Critics were triggered and shocked over the revelation made by White House press secretary Jen Psaki. Psaki stated that the Biden administration is working with Facebook in flagging “problematic” posts that spread “disinformation.”
Psaki revealed how the White House is in “regular touch” with social media giants
During the press briefing on Thursday, Psaki was asked about the Biden administration’s request for social media companies to be more “aggressive” in checking what they called “misinformation.”
The answer made by the press secretary shocked the press and critics as she revealed how the White House is in “regular touch” with these social media giants. Psaki further explained that they have regular communications with social media platforms.
She added that these “engagements” usually happen through the senior staff members, who are also members of their COVID-19 team. She added that “misinformation” about the pandemic is a big issue.
.@PressSec: "We're flagging problematic posts for Facebook that spread disinformation." pic.twitter.com/xTCvg3tyFQ
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) July 15, 2021
While talking about the team’s actions, Psaki also revealed how they “flag” posts on Facebook as part of their effort. The press secretary stated that within the Surgeon’s General’s Office, they are flagging posts on Facebook that allegedly spread “disinformation.”
Psaki added that they are working with doctors, as well as medical professionals, to connect with medical experts and other people who are “popular with their audiences” to boost trusted content and accurate information. She added that the Biden administration is helping get trusted content out there.
The press secretary also mentioned that they created COVID Community Corporation in getting factual information to the hands of local messengers.
Critics concerned that actions of the Biden administration could be an infringement of First Amendment rights
The comments and shocking revelations made by Psaki were met with fierce backlash online, with some people calling the actions of the administration an infringement of the First Amendment rights.
Katie Pavlick posted a tweet saying that the press secretary mentioned that the White House is flagging “problematic posts” on Facebook that they believe to be spreading misinformation, particularly about the coronavirus.
Pavlick noted that Fauci worked with Facebook, asking the social media giant to ban the lab leak theory for over a year, which now turned out to be possible. On the other hand, Glenn Greenwald, an independent journalist, wrote a long Twitter thread criticizing the revelation made by Psaki.
If you don't find it deeply disturbing that the White House is "flagging" internet content that they deem "problematic" to their Facebook allies for removal, then you are definitionally an authoritarian. No other information is needed about you to know that.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) July 15, 2021
Greenwald stated that if you do not find it deeply disturbing how the White House is flagging content on the internet that they deemed as “problematic,” then you are, by definition, an authoritarian.
The comments made by Psaki were made after a recent report from Politico put in detail the plans of the Biden administration to fight against COVID-19 misinformation. The methods cited in the report include directly calling out social media platforms and conservative news shows. They also added that they would look into SMS carriers and text messages.
