Facebook on US President Biden’s claim that it’s “killing people” by allowing COVID-19 misinformation to spread.
Facebook recently released a statement in response to United States President Joe Biden’s claim that it and other social networks were “killing people” by allowing COVID-19 misinformation to spread.
Facebook posted a refutation of the allegations using data to suggest that something other than the social network was responsible for a slowdown in COVID-19 vaccination rates and an increase in coronavirus cases.
The company also noted that vaccine acceptance in user polling had increased from 70% in January 2021 to as high as 85% in July, adding that cultural group disparities had decreased “considerably” over the same period.
This was ahead of President Biden’s goal of getting 70% of Americans vaccinated against COVID-19 by July — to Facebook, this was a sign that the social network was “not the reason” the United States fell short of that target.
Facebook also said that the United Kingdom and Canada had higher COVID-19 vaccination percentages despite using the social network about as much as their American counterparts.
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According to the company, there’s “more than Facebook” to the US results. It also pointed to its efforts to promote accurate claims and to fight falsehoods — including the use of misinformation labels, reduced exposure, and takedowns.
Facebook didn’t attempt to find an alternate explanation for US troubles. Endgadget reported that some observers have pointed to a possible link between vaccination rates and political affiliation, but Facebook didn’t even hint at this in its refutal.
It wasn’t a flawless argument as Facebook was trying to draw a link between its polling data and the entire America, which didn’t make for a neat and tidy comparison.
Also, Facebook hasn’t shared estimates of how much COVID-19 misinformation slipped through the cracks.
Facebook had a strong incentive to downplay its possible contribution to the problem given past complaints that it hasn’t done enough to stop misinformation campaigns.
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