YouTube has suspended Sen. Rand Paul from the platform after he claimed in a video that "cloth masks don't work" with regard to the spread of COVID-19. It marked the second time YouTube has removed one of Paul's videos.

Paul violated YouTube's policy on coronavirus medical misinformation, a company spokesperson told The New York Times. YouTube prohibits videos containing "claims that masks do not play a role in preventing the contraction or transmission of COVID-19.” Paul won't be able to upload videos to the platform for seven days.

“Most of the masks you get over the counter don’t work. They don’t prevent infection,” Paul said in the now-deleted video. Paul also cited "actual science" while claiming cloth masks don't work. However, he noted that N-95 masks are effective in protecting against COVID-19 infection.

Public health experts say masks work in tandem with other preventative measures such as vaccinations and washing hands frequently to stem the spread of COVID-19. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that members of the general public should use masks made with breathable fabric.

Paul acknowledged in a statement that YouTube, as a private company, had the right to suspend him. However, he argued that the decision marked “a continuation of their commitment to act in lockstep with the government.”

YouTube has yanked tens of thousands of videos that made erroneous claims about COVID-19 vaccines, and it suspended Sky News Australia and OANN for spreading misinformation. YouTube has also run a series of PSAs encouraging people to get inoculated.

Meanwhile, Twitter suspended Paul's fellow Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene once again on Tuesday over COVID-19 misinformation. Green claimed that coronavirus vaccines were "failing" and that the Food and Drug Administration should not give them full approval. It's at least the third time Twitter has prevented Greene from tweeting after she shared information. Users can be banned from Twitter permanently after violating the policy five or more times.

Google has released the fourth beta of Android 12, and while there aren't any major new features here, it marks an important step in the operating system's development. Android 12 has now reached platform stability, meaning work is complete on most of the underlying tech. Google said in March it was hoping to hit platform stability in August, so it's right on track.

"Android 12’s APIs and all app-facing behaviors are finalized," according to Google. That means developers can start their final Android 12 compatibility tests without worrying things will change much. A final Android 12 beta will emerge in the coming weeks. 

Google is expected to roll out Android 12 broadly in the next couple of months, likely alongside the Pixel 6 lineup. While there might be more features in the pipeline, we may not learn about those until Google gives an in-depth look at its new flagship handsets. 

If you'd like to try out the Android 12 beta, a number of devices have access to it. Along with Google Pixel, OnePlus, Xiaomi and ZTE phones, it's also available on Google TV.

Facebook's Oversight Board has instructed the social network to restore a post from a user that criticized the Chinese state. According to the board, Facebook mistakenly removed the post for violating its hate speech policy under the belief it targeted Chinese people.

"This case highlights the importance of considering context when enforcing hate speech policies, as well as the importance of protecting political speech," the Oversight Board wrote. "This is particularly relevant in Myanmar given the February 2021 coup and Facebook’s key role as a communications medium in the country."

The user, who appeared to be in Myanmar, posted the message in question in April. The post argued that, rather than providing funding to Myanmar's military following the coup in February, tax revenue should be given to the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hlutaw, a group of legislators that opposed the coup. The post, which was written in Burmese, was viewed around half a million times.

Although no users reported the post, Facebook decided to take it down. The post used profanity while referencing Chinese policy in Hong Kong. Facebook's translation of the post led four content reviewers to believe that the user was criticizing Chinese people. 

Under its hate speech rules, Facebook doesn't allow content that targets someone or a group of people based on ethnicity, race or national origins that use “profane terms or phrases with the intent to insult.” The user who wrote the post claimed in their appeal that they shared it in an effort to “stop the brutal military regime.”

The Oversight Board says context is particularly important in this case. The Burmese language uses the same word to refer to both a state and people who are from that state. Other factors made it clear the user was referring to the Chinese state, according to the board.

Two translators who reviewed the post "did not indicate any doubt" that the word at the heart of the case was referring to a state. The translators told the board the post includes terms that Myanmar’s government and the Chinese embassy commonly use to refer to each other. Public comments the board received regarding the case indicated the post was political speech.

The Oversight Board ordered Facebook to restore the post and recommended Facebook ensures "its Internal Implementation Standards are available in the language in which content moderators review content. If necessary to prioritize, Facebook should focus first on contexts where the risks to human rights are more severe."

The company has had a complicated history with Myanmar. In 2018, Facebook was accused of censoring information about ethnic cleansing in the country. It admitted it didn't do enough to stop people from using the platform to incite offline violence and "foment division," following a report it commissioned about the matter.

Soon after the coup, Facebook was temporarily blocked in Myanmar. After it returned, Facebook took steps to limit the reach of the country's military on its platform, and later banned the military outright on Facebook and Instagram.

The Oversight Board previously told Facebook to restore a post from another user based in Myanmar. As with the latest ruling, the board said Facebook misinterpreted the post as hate speech. While it was “pejorative or offensive,” the post didn't “advocate hatred” or directly call for violence.

Ford is delaying shipments of Mach-E electric vehicles due to the global chip shortage that’s causing problems across all manner of industries. The company told affected owners their deliveries will be delayed by at least six weeks.

In an effort to make up for the delay, Ford is offering an additional 250kWh worth of charging on the house, which should be good for around 700 miles of driving. That doubles the complimentary charging Mach E owners receive with their EV. According to Elektrek, the delay affects EVs that were scheduled for production between July 5th and October 1st.

“We’d like you to know that while we’re working nonstop to deliver your very own Mustang Mach-E vehicle, we project your vehicle delivery will be delayed by a minimum of six weeks," Ford wrote in an email to customers. “Once your vehicle receives the required chip, your vehicle status will be updated, and you’ll receive an email with an estimated week of delivery.”

The semiconductor shortage has impacted production of a broad range of products in recent months. Along with EVs and other vehicles, gameconsoles, graphics cards, smartphones, Apple products and other goods have been affected. Ford cut vehicle production earlier this year due to the problem.

Motional, a joint autonomous vehicle venture between Aptiv and Hyundai, is expanding its operations in California. The company plans to start public road mapping and testing of its robotaxi in Los Angeles this month. Motional is currently testing the AV in Boston, Pittsburgh, Las Vegas (including driverless tests) and Singapore.

The company and partner Lyft plan to start a robotaxi service in several US markets in 2023. Extensive road mapping and testing are essential precursors for that to happen. Motional's initial LA tests will take place in and around Santa Monica with a safety driver at the wheel, TechCrunch notes.

Los Angeles notoriously has some of the worst traffic in the US, so Motional's robotaxi will likely be put through its paces there. Waymo started mapping the streets of Los Angeles in 2019, but its AV testing has largely been contained to the Phoenix area.

Motional is also boosting its LA research and development facility and opening an operations center there. The company opened its Santa Monica offices in 2016 and key members of Motional's machine learning and hardware teams are based at that location. Meanwhile, Motional has opened its first office in the San Francisco Bay Area, where its compute design team is based.

Nintendo is gearing up for its next indie-centric stream. The company has announced an Indie World Showcase for August 11th, starting at noon ET.

The stream will run for around 20 minutes and focus on second- and third-party indie games. While it's unlikely Nintendo will surprise everyone with any details about the The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sequel or the next Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fighter, it'll probably be worth tuning in. 

During a previous showcase in April, Nintendo announced the arrival of indie classic Fez on Switch, showed off the House of the Dead remake and confirmed a sequel to Oxenfree is on the way. You can watch the latest edition of Nintendo's Indie World Showcase below.

The New York City Police Department has spent over $159 million on surveillance systems and maintenance since 2007 without public oversight, according to newly released documents. The Legal Aid Society (LAS) and the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (STOP) obtained the documents from the NYPD, which include contracts with vendors. They show that the NYPD has spent millions on facial recognition, predictive policing tech and other surveillance systems.

The NYPD made the purchases through a Special Expenses Fund. It didn't need to gain the approval of the NYC Council or other city officials before signing the contracts, as Wired reports. 

STOP and other privacy groups lobbied for the Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology (POST) Act, which passed last year and requires the NYPD to disclose details about its public surveillance infrastructure. The Special Expenses Fund was shut down after the legislation passed. LAS and STOP threatened legal action if the NYPD didn't detail its surveillance practices. 

Among the documents are contracts for Palantir, American Science and Engineering (which provides x-ray vans that can detect weapons in vehicles 1,500 feet away) and Idemia Solutions, which provides biometric services such as facial recognition.

The NYPD also signed a contract with KeyW Corporation for Stingray cell tower simulators. Stingrays, also known as international mobile subscriber identity catchers, spoof cell towers to lure mobile phones into connecting to them. The devices can then collect data sent by a phone, such as its location. The NYPD previously admitted it used Stingrays on more than a thousand occasions between 2008 and 2015.

“For years, the NYPD has hidden its surveillance slush fund from the public, not to protect us, but to protect its bottom line,” STOP executive director Albert Fox Cahn said in a statement. “These technologies are expensive, invasive, and just don’t work. But the NYPD isn’t just wasting millions on unproven technologies, it’s putting Black and Brown communities at risk. High tech errors are often just the first step to false arrest, wrongful imprisonment, and being torn away from your family because of a faulty algorithm.”

“No police department or federal agency has gone to the level of depth and transparency on law enforcement tools used in the field that the NYPD did in its POST Act disclosures," an NYPD spokesperson told Wired in a statement.

If the Mac Mini with Apple's M1 chip has been on your radar as your next desktop machine, it's worth checking out the latest deal on the system. The base model with 256GB of storage and 8GB of RAM is once again available for $600 on Amazon. That's $100 off the regular price. The discount includes a $49 coupon that's automatically applied at checkout.

Buy Apple Mac Mini (256GB) at Amazon - $600

The Mac Mini is perhaps the most cost-effective way to get your hands on an M1-powered system at the minute. The M1 is a powerful chip designed by Apple that can handle most day-to-day tasks with ease and speed. The chip boasts an eight-core CPU (with four performance and four efficiency cores) and an eight-core GPU. There's also an 16-core Neural Engine to handle machine learning tasks.

The system runs on macOS Big Sur and you'll be able to upgrade to the latest version of the operating system, Monterey. On the connectivity front, there are two Thunderbolt ports and a pair of USB-A ports, along with HDMI 2.0, WiFi 6 and gigabit Ethernet support. There's a 3.5mm headphone jack too.

Unlike with an M1 MacBook or iMac, you'll need to connect your own display, keyboard and mouse, which might not leave a lot of space among those ports for other peripherals. You won't be able to upgrade the storage or RAM either. However, the base Mac Mini should still be capable enough for many users.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

HP has announced another batch of Chrome OS devices. Perhaps the most notable addition to the lineup is the latest Chromebook x2. The keyboard is detachable, so you can use the system as a tablet. HP says it's the first detachable Chromebook to use Qualcomm's Snapdragon 7c chipset. There aren't too many Snapdragon 7c-powered Chromebooks around in any case. Acer has releaseda few Chrome OS laptops with the chipset, but they're still relatively rare.

The Chromebook x2 11 is Universal Stylus Input-compatible. It'll work with any pen that supports that standard, though the HP Wireless Rechargeable USI Certified Pen is bundled in.

HP

This Chromebook has an 11-inch, 2K-resolution screen, with a 3:2 aspect ratio and 400 nits of brightness. The Adreno 618 GPU supports a maximum resolution of 2560x1440 on an external display with a 60Hz refresh rate. The system has a 5MP front-facing, wide-vision camera and an 8MP real-facing camera, as well as Bang & Olufsen speakers.

On the connectivity front, there's an optional 4G LTE module (which supports AT&T and T-Mobile in the US), as well as WiFi 5 compatibility and two SuperSpeed USB-C ports. HP claims you'll get up to 11 hours of use from a single charge.

The device weighs 2.57 lb. It comes with 8GB of LPDDR4x-2133 MHz RAM and 64GB of eMMC storage. There are microSD and fingerprint readers, as well as a kickstand that allows for 170-degree positioning.

The HP Chromebook x2 11 and USI pen bundle starts at $600. It should be available sometime this month from Best Buy. All going well, HP will start selling it directly through its website in October.

HP

Alongside the Chromebook, HP revealed its Chromebase 21.5 inch All-in-One, a Chrome OS-powered desktop. It has a rotating full HD display that can tilt 20 degrees upwards and switch from horizontal to vertical orientation. The system uses Intel Core processors with up to 256GB of SSD storage and up to 16GB of DRAM memory. It includes dual 5W speakers from B&O and a five-megapixel camera with a privacy switch, which also turns off the microphone.

The Chromebase desktop starts at $600. It should be available this month from HP's website and other retailers.

In addition, HP has added another monitor to its lineup. The M24fd can connect to and power any compatible laptop over USB-C, though it was designed with Chromebooks in mind. The 23.8-inch, full HD display also harnesses HP's Eye Ease with Eyesafe tech, which aims to reduce blue light without impacting color accuracy. The $250 monitor should be available in October.

HP

Ninja Theory has released an Xbox Series X/S optimization patch for Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, three years after the action-adventure game arrived on Xbox One. Along with enhanced visuals, you can take advantage of DirectX ray-tracing on your next playthrough. A PC update is also in the works, but there are no current plans for a PlayStation 5 performance patch.

The performance mode supports a dynamic resolution of up to 1080p with a maximum framerate of 120 on Xbox Series X, and full HD at 60 frames per second on Xbox Series S. The resolution mode offers up to 4K dynamic visuals on Series X at 60 fps, and up to 1440p at 30 fps on Series S. The enriched mode enables ray-tracing on both consoles at 30fps, with a dynamic resolution of up to 4K on Series X and full HD on Series S. Ninja Theory says it has updated details, materials and particles, and there's now a chapter select option.

The patch arrives ahead of Senua's Saga: Hellblade II, which will be exclusive to Xbox and PC. The original game debuted on PC and PlayStation 4 in 2017 before hitting Xbox One the following March. Microsoft added Ninja Theory to the Xbox Game Studios portfolio in 2018.

There's no confirmed release window for the sequel as yet. Microsoft is promising updates on some Xbox Game Studios titles during its Gamescom event later this month, so perhaps we'll find out more details then.