Sat 17 July 2021:
US President Joe Biden on Friday criticized social media platforms like Facebook for spreading misinformation about the coronavirus and vaccines, as his administration has blamed them for stalling U.S. vaccine rates.
“They’re killing people. The only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated. And they’re killing people,” Biden told reporters at the White House, as he left for a weekend at the presidential retreat in Camp David.
President Joe Biden said social media platforms ‘are killing people’ after the White House criticized Facebook for allowing misinformation about coronavirus vaccines to be posted on its platform https://t.co/MHrtnUNjzr pic.twitter.com/ZSLfRCyGTZ
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 16, 2021
According to US health officials, a current spike in Covid-19 deaths and illnesses around the country is almost exclusively hitting people who remain unvaccinated.
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on Thursday issued his first advisory raising alarm about the growing wave of misinformation about Covid-19 and related vaccines that threatens the administration’s efforts to quell the pandemic.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that Facebook and others are not doing enough to push back.
“Everybody has a role to play in making sure there’s accurate information,” she said.
Psaki said the White House was taking a more active approach in calling out what it sees as misinformation but insisted that Facebook in particular should react more quickly in taking down problematic posts.
“There’s about 12 people who are producing 65 percent of anti-vaccine misinformation on social media platforms. All of them remain active on Facebook, despite some even being banned on other platforms,” Psaki said, without identifying those dozen posters.
The White House has “proposed that they create a robust enforcement strategy that bridges their properties and provides transparency about the rules,” she said.
When asked Friday whether the White House found those actions sufficient, Psaki said, “Clearly not because we’re talking about additional steps that should be taken.”
Facebook response
Facebook, which has contracted an army of independent outside fact checkers, including from AFP, to try and clean up its content, pushed back at the White House claims.
“We will not be distracted by accusations which aren’t supported by the facts,” a company spokesman said. “The fact is that more than 2 billion people have viewed authoritative information about COVID-19 and vaccines on Facebook, which is more than any other place on the internet.
“The fact is that more than two billion people have viewed authoritative information about Covid-19 and vaccines on Facebook, which is more than any other place on the internet. More than 3.3 million Americans have also used our vaccine finder tool to find out where and how to get a vaccine. The facts show that Facebook is helping save lives. Period.”
More than 3.3 million Americans have also used our vaccine finder tool to find out where and how to get a vaccine. The facts show that Facebook is helping save lives. Period.”
Twitter response
Twitter posted on its platform, “As the COVID-19 pandemic evolves around the world, we’ll continue to do our part to elevate authoritative health information.”
We agree, @Surgeon_General. Combating health misinformation requires a whole-of-society approach. Thanks for your leadership.
As the COVID-19 pandemic evolves around the world, we’ll continue to do our part to elevate authoritative health information. https://t.co/cbAdqFHWHB https://t.co/NEldeu8OsQ
— Twitter Public Policy (@Policy) July 15, 2021
The Delta variant of the coronavirus is now the dominant strain worldwide, accompanied by a surge of deaths around the United States almost entirely among unvaccinated people, US officials said on Friday.
American cases of COVID-19 are up 70 percent over the previous week and deaths are up 26 percent, with outbreaks occurring in parts of the country with low vaccination rates.
