There are many fair criticisms one can make of Facebook and other Big Tech platforms. But accusing them of killing people simply isn’t one of them.
Yet that’s exactly what President Joe Biden did on Friday. When a reporter asked him what his message was for social media platforms such as Facebook regarding alleged vaccine misinformation, the president said, “They’re killing people.” He continued, “I mean, they really — look, the only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated, and that’s — they’re killing people.”
Facebook responded to the incendiary allegation with understandable indignation.
“We will not be distracted by accusations which aren’t supported by the facts,” the company said in a statement. “The fact is that more than 2 billion people have viewed authoritative information about COVID-19 and vaccines on Facebook, which is more than any other place on the internet. More than 3.3 million Americans have also used our vaccine finder tool to find out where and how to get a vaccine. The facts show that Facebook is helping save lives. Period.”
The president has since attempted to walk back his accusation.
“Facebook isn’t killing people,” he said begrudgingly on Monday. He then called on the platform to step up and stop “the outrageous misinformation” supposedly being shared on it, “instead of taking it personally that somehow I’m saying Facebook is killing people.”
While Biden’s reversal is welcome, he really owes Facebook a full and explicit apology.
To accuse an American company of “killing people” without any evidence is wildly irresponsible. And there’s nothing supporting his outlandish claim. Indeed, Facebook cited data showing that 85% of its U.S. users are vaccinated or want to be. It’s simply not the case that vaccine misinformation is running rampant on Facebook.
But even if it was, to accuse the company of murder would still be outrageous. Facebook is a platform. The actual speakers and authors of misinformation are ultimately responsible for it, so the president’s unjustified wrath is just shooting the messenger.
In truth, Biden is probably embarrassed that the United States failed to hit his administration’s goal of 70% of adults vaccinated by July 4. He’s looking for a scapegoat and has decided that Facebook is an easy punching bag. Yet, we shouldn’t stand for such baseless passing of the buck from the leader of the free world.
And, moreover, Biden’s stance here is insulting and condescending to everyday voters. He’s essentially saying that we little people are too stupid to see controversial information or sources that the smart people in government haven’t approved.
There’s a fundamental arrogance to the president’s thinking on this issue that suggests he views average people as simpletons without agency and incapable of critical thinking, unable to weigh competing arguments and sources and make our own decisions. In this, Biden is baselessly insulting us all — and vastly overestimating the supposed brilliance of the government’s “expert” class, which has gotten a lot wrong during the pandemic to date.
So, Biden owes the public an apology for this desperate attempt to pass the blame for his administration’s failure to reach its vaccine goals. Facebook didn’t “kill” anyone. And people are not simpletons who must be shielded from controversial information. The president needs to realize that it’s not OK to smear U.S. companies and insult voters just to deflect political blame.
Brad Polumbo (@brad_polumbo) is a Washington Examiner contributor. Subscribe to his YouTube channel or email him at [email protected].
