Advertisement
PoliticoJoe Biden recasts criticism of Facebook over vaccine misinformation
- US president said last week that the platform was ‘killing people’
- Biden said his comments were not meant to be taken literally
2-MIN READ2-MIN
1
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Nick Niedzwiadek on politico.com on July 19, 2021.
US President Joe Biden on Monday walked back his declaration that Facebook is “killing people” by not acting forcefully enough to combat vaccine-related misinformation.
“I’m trying to get people to look in the mirror, think about that misinformation going to your son, your daughter, your relative, someone you love. That’s what I’m asking,” Biden said following a speech touting the economic recovery and making his case for the infrastructure proposals being negotiated in Congress.
Advertisement
Biden said his Friday comments were not meant to be taken literally and instead were a challenge to the social media company to do more to prevent its platform from being used to spread inaccurate information.
Advertisement
“Facebook isn’t killing people,” he said. “My hope is that Facebook – instead of taking it personally that somehow I’m saying Facebook is killing people – that they would do something about the misinformation, the outrageous misinformation about the vaccine. That’s what I meant.”
Advertisement
Select Voice
Select Speed
1.00x