Biden clarifies vaccine misinformation comments: "Facebook isn't killing people"
19 July 2021
President Biden attempted to clarify comments he made last week about Facebook, saying on Monday that the company itself is not "killing people" — but that those who are allowed to post misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines are.
Why it matters: The Biden administration has ratcheted up pressure on social media companies, especially Facebook, to increase their efforts to eliminate misinformation on vaccines and the virus from their platforms.
- Biden last week said last week that social media platforms are "killing people" by allowing such misinformation to persist on their websites.
- Facebook defended its efforts to promote factual information about vaccines, saying the president's comments were not "supported by the facts."
What they're saying: "It was pointed out that on Facebook, of all the misinformation, 60% of the misinformation came from 12 people. ... Facebook isn't killing people, these 12 people who are out there giving misinformation ... [are] killing people," Biden said Monday, referring to a report by the Center for Countering Digital Hate
- "My hope is that Facebook, instead of taking it personally that somehow I'm saying Facebook is killing people, that they would do something about the misinformation. There's outrageous misinformation about the vaccine. That's what I meant," he added.
The big picture: Surgeon General Vivek Murthy last week said vaccine misinformation proliferating on social media is a factor in the country's slowing vaccination rates, labeling misinformation as an urgent public health threat in his first health advisory since being confirmed to the position.
Go deeper:Misinformation is just one part of a vaccine trust problem
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.