Selena Gomez has reiterated her frustration with Facebook for allegedly not doing enough to stop the spread of misinformation about the coronavirus and vaccines.
The singer expressed concerns last September that the social media platform was a vessel for hate speech, racism and fake news, citing at the time misinformation about US voting. She later tweeted that year that “scientific disinformation has and will cost lives” in relation to the pandemic.
Now, the singer and actress has taken to her social media again to warn of the dangers of allowing anti-vaxxers prominence on Facebook and its other platform, Instagram.
“In December I asked @Facebook and @Instagram to take action on lies about COVID and vaccines,” she tweeted earlier this week alongside a video from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH).
CCDH officials state: “Just twelve anti-vaxxers are responsible for almost two-thirds of anti-vaccine content circulating on social media platforms. This new analysis of content posted or shared to social media over 812,000 times between February and March uncovers how a tiny group of determined anti-vaxxers is responsible for a tidal wave of disinformation – and shows how platforms can fix it by enforcing their standards.”
In December I asked @Facebook and @Instagram to take action on lies about COVID and vaccines https://t.co/Sy8VQqIZYZ
— Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) July 21, 2021
Gomez then tagged President Joe Biden and US Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy, tweeting: “@Potus and @Surgeon_General have finally called for action by @Facebook.”
Billboard reported last week that Biden told the media that Facebook was “killing people” by not dispelling myths about vaccinations. The US president has since clarified his statement, saying that he doesn’t blame Facebook but “these 12 people who are out there giving misinformation – anyone listening to it is getting hurt by it”.
Facebook has issued a statement to The New York Times saying: “The suggestion we haven’t put resources toward combating COVID misinformation and supporting the vaccine rollout is just not supported by the facts.”
The post Selena Gomez calls out Facebook again for allegedly spreading COVID-19 misinformation appeared first on NME.
