During the White House press briefing Friday afternoon, Press Secretary Jen Psaki doubled down on federal government efforts to flag Facebook posts they believe contain misinformation about the Wuhan coronavirus vaccine. She argued for de-platforming of individuals and justified government censorship for the sake of public health.
Only MINUTES LATER, Jen Psaki calls social media sites like Facebook "public platforms." pic.twitter.com/olva3zlSVm
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 16, 2021
On his way to Marine One after the briefing, President Joe Biden accused Facebook of "killing people."
Joe Biden’s message to platforms like Facebook regarding “misinformation”:
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 16, 2021
“They’re killing people.” pic.twitter.com/i8OCWcL9iw
Now the social network is fighting back and reminding the White House of the work Facebook has done to distribute information they deem credible.
"We will not be distracted by accusations which aren't supported by the facts. The fact is that more than 2 billion people have viewed authoritative information about COVID-19 and vaccines on Facebook, which is more than any other place on the internet. More than 3.3 million Americans have also used our vaccine finder tool to find out where and how to get a vaccine. The facts show that Facebook is helping save lives. Period," a Facebook spokesperson released in a statement.
As a reminder, Facebook also worked with Dr. Anthony Fauci for more than a year to censor the lab leak theory from its pages.
"Facebook will no longer take down posts claiming that Covid-19 was man-made or manufactured, a company spokesperson told POLITICO on Wednesday, a move that acknowledges the renewed debate about the virus’ origins," POLITICO reports. "Facebook’s policy tweak arrives as support surges in Washington for a fuller investigation into the origins of Covid-19 after the Wall Street Journal reported that three scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology were hospitalized in late 2019 with symptoms consistent with the virus. The findings have reinvigorated the debate about the so-called Wuhan lab-leak theory, once dismissed as a fringe conspiracy theory."
But now a newly surfaced email from CEO Mark Zuckerberg, which was obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request from Buzzfeed, may explain why Facebook was censoring the information.
"Tony: I wanted to send a note of thanks for your leadership and everything you're doing to make our country's response to this outbreak as effective as possible. I also wanted to share a few ideas of ways we could help you get your message out but I understand you're incredibly busy, so don't feel a need to reply unless these seem interesting," Zuckerberg wrote in an email to Fauci on March 15, 2020, adding that he wanted to help get "authoritative" information out to the masses.
Fauci responded to Zuckerberg directly and worked with him on a number of messaging projects for the platform.
When Fauci was asked about the lab leak theory in April 2020, he downplayed the idea. Facebook then started removing posts and conversations about the lab leak theory from their platform.