U.S. President Joe Biden softened his tone toward Facebook on Monday after accusing the platform of failing to act to stop the spread of misinformation about COVID vaccines and "killing people." He urged the largest social network to make more effort in this regard. White House spokesperson Jen Psaki stated, "We are not at war or in battle with Facebook; we are in a battle with the virus."
Psaki's remarks followed comments from the president where he backtracked on statements made in a fit of anger, responding to a journalist who sought clarification by saying, "Facebook is not killing people." Biden mentioned that he had been informed of 12 individuals who are largely responsible for spreading false information about vaccines. He added, "These 12 people who promote misinformation... are harming everyone who listens to this information. It is killing people. It is bad information."
Biden criticized Facebook further, expressing hope that the platform would take action against misleading and fictional information about the vaccine, rather than taking comments personally—implying that somehow he suggested "Facebook is killing people." He clarified, "That’s what I meant."
With the Delta variant causing a rise in infections, the White House, concerned about the slow pace of the vaccination campaign, intensified its rhetoric toward major tech companies, demanding that they make extra efforts to combat misinformation. Responding to a question about the message directed at networks like Facebook, Biden stated, "The only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated. They are killing people."
Mark Zuckerberg’s company did not delay in responding, issuing a pointed statement which asserted, "The facts show that Facebook is helping save lives," emphasizing that "unsupported accusations will not distract us."
