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OMG! We are being spied upon ! They are writing down names !
White House press secretary Jen Psaki forcefully defended the Biden administration’s growing offensive on vaccine-related misinformation spreading on Facebook and other social media platforms.
“Our biggest concern, and frankly I think it should be your biggest concern, is the number of people who are dying around the country because they are getting misinformation that is leading them to not take a vaccine,” Psaki said during Friday's daily press briefing. “Young people, old people, kids, children … a lot of them are being impacted by misinformation.”
Psaki’s defense was in response to a question from Fox News’ Peter Doocy, who framed the Biden administration’s concern about bad actors online as “spying” on Americans’ social media usage.
“For how long has the administration been spying on people’s Facebook profiles looking for vaccine misinformation?” Doocy asked, referencing Psaki’s comments a day prior that roughly a dozen people on Facebook were responsible for the bulk of vaccine misinformation on the social network.
Psaki called the characterization “a loaded and inaccurate question.” She said the White House flagging concerning posts to platforms like Facebook is similar to outreach to news outlets when they take issue with particular coverage.
“This is publicly open information, people sharing information online, just as you are all reporting information on your news stations,” she said during a testy exchange in which the pair talked over one another at times.
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on Thursday declared falsehoods and conspiracy theories proliferating online as an “urgent threat to public health” because of their effect on people’s willingness to get a Covid vaccine.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki forcefully defended the Biden administration’s growing offensive on vaccine-related misinformation spreading on Facebook and other social media platforms.
“Our biggest concern, and frankly I think it should be your biggest concern, is the number of people who are dying around the country because they are getting misinformation that is leading them to not take a vaccine,” Psaki said during Friday's daily press briefing. “Young people, old people, kids, children … a lot of them are being impacted by misinformation.”
Psaki’s defense was in response to a question from Fox News’ Peter Doocy, who framed the Biden administration’s concern about bad actors online as “spying” on Americans’ social media usage.
“For how long has the administration been spying on people’s Facebook profiles looking for vaccine misinformation?” Doocy asked, referencing Psaki’s comments a day prior that roughly a dozen people on Facebook were responsible for the bulk of vaccine misinformation on the social network.
Psaki called the characterization “a loaded and inaccurate question.” She said the White House flagging concerning posts to platforms like Facebook is similar to outreach to news outlets when they take issue with particular coverage.
“This is publicly open information, people sharing information online, just as you are all reporting information on your news stations,” she said during a testy exchange in which the pair talked over one another at times.
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on Thursday declared falsehoods and conspiracy theories proliferating online as an “urgent threat to public health” because of their effect on people’s willingness to get a Covid vaccine.