Axios Login

People who haven't been able to secure appointments for a coronavirus vaccine are turning to Facebook groups and other online forums to find canceled slots, figure out where to go, or simply find information local health authorities have not provided, as Ashley Gold reports.

Why it matters: These ad-hoc online communities have helped people get vaccinated and helped keep doses of the vaccine from going to waste. But they also underscore the confusion and frustration of the U.S. vaccine rollout, and the risk of misinformation is real.

The big picture: "We're a very entrepreneurial country, and using social media to advertise opportunities for vaccination is a good thing. It picks up where our government is not doing an adequate job," said Karl Minges, a professor in the school of health sciences at the University of New Haven.

• "Word of mouth has an important role, but you have to tread lightly with what kind of information you're putting out there," he said.

What's happening: Facebook pages and Reddit threads are emerging all over the country, filled with posts from people seeking vaccines or who have information about vaccine appointments.

• Los Angeles Covid Vaccine Hunters, a private page modeled after a similar one in New Orleans, has about 2,000 members and aims to connect young people to vaccine doses set to be thrown out or expire.
• Maryland Vaccine Hunters, with 16,200 members, also helps people find unused doses. And it connects tech-savvy younger people with seniors, to help them schedule appointments.
• South Florida Covid Vaccination Info, launched by a Florida nurse and elementary school principal, now has 27,200 members and helps seniors with appointment booking.
• VaccineHunter.org organizes the dozens of "vaccine hunting" pages into one spot. On Reddit, r/VaccineHunters, along with related groups across the country, are highly active forums.

Yes, but: The potential for scams and misinformation is high.

• This is particularly worrisome for high-risk populations, such as elderly people, who are not as savvy about identifying misinformation online and are more likely to fall for scams, Minges said.
• Facebook recently announced new moves to fight misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccines. And it enforces its content moderation rules in private groups, though that can be tricky at scale.

There is also criticism that vaccine hunters are gaming the system or skipping the line ahead of people who are a higher priority for the shots.

The bottom line: "If there had been a good official system, there would not have been a need for this," said Awi Federgruen, a professor and supply chain expert at Columbia Business School. "It's an unfortunate development."

A coalition of business and tech trade groups sued the state of Maryland Thursday over its newly enacted tax on digital ads that are shown to state residents, Ashley reports.

Driving the news: Last week, the Maryland legislature voted to override Republican Gov. Larry Hogan's veto of the state's first-in-the-nation digital tax law, which aims to raise money for education initiatives in the state by taxing digital advertising from the biggest companies.

What's happening: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Internet Association, NetChoice, the Computer and Communications Industry Association and TechNet joined in the complaint, filed in a Maryland federal court.

• They allege that Maryland's tax violates the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act and also the Constitution's due process clause "by burdening and penalizing purely out-of-state conduct."

Critics of Maryland's tax say it is unfair, discriminatory and unconstitutional, and that it hurts the economy during a pandemic. Maryland has estimated the law would earn the state about $250 million annually.

The big picture: States have been forging ahead with their own tech policy laws as the federal government stalls, as Axios reported last week. The legislation resembles similar efforts to tax large American tech companies in Europe.

Between the lines: Most of the groups backing the suit get extensive tech industry funding and generally fight these battles on behalf of the greater industry. The groups also hope the lawsuit will discourage other states considering similar measures.

Congress on Thursday announced two tech-related hearings — one featuring major tech CEOs and another meant to kick off new antitrust legislation, Ashley reports.

What's happening: On March 25, the House Energy and Commerce committee will hear from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Google CEO Sundar Pichai during a hearing about misinformation on online platforms.

• On Feb. 25, the House Judiciary Committee's antitrust subcommittee will kick off the first in a series of hearings meant to explore competition in the digital economy.

The big picture: Congress has been looking to legislate tech policy for years now, but calls for action on misinformation intensified after the deadly Capitol riot. At the same time, big tech companies are under multiple antitrust investigations in the U.S. and abroad, and the Senate has already started considering new tech antitrust bills.

What they're saying: "Whether it be falsehoods about the COVID-19 vaccine or debunked claims of election fraud, these online platforms have allowed misinformation to spread, intensifying national crises with real-life, grim consequences for public health and safety," Democratic leaders of the House Energy and Commerce committee said in a release.

• Witnesses at the antitrust hearing will include former FTC lawyers, advocates, economists and at least one executive from an affected third party who claims to have been negatively impacted by a big tech company.

Child advocates are accusing a popular online math game of preying on families to purchase costly memberships, Axios' Margaret Harding McGill reports.

Why it matters: As children's screen time has skyrocketed during the pandemic, educational online programs have become especially appealing to concerned parents.

Driving the news: 22 groups led by the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood leveled a complaint Friday with the Federal Trade Commission against Prodigy Education, accusing the math game company of deceiving teachers and parents into believing the program is free while aggressively marketing a $59 premium membership to children.

• Prodigy, which raised $125 million in funding last month and has more than 100 million users worldwide, lets kids explore a fantasy world and battle opponents by answering math questions.
• The company offers a free in-school version, but the at-home version advertises a premium membership that tempts children with virtual rewards like sparkly treasure boxes available only to members, according to the complaint shared with Axios.

The big picture: Federal enforcers already are scrutinizing how children use and interact with online companies.

• The FTC in December launched a sweeping probe into the privacy and data collection practices of nine major social media and streaming companies, seeking information including how their practices affect children and teens.

The other side: The majority of Prodigy users have the free subscription, and no payment is required for students to receive access to the educational content in the game, a company spokesperson told Axios.

Go deeper: What we overlooked in the switch to remote learning

On Tap

• Today is National Caregivers Day and I'd like to give a shout out to all those who provide care as their profession as well as those who do so for a loved one in addition to their job.

Trading Places

• Intel named Anthony Lin as permanent head of its Intel Capital unit.
• Anthony Levandowski — the engineer at the center of the trade secret dispute between Uber and Waymo, who received an 11th-hour pardon from President Trump — has closed his Church of AI. (It's OK if you have to read that sentence again; it's a lot to take in.)

ICYMI

• Salesforce is building a private CRM cloud for the State Department. (Protocol)
• Applied Materials, a leading maker of the gear needed to manufacture semiconductors, gave a stronger-than-expected forecast amid a surge in demand during a global chip shortage. (Reuters)
• Dropbox, which is moving to a remote-first work setup, wrote down the value of some of its real estate in conjunction with its earnings report Thursday. (Reuters)
• Axios' Courtenay Brown ran down the key moments of the GameStop hearing. (Axios)
• The U.K. Supreme Court ruled that Uber drivers are "workers" and not independent contractors, in a major blow to the company's business model. (Axios)
• IBM is reportedly weighing a sale of its Watson Health unit. (WSJ)

My colleague Lisa Cooney is co-author of a new book on the future of Agile that is available now for Kindle and coming March 9 in paperback. She says it is all about balance. Good, because I have trouble balancing all the things that fill my desk.