| | | | |  | | By Ruth Reader, Daniel Payne, Carmen Paun and Erin Schumaker | | | | | 
Santorum disagrees with many Senate Republicans about social media regulation. | Alex Brandon/AP | Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) blame an “army of lawyers and lobbyists” from “big tech behemoths” for standing in the way of their bill to regulate social media. But that’s only part of the reason the Kids Online Safety Act still hasn’t been brought to the Senate floor for a vote. How’s that? While it’s true that companies like Facebook and tech industry lobbying organizations such as NetChoice are spending big to defeat the bill, the tech firms have allies on the left and right, Ruth reports. On the left: An alliance of LGBTQ+ and civil liberties groups led by the advocacy group Fight for the Future, and which includes the American Civil Liberties Union, is among them. Evan Greer, Fight for the Future’s director, told Ruth she’s concerned that the Kids Online Safety Act could result in sites censoring useful content for kids. “Generally, we think the best way to protect kids online is to pass strong federal data privacy and antitrust legislation that protects everyone,” Greer said. The alliance’s opposition has given some on Capitol Hill reason to resist. “Before I can support KOSA, the bill must not unnecessarily encourage services to censor discussion of sensitive topics like reproductive health or LGBTQ issues,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said. On the right: Former Pennsylvania GOP Sen. Rick Santorum’s group, Patriot Voices, is running advertising on conservative media to warn parents that the bill could give regulators license to require social media companies to censor socially conservative or religious content. “If bureaucrats at the Federal Trade Commission decide that a Christian video or homeschooling site is dangerous or unscientific, your family won’t be able to access that material on the internet,” the group’s ad says. What’s next? Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, one of 69 senators co-sponsoring the bill, has told advocates he’ll schedule a vote, but he turned back a plan to add the measure to aviation legislation the Senate passed this month. He declined to comment. Blumenthal and Blackburn, in the meantime, are rebutting Greer and Santorum’s claims and have asked their Senate colleagues to reveal their objections or get out of the bill’s way. “A bill supported by more than two-thirds of the Senate deserves a vote,” they said in a statement.
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Hillwood, Washington, D.C. | Shawn Zeller/POLITICO | This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care. U.K. researchers have found a way to preserve breast tissue outside the body, which they hope will help advance breast cancer research, The Guardian reports. Share any thoughts, news, tips and feedback with Carmen Paun at cpaun@politico.com, Daniel Payne at dpayne@politico.com, Ruth Reader at rreader@politico.com or Erin Schumaker at eschumaker@politico.com. Send tips securely through SecureDrop, Signal, Telegram or WhatsApp.
| | |  Online tools could help people resist the urge to binge, a new study found. | (AP Photo/Reed Saxon) | Online services could reduce the harms of eating disorders, according to new research from Germany. The web-based interventions, rooted in cognitive behavioral therapy, led to significant declines in issues around food, such as binge eating, as well as drops in symptoms of depression and anxiety, according to the paper, published in JAMA Network Open. How so? The researchers compared two groups of people: those who participated in the online program and those who didn’t. The online program consisted of six mandatory modules that covered how patients can monitor themselves for binge eating, education about eating disorders and emotional regulation — as well as other elective modules. Participants in the intervention group reported greater reductions in binge eating, overeating and loss of control over their eating compared with the control group. Why it matters: The researchers suggested online interventions could be “a promising solution” for supporting patients, especially those who are sometimes reluctant to seek treatment. Even so: The study’s sample size — 154 — was small and almost entirely made up of women, a limitation the authors acknowledge. Future research should include comparisons between online interventions and face-to-face therapy, the researchers said, to better understand the tradeoffs in treatment options.
| | | | LISTEN TO POLITICO'S ENERGY PODCAST: Check out our daily five-minute brief on the latest energy and environmental politics and policy news. Don't miss out on the must-know stories, candid insights, and analysis from POLITICO's energy team. Listen today. | | | | | | | | |  Climate change will pollute Europe's waters, an EU agency predicts. | (Photo by JOSE JORDAN/AFP via Getty Images) | Food poisoning from contaminated fish, drug-resistant bacteria emerging from melting soil and reindeer populations decimated by anthrax are just some of the looming threats to health as Europe’s waters warm, the EU’s European Environment Agency says in a new report. Risks to water: The report says thawing permafrost — long frozen land — in northern Europe will unleash a wave of previously contained pathogens and pollution, our Leonie Cater reports. Metal contaminants could be released into water sources, leading to an uptick in cancers, developmental and reproductive disorders and cardiovascular diseases. The freeing of previously frozen — and antibiotic-resistant — pathogens is another worry. Risks to food: Ciguatera poisoning, a foodborne illness caused by eating contaminated fish, could also become “more widespread in Europe in the future” because of the “increasing densities and range of the toxic microalgae” in warmer waters. And an “increased risk of anthrax outbreaks decimating reindeer poses a serious threat for Arctic herding communities through reduced source of food and income.” Call to action: The agency said EU countries should better integrate climate change into health policies to mitigate the risks. “Protecting human lives and health from the impacts of climate change, including droughts, floods and worsened water quality, is of utmost importance and urgency,” the agency’s executive director, Leena Ylä-Mononen, said. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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