'Facebook: A Hotbed of COVID-19 Misinformation?'...The Telecommunications Business Act Controversy Resurfaces Again

Biden "They Are Killing People"...Directly Targeting Facebook

(Photo by Reuters)

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] Facebook, which is going through its greatest crisis since its founding due to comprehensive pressure from the U.S. government and Congress, is now facing criticism as a hotbed of false information about the COVID-19 vaccine.

According to major foreign media on the 16th (local time), U.S. President Joe Biden directly targeted Facebook, the world's largest social networking service (SNS), criticizing social media as a channel through which false information about COVID-19 spreads, saying, "(They) are killing people."

President Biden made these remarks during a meeting with reporters at the White House, responding to a question about the message regarding social media platforms like Facebook in relation to COVID-19 misinformation.

The day before, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki pointed out in a regular briefing that social media platforms such as Facebook have not taken sufficient measures to prevent the spread of false information about the COVID-19 vaccine, continuing the pressure day after day.

Press Secretary Psaki cited a study by the nonprofit organization 'Digital Hate Response Center,' which found that about 65% of the false information about vaccines spread on social media was produced by 12 anti-vaccine activists, stating, "They are all still active on Facebook," and urged, "Facebook must move faster to remove harmful posts."

Amid this pressure, the industry is raising concerns that legislative discussions to reduce immunity for social media companies (Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act) may be intensifying.

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act contains immunity provisions that exempt platform companies from liability related to content such as posts uploaded by social media users. This immunity has been the foundation for the rapid growth of social media companies, but following events such as the U.S. Capitol riot and the COVID-19 pandemic, criticism and regulatory movements from public opinion and political circles regarding harmful posts and fake news are intensifying.

Last year, former President Donald Trump pushed for the repeal of Section 230, and currently, amendments are being discussed in Congress. The U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have begun work to define the scope of Section 230 in their antitrust investigation reports on big tech companies, and both the Republican and Democratic parties argue for the need to revise the law, claiming that social media companies are using Section 230 as a shield to neglect violent and harmful posts.

Social media companies such as Facebook are pushing back. At a congressional hearing held in March, Facebook stated that controlling billions of posts uploaded daily is unrealistic and proposed that companies establish systems to identify and remove content independently according to the scale of their platforms as an alternative.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.