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CPC Patient Privacy, Trump’s Climate "Fraud" Investigation, and Meta Community Notes
CfA's March 14th Newsletter
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Hawaii Lawmakers Call on AG to Investigate CPC Compliance with Privacy Laws
Earlier this month, a coalition of Hawaiian lawmakers introduced paired resolutions calling on Attorney General Anne E. Lopez to investigate whether the state’s anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) are complying with patient privacy laws, recognizing that these clinics collect a large amount of personal information about their clients. Both resolutions cited a Health Affairs article titled “Addressing The HIPAA Blind Spot For Crisis Pregnancy Centers,” which drew on complaints that CfA filed regarding misleading privacy claims made by CPCs. The article notes that most of these anti-abortion facilities are not real medical clinics, and can disclose information about their clients without being bound by HIPAA. Though patients may not have recourse under the federal health data privacy law, CfA’s complaints make it clear that states still provide protection from deceptive business practices and consumer fraud.
Just three years ago, a Honolulu-based CPC called A Place for Women told a local journalist that its services were both “free” and “HIPAA compliant.” Its website also displays a “HIPAA trained” badge, and assures visitors that it “adher[es] to all HIPAA laws.” Recently, the anti-abortion organization Heartbeat International recommended that CPCs completely avoid this language, following an HHS determination secured by CfA.
Federal Agencies Investigate Climate Organizations for “Fraud”
On Wednesday, CitiBank revealed in a court filing that multiple federal agencies–including the FBI–had asked it to freeze accounts receiving money from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), a $27 billion program approved by Congress to finance the construction of pollution-reducing projects. Under the Biden Administration, GGRF funds went to organizations like Habitat for Humanity and Rewiring America, which worked to help homeowners afford clean energy upgrades.
In its communications with CitiBank, the FBI asserted that it had “credible information” related to possible criminal violations, including conspiracy to defraud the United States. Now, Trump’s EPA is attempting to claw back GGRF disbursements, prompting a lawsuit from the Climate United Fund. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is hearing the case, plans to order the administration to file a sworn statement sharing evidence for its claims of fraud.
Meta Community Notes Won’t Limit Circulation of False Content, says Joel Kaplan
This week, Meta head of global affairs Joel Kaplan sat down for an exclusive interview with Fox News, where he revealed that the company’s “crowd-sourced” approach to content moderation will not actually reduce the circulation of posts that are labeled false or misleading. Kaplan denounced Meta’s old fact-checking program as a “censorship tool” run by “so-called experts,” and declared that his company would be borrowing X’s Community Notes algorithm to build its own system. A day before the announcement, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly met with Trump Administration Officials at the White House, though the company would not confirm his visit with Reuters.
Last year, the Center for Countering Digital Hate conducted an independent review of X’s Community Notes system and found that it largely failed to stop the spread of misinformation. Researchers found multiple instances of false claims gathering hundreds of millions of views without receiving a note. When notes were applied, they got less reach than the misleading content itself.
In his interview, Kaplan stressed that Meta would not be reducing the reach of posts that receive a Community Note, meaning the program will do nothing to stop the spread of content that could pave the way to real-world violence. Meta’s press release on the new program notes that third party fact checkers are “free to become Community Notes contributors.”
Of course, they won’t be paid for that work.
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