WASHINGTON – On Monday, President Biden tried to clear up his criticism of Facebook Inc., stating that the company itself was not killing people by not doing enough to suppress misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines.
Pointing to research indicating that a significant amount of false information comes from 12 social media users, Biden told reporters at the White House: “Facebook is not killing people. These 12 people are giving wrong information. Anyone who hears it will get hurt. It is killing people. It’s bad information. “
Biden said he hoped his public comments would prompt Facebook to do more. “My hope is that Facebook, instead of taking it personally, that I’m somehow saying that Facebook is killing people, do something about the misinformation, the outrageous information about the vaccine,” he said. “That is what I meant.”
The president said he had not seen any indication that Facebook is doing enough to satisfy his concerns.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki echoed Biden’s apparent effort to reduce tensions with Facebook. “We are not in a war or a battle with Facebook. We are in a battle with the virus, ”he told reporters on Monday.
Source: WSJ
