Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the most difficult problems to address has been the rampant spreading of misinformation. One need to only look across any one of the frequently used social media sites to see a wide array of differing opinions and contradictory information about COVID-19 and the vaccines introduced to prevent it. The Biden administration has been especially critical of one of the largest social media platforms, Facebook, Inc., for their failure to address incorrect claims. When asked about the problem last Friday, President Biden put it bluntly when he said “[t]hey’re killing people.”
In response, Facebook issued a statement accusing the Biden administration of distorting the facts to which U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy countered by saying that, while Facebook and other social media companies were taking steps to address the problem, they need to do more.
The accusations put Facebook and other social media companies in a peculiar situation. Many of them have already been blasted by the previous administration and the public for suppressing political information that the companies find objectionable. Republican state lawmakers have even pushed for a bill that would allow social media censorship lawsuits, the type of which are currently not permitted under federal law. Furthermore, research shows that roughly three-quarters of the American public believe that social media sites intentionally censor certain political viewpoints which only further shows the general distrust and frustration that people are having with these influential companies.
Regardless of the actions taken by the social media companies, it will likely result in a large amount of the populace being upset. Either they allow people to post whatever they want or they give in to the President’s plea to crack down on the spread of misinformation.
This blog post is part of the CIMA Law Group Blog. If you are in need of legal help, the CIMA Law Group is a law firm in Phoenix, Arizona which possesses expertise in Immigration Law, Criminal Defense, Personal Injury, and Government Relations.
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