US President Joe Biden took a softer tone when speaking about Facebook on Monday, after saying final week that the social media firm was “killing people” by permitting the unfold of misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines.

US President Biden instructed reporters on Monday he meant to accuse a dozen customers who unfold probably the most quantity of misinformation on the social media platform, however not the corporate itself.

“Facebook isn’t killing people,” he mentioned. “These 12 people are out there giving misinformation. Anyone listening to it is getting hurt by it. It’s killing people. It’s bad information.”

He additionally mentioned he hopes that Facebook does extra to cease the unfold of misinformation.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki additionally tried to make clear Biden’s remarks. “We are not in a war or a battle with Facebook, we’re in a battle with the virus,” she mentioned.

COVID-19 misinformation has unfold throughout the pandemic on social media websites together with Facebook, Twitter, and Alphabet-owned YouTube. Researchers and lawmakers have lengthy accused Facebook of failing to police dangerous content material on its platforms.

When requested on Friday about his message to Facebook and different social media platforms, Biden responded: “They’re killing people. … Look, the only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated. And they’re killing people.”

Facebook responded sharply final week, saying that 85 p.c of its customers have been vaccinated or wished to be. “President Biden’s goal was for 70 percent of Americans to be vaccinated by July 4. Facebook is not the reason this goal was missed,” Facebook mentioned in a company weblog put up by Guy Rosen, an organization vp.

The firm has launched guidelines towards making particular false claims about COVID-19 and vaccines to forestall the sickness, and says it supplies individuals with dependable info on these subjects.

© Thomson Reuters 2021