For Immediate Release
August 18, 2021
Contact: press@accountabletech.org
Accountable Tech Executive Director Nicole Gill released the following statement Wednesday in response to Facebook’s latest claims about their efforts to tackle vaccine misinformation:
“Facebook is teeming with deadly vaccine misinformation. You don’t have to take my word for it – just spend a few hours on the platform. Or listen to the heartbreaking testimonials from health workers who have lamented their dying patients’ exposure to those viral lies.
It is hard to overstate the shamelessness of Facebook executives who continue to portray the company as heroes of this pandemic and dutiful custodians of authoritative information. Today, they had the audacity to cast aspersions on public interest researchers, rebutting their findings with unsubstantiated claims based on internal data they refuse to share. This comes on the heels of summarily deplatforming an NYU research team that was studying vaccine misinformation.
If Facebook believes their role in exacerbating the pandemic is being mischaracterized, absolutely nothing is stopping them from giving researchers and public health officials access to their data. Unlike defiant blog posts and TV interviews, this approach would have the added benefit of saving countless lives.”
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