Yahoo Finance 'Serious threat': Joe Biden accuses Facebook of killing people
Despite Facebook recently dismissing concerns about the spread of COVID-19 misinformation on its platform, the company is still failing to take action, according to a new report.
A review by Media Matters found at least 284 public and private anti-vaccine Facebook groups - with over 520,000 combined members - that were spreading COVID-19 vaccine misinformation and/or conspiracy theories, Media Matters said.
Earlier this month the Biden administration warned that misinformation is “a serious threat to public health,” pointing the finger at Facebook for its slow action against posts with vaccine misinformation and its inaction.
President Joe Biden even said that Facebook is “killing people” due to its inaction, although he did later clarify that he did not mean the company was literally killing people.
Facebook said when it sees misinformation against COVID-19 vaccines it takes action as swiftly as it can.
Media Matters’ review slammed Facebook as being “dishonest or willfully ignorant” in claiming to be taking care of the problem.
“We identified at least 284 public and private anti-vaccine groups that are currently active on Facebook, which is more than double the 117 anti-vaccine groups we reported on in April,” it said.
“These groups expose their roughly 520,000 combined members to harmful COVID-19 vaccine misinformation and, as nearly 60 per cent of these groups are private, it is more difficult for Facebook to moderate them.”
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