vox--2020-10-15--What does “vote” merch even mean in 2020?

In the summer of 2018 , rocked by the Trump presidency , Alexandra Posen and Dahna Goldstein formed Resistance by Design , a project that would combine art and political activism .
By September , they had released their first design : The “ HERWAVE 2018 ” silk scarf , which bore an illustration of every Democratic woman running for Congress in the midterm elections , their portraits drawn in a bout of “ creative fury ” by Posen , an artist and the former creative director of her brother Zac Posen ’ s fashion brand .
Sheer and painterly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ scarf is detailed and delicate .
You could spend a long time poring over it , identifying each candidate .
This April , Resistance by Design started selling another politically charged garment with a very different look : a face mask that said , in thick , uneven capital letters , “ VOTE.
” Posen drew the design a few weeks into stay-at-home orders in New York , where she lives .
The mask ’ s stark , unsubtle message was an expression of her shock at the moment we were living through @ @ @ @ @ @ @ felt was an acute lack of leadership in a moment of crisis .
“ The urgency and terrifyingness of Covid , I think , did not call for a heady expression , ” says Posen .
“ It called for a yelp .
It called for a mandate.
” Resistance by Design , which gives financial support to organizations like Emily ’ s List , She Should Run , and NARAL Pro-Choice America , put that face mask into production , and now people are wearing it all over the country , on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Goldstein and Posen wouldn ’ t share how many masks they ’ ve sold in total , but Goldstein noted that in the 24 hours after Hillary Clinton tweeted a photo of herself in the mask , they got 3,000 orders .
( Kendall Jenner , Kerry Washington , and Megan Rapinoe have all worn the mask , too . )
Resistance by Design now sells “ vote ” tank tops , totes , hats , and towels as well , and Goldstein and Posen created a purple version of their mask in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rights organization , Fair Fight .
With a few weeks until the 2020 presidential election , “ vote ” merchandise is everywhere .
You can buy a “ vote ” tee from Madewell , a “ vote ” hoodie from Levi ’ s , or a pair of over-the-knee Stuart Weitzman boots with the word “ vote ” running down the calf in interlocking letters .
Theoretically , you could get yourself a Christian Siriano “ vote ” gown or a Louis Vuitton “ vote ” sweater , both of which recently appeared @ @ @ @ @ @ @ As far as messaging through fashion goes , the meaning of a “ vote ” mask or T-shirt is pretty self-evident .
It means you should vote .
And for many people , encouraging civic engagement is the most basic objective of putting the word “ vote ” on their body .
“ It takes multiple pings , little reminders , to get through to people , so I kind of feel like me and other people wearing ‘ vote ’ masks , bandanas , and T-shirts are just one extra little ping @ @ @ @ @ @ @ novelist who lives in New York .
“ Maybe someone will look at it and say , ‘ Oh fuck , have I registered ?
’ It ’ s just reiterating the message.
” Larbalestier is originally from Australia , and when she became a U.S. citizen 9 years ago , she tried to register and vote in two separate elections , in 2012 and 2014 , and was told both times that she wasn ’ t on the rolls .
She voted in a U.S. election for the first time in 2016 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ my core that voting is so hard here , ” she says .
But while “ vote ” merchandise enjoyed a similar rush of popularity in the lead-up to the 2018 midterm elections , the Covid-19 pandemic has given it additional layers of meaning .
At a time when in-person efforts to raise awareness about the election are limited by social distancing , it ’ s a way to safely express that message to the world at large beyond making phone calls , sending texts , or fundraising from home .
“ We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which I ’ ve done every election cycle , ” says Erin Allweiss , who has been wearing a Resistance by Design mask on the street in Brooklyn .
“ A ‘ vote ’ mask is a reminder that there ’ s an election coming up .
It ’ s the yard sign on our faces , encouraging people to participate.
” Face masks , in particular , add a new pointedness to the message to vote .
“ The fact that we have to wear face masks means that something is wrong @ @ @ @ @ @ @ place to put a message about how to make things right , ” says Adelle McElveen , who bought a purple Resistance by Design mask after discovering it on the Fair Fight website .
Wearing a “ vote ” mask on the streets of New York has been a “ very interactive experience , ” McElveen says .
People often tell her they love her mask , ask where she got it , and give her a thumbs-up .
One older man called out to her , “ Yes , I ’ m @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , she says .
“ I want to normalize getting involved and caring and taking action , ” says McElveen , who has run , staffed , and volunteered on a number of political campaigns .
But , she clarifies , voting is just the beginning of that work — and wearing “ Vote ” merchandise isn ’ t enough .
“ It ’ s not voting once every four years or every two years .
We have to keep engaged with our elected officials , we have to educate ourselves , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ democracy , ” McElveen says .
“ If we don ’ t , budgets , policies , and priorities are going to be made that affect us and we won ’ t have had our say.
” “ Vote ” merchandise certainly runs the risk of coming off as slacktivism , an easy and vague way to signal responsible citizenship .
It doesn ’ t help that during this election cycle , a stampede of corporations like Uber and Nike have been using encouragements to vote as a method of marketing their own @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one candidate or another .
“ The messages end up mealymouthed — these companies are willing to gesture at the maintenance of a minimally functional democracy , but are not willing to say it with their chests , ” writes the Atlantic ’ s Amanda Mull .
The question of whether “ vote ” merchandise is carefully neutral or inherently partisan depends on who ’ s making it and who you ask .
Because Resistance by Design has been clear about its progressive political values , Goldstein and Posen feel that these views @ @ @ @ @ @ @ When they say “ vote , ” they do not mean for Trump .
And in the sense that Trump has attacked the legitimacy of mail-in ballots and has not committed to a peaceful transition if he loses the election — in the face of voter suppression , particularly of Black voters — the word “ vote ” can read as full-throated defiance of a president actively seeking to undermine the democratic process .
Still , some people who wear “ Vote ” merchandise like it precisely because it doesn ’ t state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Mayumi Escalante , a federal employee based in Maryland , has been wearing a “ Vote ” mask as a way to remind people to turn out on November 3 while complying with the Hatch Act ’ s rules against wearing a candidate ’ s clothing or express a partisan stance on social media while on duty .
“ I happen to live in a Black community , so when I ’ m wearing my ‘ Vote ’ mask out , with the people who are able to see me , I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” says Escalante .
“ It ’ s not just a national election — we have our local and county elections .
It ’ s personal .
It ’ s about our home.
” Michelle Virshup , another federal employee in Virginia , has gone all out with her “ Vote ” gear : Birdies flats , Madewell T-shirt , Resistance by Design mask , and jewelry by Rachel Pfeffer , ByChari , and Luca & Danni .
After Christian Siriano ’ s fashion week show , she ordered his $ 35 “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her mom , and her sister .
Virshup calls herself a “ most-important ” issue voter , and for her that ’ s the Affordable Care Act , which meant she was covered by her father ’ s health insurance when , in 2013 , she needed a bone marrow transplant due to an autoimmune disorder .
When she wears her “ Vote ” merch out , she ’ s thinking about the uncertain future of the ACA , a challenge to which will go before the Supreme Court a week after the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ posting photos of herself in neutral “ Vote ” merch creates a more open platform for having conversations about the election with members of her extended family who have different political views .
It ’ s easy to dismiss someone who ’ s going all out for a candidate you already dislike ; it ’ s much harder to wave away someone who is simply promoting voting .
Christina Diem Pham , a video game producer based in Los Angeles , is open about her hope that Trump will lose the election , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mask from Resistance by Design because she ’ s “ not super jazzed ” about Biden .
( “ I totally would have worn a Bernie mask , ” she notes . )
Besides , she says , she can recycle a “ vote ” mask for future elections .
Rebecca Lowman , an actor , audiobook narrator , and director , and Rebecca Asher , a director for TV shows like The Good Place and Grace and Frankie , started making “ vote ” T-shirts at their home in LA this summer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ continue working from her home studio during the pandemic , Asher ’ s work slowed to a dribble as productions halted .
To fill her time , she started taking photography classes , which inspired Lowman to cut out a “ vote ” stencil and print it on a shirt using cyanotype processing .
They devised a simple operation , advertised on their Instagram pages : If people sent them a receipt for a donation to one of the seven voting accessibility organizations listed on their LinkTree , they would send them a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , people have donated more than $ 13,000 — in increments as small as $ 1 and as large as $ 1,000 — and Lowman and Asher have produced nearly 370 shirts .
( The project remains without an official name : “ We just keep calling them ‘ Cyanotype Vote Tees , ’ ” explains Asher . )
They ’ ve had a few repeat customers , some of whom worry that they ’ re breaking the rules by submitting a donation for a second shirt .
“ All the people we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the nicest emails , ” says Asher .
“ I guess it ’ s a form of connection , too , at this time when you ’ re not really engaging with people as usual.
” Though Asher and Lowman aren ’ t shy about their political alignments — pointing out that many of the organizations in their LinkTree go through ActBlue , the Democratic and progressive fundraising platform — they ’ ve made shirts for Republicans as well as avowed Democrats .
For a friend ’ s mother , who does voter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a custom “ vote ” shirt from a baseball tee with red sleeves .
“ We clearly have a preference for who wins this election , but we also do want as many people to vote as possible , ” says Asher .
“ Everybody should be voting.
” “ There ’ s a legitimacy when everyone votes , ” says Lowman .
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In the summer of 2018, rocked by the Trump presidency, Alexandra Posen and Dahna Goldstein formed Resistance by Design, a project that would combine art and political activism. By September, they had released their first design: The “HERWAVE 2018” silk scarf, which bore an illustration of every Democratic woman running for Congress in the midterm elections, their portraits drawn in a bout of “creative fury” by Posen, an artist and the former creative director of her brother Zac Posen’s fashion brand. Sheer and painterly, with a blue-gray border, the scarf is detailed and delicate. You could spend a long time poring over it, identifying each candidate.
This April, Resistance by Design started selling another politically charged garment with a very different look: a face mask that said, in thick, uneven capital letters, “VOTE.” Posen drew the design a few weeks into stay-at-home orders in New York, where she lives. The mask’s stark, unsubtle message was an expression of her shock at the moment we were living through, and her despair over what she felt was an acute lack of leadership in a moment of crisis.
“The urgency and terrifyingness of Covid, I think, did not call for a heady expression,” says Posen. “It called for a yelp. It called for a mandate.”
No makeup? No pantsuit? No problem.
I’ve got the must-have accessory for spring.
I’m wearing a mask (and voting!) for my country, my community, and my grandchildren. #MaskingForAFriend @PandemicAction pic.twitter.com/68t8us5K1D — Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) May 2, 2020
Resistance by Design, which gives financial support to organizations like Emily’s List, She Should Run, and NARAL Pro-Choice America, put that face mask into production, and now people are wearing it all over the country, on the street and on social media. Goldstein and Posen wouldn’t share how many masks they’ve sold in total, but Goldstein noted that in the 24 hours after Hillary Clinton tweeted a photo of herself in the mask, they got 3,000 orders. (Kendall Jenner, Kerry Washington, and Megan Rapinoe have all worn the mask, too.) Resistance by Design now sells “vote” tank tops, totes, hats, and towels as well, and Goldstein and Posen created a purple version of their mask in collaboration with Stacey Abrams and her voting rights organization, Fair Fight.
With a few weeks until the 2020 presidential election, “vote” merchandise is everywhere. You can buy a “vote” tee from Madewell, a “vote” hoodie from Levi’s, or a pair of over-the-knee Stuart Weitzman boots with the word “vote” running down the calf in interlocking letters. Theoretically, you could get yourself a Christian Siriano “vote” gown or a Louis Vuitton “vote” sweater, both of which recently appeared on the runway for spring/summer 2021.
As far as messaging through fashion goes, the meaning of a “vote” mask or T-shirt is pretty self-evident. It means you should vote. And for many people, encouraging civic engagement is the most basic objective of putting the word “vote” on their body.
“It takes multiple pings, little reminders, to get through to people, so I kind of feel like me and other people wearing ‘vote’ masks, bandanas, and T-shirts are just one extra little ping,” says Justine Larbalestier, a novelist who lives in New York. “Maybe someone will look at it and say, ‘Oh fuck, have I registered?’ It’s just reiterating the message.”
Larbalestier is originally from Australia, and when she became a U.S. citizen 9 years ago, she tried to register and vote in two separate elections, in 2012 and 2014, and was told both times that she wasn’t on the rolls. She voted in a U.S. election for the first time in 2016. “It still shocks me to my core that voting is so hard here,” she says.
But while “vote” merchandise enjoyed a similar rush of popularity in the lead-up to the 2018 midterm elections, the Covid-19 pandemic has given it additional layers of meaning. At a time when in-person efforts to raise awareness about the election are limited by social distancing, it’s a way to safely express that message to the world at large beyond making phone calls, sending texts, or fundraising from home.
“We can’t knock on doors, which I’ve done every election cycle,” says Erin Allweiss, who has been wearing a Resistance by Design mask on the street in Brooklyn. “A ‘vote’ mask is a reminder that there’s an election coming up. It’s the yard sign on our faces, encouraging people to participate.”
Face masks, in particular, add a new pointedness to the message to vote.
“The fact that we have to wear face masks means that something is wrong, so it’s a great place to put a message about how to make things right,” says Adelle McElveen, who bought a purple Resistance by Design mask after discovering it on the Fair Fight website.
Wearing a “vote” mask on the streets of New York has been a “very interactive experience,” McElveen says. People often tell her they love her mask, ask where she got it, and give her a thumbs-up. One older man called out to her, “Yes, I’m voting!” That positivity feels great, she says.
“I want to normalize getting involved and caring and taking action,” says McElveen, who has run, staffed, and volunteered on a number of political campaigns. But, she clarifies, voting is just the beginning of that work — and wearing “Vote” merchandise isn’t enough.
“It’s not voting once every four years or every two years. We have to keep engaged with our elected officials, we have to educate ourselves, and we have to be active participants in democracy,” McElveen says. “If we don’t, budgets, policies, and priorities are going to be made that affect us and we won’t have had our say.”
“Vote” merchandise certainly runs the risk of coming off as slacktivism, an easy and vague way to signal responsible citizenship. It doesn’t help that during this election cycle, a stampede of corporations like Uber and Nike have been using encouragements to vote as a method of marketing their own businesses, largely without coming out for one candidate or another. “The messages end up mealymouthed — these companies are willing to gesture at the maintenance of a minimally functional democracy, but are not willing to say it with their chests,” writes the Atlantic’s Amanda Mull.
The question of whether “vote” merchandise is carefully neutral or inherently partisan depends on who’s making it and who you ask. Because Resistance by Design has been clear about its progressive political values, Goldstein and Posen feel that these views are embedded in their mask design: When they say “vote,” they do not mean for Trump. And in the sense that Trump has attacked the legitimacy of mail-in ballots and has not committed to a peaceful transition if he loses the election — in the face of voter suppression, particularly of Black voters — the word “vote” can read as full-throated defiance of a president actively seeking to undermine the democratic process.
Still, some people who wear “Vote” merchandise like it precisely because it doesn’t state a preference for one candidate over another. Mayumi Escalante, a federal employee based in Maryland, has been wearing a “Vote” mask as a way to remind people to turn out on November 3 while complying with the Hatch Act’s rules against wearing a candidate’s clothing or expressing a partisan stance on social media while on duty.
“I happen to live in a Black community, so when I’m wearing my ‘Vote’ mask out, with the people who are able to see me, I’m encouraging them to vote,” says Escalante. “It’s not just a national election — we have our local and county elections. It’s personal. It’s about our home.”
Michelle Virshup, another federal employee in Virginia, has gone all out with her “Vote” gear: Birdies flats, Madewell T-shirt, Resistance by Design mask, and jewelry by Rachel Pfeffer, ByChari, and Luca & Danni. After Christian Siriano’s fashion week show, she ordered his $35 “Vote” print masks for herself, her mom, and her sister. Virshup calls herself a “most-important” issue voter, and for her that’s the Affordable Care Act, which meant she was covered by her father’s health insurance when, in 2013, she needed a bone marrow transplant due to an autoimmune disorder. When she wears her “Vote” merch out, she’s thinking about the uncertain future of the ACA, a challenge to which will go before the Supreme Court a week after the election.
Virshup has also found that posting photos of herself in neutral “Vote” merch creates a more open platform for having conversations about the election with members of her extended family who have different political views. It’s easy to dismiss someone who’s going all out for a candidate you already dislike; it’s much harder to wave away someone who is simply promoting voting.
Christina Diem Pham, a video game producer based in Los Angeles, is open about her hope that Trump will lose the election, but says that she prefers the candidate-free mask from Resistance by Design because she’s “not super jazzed” about Biden. (“I totally would have worn a Bernie mask,” she notes.) Besides, she says, she can recycle a “vote” mask for future elections.
Rebecca Lowman, an actor, audiobook narrator, and director, and Rebecca Asher, a director for TV shows like The Good Place and Grace and Frankie, started making “vote” T-shirts at their home in LA this summer. While Lowman has been able to continue working from her home studio during the pandemic, Asher’s work slowed to a dribble as productions halted. To fill her time, she started taking photography classes, which inspired Lowman to cut out a “vote” stencil and print it on a shirt using cyanotype processing.
They devised a simple operation, advertised on their Instagram pages: If people sent them a receipt for a donation to one of the seven voting accessibility organizations listed on their LinkTree, they would send them a T-shirt as a reward. Thus far, people have donated more than $13,000 — in increments as small as $1 and as large as $1,000 — and Lowman and Asher have produced nearly 370 shirts. (The project remains without an official name: “We just keep calling them ‘Cyanotype Vote Tees,’” explains Asher.) They’ve had a few repeat customers, some of whom worry that they’re breaking the rules by submitting a donation for a second shirt.
“All the people we’ve sent shirts to are sending the nicest emails,” says Asher. “I guess it’s a form of connection, too, at this time when you’re not really engaging with people as usual.”
Though Asher and Lowman aren’t shy about their political alignments — pointing out that many of the organizations in their LinkTree go through ActBlue, the Democratic and progressive fundraising platform — they’ve made shirts for Republicans as well as avowed Democrats. For a friend’s mother, who does voter outreach in her community, they made a custom “vote” shirt from a baseball tee with red sleeves.
“We clearly have a preference for who wins this election, but we also do want as many people to vote as possible,” says Asher. “Everybody should be voting.”
“There’s a legitimacy when everyone votes,” says Lowman.


vox--2020-10-15--The 4 simple reasons Germany is managing Covid-19 better than its neighbors

Germany gets a lot of favorable Covid-19 press — and for good reason .
Its daily new cases per million people have been persistently lower than any of its Western European neighbors , and its death rate , from the beginning of the outbreak , has been among the lowest in Western Europe : currently 0.15 deaths per million people , compared to France ’ s 1.15 and Spain ’ s 2.19 .
Even as coronavirus cases surge across the continent — the week prior to October 11 saw the largest increase since the beginning of the pandemic — Germany @ @ @ @ @ @ @ relative to other countries in the region .
So what exactly is Germany getting right ?
What ’ s often cited is an effective deployment of technology , such as a contact tracing app , to fight the pandemic .
There ’ s the frequently praised mass testing program , which rivals South Korea ’ s , and the oversupply of ICU beds — controversial before the coronavirus , now lauded .
It also helps that Angela Merkel has a doctorate in quantum chemistry and heads a country that treats scientists , like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , like superstars .
Yet this is far from the whole story of Germany ’ s relative success .
Over the past few weeks , I talked to doctors , health officials , and researchers in Germany— including some of the country ’ s first Covid-19 responders — and elsewhere to get a deeper perspective on why Germany has had better-than-average pandemic performance in Europe .
I heard , again and again , four explanations for the country ’ s coronavirus success .
They had nothing to do with tech , Merkel , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ve been largely overlooked .
Let ’ s call them the L ’ s : luck , learning , local responses , and listening .
While the pandemic certainly isn ’ t over , and Germany is facing a pivotal moment with a record number of new infections , these factors may be the reason Germany bends the curve quickly once again .
Günter Fröschl , a tropical medicine doctor at Munich University , has been leading Germany ’ s longest-running Covid-19 testing unit .
He ’ s been at it so long @ @ @ @ @ @ @ five coronavirus patients in late January .
At that time , his fiancée — another infectious disease specialist — happened to be working in Brescia , Italy , ground zero of Europe ’ s deadliest Covid-19 outbreak .
The two were on the phone every day comparing notes , and Fröschl concluded the only reason the paths of the two countries diverged so widely early on in the pandemic was something both countries had no control over .
“ We had a lot of luck in Germany , ” Fröschl says .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a Munich-area auto parts firm called Webasto .
There , an employee from China — who tested positive for the virus after returning home — infected several others during a visit to Munich .
When she notified her German counterparts of her positive test result , the company informed its staff , including one employee who , despite not having serious symptoms , sought out a test .
“ The patient came to us and said , ‘ I had a common cold for a few days .
I ’ m feeling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Chinese colleague coming to visit us who tested positive , ’ ” Fröschl recalls .
The fact that this patient came forward meant public health officials were able to identify , trace , and isolate other cases , and instead of a large and silent outbreak early on in the pandemic , health authorities stopped the virus from spreading further at that point .
There was another element of luck involved : The Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology in Munich is home to a biosafety level 3 lab — the kind that deals with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spread through inhalation , like SARS-CoV-2 .
When China released the genetic sequence of the new coronavirus in January , Fröschl ’ s colleagues at the institute got ready with coronavirus PCR tests .
That meant the test was available in Munich when the first patients showed up there , and Fröschl was able to use it to quickly diagnose the first cases .
“ The index patient was meeting this unique situation in Europe , ” Fröschl says .
“ That is luck .
It ’ s not that we were so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Munich that had tests ready .
In Berlin , scientists created the test kit the World Health Organization and many countries ended up using even before China released the sequence of the virus .
But Fröschl points out that if that first patient had shown up in a less prepared part of the country , the outcome may have been different — perhaps something more like what happened in Italy , where cases went undetected for weeks and then overwhelmed the health system .
“ I ’ m always emphasizing , ” Fröschl @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Of course , the key to Germany ’ s coronavirus management isn ’ t only about luck .
It ’ s also about learning and acting quickly on new knowledge .
After the Webasto cluster came under control , Fröschl and his colleagues got to work applying what they learned from the experience — establishing protocols for diagnosing , isolating , and treating Covid-19 patients safely .
This meant that by the end of February , when travelers started returning from Austria , Italy , and other countries with outbreaks , they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ doctors and public health officials “ extremely valuable ” experience dealing with the virus .
“ Everything was in place , ” Fröschl says .
“ We had experience of how to treat people and remain calm.
” There was also learning from other countries .
“ We tried to take the strategy of South Korea , Japan , and Taiwan — all good examples of how a quick and fast response can reduce the number of positive cases , ” said Nicolai Savaskan , the chief medical officer of a local health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that fast response : Germany ’ s mass testing program .
While Germany was quick to lock down , it also scaled up testing from the start of the pandemic , and then repeatedly adapted the program to respond to changes in the epidemic dynamics .
In anticipation of a rise in cases following summer travel , for example , labs across the country scaled up their supply .
You can see the result of this in the country ’ s test positive — or cases divided by tests — rate .
This @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s testing capacity is rising in step with the demand for testing and growth in real cases .
Since the beginning of May , relatively early in the pandemic , Germany ’ s test positive rate has held steady even though cases have increased , while the rate started to rise in July and August in other European countries currently experiencing the worst outbreaks , including France , Spain , and the UK .
“ There have been ups and downs in Germany ’ s [ outbreak ] , but the difference is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” said Edouard Mathieu , the Paris-based data manager of Oxford University ’ s Our World in Data project .
From May to the present , Germany went from around 60,000 tests per day to a staggering 160,000 .
And even now , Germany is again adapting its testing approach : adding a new rapid , antigen-testing strategy that will launch this week , the Wall Street Journal reported , to increase capacity as cases rise going into winter .
This also helps explain why outbreaks in the country — or even screw-ups @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — haven ’ t spun out of control yet , as we ’ ve seen in other countries .
“ They are testing more people every time they find a case , which means they haven ’ t lost touch with the epidemic , ” Mathieu said .
It also means they didn ’ t waste their early lockdown : They used it to build robust systems that will likely help them control the current uptick , too .
Germany , a federal country made up of 16 states with some 400 municipal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ response .
Though this has sometimes led to a confusing array of policies , it ’ s also meant municipal governments could act quickly and tailor pandemic policies to the needs and challenges facing local populations across 16 federal states with 400-plus counties .
And this may be another reason for Germany ’ s success compared to neighbors with more centralized systems such as France , Spain , and the UK .
“ The decentralized [ approach to ] managing the pandemic was maybe a good way to deal with a quickly changing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Savaskan .
He explained that while local health authorities have to report cases to Germany ’ s national public health agency , the Robert Koch Institute ( RKI ) , they could each tailor their pandemic responses to meet local needs in their region and react quickly whenever problems arose .
So , for example , while the RKI recommended a 14-day quarantine after contact with an infected person , in Berlin , health authorities decided that was too long to be acceptable for the population and that a seven-day quarantine with a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ We could adapt what was recommended by RKI and then implement ... [ to ] locally fit the needs of the people , ” Savaskan said .
Similarly , early on in the pandemic , in March , Berlin decided to shut down bars , dance halls , and nightclubs ahead of other regions , since they were local sources of contagion .
When they reopened in June , municipal health authorities were in constant contact with the industry to encourage them to cooperate in contact tracing .
“ We have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 90 percent , ” Savaskan said , meaning nearly all the contacts of infected people are being identified and followed up with .
When we talked at the end of September , Savaskan was heading to meet the health minister in Berlin .
Outbreaks in bars and nightclub settings were on the rise again , and politicians wanted to engage local health departments on how to get the situation under control .
By October 10 , a midnight curfew for bars and clubs went into effect .
“ The narrative so far in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that people trust in them — they believe that when they give very detailed information about their life , this is taken very seriously .
And I think this is the major impact of the success of the German response , ” Savaskan said .
It ’ s also allowed authorities to identify and stop chains of infection at an early stage .
The power of listening to scientists There ’ s one other L that sets Germany apart .
It ’ s the most straightforward of them all — but it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ countries , particularly the US .
From the moment the coronavirus arrived in Germany , German authorities have been good about listening to scientists , says Clemens-Martin Wendtner , a Munich-based internal medicine doctor .
Wendtner would know : He was also part of Germany ’ s coronavirus front line , overseeing the treatment of the country ’ s first patients in Munich .
He , too , didn ’ t mention Angela Merkel when I asked him how he explains how Germany managed to control the coronavirus .
Instead , he said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like a foreign concept in America : They listened to scientists .
Since February , Wendtner has been texting new findings and insights to the health minister in Bavaria — the German state that ’ s home to Munich — every week .
And during the first weeks of the pandemic , before heading to the hospital , he ’ d join a 9 am briefing in the office of the health ministry to share his data there , too .
“ Every [ piece of ] information we had from the hospital @ @ @ @ @ @ @ decision side , ” he said .
So that ’ s why Germany instituted a mandatory mask policy in public spaces in the spring and shut down schools .
That ’ s why Jens Spahn , the federal minister of health , retracted the idea of Covid-19 immunity passports after listening to scientists .
“ He used the direct approach , just calling me here in my office , ” Wendtner said .
As the science evolved and leaders listened to scientists , the policies keep changing .
Recently , the Bavarian government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hepafilters that deactivate infectious aerosols for use in classrooms across the state .
“ It ’ s not reasonable to open the window in Bavaria every 20 minutes ” in winter , Wendtner said .
So as temperatures drop , filters might help keep schools open at a time when we know the coronavirus can spread through aerosols , especially in poorly ventilated rooms .
Of course , science hasn ’ t been free of politics in Germany .
And in the race to find a successor for Merkel , state politicians have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ profile .
But the big picture , Wendtner says , is that the public trusted German politicians “ because they didn ’ t lie in the beginning and [ they ] built up trust , ” following science , not denying it .
Help keep Vox free for all Millions turn to Vox each month to understand what ’ s happening in the news , from the coronavirus crisis to a racial reckoning to what is , quite possibly , the most consequential presidential election of our lifetimes .
Our mission has never @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this moment : to empower you through understanding .
But our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources .
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Germany gets a lot of favorable Covid-19 press — and for good reason. Its daily new cases per million people have been persistently lower than any of its Western European neighbors, and its death rate, from the beginning of the outbreak, has been among the lowest in Western Europe: currently 0.15 deaths per million people, compared to France’s 1.15 and Spain’s 2.19.
Even as coronavirus cases surge across the continent — the week prior to October 11 saw the largest increase since the beginning of the pandemic — Germany’s latest wave is still small relative to other countries in the region.
Number of #coronavirus infections per 1 million inhabitants (7 day average). Germany is a giant, comparatively clean island smack in the middle of Europe. via @Welt pic.twitter.com/1jYAnrWczh — Bojan Pancevski (@bopanc) October 4, 2020
So what exactly is Germany getting right?
What’s often cited is an effective deployment of technology, such as a contact tracing app, to fight the pandemic. There’s the frequently praised mass testing program, which rivals South Korea’s, and the oversupply of ICU beds — controversial before the coronavirus, now lauded. It also helps that Angela Merkel has a doctorate in quantum chemistry and heads a country that treats scientists, like the Berlin-based virologist and podcaster Christian Drosten, like superstars.
Yet this is far from the whole story of Germany’s relative success.
Over the past few weeks, I talked to doctors, health officials, and researchers in Germany— including some of the country’s first Covid-19 responders — and elsewhere to get a deeper perspective on why Germany has had better-than-average pandemic performance in Europe.
I heard, again and again, four explanations for the country’s coronavirus success. They had nothing to do with tech, Merkel, or hospital beds. And they’ve been largely overlooked.
Let’s call them the L’s: luck, learning, local responses, and listening. While the pandemic certainly isn’t over, and Germany is facing a pivotal moment with a record number of new infections, these factors may be the reason Germany bends the curve quickly once again.
The power of luck
Günter Fröschl, a tropical medicine doctor at Munich University, has been leading Germany’s longest-running Covid-19 testing unit. He’s been at it so long, he swabbed four of the first five coronavirus patients in late January. At that time, his fiancée — another infectious disease specialist — happened to be working in Brescia, Italy, ground zero of Europe’s deadliest Covid-19 outbreak. The two were on the phone every day comparing notes, and Fröschl concluded the only reason the paths of the two countries diverged so widely early on in the pandemic was something both countries had no control over.
“We had a lot of luck in Germany,” Fröschl says.
The first known Covid-19 cases in Germany originated in a Munich-area auto parts firm called Webasto. There, an employee from China — who tested positive for the virus after returning home — infected several others during a visit to Munich. When she notified her German counterparts of her positive test result, the company informed its staff, including one employee who, despite not having serious symptoms, sought out a test.
“The patient came to us and said, ‘I had a common cold for a few days. I’m feeling fine — but we did have a Chinese colleague coming to visit us who tested positive,’” Fröschl recalls. The fact that this patient came forward meant public health officials were able to identify, trace, and isolate other cases, and instead of a large and silent outbreak early on in the pandemic, health authorities stopped the virus from spreading further at that point.
There was another element of luck involved: The Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology in Munich is home to a biosafety level 3 lab — the kind that deals with highly infectious and deadly agents that can spread through inhalation, like SARS-CoV-2. When China released the genetic sequence of the new coronavirus in January, Fröschl’s colleagues at the institute got ready with coronavirus PCR tests. That meant the test was available in Munich when the first patients showed up there, and Fröschl was able to use it to quickly diagnose the first cases. “The index patient was meeting this unique situation in Europe,” Fröschl says. “That is luck. It’s not that we were so smart.”
It wasn’t just Munich that had tests ready. In Berlin, scientists created the test kit the World Health Organization and many countries ended up using even before China released the sequence of the virus. But Fröschl points out that if that first patient had shown up in a less prepared part of the country, the outcome may have been different — perhaps something more like what happened in Italy, where cases went undetected for weeks and then overwhelmed the health system. “I’m always emphasizing,” Fröschl says, “we were just lucky.”
The power of learning
Of course, the key to Germany’s coronavirus management isn’t only about luck. It’s also about learning and acting quickly on new knowledge. After the Webasto cluster came under control, Fröschl and his colleagues got to work applying what they learned from the experience — establishing protocols for diagnosing, isolating, and treating Covid-19 patients safely.
This meant that by the end of February, when travelers started returning from Austria, Italy, and other countries with outbreaks, they were ready. The Webasto outbreak gave doctors and public health officials “extremely valuable” experience dealing with the virus. “Everything was in place,” Fröschl says. “We had experience of how to treat people and remain calm.”
There was also learning from other countries. “We tried to take the strategy of South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan — all good examples of how a quick and fast response can reduce the number of positive cases,” said Nicolai Savaskan, the chief medical officer of a local health department in Berlin. One part of that fast response: Germany’s mass testing program. While Germany was quick to lock down, it also scaled up testing from the start of the pandemic, and then repeatedly adapted the program to respond to changes in the epidemic dynamics.
In anticipation of a rise in cases following summer travel, for example, labs across the country scaled up their supply. You can see the result of this in the country’s test positive — or cases divided by tests — rate. This metric tells you whether a country’s testing capacity is rising in step with the demand for testing and growth in real cases. Since the beginning of May, relatively early in the pandemic, Germany’s test positive rate has held steady even though cases have increased, while the rate started to rise in July and August in other European countries currently experiencing the worst outbreaks, including France, Spain, and the UK.
All of @OurWorldInData's data on COVID-19 testing has just been updated.
Latest positive rates in Europe:
Ukraine: 17.2%
Poland: 12.3%
Spain: 10%
France: 7.5%
Italy: 6.3%
United Kingdom: 5.9%
Russia: 2.8%
Germany: 1.4%
(Source: https://t.co/z0HnOz4gb5) pic.twitter.com/rsK5lXMWEF — Edouard Mathieu (@redouad) October 14, 2020
“There have been ups and downs in Germany’s [outbreak], but the difference is they managed to scale up testing,” said Edouard Mathieu, the Paris-based data manager of Oxford University’s Our World in Data project. From May to the present, Germany went from around 60,000 tests per day to a staggering 160,000. And even now, Germany is again adapting its testing approach: adding a new rapid, antigen-testing strategy that will launch this week, the Wall Street Journal reported, to increase capacity as cases rise going into winter.
This also helps explain why outbreaks in the country — or even screw-ups like failing to notify positive cases quickly — haven’t spun out of control yet, as we’ve seen in other countries. “They are testing more people every time they find a case, which means they haven’t lost touch with the epidemic,” Mathieu said. It also means they didn’t waste their early lockdown: They used it to build robust systems that will likely help them control the current uptick, too.
The power of local responses
Germany, a federal country made up of 16 states with some 400 municipal health departments, ran a localized coronavirus response.
Though this has sometimes led to a confusing array of policies, it’s also meant municipal governments could act quickly and tailor pandemic policies to the needs and challenges facing local populations across 16 federal states with 400-plus counties.
And this may be another reason for Germany’s success compared to neighbors with more centralized systems such as France, Spain, and the UK.
“The decentralized [approach to] managing the pandemic was maybe a good way to deal with a quickly changing situation,” said Berlin’s Savaskan. He explained that while local health authorities have to report cases to Germany’s national public health agency, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), they could each tailor their pandemic responses to meet local needs in their region and react quickly whenever problems arose.
So, for example, while the RKI recommended a 14-day quarantine after contact with an infected person, in Berlin, health authorities decided that was too long to be acceptable for the population and that a seven-day quarantine with a coronavirus test at that point would do. “We could adapt what was recommended by RKI and then implement ... [to] locally fit the needs of the people,” Savaskan said.
Similarly, early on in the pandemic, in March, Berlin decided to shut down bars, dance halls, and nightclubs ahead of other regions, since they were local sources of contagion. When they reopened in June, municipal health authorities were in constant contact with the industry to encourage them to cooperate in contact tracing.
“We have a rate of contact tracing higher than 90 percent,” Savaskan said, meaning nearly all the contacts of infected people are being identified and followed up with.
When we talked at the end of September, Savaskan was heading to meet the health minister in Berlin. Outbreaks in bars and nightclub settings were on the rise again, and politicians wanted to engage local health departments on how to get the situation under control. By October 10, a midnight curfew for bars and clubs went into effect.
“The narrative so far in Germany concerning the public health departments is that people trust in them — they believe that when they give very detailed information about their life, this is taken very seriously. And I think this is the major impact of the success of the German response,” Savaskan said. It’s also allowed authorities to identify and stop chains of infection at an early stage.
The power of listening to scientists
There’s one other L that sets Germany apart. It’s the most straightforward of them all — but it’s certainly not being done in many countries, particularly the US. From the moment the coronavirus arrived in Germany, German authorities have been good about listening to scientists, says Clemens-Martin Wendtner, a Munich-based internal medicine doctor. Wendtner would know: He was also part of Germany’s coronavirus front line, overseeing the treatment of the country’s first patients in Munich.
He, too, didn’t mention Angela Merkel when I asked him how he explains how Germany managed to control the coronavirus. Instead, he said local politicians did something that now seems like a foreign concept in America: They listened to scientists.
Since February, Wendtner has been texting new findings and insights to the health minister in Bavaria — the German state that’s home to Munich — every week. And during the first weeks of the pandemic, before heading to the hospital, he’d join a 9 am briefing in the office of the health ministry to share his data there, too.
“Every [piece of] information we had from the hospital, they also had from the political decision side,” he said.
So that’s why Germany instituted a mandatory mask policy in public spaces in the spring and shut down schools. That’s why Jens Spahn, the federal minister of health, retracted the idea of Covid-19 immunity passports after listening to scientists. “He used the direct approach, just calling me here in my office,” Wendtner said.
As the science evolved and leaders listened to scientists, the policies keep changing. Recently, the Bavarian government decided to invest 50 million euros in hepafilters that deactivate infectious aerosols for use in classrooms across the state. “It’s not reasonable to open the window in Bavaria every 20 minutes” in winter, Wendtner said. So as temperatures drop, filters might help keep schools open at a time when we know the coronavirus can spread through aerosols, especially in poorly ventilated rooms.
Of course, science hasn’t been free of politics in Germany. And in the race to find a successor for Merkel, state politicians have certainly used the pandemic to increase their profile. But the big picture, Wendtner says, is that the public trusted German politicians “because they didn’t lie in the beginning and [they] built up trust,” following science, not denying it.


vox--2020-10-15--Trump team makes a suspicious effort to swing the election with purported Hunter Biden emails

It ’ s October in a year when President Donald Trump is running for reelection — and , as if on cue , the mysteriously obtained private emails of someone close to his opponent have been leaked .
The leaker in this case is President Trump ’ s lawyer Rudy Giuliani , who provided a copy of a hard drive that contains photos and purported emails of Joe Biden ’ s son Hunter to the New York Post .
It ’ s not clear whether the supposed emails , which involve Hunter and the Ukrainian gas company he worked for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s even less clear is how they ended up making their way to Giuliani — and whether illegality or foreign interference might have been involved .
During the 2016 campaign , Russian intelligence officers hacked Democrats ’ emails and provided them to WikiLeaks , and the release of Clinton campaign chair John Podesta ’ s emails occurred in the final weeks before Election Day .
But Hunter Biden has long been central to Trump ’ s reelection strategy .
In fact , Trump was impeached last year due to his and Giuliani @ @ @ @ @ @ @ scandal related to the Bidens and Burisma .
So now , less than three weeks before the election and with Trump trailing in polls , Giuliani appears to be picking up where he left off .
The story of where this hard drive came from is extremely strange Considering what happened in 2016 , one question that has naturally arisen here is : Was Hunter Biden ’ s information hacked or stolen and then provided to Giuliani ?
The New York Post tells a convoluted story to explain how Giuliani got the emails @ @ @ @ @ @ @ questions than it answers .
It all started , according to the Post , in April 2019 , when an unidentified man went to a Delaware computer repair shop to drop off a water-damaged laptop with a “ Beau Biden Foundation ” sticker ( a charitable foundation started in memory of Hunter ’ s late brother ) .
The shop owner ( who was interviewed by the Post as an anonymous source ) claims the man never returned to reclaim the laptop .
But he says he recovered data from it and , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were emails and photos related to Hunter Biden .
The shop owner claims he told the federal government about it , and they seized the laptop and hard drive in December 2019 .
But he claims he copied the hard drive first and provided it to Rudy Giuliani ’ s lawyer , Robert Costello .
Months later , somehow , former Trump adviser Steve Bannon ( who was indicted on fraud charges in August ) learned of the hard drive and told the Post .
Finally , Giuliani provided the hard drive to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ after having apparently kept it under wraps for about 10 months .
This is a curious tale .
Even if we take it at face value , it is unclear who dropped off the laptop ( with the conveniently identifying sticker ) during the very month conservative media started covering Burisma .
It ’ s also unclear why that person never reclaimed it , why Hunter Biden ’ s information was on it , why the shop owner would hand it over to Rudy Giuliani ’ s lawyer , and what the interest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has also spent months working with Andrii Derkach , a member of the Ukrainian parliament whom the US Treasury Department recently sanctioned as a Russian agent waging a “ covert influence campaign ” to affect the US election ( by releasing information about purported Biden wrongdoing ) .
Additionally , Burisma was reportedly hacked late last year and a security firm attributed that hack to the Russian military .
So there are many reasons to question what actually happened here .
It ’ s unclear whether the emails are authentic and what they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hunter Biden on the hard drive ( the New York Post has published them ) , and the reporters claim an explicit video of Hunter is on there as well .
But that does not necessarily mean the emails on the hard drive are authentic and unaltered .
It would certainly be possible for a nefarious actor to fabricate or alter some documents among a trove of largely accurate ones .
( Indeed , the Post story does not mention any effort to authenticate the emails . )
Then there ’ s the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ emails are authentic , bits from them can be selectively chosen and spun out of context to make misleading claims .
Trump ’ s team has spread the unfounded conspiracy theory that Joe Biden forced out Ukraine ’ s prosecutor general Viktor Shokin to protect Burisma and his son from an investigation .
This theory makes little sense , as it was the consensus position of the US government and Western institutions like the International Monetary Fund to oust Shokin due to his corruption and ineffectiveness .
But Trump ’ s aim is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a repeat of his 2016 strategy against Hillary Clinton .
Now , the Post is touting one purported email from Burisma adviser Vadym Pozharskyi as a scandalous “ smoking gun.
” In the purported email , Pozharskyi thanks Hunter for “ inviting me to DC and giving an opportunity to meet your father and spent some time together , ” and proposes meeting that day .
But there ’ s no confirmation the meeting with then-Vice President Biden happened or , if it did , that the two men discussed Shokin .
( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ statement that the campaign reviewed the former vice president ’ s official schedules and that “ no meeting , as alleged by the New York Post , ever took place.
” A campaign official also told the New York Times that a brief encounter was “ technically possible ” but was very unlikely . )
Hunter has had drug use issues in the past , and he took lucrative jobs for foreign companies or clients that he appeared not to be qualified for .
But there ’ s been a history of misleading @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — often involving Giuliani and Bannon , both of whom were involved in this as well .
So supposed bombshell revelations from questionable sources in the days before the election should be viewed with a great deal of skepticism .
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The United States is in the middle of one of the most consequential presidential elections of our lifetimes .
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It’s October in a year when President Donald Trump is running for reelection — and, as if on cue, the mysteriously obtained private emails of someone close to his opponent have been leaked.
The leaker in this case is President Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who provided a copy of a hard drive that contains photos and purported emails of Joe Biden’s son Hunter to the New York Post.
It’s not clear whether the supposed emails, which involve Hunter and the Ukrainian gas company he worked for, Burisma, are authentic. What’s even less clear is how they ended up making their way to Giuliani — and whether illegality or foreign interference might have been involved. During the 2016 campaign, Russian intelligence officers hacked Democrats’ emails and provided them to WikiLeaks, and the release of Clinton campaign chair John Podesta’s emails occurred in the final weeks before Election Day.
But Hunter Biden has long been central to Trump’s reelection strategy. In fact, Trump was impeached last year due to his and Giuliani’s efforts to drum up a scandal related to the Bidens and Burisma. So now, less than three weeks before the election and with Trump trailing in polls, Giuliani appears to be picking up where he left off.
The story of where this hard drive came from is extremely strange
Considering what happened in 2016, one question that has naturally arisen here is: Was Hunter Biden’s information hacked or stolen and then provided to Giuliani?
The New York Post tells a convoluted story to explain how Giuliani got the emails — a story that raises far more questions than it answers.
It all started, according to the Post, in April 2019, when an unidentified man went to a Delaware computer repair shop to drop off a water-damaged laptop with a “Beau Biden Foundation” sticker (a charitable foundation started in memory of Hunter’s late brother).
The shop owner (who was interviewed by the Post as an anonymous source) claims the man never returned to reclaim the laptop. But he says he recovered data from it and, lo and behold, he discovered there were emails and photos related to Hunter Biden.
The shop owner claims he told the federal government about it, and they seized the laptop and hard drive in December 2019. But he claims he copied the hard drive first and provided it to Rudy Giuliani’s lawyer, Robert Costello.
Months later, somehow, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon (who was indicted on fraud charges in August) learned of the hard drive and told the Post. Finally, Giuliani provided the hard drive to the New York Post last Sunday, after having apparently kept it under wraps for about 10 months.
This is a curious tale. Even if we take it at face value, it is unclear who dropped off the laptop (with the conveniently identifying sticker) during the very month conservative media started covering Burisma. It’s also unclear why that person never reclaimed it, why Hunter Biden’s information was on it, why the shop owner would hand it over to Rudy Giuliani’s lawyer, and what the interest of the federal government was.
Giuliani has also spent months working with Andrii Derkach, a member of the Ukrainian parliament whom the US Treasury Department recently sanctioned as a Russian agent waging a “covert influence campaign” to affect the US election (by releasing information about purported Biden wrongdoing). Additionally, Burisma was reportedly hacked late last year and a security firm attributed that hack to the Russian military. So there are many reasons to question what actually happened here.
It’s unclear whether the emails are authentic and what they mean
Evidently there were some photos of Hunter Biden on the hard drive (the New York Post has published them), and the reporters claim an explicit video of Hunter is on there as well.
But that does not necessarily mean the emails on the hard drive are authentic and unaltered. It would certainly be possible for a nefarious actor to fabricate or alter some documents among a trove of largely accurate ones. (Indeed, the Post story does not mention any effort to authenticate the emails.)
Then there’s the larger problem that, even if the emails are authentic, bits from them can be selectively chosen and spun out of context to make misleading claims.
Trump’s team has spread the unfounded conspiracy theory that Joe Biden forced out Ukraine’s prosecutor general Viktor Shokin to protect Burisma and his son from an investigation. This theory makes little sense, as it was the consensus position of the US government and Western institutions like the International Monetary Fund to oust Shokin due to his corruption and ineffectiveness. But Trump’s aim is to paint Biden as corrupt, in a repeat of his 2016 strategy against Hillary Clinton.
Now, the Post is touting one purported email from Burisma adviser Vadym Pozharskyi as a scandalous “smoking gun.” In the purported email, Pozharskyi thanks Hunter for “inviting me to DC and giving an opportunity to meet your father and spent some time together,” and proposes meeting that day. But there’s no confirmation the meeting with then-Vice President Biden happened or, if it did, that the two men discussed Shokin. (A Biden campaign spokesperson said in a statement that the campaign reviewed the former vice president’s official schedules and that “no meeting, as alleged by the New York Post, ever took place.” A campaign official also told the New York Times that a brief encounter was “technically possible” but was very unlikely.)
Hunter has had drug use issues in the past, and he took lucrative jobs for foreign companies or clients that he appeared not to be qualified for. But there’s been a history of misleading information and outright misinformation pushed about him — often involving Giuliani and Bannon, both of whom were involved in this as well. So supposed bombshell revelations from questionable sources in the days before the election should be viewed with a great deal of skepticism.


vox--2020-10-15--Facebook and Twitter took drastic measures to limit the reach of a disputed story about Hunter Biden

Facebook said on Wednesday morning that it ’ s reducing distribution of a New York Post story containing unconfirmed claims with questionable sourcing about Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden ’ s son , Hunter Biden .
Shortly after , Twitter said it ’ s blocking users from posting the story entirely .
Both companies ’ moves to limit the reach of a major news publisher are unusual and drastic at a time when many Republican lawmakers , President Trump , and political figures are threatening new regulations and accusing tech companies of censoring conservative political speech .
While these companies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of viral political misinformation networks in the past , doing so to a publication as prominent as the New York Post has immediately attracted attention and criticism .
Although it is known for its conservative slant and track record of publishing questionable stories , the tabloid is a widely read , mainstream outlet .
Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone announced his company ’ s decision in a tweet on Tuesday : Twitter , meanwhile , blocked users from sharing the New York Post article .
If someone tries to tweet the article , Twitter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the link has been identified as “ potentially harmful.
” “ In line with our Hacked Materials Policy , as well as our approach to blocking URLs , we are taking action to block any links to or images of the material in question on Twitter , ” wrote Twitter spokesperson Nicholas Pacillo in response to Recode ’ s questions about why Twitter blocked the article .
Twitter posted a longer series of tweets explaining its rationale on Monday evening .
There ’ s a real argument that Facebook — a primary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — and Twitter should be trying to slow the spread of an unproven news story whose claims haven ’ t been corroborated by other major news outlets and whose origins are from questionable sources .
Especially since the New York Post has a track record of sometimes promoting viral conspiracy theories .
In April , the New York Post was responsible for helping spread a baseless conspiracy theory promoted by former Trump adviser Roger Stone , purporting that Bill Gates created the coronavirus to “ microchip ” people .
That story went viral @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Joan Donovan , the research director of the Shorenstein Center on Media , Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School .
“ It ’ s really a problem for Facebook because they would not enjoy the same kind of audience without the accordances of the platform , ” said Donovan .
“ Stories that ‘ outperform ’ the normal rate of distribution often do so because of their novelty .
They are one of the few outlets reporting on this , so they get rewarded for not abiding by the same @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Wednesday ’ s action is particularly unusual for Facebook because the company has long taken a laissez-faire approach to curating the endless stream of viral misinformation on its platform , especially about politics .
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has often said he doesn ’ t want the platform to be an “ arbiter of truth.
” Now , it appears that Facebook is taking a firmer stance on moderating what goes viral on its platform — raising questions about when and how it decides to step in , weeks ahead of a presidential @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Recode ’ s repeated requests to explain why it reduced distribution of the story on its platform .
Stone , the Facebook spokesperson , said in a follow-up tweet to his original post announcing reduced distribution of the New York Post story that this was “ part of our standard process to reduce the spread of misinformation.
” But it ’ s hard to find other examples of Facebook reducing distribution of a major news story before it ’ s been fact-checked .
It did happen last month , when , ahead of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ slowed the spread of false stories about Joe Biden having an earpiece .
Those stories originated from a New York Post reporter ’ s tweet containing an anonymously sourced claim , which turned out to be bogus .
Facebook ’ s move has already drawn the ire of some Republican leaders on social media .
Sen. Josh Hawley , a Republican from Missouri , sent Facebook a letter demanding the company answer why it reduced distribution of the New York Post article .
Hawley called the action “ censorship ” and , without @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as another example of what many conservatives , including President Trump , have called “ anti-conservative bias ” on social media platforms .
President Trump also tweeted in response to the social media companies ’ decisions to moderate the article on Monday evening , calling for a repeal of Section 230 , a landmark internet law which largely shields social media companies from being sued over what its users say on their platforms .
Some have questioned whether Facebook is taking firmer action recently against political misinformation and hate speech because the company @ @ @ @ @ @ @ potential Democratic leadership in the White House and Congress .
While curbing misinformation and hate speech isn ’ t necessarily a partisan issue , Democrats have long called for Facebook to take a firmer stance .
But long before Democrats were ahead in the polls and appeared likely to take control of Congress and the White House , Facebook executives had warned of a “ hack and leak ” situation , one in which leaked information of questionable authenticity is released prior to an election , for political purposes , similar to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said that it would take extra caution with such information , and the company has gone so far as to caution news outlets and other social media platforms to do the same .
The New York Post ’ s Hunter Biden story is a clear example of something that could potentially fit the hack-and-leak description .
While it will take time for fact-checkers to thoroughly interrogate the claims in the story , the basic allegations and circumstances behind the story are rather suspect .
The main allegation in the story is that Hunter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ executive of a Ukrainian energy firm .
The article claims that this contradicts Biden ’ s previous statement that he has never spoken with his son about his foreign business deals .
It does not , however , prove that Biden actually talked to this business executive ; the Biden campaign put out a statement denying any Biden meeting with the executive in official records .
A campaign official told the New York Times that a brief encounter was “ technically possible ” but was very unlikely and that no discussions related to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the story has also been questioned : It claims that evidence was obtained from a laptop repair store owner who had access to a computer brought in for repair that may have belonged to Hunter Biden .
The New York Post claims the repair store owner brought materials to the lawyer of Rudy Giuliani , the former New York City mayor who ’ s now often described as Donald Trump ’ s “ personal lawyer , ” and Giuliani recently shared a copy of them with the paper .
The circumstances behind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ journalists , including New York magazine ’ s Jonathan Chait .
Also called into question is the conservative editorial slant of the New York Post .
The newspaper is owned by Rupert Murdoch , who is in a major battle with Facebook in Australia over how much the company pays his media properties for their content .
Facebook ’ s response to the New York Post ’ s track record of promoting false news stories appears to be to treat its latest report with more suspicion than a comparable major news outlet .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to explain its process is only leaving important questions unanswered and room for unsubstantiated accusations of political bias .
Help keep Vox free for all Millions turn to Vox each month to understand what ’ s happening in the news , from the coronavirus crisis to a racial reckoning to what is , quite possibly , the most consequential presidential election of our lifetimes .
Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment : to empower you through understanding .
But our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the news advertising market recovers , your support will be a critical part of sustaining our resource-intensive work .
If you have already contributed , thank you .
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Facebook said on Wednesday morning that it’s reducing distribution of a New York Post story containing unconfirmed claims with questionable sourcing about Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden. Shortly after, Twitter said it’s blocking users from posting the story entirely.
Related Trump team makes a suspicious effort to swing the election with purported Hunter Biden emails
Both companies’ moves to limit the reach of a major news publisher are unusual and drastic at a time when many Republican lawmakers, President Trump, and political figures are threatening new regulations and accusing tech companies of censoring conservative political speech. While these companies have taken down or limited the reach of viral political misinformation networks in the past, doing so to a publication as prominent as the New York Post has immediately attracted attention and criticism. Although it is known for its conservative slant and track record of publishing questionable stories, the tabloid is a widely read, mainstream outlet.
Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone announced his company’s decision in a tweet on Tuesday:
While I will intentionally not link to the New York Post, I want be clear that this story is eligible to be fact checked by Facebook's third-party fact checking partners. In the meantime, we are reducing its distribution on our platform. — Andy Stone (@andymstone) October 14, 2020
Twitter, meanwhile, blocked users from sharing the New York Post article. If someone tries to tweet the article, Twitter returns an error message, warning users that the link has been identified as “potentially harmful.”
“In line with our Hacked Materials Policy, as well as our approach to blocking URLs, we are taking action to block any links to or images of the material in question on Twitter,” wrote Twitter spokesperson Nicholas Pacillo in response to Recode’s questions about why Twitter blocked the article. Twitter posted a longer series of tweets explaining its rationale on Monday evening.
There’s a real argument that Facebook — a primary news source for four in 10 Americans — and Twitter should be trying to slow the spread of an unproven news story whose claims haven’t been corroborated by other major news outlets and whose origins are from questionable sources. Especially since the New York Post has a track record of sometimes promoting viral conspiracy theories.
In April, the New York Post was responsible for helping spread a baseless conspiracy theory promoted by former Trump adviser Roger Stone, purporting that Bill Gates created the coronavirus to “microchip” people. That story went viral on Facebook, according to research by Joan Donovan, the research director of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School.
“It’s really a problem for Facebook because they would not enjoy the same kind of audience without the accordances of the platform,” said Donovan. “Stories that ‘outperform’ the normal rate of distribution often do so because of their novelty. They are one of the few outlets reporting on this, so they get rewarded for not abiding by the same standards as more reputable news outlets.”
Wednesday’s action is particularly unusual for Facebook because the company has long taken a laissez-faire approach to curating the endless stream of viral misinformation on its platform, especially about politics. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has often said he doesn’t want the platform to be an “arbiter of truth.” Now, it appears that Facebook is taking a firmer stance on moderating what goes viral on its platform — raising questions about when and how it decides to step in, weeks ahead of a presidential election.
Facebook did not respond to Recode’s repeated requests to explain why it reduced distribution of the story on its platform. Stone, the Facebook spokesperson, said in a follow-up tweet to his original post announcing reduced distribution of the New York Post story that this was “part of our standard process to reduce the spread of misinformation.”
But it’s hard to find other examples of Facebook reducing distribution of a major news story before it’s been fact-checked. It did happen last month, when, ahead of the recent presidential debate, Facebook similarly slowed the spread of false stories about Joe Biden having an earpiece. Those stories originated from a New York Post reporter’s tweet containing an anonymously sourced claim, which turned out to be bogus.
Facebook’s move has already drawn the ire of some Republican leaders on social media. Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, sent Facebook a letter demanding the company answer why it reduced distribution of the New York Post article. Hawley called the action “censorship” and, without showing any evidence, pointed to it as another example of what many conservatives, including President Trump, have called “anti-conservative bias” on social media platforms.
President Trump also tweeted in response to the social media companies’ decisions to moderate the article on Monday evening, calling for a repeal of Section 230, a landmark internet law which largely shields social media companies from being sued over what its users say on their platforms.
So terrible that Facebook and Twitter took down the story of “Smoking Gun” emails related to Sleepy Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, in the @NYPost. It is only the beginning for them. There is nothing worse than a corrupt politician. REPEAL SECTION 230!!! https://t.co/g1RJFpIVUZ — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 14, 2020
Some have questioned whether Facebook is taking firmer action recently against political misinformation and hate speech because the company is trying to curry favor with a potential Democratic leadership in the White House and Congress. While curbing misinformation and hate speech isn’t necessarily a partisan issue, Democrats have long called for Facebook to take a firmer stance.
But long before Democrats were ahead in the polls and appeared likely to take control of Congress and the White House, Facebook executives had warned of a “hack and leak” situation, one in which leaked information of questionable authenticity is released prior to an election, for political purposes, similar to the 2016 Hillary Clinton emails. Facebook has said that it would take extra caution with such information, and the company has gone so far as to caution news outlets and other social media platforms to do the same.
The New York Post’s Hunter Biden story is a clear example of something that could potentially fit the hack-and-leak description. While it will take time for fact-checkers to thoroughly interrogate the claims in the story, the basic allegations and circumstances behind the story are rather suspect.
The main allegation in the story is that Hunter Biden introduced then Vice-President Biden to an executive of a Ukrainian energy firm. The article claims that this contradicts Biden’s previous statement that he has never spoken with his son about his foreign business deals. It does not, however, prove that Biden actually talked to this business executive; the Biden campaign put out a statement denying any Biden meeting with the executive in official records. A campaign official told the New York Times that a brief encounter was “technically possible” but was very unlikely and that no discussions related to Burisma would have occurred.
The sourcing of the story has also been questioned: It claims that evidence was obtained from a laptop repair store owner who had access to a computer brought in for repair that may have belonged to Hunter Biden. The New York Post claims the repair store owner brought materials to the lawyer of Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor who’s now often described as Donald Trump’s “personal lawyer,” and Giuliani recently shared a copy of them with the paper.
The circumstances behind this leak have drawn scrutiny from political journalists, including New York magazine’s Jonathan Chait. Also called into question is the conservative editorial slant of the New York Post. The newspaper is owned by Rupert Murdoch, who is in a major battle with Facebook in Australia over how much the company pays his media properties for their content.
Facebook’s response to the New York Post’s track record of promoting false news stories appears to be to treat its latest report with more suspicion than a comparable major news outlet. Nevertheless, the company’s refusal to explain its process is only leaving important questions unanswered and room for unsubstantiated accusations of political bias.


vox--2020-10-15--Biden always understood what this election is about

In his 1943 paper “ A Theory of Human Motivation , ” Abraham Maslow proposed his hierarchy of human needs .
At the bottom of the pyramid were the basics : food , water , warmth , rest .
As you traveled up the pyramid , the needs got more specific , more abstract : belonging , prestige , self-actualization .
Over the past four years , we ’ ve slipped far , far down the hierarchy of political needs .
The question isn ’ t whether the president is a policy genius , a generational orator , a historic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
It ’ s whether he ’ s a white supremacist .
Whether he ’ s a conspiracy theorist .
Whether he ’ s a liar .
Whether he ’ s extorting foreign governments to investigate domestic rivals .
Whether he is a Covid-19 superspreader .
In 2016 , I spent a few weeks reporting on why there was so little enthusiasm for a Joe Biden presidential campaign among then-Obama staffers .
Everyone I spoke to liked Biden , usually a lot .
They extolled his kindness , his decency , his loyalty @ @ @ @ @ @ @ questions that worried them .
He ran messy , inefficient meetings .
He wasn ’ t a policy savant like Hillary Clinton .
He didn ’ t have Barack Obama ’ s technocratic cool or rhetorical ease .
He felt like Obama ’ s partner , not his successor .
In 2020 , Biden looks likely to be Donald Trump ’ s successor , and his performance at the ABC town hall showed why .
I ’ ve watched , for my sins , a countless number of political town halls .
By @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden ’ s performance wasn ’ t especially masterful .
He was clear and specific , and on the right side of most of the issues .
But on the substance , it wasn ’ t brilliant rhetoric or stunning policy vision .
It was serviceable work .
But 2020 isn ’ t 2016 .
More fundamental questions are being asked .
And on those levels , Biden excelled .
Throughout the night , the meta-message of Biden ’ s performance was that decency is on the ballot in 2020 .
After he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ d often say , earnestly , “ I hope that answered your question.
” After a long reply to a young voter whom he could see he wasn ’ t convincing , Biden said , “ There ’ s a lot more ; if you can hang around afterward , I ’ ll tell you more .
I really mean it.
” He really seemed to .
( If you watched the livestream , you could see that a half-hour after the event ended and the mics were turned off , Biden @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . )
At about the same moment that Trump was flirting with QAnon support at his town hall aired on NBC , Biden was saying , “ The words of a president matter .
No matter whether they ’ re good , bad , or indifferent , they matter .
And when a president doesn ’ t wear a mask or makes fun of folks like me , when I was wearing a mask for a long time , then people say , well , it mustn ’ t be that important .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ think this is very important — for example , I walked in here with this mask , but I have one of the N95 masks underneath it , I left it in my dressing room — I think it matters.
” This was , again and again , Biden ’ s point : The words of the president matter .
The behavior of the president matters .
The comportment of the president matters .
The example of the president matters .
Biden talks policy often and reasonably well , but he hasn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wonkery ; he ’ s been putting on a clinic in decency .
And it matters .
It shouldn ’ t — decency should be table stakes , too unremarkable to mention — but right now , it does .
Toward the end of the evening , a mother with a transgender daughter asked Biden how he ’ d protect the lives and rights of LGBTQ Americans .
Biden answered with his policies , but he also told a story of being a kid and seeing two men kiss as his father let @ @ @ @ @ @ @ My dad looked at me , he said , ‘ Joey , it ’ s simple .
They love each other.
’ ” The idea , Biden continued , “ that an 8-year-old , a 10-year-old , decides , ‘ I want to be transgender .
That ’ s what I think I ’ d like to be .
It ’ d make my life a lot easier.
’ ” And then he made a disbelieving face .
“ There should be zero discrimination , ” he concluded .
To my eye , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ politics most clearly and spoke to this moment most directly , came when he was asked , “ As president , how will you avoid the temptation to exact revenge and instead take the high road ?
” Biden replied , “ In politics , grudges don ’ t work .
They make no sense .
I really mean it.
” And he does .
What would it feel like , after four years of a presidency built on grudges , powered by grudges , to have a president who believed that ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 2020 .
I ’ m moved by the wonks , the visionaries , the candidates with grand plans and sweeping theories of political change .
Biden ’ s approach to politics is often a rejection of that ; an appeal to a quiet , middle-path approach to governing that I fear will crash on the shoals of Republican obstructionism .
But however Biden ultimately governs , the secret of his campaign is that he understood that political style comes as a relief to many Americans right now , that it answers their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t fill them with fear and shame .
Biden was right about the level of our politics right now .
He was right about what Americans were looking to hear .
The message of Biden ’ s town hall was simple : Politics can feel like this — gentle , decent , concerned , I hope I ’ ve answered your question — or it could continue to feel like the circus you found if you flipped over to Trump ’ s town hall on NBC .
Will you help keep Vox @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is in the middle of one of the most consequential presidential elections of our lifetimes .
It ’ s essential that all Americans are able to access clear , concise information on what the outcome of the election could mean for their lives , and the lives of their families and communities .
That is our mission at Vox .
But our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources .
Even when the economy and the news advertising market recovers , your support will be a critical part of sustaining our resource-intensive work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thank you .
If you haven ’ t , please consider helping everyone understand this presidential election : Contribute today from as little as $ 3 .

In his 1943 paper “A Theory of Human Motivation,” Abraham Maslow proposed his hierarchy of human needs. At the bottom of the pyramid were the basics: food, water, warmth, rest. As you traveled up the pyramid, the needs got more specific, more abstract: belonging, prestige, self-actualization.
Over the past four years, we’ve slipped far, far down the hierarchy of political needs. The question isn’t whether the president is a policy genius, a generational orator, a historic legislative tactician, or a masterful manager. It’s whether he’s a white supremacist. Whether he’s a conspiracy theorist. Whether he’s a liar. Whether he’s extorting foreign governments to investigate domestic rivals. Whether he is a Covid-19 superspreader.
In 2016, I spent a few weeks reporting on why there was so little enthusiasm for a Joe Biden presidential campaign among then-Obama staffers. Everyone I spoke to liked Biden, usually a lot. They extolled his kindness, his decency, his loyalty. It wasn’t those higher-order questions that worried them. He ran messy, inefficient meetings. He wasn’t a policy savant like Hillary Clinton. He didn’t have Barack Obama’s technocratic cool or rhetorical ease. He felt like Obama’s partner, not his successor.
In 2020, Biden looks likely to be Donald Trump’s successor, and his performance at the ABC town hall showed why. I’ve watched, for my sins, a countless number of political town halls. By the traditional standards of these things, Biden’s performance wasn’t especially masterful. He was clear and specific, and on the right side of most of the issues. But on the substance, it wasn’t brilliant rhetoric or stunning policy vision. It was serviceable work.
But 2020 isn’t 2016. More fundamental questions are being asked. And on those levels, Biden excelled. Throughout the night, the meta-message of Biden’s performance was that decency is on the ballot in 2020. After he responded to an audience member, he’d often say, earnestly, “I hope that answered your question.” After a long reply to a young voter whom he could see he wasn’t convincing, Biden said, “There’s a lot more; if you can hang around afterward, I’ll tell you more. I really mean it.” He really seemed to. (If you watched the livestream, you could see that a half-hour after the event ended and the mics were turned off, Biden was still there, taking audience questions.)
At about the same moment that Trump was flirting with QAnon support at his town hall aired on NBC, Biden was saying, “The words of a president matter. No matter whether they’re good, bad, or indifferent, they matter. And when a president doesn’t wear a mask or makes fun of folks like me, when I was wearing a mask for a long time, then people say, well, it mustn’t be that important. But when a president says, I think this is very important — for example, I walked in here with this mask, but I have one of the N95 masks underneath it, I left it in my dressing room — I think it matters.”
At the same moment that Trump was refusing to disavow QAnon, Biden on ABC was saying that "when a president doesn't wear a mask, or makes fun of folks like me when I was wearing a mask for a long time, then people say it mustn't be that important." A jarring contrast. pic.twitter.com/rqppKQDUrs — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 16, 2020
This was, again and again, Biden’s point: The words of the president matter. The behavior of the president matters. The comportment of the president matters. The example of the president matters. Biden talks policy often and reasonably well, but he hasn’t been putting on a clinic in wonkery; he’s been putting on a clinic in decency. And it matters. It shouldn’t — decency should be table stakes, too unremarkable to mention — but right now, it does.
Toward the end of the evening, a mother with a transgender daughter asked Biden how he’d protect the lives and rights of LGBTQ Americans. Biden answered with his policies, but he also told a story of being a kid and seeing two men kiss as his father let him out of the car. “My dad looked at me, he said, ‘Joey, it’s simple. They love each other.’” The idea, Biden continued, “that an 8-year-old, a 10-year-old, decides, ‘I want to be transgender. That’s what I think I’d like to be. It’d make my life a lot easier.’” And then he made a disbelieving face. “There should be zero discrimination,” he concluded.
To my eye, the answer that expressed Biden’s politics most clearly and spoke to this moment most directly came when he was asked, “As president, how will you avoid the temptation to exact revenge and instead take the high road?” Biden replied, “In politics, grudges don’t work. They make no sense. I really mean it.” And he does. What would it feel like, after four years of a presidency built on grudges, powered by grudges, to have a president who believed that?
Related The delightful boringness of Joe Biden
Biden wasn’t my favored candidate in 2020. I’m moved by the wonks, the visionaries, the candidates with grand plans and sweeping theories of political change. Biden’s meta-politics is often a rejection of that; an appeal to a quiet, middle-path approach to governing that I fear will crash on the shoals of Republican obstructionism. But however Biden ultimately governs, the secret of his campaign is that his political style comes as a relief to many Americans right now, it answers their fundamental need for a politics that doesn’t fill them with fear and shame.
Biden was right about the level of our politics right now. He was right about what Americans were looking to hear. The message of Biden’s town hall was simple: Politics can feel like this — gentle, decent, concerned, I hope I’ve answered your question — or it could continue to feel like the circus you found if you flipped over to Trump’s town hall on NBC.