(CNS News) – When asked about the Biden administration working with Facebook to suppress postings it considers “vaccine misinformation,” Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.) said, “there has to be responsibility on these networks and on these platforms.”
At the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, CNS News asked the senator, “Should the Biden administration be able to work with Facebook to suppress postings they believe to be Covid vaccine misinformation?”
Sen. Cardin said “Well, I think there has to be responsibility on these networks and on these platforms. So, I think they should work for information that is clearly inaccurate and is against public health, I think there is a responsibility there.”
CNS News asked the follow-up question, “And are there any other topics you think the administration should work with Facebook to censor?”
Sen. Cardin responded “Well, there are — we know about the malign activities of foreign powers that use our social media platforms. I think they have to be vigilant against that.”
Last week, the Biden administration admitted that it is working with Facebook to suppress certain posts on the social media platform that contain alleged “vaccine misinformation.”
When asked about the posts on July 16, Biden said, “They’re killing people. … The only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated, and they’re killing people.”
Also on July 16, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the administration is “in regular touch with these social media platforms, and those engagements typically happen through members of our senior staff, but also members of our COVID-19 team, given, as [U.S. Surgeon General] Dr. Murthy conveyed, this is a big issue of misinformation, specifically on the pandemic.”
“We’ve increased disinformation research and tracking within the Surgeon General’s office,” said Psaki. “We’re flagging problematic posts for Facebook that spread disinformation.”
“You shouldn’t be banned from one platform and not others, uh – if you – for providing misinformation out there,” she said.
Psaki then explained four suggestions the White House has given to Facebook and commented, “We engage with them regularly and they certainly know what our asks are.”
However, Psaki told CNS News during her press conference on July 19 that the White House has “not asked Facebook to block any individual posts,” but the Biden administration “certainly raised where we have concerns about information that’s inaccurate that is traveling out there in whatever platform it’s traveling on.”
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) commented to Psaki on Twitter, “Her statement makes it abundantly clear they want people banned for simply disagreeing with the government’s pre-approved narrative.”
Transcript
CNSNews.com: “Should the Biden administration be able to work with Facebook to suppress postings they believe to be COVID vaccine misinformation?”
Cardin: “Well, I think there has to be responsibility, on these networks and on these platforms. So I think they should work for information that is clearly inaccurate and is against public health, I think there is a responsibility there.”
CNSNews.com: “And are there any other topics you think the administration should work with Facebook to censor?”
Cardin: “Well, there are — we know about the maligned activities of foreign powers that use our social media platforms, I think they have to be vigilant against that.”
CNSNews.com: “All right, thank you so much for your time, sir.”