White House Says It's Working With Facebook to Combat False COVID-19 Information
Summary from the AllSides News Team
On Thursday, White House Spokesperson Jen Psaki said the Biden administration is working with Facebook to flag posts that "spread disinformation" about COVID-19 vaccines; Psaki also said the White House asked Facebook to share the reach and engagement numbers for flagged posts. Psaki cited a report by the Center for Countering Digital Hate, which said 12 people were responsible for almost 65% of false vaccine information on social media, and called on platforms to remove the accounts; Facebook has reportedly disputed this methodology, according to Reuters. This comes as U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said Thursday that "health misinformation is a serious threat to public health."
Some left-rated outlets led with Murthy's comments in their headlines, and focused on the reported number of posts containing false vaccine information. Some right-rated outlets highlighted criticism of the White House's decision; others on the right pointed out that Facebook was among the social media platforms to prematurely flag posts about the Wuhan lab leak theory.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Right
Critics slam the White House after Psaki reveals it's consulting with Facebook to 'flag misinformation'
Critics roundly condemned the White House after Press Secretary Jen Psaki revealed the Biden administration is working with Facebook to flag "problematic" posts that "spread disinformation" on COVID-19.
On Thursday, Psaki was asked a question regarding the Biden administration’s request for tech companies to be more "aggressive" when policing what they referred to as "misinformation." Psaki revealed that the White House is "in regular touch with social media platforms" to handle it.
"We are in regular touch with the social media platforms and those engagements typically happen through members of our senior staff and...
From the Left
Surgeon general issues warning over vaccine misinformation as White House turns up the heat on Facebook
US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy warned Thursday health misinformation is "a serious threat to public health," as administration officials grow increasingly concerned about misleading claims about coronavirus vaccines, leading to a confrontation with social media giant Facebook. "I am urging all Americans to help slow the spread of health misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond," Murthy wrote in a 22-page advisory released Thursday. "Health misinformation is a serious threat to public health. It can cause confusion, sow mistrust, harm people's health, and undermine public health efforts. Limiting the spread of...
From the Center
White House slams Facebook as conduit for COVID-19 misinformation
Facebook is not doing enough to stop the spread of false claims about COVID-19 and vaccines, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Thursday, part of a new administration pushback on misinformation in the United States.
Facebook, which owns Instagram and WhatsApp, needs to work harder to remove inaccurate vaccine information from its platform, Psaki said.
She said 12 people were responsible for almost 65% of anti-vaccine misinformation on social media platforms. The finding was reported in May by the Center for Countering Digital Hate, but Facebook has disputed...
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