The Buzz 12.17.20

FREE SPEECH

Does Facebook have too much control? According to Dec. 9 lawsuits filed against the social media giant by the Federal Trade Commission and 48 attorneys general (including California’s), the answer is a resounding yes. “Since toppling early rival Myspace and achieving monopoly power, Facebook has turned to playing defense through anticompetitive means. After identifying two significant competitive threats to its dominant position – Instagram and WhatsApp – Facebook moved to squelch those threats by buying the companies,” according to the FTC’s suit. The AGs’ suit describes the “wrath of Mark” – CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s approach to finding and stopping upstart rivals in the social media realm. The FTC is seeking a permanent injunction that would require Facebook to divest various assets, including WhatsApp and Instagram, and would also require the company to seek prior approval for future mergers and acquisitions. The two lawsuits represent a massive new effort by leaders to dethrone Facebook, which last year generated more than $70 million in revenue and $18.5 billion in profit.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“A lot of similar organizations, they’ve kind of sanitized their name. But call rape what it is.” - Monterey County Rape Crisis Center Executive Director Clare Mounteer, who is retiring after 34 years, reflects on keeping the nonprofit’s name unchanged. (see Face to Face story).

GOOD WEEK / GREAT WEEK

GOOD:

Life and school can be tough for homeless and foster youth, but there’s good news in North Monterey County Unified School District, where homeless and foster kids have a 91-percent graduation rate – even higher than the 88-percent average overall. That’s according to new research from the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools. District administrators credit this success to a collective approach, known as a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) which provides equity and support from childhood all the way to adulthood. Through MTSS, the district coordinates services with its family resource center, where students have access to clothing and food supplies, showers and laundry. They also have access to school-based mental health counseling, a social worker and local agencies. Three out of 10 students in the district are either homeless or in foster care.

GREAT:

A shipment of Covid-19 vaccine is due to arrive later this week, says Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System spokesperson Karina Rusk. And while it’s not the end of the nightmare pandemic, it’s a step in the right direction. SVMHS is expecting 975 doses of the vaccine (plus a second shipment of the equipment needed to administer those vaccines). While 975 doses isn’t enough for the entire staff, it’s enough to start vaccinating the front-line workers in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit, Covid units and emergency room. The good news comes as SVMH reports they’re caring for a record 43 patients in the hospital’s four Covid units. While the California Department of Public Health has allowed hospitals to suspend nurse-to-patient ratios amid growing Covid case loads, SVMH is instead recruiting more travel nurses and is training staff nurses to care for Covid patients.