Biden tries to clarify comment that Facebook is ‘killing people’

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Days after Facebook publicly dismissed President Joe Biden’s message to the platform that he was “killing people” by allowing misinformation about vaccines to spread, even as COVID-19 infections soar and vaccinations plummet across the United States, it tried to clean up his comment on the media giant Monday. He said he hoped Facebook would not take it “personally”.

After remarks about the economy at the White House, a reporter asked about his comment on Friday to companies and platforms like Facebook, the president stepped in to answer before the journalist could finish.

“Let me say what you said. I’m glad you asked that question,” Biden began. “Facebook has been noted that, of all the misinformation, 60% of the misinformation came from 12 individuals. That’s what the article said.”

Biden was referring to research the White House referenced at a news conference last week when Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, in his first advice to the Biden administration, warned of the danger of public health misinformation.

President Joe Biden talks about the economy and his infrastructure agenda in the White House dining room, in Washington, July 19, 2021.

Last Monday, Biden continued to retrace his steps, saying, “I was asked this question what I think is happening.”

Biden continued, “Facebook doesn’t kill people. These 12 people give false information, and anyone who listens to it gets hurt by it. It kills people. It’s bad information.” “My hope is that Facebook — rather than taking it personally — is somehow saying that Facebook is killing people, and that they are going to do something about misinformation — outrageous misinformation — about a vaccine. That’s what I meant.”

When pressed if he felt the social media company was doing enough to combat misinformation, the president said he wasn’t sure, because he wasn’t sure what action it took over the weekend.

President Joe Biden talks about the economy during the Covid-19 pandemic in the dining room of the White House in Washington, D.C., July 19, 2021.

He then avoided when asked how he would hold the company accountable, he replied, “When you say take responsibility, I’m not trying to hold people accountable. I try to get people to look at themselves. Look in the mirror. Think about it. About the misinformation going to your son, daughter, relative, someone.” You love him. That’s all I ask for.”

Biden was trying to clean up an answer he gave as he left the White House for Camp David on Friday afternoon when he was specifically asked, “Regarding misinformation about the coronavirus, what’s your message to platforms like Facebook?” And they said, “They’re killing people.” I mean, really — look, the only epidemic we have is among the unvaccinated. And they’re killing people.”

The controversial comment came a day after the surgeon general put out a new advisory saying that misinformation, especially on social media sites like Facebook, has hampered vaccination efforts, sowed mistrust, caused people to reject public health measures, use unproven treatments, and prolong the epidemic. and endangering lives.

President Joe Biden speaks to the media as he departs for a weekend visit to Camp David from the White House in Washington, DC, July 16, 2021.

Simply put, health disinformation has cost us our lives,” Murthy said of the White House last week.

Facebook disputed the description provided by the president on Friday, saying in a statement that his claim was untrue.

“We will not be distracted by accusations that are not supported by facts,” Facebook spokesperson Danny Lever said in a statement to ABC News. “The truth is that more than 2 billion people have viewed reliable information about COVID-19 and vaccines on Facebook, which is more than anywhere else on the Internet. More than 3.3 million Americans have also used our Vaccine Finder to find out where and how to get a vaccine. Show The facts Facebook helps save lives.

However, while Facebook said the number of people who viewed reliable information about vaccines, the platform did not say how many users saw misinformation.

Asked if the administration was considering any legal moves to regulate misinformation on platforms like Facebook, White House press secretary Jen Psaki also tried to calm the row on Monday.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, July 19, 2021.

“Well, I don’t think we’ve taken any options off the table. It’s up to Congress to decide how they want to proceed, but let me just point out that we’re not at war or a battle with Facebook,” Psaki said.

“We’re in a battle with the virus and the problem we’re seeing – that our surgeon general picked up just last week – is that misinformation travels through a range of media. Some of it is a bunch of social media platforms, and she said some of it is media and some through the mouths of government officials. Bad and inaccurate information about vaccines is killing people.”

ABC News’s Molly Nagle and Sasha Beznik contributed to this report.

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