President Biden says Facebook, other social media 'killing people' when it comes to COVID-19 misinformation
One day after the surgeon general warned Americans about what he called the "urgent threat of health misinformation," President Joe Biden didn't mince words when asked for his message to platforms like Facebook about COVID-19 misinformation.
As the president was leaving the White House for Camp David on Friday afternoon, he was asked, specifically, "On COVID misinformation, what's your message to platforms like Facebook?"
Biden answered, "They're killing people. I mean, it really -- look, the only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated. And they're killing people."
It was the only question Biden took before boarding Marine One to leave town for the weekend and follows comments by other Biden administration officials warning of the dangers of misinformation in combatting COVID-19.
On Thursday, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued the first public health advisory of the Biden administration to addresses an epidemic of misinformation and disinformation and its harmful impact on public health. The Biden administration is now calling on social media companies to take further action to combat misinformation around the COVID-19 vaccine.
