Joe Biden’s Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy attempted to support the administration’s plan to push social media companies and SMS carriers to censor private messages the government decides is “misinformation.”
“There have been some positive steps taken by these technology companies. Some of them have worked to try to promote accurate sources like the CDC and other medical sources,” Murthy said on Fox News Sunday. “But what I’ve also said to them, publicly and privately, is that it’s not enough. We are still seeing a proliferation of misinformation online.”
“And we know that health misinformation harms people’s health, it costs them their lives,” he continued. “And the platforms have to recognize that they’ve played a major role in the increase, speed, and scale with which misinformation is spreading.”
“And we know that health misinformation harms people’s health, it costs them their lives … and the platforms have to recognize that they’ve played a major role in the increase, speed, and scale with which misinformation is spreading,” Murthy concluded.
Murthy’s statements come after the Biden administration announced last week they planned to push social media companies to censor speech the government says is “disinformation.”
“This is a big issue of misinformation, specifically on the pandemic. In terms of actions, Alex, that we have taken or we’re working to take I should say from the federal government, we’ve increased disinformation research and tracking within the Surgeon General’s office,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said. “We’re flagging problematic posts for Facebook that spread disinformation. We’re working with doctors and medical professionals to connect to connected medical experts who are popular with their audiences with accurate information and boost trusted content. So we’re helping get trusted content out there.”
A recent Politico report also revealed the Biden administration would be pushing SMS carriers to censor text messages.
“Biden allied groups, including the Democratic National Committee, are also planning to engage fact-checkers more aggressively and work with SMS carriers to dispel misinformation about vaccines that is sent over social media and text messages,” Politico reported.
