Joe Biden Vs Facebook over misinformation killing people
By Asianet Newsable English | First Published Jul 17, 2021, 9:00 AM ISTAt the centre of the controversy is inaction by Facebook and other social media outlets against posts that are giving misinformation with regard to vaccination.
After India, the United States is now realising the threat posed by the misinformation being disseminated through social media and is now looking to tighten the screws on the technology majors.
At the centre of the controversy is inaction by Facebook and other social media outlets against posts that are giving misinformation with regard to vaccination.
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On Friday, US President Joe Biden made it clear that Facebook needs to clean up its act.
Biden said tech giants like Facebook are killing people by allowing vaccine misinformation on their platforms.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that there are about 12 people who are producing 65 per cent of anti-vaccine misinformation on social media platforms.
Psaki said all these 12 people remain active on Facebook despite some of them being banned on other platforms.
The vaccination process has met with resistance from some Republican leaders who have gone to the extent of claiming that the vaccine doses are part of a government control ploy. And the more the audience such views get, the more pushback the vaccination process has received.
While calling out what it sees as misinformation, the White House is mulling the creation of a robust enforcement strategy that provides transparency about the rules.
Facebook: We have saved countless lives
Facebook responded to the White House allegations of inaction, stating that authoritative information about Covid-19 and vaccines on its platform had saved millions of lives across the world.
While stating that it will not be distracted by the accusations, Facebook said it was aggressive action against misinformation.
The Facebook spokesperson said, "The facts show that Facebook is helping save lives. Period"
The company claims it has taken down more than 18 million pieces of Covid misinformation and blocked accounts that repeatedly break these rules.
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