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,” Biden said when asked what his message was to social media platforms like Facebook on the spread of false and misleading claims about the virus and the safety of vaccines that prevent it.
“The only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated, and that’s — they’re killing people,” he continued.
Facebook took issue with the president.
“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. 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.”
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.
