President Joe Biden said Friday that the spread of misinformation on Facebook and other social media companies surrounding COVID-19 is “killing people.”
“They’re killing people," Biden told reporters when asked of his message to social media companies on coronavirus misinformation. "The only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated. And they’re killing people.”
NBC's @PeterAlexander: "What's your message to platforms like Facebook [regarding COVID misinformation]?"
— The Recount (@therecount) July 16, 2021
President Biden: "They're killing people." pic.twitter.com/TIaoeESMdk
This comes after the White House announced they would be partnering with Facebook to combat coronavirus misinformation online.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that the administration would be "flagging problematic posts for Facebook that spread disinformation" related to the coronavirus.
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy also said that health misinformation on social media platforms was an “urgent threat” amid the administration’s effort to increase vaccinations across the country. Murthy said that misinformation about the vaccine is part of why many Americans are hesitant to get inoculated.
The administration's push to tackle misinformation comes as the vaccination rate around the country has slowed.
Biden's comments follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky saying that COVID-19 is “becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated.”
"We are seeing outbreaks of cases in parts of the country that have low vaccination coverage, because unvaccinated people are at risk,” Walensky told reporters Friday.