Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) stock dipped 0.4% premarket on Monday after U.S. President Joe Biden’s fierce attack on the company for ––he says–– spreading vaccine misinformation.
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"They Are Killing People"
During an NBC interview, Biden did not mince words on the effect that social media platforms are having on the pandemic and people’s perception of the vaccine.
Without a blink, he charged full-speed against Mark Zuckerberg’s firm, which he blamed for allowing misinformation to spread, hence affecting the country’s vaccination campaign.
According to the BBC, he told NBC journalist “They are killing people.”
“The only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated, and they are killing people.”
His statement comes along that of surgeon general Vivek Murthy, who on July 15 asserted that “American lives are at risk due to anti-vaccine misinformation on social networks.”
Jen Psaki, White House press secretary, also told a Fox News reporter: “Our biggest concern, and frankly I think it should be your biggest concern, is the number of people who are dying around the country because they are getting misinformation that is leading them to not take a vaccine.”
“Young people, old people, kids, children … a lot of them are being impacted by misinformation,” he said.
Facebook Response
Zuckerberg’s company was quick to snuff out the scorching comments through a spokesperson on Business Insider.
“We will not be distracted by accusations that are not supported by the facts. The fact is, more than 2 billion people have seen authoritative information about COVID-19 and vaccines on Facebook, which is more than anywhere else on the internet.”
“More than 3.3 million Americans have also used our Vaccine Search Tool to find out where and how to get a vaccine,” he said.
He also emphatically asserted, “The facts show that Facebook is helping to save lives. And period ”.
Guy Rosen, a company vice president said that Facebook can’t be the scapegoat of the country’s public health failings when “data shows that 85% of Facebook users in the US have been or want to be vaccinated against COVID-19.”
“President Biden’s goal was for 70% of Americans to be vaccinated by July 4. Facebook is not the reason this goal was missed.”
Rosen underlined Facebook’s position on misinformation and told how the platform has come up with rules to tackle false covid vaccine claims and said that it serves as a hub for users regarding any type of information relating to the pandemic.
Facebook is part of the Entrepreneur Index, which tracks 60 of the largest publicly traded companies managed by their founders or their founders’ families.
