Caitlin Rivers, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University, told the Times. "It concerns me that we might see even more cases during the next peak than we did during the summer."
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| 6. College students say they'll shame friends who don't vote |
 Data: College Reaction/Axios Poll (3.3% margin of error). Chart: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios Just 3% of college students say they'd protest if Joe Biden is elected, while 39% would if President Trump wins, Stef Kight writes from a College Reaction survey for Axios. - Six in 10 of those polled (875 college students; margin of error is +/- 3.3 points) said they'll shame friends who can vote but don't.
Why it matters: These measures of intensity bolster findings from several recent surveys that suggest the election may draw higher than normal turnout from young voters, boosting Biden's prospects. - Millennials and Gen Z voters make up more than one third of the U.S. electorate. They're racially and ethnically diverse and overwhelmingly progressive.
- More than 1 million 18-to-29 year olds have already cast ballots this year, more than four times as many as at the same point in 2016, according to the Democratic data firm TargetSmart.
Share this graphic. |
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| 7. Torment of the Uighurs: Global crisis in human rights |
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| Illustration: The Economist |
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| The Economist is challenging democracies to take action on China's Uighur internment camps, which it calls "the most extensive violation in the world today of the principle that individuals have a right to liberty and dignity simply because they are people": They should offer asylum to Uyghurs and, like America, slap targeted sanctions on abusive officials and ban goods made with forced Uyghur labour. They should speak up, too. China's regime is not impervious to shame. If it were proud of its harsh actions in Xinjiang, it would not try to hide them. ... Liberal democracies have an obligation to call a gulag a gulag. In an age of growing global competition, that is what makes them different. If they fail to stand up for liberal values they should not be surprised if others do not respect them, either. Keep reading (subscription). |
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| 8. Intelligence agencies warned Trump on Rudy |
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| Rudy Giuliani (center) in the White House briefing room on Sept. 27. Photo: Ken Cedeno/Reuters |
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| "U.S. intelligence agencies warned the White House last year that President Trump's personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani was the target of an influence operation by Russian intelligence," the WashPost reports. - Why it matters: The New York Post said the former New York mayor was the source of the material it published this week about Hunter Biden. And Giuliani was in the White House 19 days ago to prep Trump for the first presidential debate.
"The warnings were based on multiple sources, including intercepted communications, that showed Giuliani was interacting with people tied to Russian intelligence during a December 2019 trip to Ukraine, where he was gathering information that he thought would expose corrupt acts by former vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter," according to The Post. - "The intelligence raised concerns that Giuliani was being used to feed Russian misinformation to the president."
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| 9. Phoenix's record triple-digit heat |
| Phoenix notched its 144th day of triple-digit heat this year on Wednesday, breaking a record set in 1989, per the Arizona Republic. - It means "that exactly half of the days in 2020 so far have reached or exceeded 100 degrees."
☀️ Today's forecast? 100 degrees. |
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| 10. Coming attractions: RBG book |
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| University of California Press |
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| One of Ruth Bader Ginsburg's former clerks, Amanda Tyler, worked with the late justice during her final months on a book that will provide some of Ginsburg's final thoughts on her pioneering career, per AP. - "Justice, Justice Thou Shalt Pursue: A Life's Work Fighting for a More Perfect Union," to be released in March, presents Ginsburg's "perspective on her legacy as an advocate for justice as defined by her personal selection of favorite opinions written from the Supreme Court bench."
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| A message from Bank of America |
| Strengthening communities through health care |
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| El Rio Health needed to adapt quickly to COVID-19 to continue serving Tucson residents at greater scale. That meant learning to use telehealth platforms, building testing sites, and upgrading technology. Learn about the $50,000 grant Bank of America provided to facilitate this transition. |
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