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National

Generation Alpha — the first cohort to be born entirely within the smartphone era — is increasingly a battleground between family members over privacy for their tots.

Why it matters: Kids of every generation can relate to being publicly embarrassed by their parents. But Generations Z and A are the first whose embarrassment will be recorded for posterity.

Kids don't get to consent to having their entire lives — from the cute to the humiliating — documented online, as noted in a video op-ed by the N.Y. Times.

Toss in parents who grew up watching people get fired for Facebook pictures or bad tweets — and add increasing concerns about privacy and identity theft, and you've got the beginning of the end for oversharing about kids online.

Fair enough: But Grandma and Grandpa — or a well-meaning aunt, uncle or cousin — might not be on the same page, as BuzzFeed News reported.

“My mom has a public profile and posts several times a day on her page and has tons of interactions, often with people she doesn’t necessarily know,” one millennial parent told BuzzFeed News.

“Because I want to be more private about photos of my son, I have had to ask her to please not post his picture — or, if she’s going to, that she please change the privacy settings for that specific post."

"For the most part she has done what I’ve asked, but I could tell she was really annoyed about it. One time she posted a photo that straight-up had our home address on it, and she couldn’t understand why I was so upset!”

The bottom line: "Parents get a lot of gratification from telling kids’ stories online," education reporter Anya Kamenetz wrote for the Times.

"It’s less clear what our children have to gain from their lives being broadcast in this way."

Go deeper: Meet Generation Alpha, the 9-year-olds shaping our future

The "sharenting" kidlash

Recording kids' lives brings increasing privacy and identity theft concerns.

Technology

Generation Alpha

Media

Elon Musk

Social Media

From the Valley to D.C., Big Tech players like Facebook, Google and Amazon are under more scrutiny than ever as new technology develops and privacy and antitrust concerns grow in lockstep with companies’ ambitions.

The man accused of killing 22 people in last Saturday's deadly mass shooting at an El Paso, Texas Walmart confessed to law enforcement upon his surrender and admitted to targeting Mexicans in the attack, per AP.

The latest: The suspect reportedly told the police on Saturday, "I'm the shooter," according to Detective Adrian Garcia per an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by the Washington Post.

The shooting is being treated as a domestic terrorism case, federal authorities say. Federal prosecutors are also weighing charging the suspect with a hate crime.

The suspect, 21-year-old Patrick Crusius from Allen, north of Dallas, has been formally charged with capital murder and is in custody without bond.

The district attorney said he would seek the death penalty for Crusius.

Police are investigating a racist online post that appeared just before the shooting, El Paso Mayor Dee Margo said. The anti-immigrant screed praised President Trump's border wall plan — though AP notes the writer said any attempt to blame the president for his actions was "fake news."

The suspect's mother called the Allen police weeks before the shooting because she was concerned about him owning an "AK"-type firearm, lawyers for the  Crusius family told several news outlets.

El Paso Police Sgt. Enrique Carrillo said the man got out of a car about a quarter mile from the Walmart Saturday with hands raised and told an officer keeping guard at a crime scene perimeter that he was the shooter, per AP. El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen said earlier the suspect had driven for more than 10 hours from the Dallas area and ended up at Walmart "because, we understand, he was hungry. 

The death toll rose to 22 on Monday after 2 victims died in the hospital, El Paso police said. 

Most shoppers died at the Walmart, where up to 3,000 shoppers and 100 employees were present, police said.

Mexican officials say 8 Mexican nationals were among the dead. 

The big picture: The attack occurred hours before another shooting in Dayton, Ohio, in which 10 people were killed, including the suspect.

On July 30, a former Walmart employee shot at supervisors and killed 2 people in Southaven, Miss., the New York Times reports.

A shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in California on June 28 left 3 people dead. Police say the suspect legally bought the "AK-47-type" assault rifle used in the attack.

Trump condemned racism and white supremacy in an address to the nation on Monday: "In one voice, our nation must condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacy. These sinister ideologies must be defeated. Hate has no place in America. Hatred warps the mind, ravages the heart and devours the soul."

Several 2020 Democrats, including former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke, have accused Trump of inciting violence through his racist rhetoric. O'Rourke said on CNN Sunday: "He is saying that some people are inherently defective or dangerous — reminiscent of something that you might hear in the Third Reich, not something that you expect in the United States of America ... He is an open avowed racist and is encouraging more racism in this country."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are calling on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to cancel August recess and "immediately" vote on background check bills passed in the House earlier this year.

Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.

The deadliest mass shootings in modern U.S. history

In photos: Shooting sparks chaos at El Paso Walmart and shopping mall

El Paso suspect confessed to targeting Mexicans in mass shooting

The suspected shooter reportedly confessed and told officers he targeted Mexicans.

A candlelight vigil at a makeshift memorial honoring victims of last week's mass shooting in El Paso, Tex. Photo: Mario Tama / Staff/Getty Images

U.S. News

Mass shootings

Top stories & latest news on the Federal Reserve, real-time data, plus the biggest shifts happening in the U.S. and global economy.

Economy

After a record economic expansion, the coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy into a recession as unemployment soared to staggering heights. The country now faces urgent questions about how much stimulus is needed for reeling consumers and businesses, and what a recovery might look like.

Economy & Business

Whats Next

Axios What's Next

The federal government’s top auto-safety regulator has conducted sharply fewer defect investigations in recent years, but newly released documents involving Tesla's Autopilot suggest the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration may be getting more aggressive.

The big picture: Federal authorities leave it up to automakers to assess the safety of their vehicles, pushing for recalls only when a defect is detected. But as automated driving systems make their way into more vehicles, consumer advocates say increased federal oversight may be needed to ensure public safety.

Driving the news: NHTSA has issued at least 5 subpoenas since April 2018 for information about Tesla vehicle crashes and its Autopilot system, Bloomberg reported, citing NHTSA correspondence with the electric-car manufacturer after a FOIA request by PlainSite.

The exact intent of NHTSA's subpoenas is unclear.

Auto safety consultant Frank Borris, a former top NHTSA investigator, told Bloomberg the use of subpoenas is atypical and could mean the agency “is gathering information that would be supportive of a formal investigation.”

"If you do a subpoena, that's an investigation. Let's call it what it is," David Friedman, former acting administrator at NHTSA who's now at Consumer Reports, tells Axios.

Yes, but: NHTSA does not have an active defect probe into Tesla, nor will it necessarily launch one.

In a statement, NHTSA said that it's “committed to rigorous and appropriate safety oversight of the industry" and encouraged any potential safety issue be reported. 

Tesla defended the safety of its Model 3, citing NHTSA data and its own publicly reported safety statistics. In a statement, the company says they cooperate with NHTSA, but require subpoenas if consumer information is requested in order to protect their privacy.

Background: NHTSA stepped up its enforcement actions in 2015 in the wake of criticism that it missed clues about faulty ignition switches in GM cars that resulted in 124 deaths. Some other examples...

It made Fiat Chrysler pay a $105 million civil penalty, hire an independent safety monitor, and buy back hundreds of thousands of vehicles as part of a sweeping settlement of safety-related issues in 2015.

It also pushed for a recall of nearly 42 million vehicles from 19 different automakers to replace Takata airbags, in what NHTSA says is "the largest and most complex safety recall in U.S. history."

Enforcement has tailed off since 2016, however, beginning at the end of the Obama administration and continuing under President Trump.

NHTSA launched 13 investigations in 2017, down from a record 204 in 1989, according to Consumer Reports.

The agency told the publication the decline in investigations is due to a new era of improved communications with carmakers in the wake of several high profile safety scandals.

What they're saying: Friedman argues that private arm-twisting by government regulators is less effective because "you don't have much of a hammer."

"Transparency, sunlight, the bully pulpit — that's what gets people to act," he says, citing recalled infant sleepersas an example.

Jason Levine, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, says he sees no sign that NHTSA is stepping up enforcement, adding that he feels regulators are too cozy with the industry.

Go deeper: Tesla safety probes bring scrutiny for regulators too

Tesla docs may signal tougher stance by federal auto-safety watchdog

It has issued at least 5 subpoenas since April 2018 for info about Tesla crashes.

Image of Tesla steering wheel wrapped in caution tape

Transportation

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

Business

Breaking climate science and policy coverage as extreme weather events reshape communities. Keep tabs on the race to a low carbon economy, which may be bumpy as governments, climate tech startups and major oil and gas companies race to find their niche amid the changing energy landscape.

Energy & Climate

Walmart has instructed employees to remove "any signing or displays that contain violent images or aggressive behavior," including those marketing violent video games, after recent mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, the AP reports.

Reality check: No scientific study has shown a connection between violent video games and gun violence. "Scant evidence has emerged that makes any causal or correlational connection between playing violent video games and actually committing violent activities," according to the American Psychological Association.

Yes, but: Research has shown that violent video games can increase an individual's physical aggression.

The state of play: Walmart has not changed its policy on gun sales or the sales of violent video games. 22 people were killed in the shooting in its El Paso location.

Worth noting: The El Paso shooter ordered his assault-style weapon online, per the New York Times.

What they're saying: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and President Trump pointed to violent video games as a contributing factor in the shootings.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren called for Walmart to "stop selling guns" on Friday, citing the retailer's status as "one of the largest gun retailers in the world." 

Sen. Kamala Harris said Walmart "can and should stop selling guns" at the Iowa State Fair on Saturday.

Flashback: Dick's Sporting Goods stopped selling semi-automatic rifles and high-capacity magazines after last year's Parkland shooting, a move that caused its sales to fall in the months after.

Go deeper: Amnesty International issues U.S. travel warning over "rampant gun violence"

Walmart removes signs and displays with depictions of violence

It has not changed its policy on gun sales.

In this image, law enforcement stand in a Walmart parking lot at night. The Walmart logo is on a tall sign behind them.

Texas State Troopers keep watch at the makeshift memorial for El Paso shooting victims. Photo: Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images

Walmart

Retail

Axios Pro: Deals

Axios AI+

Amid uncertainty over its longterm access to Google's Android, Huawei on Friday detailed HarmonyOS, the operating system it has developed in-house over the past 2 years.

Why it matters: Huawei, which has been targeted by U.S. trade restrictions and security concerns, needs a Plan B if it loses access to Google's operating system and services. But it also faces an uphill battle in getting other key tech companies to adopt it.

Huawei detailed the operating system at a developer conference, with device business CEO Richard Yu describing it as distinct from Android and iOS in the way it is architected and well suited to running across a variety of devices. 

Indeed, Huawei said Harmony will show up first not on phones, but on other kinds of devices. Huawei hopes to continue using Android on phones, it said.

Between the lines: It's clear Huawei sees this as a long-term bet rather than a short-term fix for its supply chain issues. The plan is to have Harmony running on a display later this year and over the next 3 years on speakers, watches and in-car systems.

Our thought bubble: Huawei says it will release the operating system as open source software and aim to get a wide range of developers in and out of China to build apps. But this will clearly be a big hurdle. 

Samsung had similar hopes with Tizen, but has struggled to get a wide range of developers for that OS, which it uses on watches and other devices.

Go deeper: How Huawei is weathering U.S. sanctions

Huawei unveils Harmony, its homegrown operating system

The OS will show up first on smart screens, watches and in-car systems.

Huawei unveils its HarmonyOS at a developer conference on Friday. 

Huawei unveils its HarmonyOS at a developer conference on Friday. Photo: FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images

Axios

Friday's top stories

The "sharenting" kidlash

El Paso suspect confessed to targeting Mexicans in mass shooting

Tesla docs may signal tougher stance by federal auto-safety watchdog

Walmart removes signs and displays with depictions of violence

Huawei unveils Harmony, its homegrown operating system

AMD CEO Lisa Su discusses her company's resurgence

New technology is disrupting asset management

Farmers offset tough times with side gigs

Trump allies welcome "white supremacist" charge from 2020 Democrats

Stephen Ross expressed qualms about Trump bash after liberal backlash

Health care's love-hate relationship with Big Tech