Trump's NATO Threat; Meta Says Goodbye to News, Politics

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Good morning!

The Kansas City Chiefs have done it again— beating the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night in overtime in Las Vegas. The final score: 25 to 22.

They were the defending champs— beating the Eagles last year. The Chiefs have now won three Super Bowls in 5 years and are the first team to win back-to-back titles since the Patriots in 2004.

HALFTIME SHOW: And in the best 13 minutes in music, Usher headlined the Halftime Show with guests Alicia Keys, H.E.R., Lil' Jon, Ludacris and Will.i.am.

THE ADS: As for the commercials, it was a who’s who of stars. Here are some of the best celeb cameos. Shout out to Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Tom Brady and Jennifer Lopez for Dunkin’.

TAYLOR SWIFT: And once again defying gravity, Taylor Swift made it from Tokyo to Las Vegas in time to watch her boyfriend, Tight End Travis Kelce. Swift cheered from a star-studded suite alongside Blake Lively, Ice Spice, and her family— and even managed to chug a beer while she’s at it.

All in all, we’re probably not the only ones wishing the Monday after the Super Bowl was a national holiday. 16 million people are expected to skip work sick today with what’s being called the “Super Bowl Flu.”

Extra coffee anyone?!

Mosheh, Jill & Courtney

📌 OUTRAGE OVER TRUMP’S NEW NATO THREAT

Former President Trump said he would encourage Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to any country not meeting its financial commitment to the NATO alliance.

TRUMP TO NATO NATIONS: PAY UP
At his rally in South Carolina Saturday night, Trump recounted an alleged conversation with an unnamed foreign leader about how he would respond if any country in the pact didn’t spend a certain amount of money on defense. Trump’s response: I would encourage Russia to attack you.

“One of the presidents of a big country stood up and said, ‘Well, sir, if we don’t pay and we’re attacked by Russia, will you protect us? I said, ‘You didn’t pay. You’re delinquent.’ He said, ‘Yes, let’s say that happened.’ No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want.”
Splitting the tab: It is recommended that each NATO member spends at least 2% of its GDP on defense spending (it’s a guideline, not a binding commitment). Almost half of the NATO members have met or come close to that goal as of 2023, but some are still spending below the threshold.

TRUMP’S HISTORY WITH NATO
Trump had a difficult relationship with NATO while in office, and frequently expressed his frustration over member countries he believed weren’t spending enough on their own defense (in 2019 Trump discussed withdrawing from NATO altogether).

Flashback: Trump had floated the idea that he might not follow NATO’s Article 5 clause if other member countries don’t step up their spending.
- Under Article 5, if a NATO ally is attacked, other member countries consider it “an armed attack against all members” and they will “take the actions it deems necessary to assist the Ally attacked.”
There have long been fears that Russia could, and would, invade a NATO nation after ending its war with Ukraine.

WHAT’S RUSSIA SAYING?
Russian president Vladimir Putin dismissed warnings that Moscow would attack a NATO country as “threat mongering.”

“We have no interest in Poland, Latvia or anywhere else,” Putin said. He sat down with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson for a two-hour interview that aired Thursday.
He called on the U.S. to help “negotiate” an end to the war that would cede Ukrainian territory to Russia, implying to U.S. has more important things to deal with: “Don’t you have anything better to do? You have issues on the border, issues with migration, issues with the national debt.” The interview was Putin’s first with a Western media outlet since he invaded Ukraine. He also discussed an American journalist he is currently holding in Russian prison (below).

📌 META DOWNPLAYS NEWS & POLITICS

Meta is making changes to push more entertainment and viral content on its platforms, and highlight less polarizing news and politics.

HITTING REFRESH
In a blog post on Friday, Meta said it will no longer "proactively recommend political content from accounts you don't follow" on Instagram and Threads, it’s rival to Twitter.

Users will still be able to seek out and follow political, news-driven accounts on their own — but the algorithm will no longer recommend them.
That means users are less likely to see politics-focused content/accounts on Instagram’s ‘Explore’ page, Reels, or the suggested-users-to-follow box.
Facebook is also expected to roll out these new controls at a later, undisclosed date.

“

“Our goal is to preserve the ability for people to choose to interact with political content, while respecting each person’s appetite for it.”

Instagram Chief Adam Mosseri

MORE AMERICANS GET NEWS FROM SOCIAL MEDIA
The timing is interesting. It comes in an election year, and as social media has started to eclipse traditional outlets (TV, Newspapers) for news consumption.

One recent report found American consumers are increasingly relying on social media as their primary source of news, as TV news loses its longstanding dominance.
- Just 25% of US adults say TV is their primary news source, down from 31% in 2019.
- In the same amount of time, Americans who say social media is their primary news source has increased from 12% to 18%.
- For Americans under the age of 34, social media has already overtaken TV as the top new source.

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT
When it comes to dipping their toes in politics, Instagram says it’s seen what it needed to see, and is no longer interested.

Meta has increasingly backed away from news and politics after facing enormous criticism for how it polices misinformation.
Tech giants faced a tidal wave of scrutiny and even investigations into how it regulated content on social media leading up to the 2020 election, and eventually had to walk back calls it made to censor certain content, and take on an entirely new responsibility in trying to fact check users and politicians.
Instagram Chief Adam Mosseri also said the increases in engaged readership they saw from promoting news was “not at all worth the scrutiny, negativity (let’s be honest), or integrity risks that come along with them.”
And this election cycle may be the hardest — and most important — year to regulate of all, as A.I. and deepfakes pose an unprecedented challenge to information as we know it.
- 4 in 10 Americans who get news from social media say inaccuracy is the thing they dislike most about it – an increase of 9 percentage points since 2018. In a Pew research study, they voiced concern about unverified facts, misinformation, “fake news” and unreliable sources.

At the same time, the fear we have at Mo News is that the social media companies are de-emphasizing factual news accounts (like ours!) at a time Americans most need reliable information. Make sure to follow and favorite our Instagram account asap!

⏳ SPEED READ

🚨NATION

📌 5 Marines killed in helicopter crash are identified (ABC)

📌 Lloyd Austin hospitalized for a bladder issue; duties transferred to deputy defense secretary (NBC NEWS)

📌 Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin rushed back to hospital for emergency bladder issue (STARS AND STRIPES)

📌 NYC Mayor Eric Adams is imposing a curfew at some migrant shelters after Times Square shooting. It begins today. (NEW YORK POST)

📌 American allies worry the US is growing less dependable, whether Trump or Biden wins (AP)

📌 Come on spring, you can do it: Boston, Providence could see foot of snow as potential nor'easter eyes Northeast this week (FOX WEATHER)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

📌 Israelis safely rescue 2 hostages from Rafah in special nighttime operation (TIMES OF ISRAEL)

📌 Egypt reportedly threatens to suspend key peace treaty if Israel pushes into Gaza border town (AP)

📌 Hamas military compound found directly underneath U.N. Agency Headquarters in Gaza (WALL STREET JOURNAL)

📌 King Charles seen going to church for first time since cancer diagnosis (CBS)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

📌 At-home chapels are blessing backyards across America (WALL STREET JOURNAL)

📌 As Sam Bankman-Fried awaits prison sentence, FTX customers await a surprise: full repayment (CNBC)

📌 Saturn's moon Mimas may have vast, hidden ocean (AXIOS)

📌 Scientists at UC San Francisco and Northwestern Medicine were able to use cancer to fight against it — and destroy tumors found in mice (UC SAN FRANCISCO)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

📌 Nebraska steals Caitlin Clark's thunder with 82-79 victory over no. 2 Hawkeyes (US NEWS)

📌 Once an escape, sports talk embraces Politics: A growing class of commentators is blending sports and conservative politics. (NEW YORK TIMES)

📌 You really don’t need money to be happy. One study finds those living in remote, indigenous societies are often just as satisfied with their lives as those in high-income western countries. (THE GUARDIAN)

📌 ABC Confirms Golden Bachelorette is in the works (PEOPLE)

🗓 ON THIS DAY: FEBRUARY 12

1909: The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded.
1961: ‘The Miracles' became the first group in Motown Records to sell a million records with “Shop Around.”
1994: The Scream by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch was stolen from the National Gallery in Oslo; it was later recovered.
1999: After a five-week trial, the Senate acquitted Bill Clinton of impeachment.