Social media firms state their case

The ideas and innovators shaping health care

Oct 29, 2024 View in browser   By Carmen Paun, Daniel Payne, Ruth Reader and Erin Schumaker TECH MAZE Florida AG Ashley Moody is defending a state law restricting kids' social media access in court. | AP Photo Tech giants sued Florida on Monday, attempting to overturn a state law requiring social media applications to restrict children’s access. Trade associations for companies including Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram; Alphabet, which includes Google and YouTube; and Snapchat are asking a federal judge to strike down Florida’s law that prohibits children younger than 14 from starting accounts and demands parental approval for 15- and 16-year-olds, our Andrew Atterbury reports. The groups contend that the law, a top priority for outgoing Republican state House Speaker Paul Renner, violates free speech that “puts the state in charge of parenting.” Why it matters: Parents, schools and dozens of state attorneys general have sued the social media companies over mental and physical harms that children have suffered as a result of bullying, illegal drug sales and content recommendations that stoke negative social comparison and eating disorders. Five states have already passed laws setting rules to protect kids. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has issued an advisory on the mental health risks of social media for youth and called for tobacco-style warnings on platforms, a call echoed in September by a bipartisan group of 39 state attorneys general. Florida policymakers say the law, passed earlier this year and effective in January, aims to curb serious issues plaguing children, like bullying, depression, social pressure and suicide. The backstory: The Computer & Communications Industry Association and NetChoice, two trade groups that represent the country’s largest tech companies, filed the lawsuit in a Tallahassee federal court against Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, a Republican whose agency is tasked with carrying out the social media policies. The groups contend that Florida cuts off children from “access to valuable sources for speaking and listening, learning about current events.” “Parents already have a wealth of tools at their disposal to limit what online services their minor children use, what they can do on those services, and how often they can use them,” the lawsuit says. Moody’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment. WELCOME TO FUTURE PULSE Killarney, Ireland | Shawn Zeller/POLITICO This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care.  A bean taco is healthier than a bag of chips, Mexico’s new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, said as Mexican authorities crack down on the sale of junk food in schools to fight childhood obesity, AP reports. Share any thoughts, news, tips and feedback with Carmen Paun at cpaun@politico.com, Daniel Payne at dpayne@politico.com, Ruth Reader at rreader@politico.com, or Erin Schumaker at eschumaker@politico.com. Send tips securely through SecureDrop, Signal, Telegram or WhatsApp.  FORWARD THINKING A naloxone injection can save a life, if it arrives on time. | Spencer Platt/Getty Images Naloxone reverses opioid overdoses, but it’s often administered too late or not at all. Researchers at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, are trying to fix that by developing under-the-skin devices that could deliver the drug. They’re testing two types of devices, called naloximeters, that monitor vital signs to detect an overdose and then administer naloxone. The devices worked when tested in mice and pigs. However, animal studies have several limitations, and their outcomes often don’t translate to humans. The backstory: In people, the devices would be implanted under the skin and connected to a smartphone app. The user would receive a warning when the naloximeter detects an overdose but could override naloxone administration in the event of a false alarm. Another device described recently by researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute works similarly. Human testing is expected to start within three to five years, MIT associate professor Giovanni Traverso told Carmen. Why it matters: More than 70,000 people have died in America each year since 2021 of a fatal opioid overdose, often involving the synthetic drug fentanyl, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. THE LAB A big gift is boosting Alzheimer's research at Northwestern. | AFP via Getty Images Northwestern Medicine is launching an artificial intelligence initiative aimed at gaining a better understanding of Alzheimer’s disease. How so? The newly established Abrams Research Center on Neurogenomics is investing a $25 million gift in the integration of AI, along with other new technologies, to help decode the relationship between the memory-destroying disease and genetics. Researchers plan to develop several AI tools and innovative ways to analyze genomics, which they believe will offer new insights into the roles of specific genes in the disease. AI tools could help make sense of the enormous volume of data that traditional research methods can’t — and potentially offer new insights for researchers, health care providers and drugmakers, the researchers hypothesize. Why it matters: Alzheimer’s, which is estimated to affect nearly 7 million Americans, has no cure. The gift’s donors, Jim and Wendy Abrams, whose family owns medical supply maker Medline, one of America’s largest privately held companies, hope that a better understanding of the genetic underpinnings of Alzheimer’s disease could lead to a cure.   Follow us on Twitter Carmen Paun @carmenpaun Daniel Payne @_daniel_payne Ruth Reader @RuthReader Erin Schumaker @erinlschumaker   Follow us

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