president Joe Biden Moderated his assessment that the social media giant “killed” by posting misinformation about the site Coronavirus disease Vaccination on their platform, said on Monday that he hoped that they would not take it “in person”, but take action to save lives.
Although companies like Facebook defended their practices and stated that they are helping people around the world to obtain verified information about vaccines, the White House stated that they have not done enough to prevent misinformation, which will help slow the United States. The pace of new vaccination trickles. Just as the United States is seeing an increase in the number of virus cases and unvaccinated deaths, officials call this situation a “unvaccinated pandemic.”
In his speech at the White House, Biden insisted that when he talked about the tech giants “They are killing people” on Friday, he meant “exactly what I said.” But he said that the purpose of his remarks is to increase pressure on these companies to take action.
Biden said: “My hope is Facebook, not personally that I am saying’Facebook is killing people’, but they will take some measures against misinformation.”
Biden’s remarks come as the White House has been working hard to resist the boycott of shooting, especially among the younger and larger Republican population. Fewer than 400,000 Americans receive the first dose of the vaccine every day—below the high of more than 2 million a day in April. More than 90 million eligible people have not been vaccinated.
Governments are increasingly using false or misleading information about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines as a driving factor for this hesitation. It cited a study by the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a non-profit organization that studies extremism, which linked a dozen accounts with most of the vaccine disinformation circulating on Facebook.
“Facebook doesn’t kill people. These 12 people provide misinformation there. Anyone who hears it will be hurt. This is killing people,” Biden said. “This is bad information.”
“I’m not trying to hold people accountable. I’m trying to make people look at themselves and look in the mirror,” Biden said, adding, “Think about the misinformation that was passed on to your sons, daughters, and relatives.”
From the government’s point of view, punishing social media companies-these companies are not only subject to increasing scrutiny for false information, but also for antitrust and privacy practices-are criticizing the initiators of false information. Synonymous with itself. To avoid expanding false information, the White House will usually try to avoid direct contact with people who spread false information.
Last week, American surgeon Vivek Murthy announced that misinformation about vaccines poses a fatal threat to public health.
“Misinformation poses an imminent potential threat to our country’s health,” Morty said in a speech at the White House on Thursday. “As a country, we must face misinformation. Life depends on it.”
Murthy stated that technology companies and social media platforms must make meaningful changes to their products and software to reduce the spread of false information while increasing access to authoritative sources based on facts.
The CEO of a large technology company testifies before Congress on the spread of misinformation and cyber extremism
He said that the way these platforms are built often encourages the spread of misinformation.
“We ask them to step up their efforts,” Murthy said. “We can’t wait for them to take positive action.”
Facebook responded to Biden’s attack on Friday. Spokesperson Kevin McAlister said: “The facts show that Facebook is helping to save lives. Period.”
The company also published a blog post stating that its internal research showed that Biden failed to achieve its vaccination goals and that it does not assume any responsibility. “Data shows that 85% of Facebook users in the United States have or want to be vaccinated against COVID-19. President Biden’s goal is to vaccinate 70% of Americans by July 4. Facebook is not the reason why this goal has not been achieved. .”
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki insisted on Monday: “We are not at war with Facebook, we are fighting with the virus.”
But she has increased the pressure on these companies to share information about how many Americans are exposed to misinformation on their platforms and how their secret and powerful algorithms promote false content to users.
“Can you get information about who received the wrong information from these platforms?” she asked.
“I don’t think this information has been published. Do you know how algorithms work on these platforms? I don’t think this information has been made public.”
© 2021 Canadian Press
