‘Shady government’: Twitter slams White House for helping Facebook censor posts
Twitter is fuming over White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki saying the Biden administration is working with Facebook to flag any “problematic” posts of disinformation - with users calling it a “shady" government who are “admitting” to censorship.
“The greatest source of disinformation in human history (government) is claiming to filter out disinformation,” wrote one Twitter user.
“They are openly admitting censorship.”
A reporter asked Ms Psaki in a press briefing what tech giants had done to adhere to the White House's request to crackdown on misinformation.
"We are in regular touch with the social media platforms and those engagements typically happen through members of our senior staff and also members of our COVID-19 team — given, as Dr. Murthy conveyed, this is a big issue, of misinformation, specifically on the pandemic," she said.
The Press Secretary said the Surgeon General's Office - which is a part of the government - were flagging posts for Facebook that spread disinformation.
"We're working with doctors and medical professionals to connect medical experts with people, who are popular with their audiences with accurate information and boost trusted content.
"So, we're helping get trusted content out there.
"We also created the COVID Community Corps to get factual information into the hands of local messengers."
However Jen Psaki's comments were slammed online by Americans who believe the tech giants are censoring free speech - with one user pointing out when Facebook banned content relating to the lab leak theory and then retracted it months later.
"Remember that up until what …3 months ago wuhan lab leak theory was considered by you and everyone in that “press” room disinformation," the user wrote.
It comes just a week after former president Donald Trump filed class-action lawsuits against the tech giants for "censoring" the American people.
“They are openly admitting censorship.”
A reporter asked Ms Psaki in a press briefing what tech giants had done to adhere to the White House's request to crackdown on misinformation.
"We are in regular touch with the social media platforms and those engagements typically happen through members of our senior staff and also members of our COVID-19 team — given, as Dr. Murthy conveyed, this is a big issue, of misinformation, specifically on the pandemic," she said.
The Press Secretary said the Surgeon General's Office - which is a part of the government - were flagging posts for Facebook that spread disinformation.
"We're working with doctors and medical professionals to connect medical experts with people, who are popular with their audiences with accurate information and boost trusted content.
"So, we're helping get trusted content out there.
"We also created the COVID Community Corps to get factual information into the hands of local messengers."
However Jen Psaki's comments were slammed online by Americans who believe the tech giants are censoring free speech - with one user pointing out when Facebook banned content relating to the lab leak theory and then retracted it months later.
"Remember that up until what …3 months ago wuhan lab leak theory was considered by you and everyone in that “press” room disinformation," the user wrote.
It comes just a week after former president Donald Trump filed class-action lawsuits against the tech giants for "censoring" the American people.