During Friday’s “MediaBuzz” podcast, FNC host Howard Kurtz reacted to the Biden administration pushing social media platforms to crack down on what it considers misinformation on coronavirus by pointing out that no one knows what the White House considers misinformation or where the line is between deception and opinions “that the White House may not like.” And that it’s worth noting that Facebook blocked posts on the COVID lab leak theory until recently.
Kurtz said, “I mean, there’s a lot of misinformation out there and the social media giants have a role to play. But at the same time, remember, it was only a few weeks ago that Facebook was banning, as in not allowing, as in deleting, as in taking down, anybody who wanted to post something saying, I think there’s some credibility to the theory — it’s still not proven — that COVID-19 originated in that lab in Wuhan. That was absolutely censored by Facebook. And now it’s allowed because the Biden administration’s taking it more seriously because newspapers have dug up some information that makes it seem more plausible and all of that.”
He added, “I’d like to see the examples of misinformation, disinformation that are being taken down. Where is the line between complete and total, here’s a quack cure for the virus kind of thing that everybody would agree should not be spread on social media, and somebody who says, you ought to be hesitant about the vaccine for this reason, there are side effects, do we really want to give it to kids? In other words, the normal realm of political debate that the White House may not like.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett