
Last week President Joe Biden said that social media platforms like Facebook are "killing people" when it comes to misinformation around the COVID-19 vaccine.
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Now, he has walked his statement back, saying he only meant to accuse a dozen users, not the whole platform.
"Facebook isn't killing people," Biden said.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki shared that the Biden administration was not at war with Facebook and clarified that the White House is concerned about "bad information about vaccines that are killing people."
On Monday, Biden discussed that he hopes Facebook will do more to fight "the outrageous misinformation" about coronavirus vaccines instead of "taking it personally that somehow I'm saying Facebook is killing people."
Late last week, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that the administration had been "flagging problematic posts for Facebook that spread disinformation." Psaki also said that the government had proposed changes to major social media platforms.
On the same day, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy declared that misinformation surrounding the coronavirus was a threat to public health.
In his declaration, he called out social media companies and how they can trap consumers through their algorithms. He said that citizens are dragged "deeper and deeper into a well of misinformation."
Biden then made his comments about the social media company, to which it responded defensively.
A spokesperson for the company said that it "will not be distracted by accusations which aren't supported by the facts."
The spokesperson for the social media giant continued saying that "the facts show that Facebook is helping save lives."
On Monday, Biden recanted his statement and clarified his remarks about the controversy with reporters.
"I'm glad you asked me that question," Biden said following his remarks on the economy.
Biden explained his remark, saying he had recently read a report that 60% of the vaccine's misinformation was from a dozen social media accounts.
"Facebook isn't killing people, these 12 people are out there giving misinformation. Anyone listening to it is getting hurt by it. It's killing people. It's bad information," Biden said.
He continued saying that his "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."