CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M 

Hindenburg Takes Aim at Dorsey's Payments Firm Block, Shares Plunge

By Reuters

|

March 23, 2023, 

Hindenburg Takes Aim at Dorsey's Payments Firm Block, Shares Plunge

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The logo of Cash App is seen at the main hall during the Bitcoin Conference 

2022 in Miami Beach, Florida, U.S. April 6, 2022. 

REUTERS/Marco Bello

By Manya Saini

(Reuters) - Hindenburg Research on Thursday disclosed short positions in Block Inc and alleged that the payments firm led by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey overstated its user numbers and understated its customer acquisition costs.

Block vowed to fight back, saying it would explore legal action against the short seller for its "factually inaccurate and misleading report" that was "designed to deceive and confuse investors".

"Hindenburg is known for these types of attacks, which are designed solely to allow short sellers to profit from a declined stock price," the payments firm said, adding that it would work with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Block's shares were last down 15% at $61.67, paring some losses after a 22% plunge earlier.

Hindenburg, which was behind a market rout of over $100 billion in India's Adani Group, said in its report that former Block employees estimated that 40% to 75% of accounts they reviewed were fake, involved in fraud, or were additional accounts tied to a single individual.

The move is seen as a challenge to Dorsey, who co-founded Block in 2009 in his San Francisco apartment with the goal to shake up the credit card industry, and is the company's largest shareholder with a stake of around 8%.

The NYU dropout was just until two years ago splitting his time between the payments firm and Twitter, his other venture that went private in 2022 in a $44 billion buyout by Elon Musk that Dorsey supported.

"Our 2-year investigation has concluded that Block has systematically taken advantage of the demographics it claims to be helping," Hindenburg said in a note published on its website.

The report comes at a time when the outlook for the payments industry has been clouded by worries over the strength of consumer spending in the face of elevated levels of inflation and expectations of an economic downturn.

Those concerns triggered a more than 60% slump in Block's shares last year.

Hindenburg said that Block "obfuscates" how many individuals are on the Cash App platform by reporting "misleading transacting active metrics filled with fake and duplicate accounts".

Reuters could not verify the claims raised in the report.

Cash App allows users to transfer money through a mobile application and is touted by the company as an alternative to traditional banking services.

The app had 51 million monthly transacting actives, a 16% year-over-year increase during December 2022, Block said in a fourth-quarter earnings letter.

The short seller added that co-founders Dorsey and James McKelvey collectively sold over $1 billion of stock during the pandemic as the company's share price soared.

Other executives including finance chief Amrita Ahuja and the lead manager for Cash App Brian Grassadonia also dumped millions of dollars in stock, the report added.

"What I am really concerned about is the Cash App, accusations of fraud, multiple accounts, opening accounts and fake names. And it doesn't seem like that would be something that they would allow," said Christopher Brendler, senior analyst at D.A. Davidson & Co.

"(There is) some evidence in the report that this is happening. So, you know, I think that's the most damaging part of the report," he added. (Graphic: Year-over-year gross profit growth in Block's Cash App, https://www.reuters.com/graphics/BLOCK-CASHAPP/CHART/znvnbljajvl/chart.png)

Based on the session's 20% price move, as of 9:55 a.m. ET, short sellers have made over $400 million in paper profit, according to data from financial analytics firm Ortex. Short interest was 27.96 million shares, or 5.21% of free float.

The company's ticker was the top trending on retail investor-focused forum StockTwits.

Block has also taken a hit from the upheaval in the cryptocurrency industry that forms a large chunk of its revenue base.

The company offers point-of-sales systems and an app that allows people to trade cryptocurrency.

Last month, Block said it was "meaningfully slowing" the pace of hiring this year to control costs.

Founded in 2017 by Nathan Anderson, Hindenburg is a forensic financial research firm that analyses equity, credit and derivatives.

Hindenburg invests its own capital and takes short positions against companies. After finding potential wrongdoings, the company usually publishes a report explaining the case and bets against the target company, hoping to make a profit.

Short sellers typically sell borrowed securities and aim to buy these back at a lower price.

(Reporting by Manya Saini, Akriti Sharma, Mehnaz Yasmin and Jaiveer Singh Shekhwat in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee, Sriraj Kalluvila and Shounak Dasgupta)

Copyright 2023 Thomson Reuters.

Sanofi and Regeneron reveal data on ‘blow-out’ drugs for smokers’ lungs
Alexandra Ross

March 23, 2023

The drug met the primary and all secondary objectives in the COPD study

The previous peak sales estimate of €13 billion was made excluding COPD

The drug could be the first new COPD treatment in over a decade

March 23 (Reuters) – Sanofis (SASY.PA) asthma drug Dupixent has met all targets in a study aimed at treating ‘smoker’s lung’, potentially boosting the French drugmaker’s growth prospects by billions but also increasing its heavy reliance on its best-selling drug underlines.

In a late-stage study, Dupixent, co-developed with Regeneron (REGN.O), resulted in a 30 percent reduction in moderate to severe acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a potentially fatal disease characterized by a progressive decrease in lung function is marked.

Shares of Sanofi and Regeneron rose after they said in a joint statement on Thursday that a Phase III study of 939 current or former smokers also showed improvements in lung function, quality of life and respiratory symptoms.

The French group’s stock rose 5.2% by 1205 GMT, hitting a seven-month high and far outperforming the barely changed STOXX Europe 600 Health Care Index (.SXDP).

Regeneron is up 8.6% in U.S. premarket trading and was expected to open at a record high.

Also read: US government, Pfizer and others side with Sanofi and Regeneron in Supreme Court patent case - Endpoints News

“COPD is an urgent global public health concern and, due to its heterogeneity, a notoriously difficult-to-treat disease for which no novel treatments have been approved for more than a decade,” said George Yancopoulos, Regeneron’s Chief Scientific Officer.

Sanofi added that its “bold” decision to forgo earlier-stage COPD clinical trials has cut development time by years.

JP Morgan analyst Richard Vosser said the test update provides “blow-out data” for investors and that the market consensus for Dupixent’s €15.7 billion in 2027 sales is likely up €1-2 billion will be increased.

“We see Dupixent’s data on COPD exceeding all market expectations for utility,” said the analyst.

Jefferies analysts said the update had “perhaps the best efficacy” for treating the disease.

Sanofi previously forecast that Dupixent would post sales of up to 13 billion euros ($14.2 billion) in its best year as it seeks to expand its use into several inflammatory diseases, but it has excluded COPD from its revenue target .

Sanofi said Thursday it was too early to update its sales estimate for the product, which is also used to relieve eczema.

The anti-inflammatory drug accounted for €8.3 billion last year, or more than 19% of the French group’s total sales of €43 billion. That was a currency-neutral increase of 44% over the prior year.

Sanofi announces combined global sales of Dupixent from its alliance with Regeneron.

The companies said full efficacy and safety results would be presented later. They added that a second late-stage COPD Dupixent study is underway, with the first data read expected next year.

The overall adverse event rates in the study reporting results were 77% for Dupixent and 76% for placebo.

Shares of Sanofi took a hit after disappointing study results in August 2022 with a once-promising drug candidate for breast cancer.

Legal claims that heartburn drug Zantac causes cancer have also weighed on the stock.

The group, led by UK CEO Paul Hudson, this month entered into an agreement to acquire Provention Bio Inc (PRVB.O) for $2.9 billion to continue its work on a US-approved type 1 diabetes therapy – Boost therapy.

Analysts have said that the expected market debut of two new products this year to offset dependence on Dupixent would be a major test of the company’s marketing and development prowess and a chance to regain investor confidence.

These products are Altuviiio, for hemophilia A treatment, which requires fewer injections than standard therapy, and Beyfortus, from a partnership with AstraZeneca (AZN.L), which is a prophylactic injection for the common RSV respiratory infection in infants.

Sanofi and Regeneron announced Tuesday that the European Commission has approved Dupixent for the treatment of severe atopic dermatitis in young children. The drug was also previously approved in Europe to treat a type of esophagitis.

($1 = 0.9168 euros)

Reporting by Ludwig Burger in Frankfurt and Juby Babu in Bengaluru; Editing by Mark Potter and Jason Neely

Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

WHITE FOLKS HAVING FUN
Rattlesnake Roundup: A Texas tradition runs into criticism
MARCH 22, 2023PUBLISHED AT 8:15 PM

Members of the Jaycees skin rattlesnakes at the World's Biggest Rattlesnake Round-up in Sweetwater, Texas 
Reuters

SWEETWATER, Texas - The Texas town of Sweetwater claims fame as home to the world's largest annual "rattlesnake roundup," where thousands of pounds of slithering venomous snakes are forced out of their dens and put on display.

The rattlesnakes are rounded up in the second weekend of March and then taken to a coliseum, where tens of thousands of visitors watch organizers milk their venom. They rattle, show their fangs and stun the crowd with their force before they are skinned for leather goods.

But the Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup, which dates back to 1958, is drawing criticism - not just for the killing, but also for the method employed to draw out the snakes: Hunters inject gasoline into rocky crevices where the serpents spend the colder months.

"We'll put about a quarter of a cup, maybe a half a cup of gasoline in the back and they don't like the fumes," said rattlesnake hunter Jeffery Cornett.

"So what's going to happen is, you know, they'll come out to kind of get a breath of fresh air. And as they start moving towards the front, you know, we'll start snatching them."

Matt Goode, a rattlesnake expert and research scientist at the University of Arizona, said such roundups were "absolutely horrific."

Hunting can be a good way to manage animal populations but needs to be properly regulated, he said, adding that putting gas in dens could hurt other wildlife.

The Rattlesnake Conservancy director of operations Tiffany Bright said Texas could learn from other states that regulate rattlesnake roundups, like Pennsylvania.

"So, hunters have a limit to how many rattlesnakes that they can collect," Bright said. "Whereas in Texas, there's no oversight or regulation to hunting these animals. You can go out, you can pour gasoline into the environment and you can collect as many rattlesnakes that you find."

ALSO READ: A fifth of world's reptile species deemed threatened with extinction

Human rights court begins review of high-stakes El Salvador abortion case

Delmy, the mother of a woman known only as Beatriz, speaks during a session of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) where she is calling to condemn El Salvador in a case brought a decade ago by her daughter, who in 2013 was forced to carry a pregnancy although the fetus could not survive, in San Jose, Costa Rica March 22, 2023. Beatriz' health deteriorated and she died four years later, aged 26. 

REUTERS/Mayela Lopez reuters_tickers

This content was published on March 22, 2023 

SAN JOSE/SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) - The Inter-American Court of Human Rights on Wednesday began hearing the historic case of a Salvadoran woman who was denied an abortion in 2013 despite doctors' calls to terminate her high-risk pregnancy.

The case of the woman, a domestic worker known only as Beatriz, became a symbol of El Salvador's blanket ban on abortion, which punishes with prison time those who undergo the procedure and those who perform or assist in it.

Experts say the court's ruling at the end of the year could have far-reaching implications on reproductive health across the continent.

"The case will be the first where the high court could rule on the conventionality of the absolute prohibition of a pregnancy's voluntary interruption," said Julissa Mantilla, a commissioner for the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights(IACHR).

Doctors diagnosed Beatriz, who suffered from lupus and other ailments, with her second high-risk pregnancy in February 2013, and said the fetus would not survive the pregnancy.

They recommended an abortion but would not perform the procedure given El Salvador's severe prohibition.

Beatriz appealed to the Supreme Court and the IACHR, but the Salvadoran court rejected her request and in June 2013 she underwent a C-section. Her daughter died hours later.

Beatriz died in 2017 from complications from a motorcycle accident that occurred en route to a medical appointment.

The court's public hearing, which is being held in San Jose, Costa Rica until Thursday, was marked by both anti-abortion protests and demonstrations of support for Beatriz.

"What I hope (is) that Beatriz's image is restored and that what happened to Beatriz does not happen again to any other woman," her mother said.

(Reporting by Alvaro Murillo in San Jose and Nelson Renteria in San Salvador; Editing by David Gregorio)

Delmy, the mother of a woman known only as Beatriz, speaks during a session of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) where she is calling to condemn El Salvador in a case brought a decade ago by her daughter, who in 2013 was forced to carry a pregnancy although the fetus could not survive, in San Jose, Costa Rica March 22, 2023. Beatriz' health deteriorated and she died four years later, aged 26. 

Candles are seen lit as women hold a candle vigil outside the Inter-American Court of Human Rights as they call on it to condemn El Salvador for the case of a Salvadoran woman, known only as Beatriz, who in 2013 was forced to carry a pregnancy although the fetus could not survive, in San Jose, Costa Rica March 21, 2023. Beatriz' health deteriorated and she died four years later, aged 26. 

REUTERS/Mayela Lopez

After Iran, Saudi Arabia to re-establish ties with Syria, sources say

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Picture: Reuters

SummarySaudi Arabia, Syria cut ties more than a decade ago

Agreement on reopening embassies follows Saudi-Iran deal

Syria and Saudi Arabia have agreed to reopen their embassies after cutting diplomatic ties more than a decade ago, three sources with knowledge of the matter said, a step that would mark a leap forward in Damascus's return to the Arab fold.

Contacts between Riyadh and Damascus had gathered momentum following a landmark agreement to re-establish ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran, a key ally of President Bashar al-Assad, a regional source aligned with Damascus said.

The re-establishment of ties between Riyadh and Damascus would mark the most significant development yet in moves by Arab states to normalize ties with Assad, who was shunned by many Western and Arab states after Syria's civil war began in 2011.

The two governments were "preparing to reopen embassies after Eid al-Fitr", a Muslim holiday in the second half of April, a second regional source aligned with Damascus told Reuters.

The decision was the result of talks in Saudi Arabia with a senior Syrian intelligence official, according to one of the regional sources and a diplomat in the Gulf.

The Saudi government's communication office, the kingdom's foreign ministry and the Syrian government did not respond to requests for comment.

The sources spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject.

The apparently sudden breakthrough could indicate how the deal between Tehran and Riyadh may play into other crises in the region, where their rivalry has fuelled conflicts including the war in Syria.

The United States and several of its regional allies, including Sunni-led Saudi Arabia and Qatar, had backed some of the Syrian rebels. Assad was able to defeat the insurgency across most of Syria thanks largely to Shi'ite Iran and Russia.

The United States, an ally of Saudi Arabia, has opposed moves by regional countries to normalise ties with Assad, citing his government's brutality during the conflict and the need to see progress towards a political solution.

Arab League Suspension

The United Arab Emirates, another strategic US partner, has led the way in normalising contact with Assad, recently receiving him in Abu Dhabi with his wife.

But Saudi Arabia has been moving far more cautiously.

The Gulf diplomat said the high-ranking Syrian intelligence official "stayed for days" in Riyadh and an agreement was struck to reopen embassies "very soon".

One of the regional sources identified the official as Hussam Louqa, who heads Syria's intelligence committee, and said talks included security on Syria's border with Jordan and the smuggling of captagon, an amphetamine for which there is a thriving market in the Arab Gulf, from Syria.

Syria was suspended from the Arab League in 2011 in response to Assad's brutal crackdown on protests.

Saudi's foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud earlier this month said engagement with Assad could lead to Syria's return to the Arab League, but it was currently too early to discuss such a step.

The diplomat said the Syrian-Saudi talks could pave the way for a vote to lift Syria's suspension during the next Arab summit, expected to be held in Saudi Arabia in April.

The United Arab Emirates reopened its embassy in Damascus in 2018, arguing Arab countries needed more of a presence in resolving the Syrian conflict.

While Assad has basked in renewed contacts with Arab states that once shunned him, US sanctions remain a major complicating factor for countries seeking to expand commercial ties.

POLITICAL PERSECUTION

Rahul Gandhi: India's Congress leader sentenced to jail for Modi 'thieves' remark

PublishedShare

IMAGE SOURCE,REUTERS

Image caption,

Rahul Gandhi, seen arriving at court in Gujarat, will appeal - his conviction comes 

amid concerns about free speech in India

By Cherylann Mollan and Soutik Biswas

BBC News, Mumbai and Delhi

Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has been sentenced to two years in prison in a criminal defamation case.

The Congress MP was convicted by the court in Gujarat state for 2019 comments about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surname at an election rally.

Mr Gandhi, who was present in court for sentencing, remains out of jail on bail for 30 days and will appeal.

His party said he was being targeted for exposing the government's "dark deeds". Elections are due next year.

A Congress spokesman said the ruling was full of "legally unsustainable conclusions" - and vowed its politicians would not be silenced.

"Make no mistake. All your attempts to create a chilling effect, a throttling effect, a strangulating effect on open fearless speech relating to public influence will not stop either Rahul Gandhi or the Congress Party," Abhishek Manu Singhvi told a news conference.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) says due judicial process has been followed in the case, which dates back to the campaign ahead of the last election.

Speaking at a rally in Karnataka state in April 2019, Mr Gandhi had said: "Why do all these thieves have Modi as their surname? Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi."

Nirav Modi is a fugitive Indian diamond tycoon while Lalit Modi is a former chief of the Indian Premier League who has been banned for life by the country's cricket board. Mr Gandhi argues that he made the comment to highlight corruption and it was not directed against any community.

IMAGE SOURCE,REUTERS

Image caption,

Mr Modi won a landslide last time - here BJP supporters are seen wearing masks 

of him ahead of the 2019 election

Other opposition politicians and organisations deemed critical of India's government have also faced legal action.

The Aam Admi Party (AAP), which rules Delhi, has two senior members currently in jail on charges it says are politically motivated. Its leader voiced support for Mr Gandhi.

"We have differences with the Congress, but it is not right to implicate Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case like this," Arvind Kejriwal tweeted. "It is the job of the public and the opposition to ask questions."

The case against Rahul Gandhi was filed on the basis of a complaint by Purnesh Modi, a BJP lawmaker who said his comments had defamed the entire Modi community.

But some experts were puzzled by the order handed down by the court in Surat. Legal scholar Gautam Bhatia tweeted that "references to a generic class of persons" - surnames in this case - are not "actionable unless an individual can show a direct reference to themselves".

"If a man says 'all lawyers are thieves', then I, as a lawyer, cannot file a case against him for defamation unless I can show its imputation aimed at me," Mr Bhatia said.

Mr Gandhi's lawyer, Kirit Panwala, told BBC Gujarati their defence was based on four points: "Firstly, Mr Gandhi is not a resident of Gujarat and so, before the complaint, an inquiry should be conducted. Secondly, there is no community named Modi. Thirdly, there is no association of people with Modi as their surname and lastly, there was no ill intention behind Mr Gandhi's speech."

• Can Rahul Gandhi's unity walk help defeat Modi?
• Rahul Gandhi's 3,500km walk to revive Congress

India's criminal defamation law is British-era legislation under which there can be a maximum prison sentence of two years, a fine or both. Free speech advocates have often argued the law goes against the principles of freedom and that it is used by politicians to silence their critics.

In 2016, some top Indian politicians including Mr Gandhi filed legal pleas arguing for defamation to be decriminalised. But India's Supreme Court upheld the validity of the law, saying the "right to free speech cannot mean that a citizen can defame the other".

Some have raised questions over Mr Gandhi's status as a member of parliament after the conviction.

Defamation, by itself, cannot be a ground for disqualification in India. An MP can be disqualified from the office for offences ranging from promoting enmity, and election-related fraud. But they can also be disqualified if sentenced for two years or more for an offence.

A two-year jail term would mean Mr Gandhi would not be able to contest the 2024 general election.

"What they will do [is] they are likely to go to the top court, which will stay the judgement," says a political commentator, who insisted on anonymity. "But the question is: does this judgement mean that there's a sword of Damocles hanging over any leader? There are cases filed against leaders for all sorts of so-called crimes. Normally nothing happens."

Mr Gandhi is the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty, which has given three prime ministers to India. His great-grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru, was the first and longest-serving prime minister of India. His grandmother, Indira Gandhi, was the first female prime minister of the country, and his father, Rajiv Gandhi, was India's youngest prime minister.

Their party, the Congress, governed India almost continuously - except for a few years - from independence in 1947 to 2014, when Narendra Modi's BJP swept to power by a landslide. Since then, the Congress has become a shadow of its former self, and was routed again by the BJP in 2019.

Only once in India's history has the main opposition leader been jailed. In December 1978, Indira Gandhi, by then no longer PM, was expelled from the lower house and jailed for nine days for committing a breach of privilege and contempt of parliament.

 

Why Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi may lose his parliament seat

Rahul Gandhi, a senior leader of India's main opposition Congress party, arrives to appear before a court in Surat in the western state of Gujarat, India, March 23, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer

India's opposition leader Rahul Gandhi faces the risk of being immediately disqualified as a lawmaker after being convicted in a defamation case and sentenced to two years in jail.

Here are some examples of how that might play out:

The Representation of the People Act, 1951, the law that governs elections in India, mandates disqualification of any lawmaker who is "convicted of any offence and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years".

Gandhi, 52, was on Thursday found guilty of defamation by a magistrate's court in the western state of Gujarat for an election speech he made in 2019 in which he referred to thieves having Modi as their surnames.

The disqualification comes into effect from the date of conviction.

A formal disqualification order will, however, have to be passed by the secretariat of the lower house of parliament of which Gandhi is a member.

CAN GANDHI CONTEST ELECTIONS?

Gandhi faces the risk of not being able to contest national elections due in 2024 if his conviction is not suspended or overturned by a higher court before the elections.

The law also mandates that a convicted lawmaker cannot contest elections for six years after the end of their jail sentence.

Gandhi represents the Wayanad constituency in the southern state of Kerala.

HOW CAN GANDHI AVOID DISQUALIFICATION?

To avoid disqualification, a convicted lawmaker has to secure an order from a higher court suspending the conviction, lawyers said.

The Representation of the People Act does not give any timeframe for securing such a suspension or acquittal before parliament passes the formal disqualification order.

The disqualification can also be overturned and the lawmaker reinstated to parliament if the conviction is stayed or overturned and a fresh election to the seat is yet to be conducted.

Gandhi was present in the Gujarat court which gave him bail immediately and suspended the sentence for a month, allowing him to appeal against it.

He can secure bail extensions during the appeal period but cannot contest elections until the conviction is stayed or he is acquitted in the case.

"So while it appears from reports that Mr. Gandhi's sentence has been suspended by the court that convicted him, he would have to soon obtain a stay on the conviction from an appellate court to save himself from disqualification," Supreme Court lawyer Vikram Hegde told Reuters.

Gandhi, a senior leader of the Congress party and the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty, will appeal in a higher court, his party said.

Digital literacy: Can the republic ‘survive an algorithm’?

By DAVID KLEPPER and MANUEL VALDES

March 20, 2023

SEATTLE (AP) — Shawn Lee, a high school social studies teacher in Seattle, wants to see lessons on the internet akin to a kind of 21st century driver’s education, an essential for modern life.

Lee has tried to bring that kind of education into his classroom, with lessons about the need to double-check online sources, to diversify newsfeeds and to bring critical thinking to the web. He’s also created an organization for other teachers to share resources.

“This technology is so new that no one taught us how to use it,” Lee said. “People are like, ‘There’s nothing we can do,’ and they throw their hands in the air. I disagree with that. I would like to think the republic can survive an algorithm.”

Lee’s efforts are part of a growing movement of educators and misinformation researchers working to offset an explosion of online misinformation about everything from presidential politics to pandemics. So far, the U.S. lags many other democracies in waging this battle, and the consequences of inaction are clear.

But for teachers already facing myriad demands in the classroom, incorporating internet literacy can be a challenge — especially given how politicized misinformation about vaccines, public health, voting, climate change and Russia’s war in Ukraine has become. The title of a talk for a recent gathering of Lee’s group: “How to talk about conspiracy theories without getting fired.”

“It’s not teaching what to think, but how to think,” said Julie Smith, an expert on media literacy who teaches at Webster University in Webster Groves, Missouri. “It’s engaging about engaging your brain. It’s asking, ‘Who created this? Why? Why am I seeing it now? How does it make me feel and why?’”

New laws and algorithm changes are often offered as the most promising ways of combating online misinformation, even as tech companies study their own solutions.

Teaching internet literacy, however, may be the most effective method. New Jersey, Illinois and Texas are among states that have recently implemented new standards for teaching internet literacy, a broad category that can include lessons about how the internet and social media work, along with a focus on how to spot misinformation by cross-checking multiple sources and staying wary of claims with missing context or highly emotional headlines.

Media literacy lessons are often included in history, government or other social studies classes, and typically offered at the high school level, though experts say it’s never too early — or late — to help people become better users of the internet.

Finnish children begin to learn about the internet in preschool, part of a robust anti-misinformation program that aims to make the country’s residents more resistant to false online claims. Finland has a long history of combating propaganda and misinformation spread by one of its neighbors, Russia, and expanded its current efforts after Russia’s 2014 invasion of Crimea set off another wave of disinformation.

“Media literacy was one of our priorities before the time of the internet,” Petri Honkonen, Finland’s minister of science and culture, said in a recent interview. “The point is critical thinking, and that is a skill that everybody needs more and more. We have to somehow protect people. We also must protect democracy.”

Honkonen spoke with The Associated Press earlier this year during a trip to Washington that included meetings to discuss Finland’s work to fight online misinformation. One recent report on media literacy efforts in western democracies placed Finland at the top. Canada ranked seventh, while the U.S. came in at No. 18.

In Finland the lessons don’t end with primary school. Public service announcements offer tips on avoiding false online claims and checking multiple sources. Additional programs are geared toward older adults, who can be especially vulnerable to misinformation compared to younger users more at home on the internet.

In the U.S., attempts to teach internet literacy have run into political opposition from people who equate it to thought control. Lee, the Seattle teacher, said that concern prevents some teachers from even trying.

Several years ago, the University of Washington launched MisinfoDay, which brought high schoolers and their teachers together for a one-day event featuring speakers, exercises and activities focused on media literacy. Seven hundred students from across the state attended one of three MisinfoDays this year.

Jevin West, the University of Washington professor who created the event, said he’s heard from educators in other states and as far away as Australia who are interested in creating something similar.

“Maybe eventually, someday, nationally here in the United States, we have a day devoted to the idea of media literacy,” West said. “There are all sorts of things we can do in terms of regulations, technology, in terms of research, but nothing is going to be more important than this idea of making us more resilient” to misinformation.

For teachers already struggling with other classroom demands, adding media literacy can seem like just one more obligation. But it’s a skill that is just as important as computer engineering or software coding for the future economy, according to Erin McNeill, a Massachusetts mother who started Media Literacy Now, a national nonprofit that advocates for digital literacy education.

“This is an innovation issue,” McNeill said. “Basic communication is part of our information economy, and there will be huge implications for our economy if we don’t get this right.”

The driver’s education analogy comes up a lot when talking to media literacy experts. Automobiles first went into production in the early 20th century and soon became popular. But it was nearly three decades before the first driver’s education courses were offered.

What changed? Governments passed laws regulating vehicle safety and driver behavior. Auto companies added features like collapsible steering columns, seat belts and air bags. And in the mid-1930s, safety advocates began to push for mandated driver’s education.

That combination of government, industry and educators is seen as a model by many misinformation and media literacy researchers. Any effective solution to the challenges posed by online misinformation, they say, must by necessity include an educational component.

Media literacy in Canadian schools began decades ago and initially focused on television before being expanded throughout the digital era. Now it’s accepted as an essential part of preparing students, according to Matthew Johnson, director of education at MediaSmarts, an organization that leads media literacy programs in Canada.

“We need speed limits, we need well-designed roads and good regulations to ensure cars are safe. But we also teach people how to drive safely,” he said. “Whatever regulators do, whatever online platforms do, content always winds up in front of an audience, and they need to have the tools to engage critically with it.”

___

Klepper reported from Washington.