July 19, 2020
“Can you imagine if they had taken over a world leader’s account, and tweeted out a threat of violence to another country’s leader?”
Rachel Tobac, CEO of Socialproof Security, speaking of the risks with social media platform hackings, after Twitter was subject to a widespread attack last week. Experts are concerned that the hack only further undermines trust of information that is disseminated through social media. (AP News — July 16, 2020)
JULY 17, 2020
WHO SAID THAT?
“The way that cryptocurrency works, once a transfer takes place, it is irreversible and virtually untraceable.”
Mike Chapple, an information technology professor at the University of Notre Dame and former computer scientist for the National Security Agency, commenting on the Twitter hacking of several famous people and companies’ accounts on Wednesday. Many officials are concerned at how the hackers gained such widespread access to the numerous accounts. (NPR — July 15, 2020)
JULY 16, 2020
WHO SAID THAT?
“What we’ve done in testing in nursing homes and assisted living is a total disaster.”
Brian Lee, director of Families for Better Care, a nursing home advocacy group, said of the lack of testing at long-term care facilities. While residents and staff at these facilities make up almost 45 percent of the coronavirus-related deaths in the U.S., only seven states have required constant testing of residents and staff. (PEW — July 15, 2020)
JULY 15, 2020
WHO SAID THAT?
“College degrees are out of reach for many Americans, and you shouldn’t need a college diploma to have economic security.”
Kent Walker, Google’s senior vice president of global affairs, said of the tech company’s decision to fund 100,000 need-based scholarships for the new suite of Google Career Certificates, which will offer courses in data analytics, project management and user experience design. (The Hill — July 13, 2020)
JULY 14, 2020
WHO SAID THAT?
“We don’t want to have a big asterisk next to the (school) year 20/21 and say these kids were lost to the coronavirus gap.”
Idaho Gov. Brad Little commenting on the state’s decision to reopen K-12 schools in the fall. The schools will start with traditional in-person methods, distance learning online and a combination of both teaching methods to protect the students and communities from COVID-19. (AP News — July 9, 2020)
JULY 10, 2020
WHO SAID THAT?
“This type of disinformation is dangerous and can affect the health and well-being of people who use this false information to make critical health decisions during this pandemic.”
A group of lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee wrote in letters to Twitter, Facebook and Google, urging the social media companies to increase their transparency about COVID-19 disinformation. (The Hill — July 8, 2020)
JULY 8, 2020
WHO SAID THAT?
“I am glad to hear that Americans, who are sick and tired of unwanted robocalls, will now get the relief from federal-debt-collector robocalls they have long deserved.”
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, commenting on the Supreme Court’s decision that a 2015 federal law that allowed debt collectors to make robocalls was unconstitutional. (NPR — July 6, 2020)
JULY 7, 2020
WHO SAID THAT?
“We’ve set goals to increase diversity at the company, but we’ve failed to create a culture at the company that finds, grows and keeps Black people at the company.”
Oscar Veneszee Jr., a Black Facebook employee, said of his employer’s lack of opportunities for Black workers. Veneszee has filed an employment discrimination charge against the social media giant. (NPR — July 2, 2020)
