White House faces backlash for pushing social media crackdown on vaccine misinformation

WASHINGTON (Sinclair Broadcast Group) — The White House warned this week that health misinformation was "one of the biggest obstacles" toward the U.S. ending the pandemic and announced it was pushing social media companies to do more to combat it.

The effort was aimed at improving vaccine uptake and ending the COVID-19 pandemic but it sparked cries of "collusion" and censorship among conservative critics.

At a Thursday press briefing, White House press secretary Jen Psaki admitted the administration was coordinating with social media companies to target false health information. She noted that senior White House staff and members of the COVID-19 task force were in "regular touch" with Facebook and others.

"We’re flagging problematic posts for Facebook that spread disinformation," Psaki noted. "There are also proposed changes that we have made to social media platforms, including Facebook."

The White House cited a 2020 study by the U.K.-based Center for Countering Digital Hate that found 12 people were responsible for almost 65% of anti-vaccine disinformation on social media platforms. "All of them remain active on Facebook, despite some even being banned on other platforms," Psaki said.

The comments prompted a flurry of allegations that the White House had crossed the boundaries of free speech and was pressuring Facebook to block users and remove content.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., a staunch Big Tech critic, described the comment as a "casual admission of collusion" between the government and social media giants. He further claimed the administration was attempting to "censor speech and evade the First Amendment."

"I think it's really scary to have the federal government of the United States, the White House, compiling lists of people, organizations, whatever and then going to a private company, that by the way is a monopoly, Facebook, and saying, 'You need to censor. You need to do something about this," Hawley said in a Thursday interview with Fox News.

The White House clarified Friday that it was tracking disinformation shared publicly on social media and there was "no secret list" of users. The 12 individuals responsible for the bulk of online health disinformation were aggregated by the Center for Countering Digital Hate. Facebook reportedly disputed the methodology of the study.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., claimed that Big Tech and the White House conspired to "control" and "censor" Americans.

Sen. Ron Johnson argued that "Big Government is now Big Brother under @POTUS." He continued, "The censorship that results from this unholy alliance between big govt/big tech has, and will continue to, cost lives." Johnson has publicly questioned the safety of COVID vaccines and repeatedly criticized government efforts to mitigate the pandemic.

The White House initiative prompted a response from the America First Legal Foundation, an organization founded by former Trump White House policy adviser Stephen Miller.

The group filed a Freedom of Information Act request Friday requesting documents related to relating to "the Biden Administration’s decision to direct big tech companies to censor speech on their platforms." Miller claimed an "unconstitutional" and "incestuous union" between Big Tech and the federal government.

The fervor followed the release of a 22-page health advisory from the surgeon general's office calling on technology platforms, health organizations, educators, news organizations and the general public to promote accurate health information and combat misinformation.

The health advisory came amid a slowdown in U.S. vaccine uptake. Health care providers administered about 530,000 shots per day this week, down from over 3 million per day in the spring. Roughly 35% of eligible people are completely unvaccinated.

At the same time, new virus cases topped 33,000 with the more infectious delta variant becoming the dominant strain. Hospitalizations and deaths are also up, driven almost entirely by unvaccinated people.

Social media platforms were singled out as a critical piece of the public health strategy. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy noted that online information was an important driver leading people to avoid vaccination against COVID-19. Polls indicate two-thirds of unvaccinated people believe common myths about the shot.

"We expect more from our technology companies," said Murthy said Thursday. "We know that the dramatic increase in the speed and scale of spreading misinformation has, in part, been enabled by these platforms.

The health advisory specifically called on tech platforms to redesign algorithms to prevent amplifying misinformation and provide data about the reach and influence of those messages. It also calls for early detection and quick action against problematic posts and clear consequences for misinformation "superspreaders" who violate platform policies.

The White House defended its strategy Friday against arguments that it was exerting undue influence or colluding with Big Tech to silence vaccine skeptics.

"We are regularly making sure social media platforms are aware of the latest narratives dangerous to public health that we and many other Americans are seeing," Psaki told reporters.

The government voiced concerns to Facebook and others about persistent issues, rather than directing them to take action, she noted. She further recommended that platforms coordinate policies to ensure a user banned for disinformation on one site is banned reciprocally on others.

In a testy exchange with a Fox News reporter, she argued that Facebook and private companies made the final decision about what information and what users should be on their platform. "Our point is there is information that is leading to people not taking the vaccine and people are dying as a result," she said.

Even as the White House offers input on Facebook and others' platform moderation decisions, it does not amount to a clear infringement on First Amendment rights, suggested Philip Napoli, a professor at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy.

"For government representatives to express their hopes and wishes is one thing," he noted. "Once you get steps further in terms of pressure, threats or specific policies, then I feel more comfortable saying they have a legitimate First Amendment concern here."

Facebook already has extensive restrictions on what can and cannot be shared on its platform about COVID-19 and the vaccine. Other social media platforms have also adopted content guidelines that relied on input from health organizations, government health authorities and other stakeholders. There are questions about enforcement speed and transparency.

The Internet Association, a trade group representing Facebook, Google and Twitter, said the industry would continue its work to improve how people connect and access health information.

"As part of these efforts, companies are fighting the spread of misinformation through an array of wide and sweeping actions from removing policy violations, labeling and fact-checking posts, limiting the visibility and sharing of misinformation to slow the spread, and partnering and promoting credible sources on health such as the WHO [World Health Organization] and government agencies," said Internet Association president and CEO, K. Dane Snowden.

The White House made clear it will continue pressing technology platforms to be more proactive in policing content that could affect public health outcomes. However, there are concerns that, as the science evolves, what might be deemed misinformation today could prove to be a legitimate issue over time.

The notion that the SARS-CoV-2 virus escaped from a Chinese lab was shut down as a conspiracy theory for months. Posts about the theory were blocked on some social media platforms. By the spring, reputable scientists and public health officials said the theory was probable. On Thursday, the World Health Organization acknowledged it was "premature" to rule out a lab leak.

There are still unknowns about the virus and new data continues to come in about vaccines. Currently, all the available data show they are highly effective and safe.