Facebook has been under a lot of scrutiny regarding the spread of misinformation since the pandemic. However, in a recent statement, US President Joe Biden accused the social media giant of spreading misinformation about the Covid 19 vaccine.
Joe Biden Directly Criticises Facebook
Biden recently spoke to the media and heavily criticized Facebook on their handling of the Covid 19 misinformation. When asked for a message to the social media platforms, he said that they are “killing people”. He said that the only pandemic left is amongst the ones who are unvaccinated.
Following the accusations, the company spokesperson also spoke to the media to respond to the statement. The company spokesperson said that they will not be distracted by accusations that are not backed by facts.
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The spokesperson added that more than 2 billion have seen the authoritative information about the Covid 19 and the vaccines on Facebook.
They added that more than 3.3 billion Americans have used their vaccine finder tool to find out places where they can get vaccinated and how.
Earlier this week, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called out the social media platforms to keep a check on the accounts that spread misinformation. He said that Facebook has designed product features like the “Like” button which rewards their users for sharing emotionally charged content. However, this may not always be the accurate content.
“And their algorithms tend to give us more of what we click on, pulling us deeper and deeper into a well of misinformation,” he said.
Facebook Announced To Push Posts By User Who Repeatedly Shares Misinformation
In May this year, Facebook announced that they will be pushing down all posts by the users who repeatedly shared misinformation and fake content across their platforms. This comes after they were heavily criticized for misinformation on social media. Following this, they decided to launch a fact-checking programme for various accounts and domains.
