Biden campaign slams Facebook for 'inaction' on misinformation: 'Rather than seeing progress, we have seen regression'
Former Vice President Joe Biden's presidential campaign is once again slamming Facebook, accusing it of "regression" when it comes to fighting misinformation on its platform.
Biden campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon wrote to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Monday in a letter published by Axios, saying that even after Zuckerberg in September announced steps the company would be taking to fight misinformation, "rather than seeing progress, we have seen regression." The campaign urges Facebook to take "meaningful action" against posts from President Trump making false claims about mail-in voting.
"Facebook's continued promise of future action is serving as nothing more than an excuse for inaction," Dillon said. "Millions of people are voting. Meanwhile, your platform is the nation's foremost propagator of disinformation about the voting process."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Facebook has added labels to certain posts by Trump while leaving them online; for example, when Trump claimed that "ballots being returned to states cannot be accurately counted," Facebook attached a label saying "both voting in person and voting by mail have a long history of trustworthiness in the U.S." Facebook previously announced it would not accept new political ads in the week prior to Election Day.
The Biden campaign, though, writes that as Facebook leaves Trump posts online, the president "clearly understands that Facebook will not hold him to their clearly stated policies."
In an open letter in July, the Biden campaign condemned Facebook, calling for "clear rules — applied to everyone, including Donald Trump — that prohibit threatening behavior and lies about how to participate in the election." Facebook said in a statement at the time that "we live in a democracy, where the elected officials decide the rules around campaigns," adding, "there is an election coming in November and we will protect political speech, even when we strongly disagree with it."
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
Aid to Ukraine: too little, too late?
Talking Point House of Representatives finally 'met the moment' but some say it came too late
By The Week UK Published
-
5 generously funny cartoons on the $60 billion foreign aid package
Cartoons Artists take on Republican opposition, aid to Ukraine, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Knife: Salman Rushdie's 'mesmeric memoir' of brutal attack
The Week Recommends The author's account of ordeal which cost him his eye is both 'scary and heartwarming'
By The Week Staff Published
-
Amazon ending 'Just Walk Out' grocery checkout
Speed Read In its place, the company will let customers scan while they shop with Amazon Dash Cart
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Justice Department bites Apple with iPhone suit
Speed Read The lawsuit alleges that the tech company monopolized the smartphone industry
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
House votes to force TikTok to sell or face US ban
speed read The House passed a bill to ban TikTok on national security grounds unless it sells to a non-Chinese company
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Apple kills its secret electric car project
Speed Read Many of the people from Project Titan are being reassigned to work on generative AI
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Cellphone use may be lowering sperm count
Speed Read Electromagnetic radiation could be affecting male fertility
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Nasa reveals first findings from asteroid that could explain origins of life
Speed Read Sample from Bennu has been found to contain an abundance of water and carbon
By Jamie Timson, The Week UK Published
-
NYPD to monitor Labor Day parties using surveillance drones
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Elon Musk announces change to Twitter logo
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published