Ars Technica – FDA refuses to review Moderna’s mRNA flu vaccine

Feb 112026
 

The Food and Drug Administration has refused to review Moderna’s application for an mRNA flu vaccine, the company revealed Tuesday.
While the move came as a surprise to the high-profile vaccine maker, it is just the latest hostility toward vaccines—and mRNA vaccines in particular—from an agency overseen by the fervent anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. In his first year in office, Kennedy has already dramatically slashed childhood vaccine recommendations and canceled $500 million in research funding for mRNA vaccines against potential pandemic threats.
In a news release late Tuesday, Moderna said it was blindsided by the FDA’s refusal, which the FDA cited as being due to the design of the company’s Phase 3 trial for its mRNA…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/02/fda-refuses-to-review-modernas-mrna-flu-vaccine/

 2026-02-11  No Responses »

Techdirt. – So, You’ve Hit An Age Gate. What Now?

Feb 112026
 

EFF is against age gating and age verification mandates, and we hope we’ll win in getting existing ones overturned and new ones prevented. But mandates are already in effect, and every day many people are asked to verify their age across the web, despite prominent cases of sensitive data getting leaked in the process.
At some point, you may have been faced with the decision yourself: should I continue to use this service if I have to verify my age? And if so, how can I do that with the least risk to my personal information? This is our guide to navigating those decisions, with information on what questions to ask about the age verification options you’re presented with, and answers to those questions…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://www.techdirt.com/2026/02/10/so-youve-hit-an-age-gate-what-now/

 2026-02-11  No Responses »

Techdirt. – Section 230 Turns 30; Both Parties Want It Gone—For Contradictory Reasons

Feb 092026
 

Here’s what’s strange about Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the law that made the open internet possible: Both sides of the traditional political spectrum hate it. But for opposite reasons. That, alone, should highlight that something is wrong in their analysis.
Republicans hate it because they say it lets websites censor conservative speech. Democrats hate it because they say it lets websites host dangerous disinformation.
Read those two sentences again.
One side is furious that platforms can moderate. The other side is furious that platforms don’t have to moderate. Both sides are attacking the same 26-word provision of a 30-year-old law—and if you understand why their complaints are contradictory, you understand what Section 230 actually does.
This weekend…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://www.techdirt.com/2026/02/09/section-230-turns-30-both-parties-want-it-gone-for-contradictory-reasons/

 2026-02-09  No Responses »

The Intercept – “Uptick in Abductions”: ICE Ramps Up Targeting of Minneapolis Legal Observers

Feb 092026
 

On Friday, legal observers on an encrypted group call in Minneapolis received a desperate plea. A fellow observer was following federal agents who’d just loaded her friend into an unmarked vehicle. Now, she herself was boxed in. “Please help,” the woman said, again and again, her voice rising to a scream. Then, her pleas stopped. By the time support arrived, the observer was gone. All that remained was an empty SUV, engine running, abandoned in the middle of the city’s snow-lined streets. Referred to locally as abductions, it was at least the fourth such disappearance of the day — the third in a span of less than 30 minutes. The observers call themselves commuters. They are…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://theintercept.com/2026/02/09/ice-minneapolis-legal-observers-abduction/

 2026-02-09  No Responses »