Platforms have the right and imo the duty to refuse to allow dangerous content, including disinformation to be published on their platform. The disinformation re: COVID was very much akin to yelling FIRE in a crowded theater: very dangerous to the health and safety of everyone present. The government had the right to request that such misinformation not be given space on the platform and Zuckerberg should have done more to remove it--I saw plenty on a daily basis. People died because of false 'information' being spread through social media.
That certainly is rich coming from a female who is probably in favor of pro abortion and female choice. If you are in favor of choosing what is best for your body you should also be in favor of choice not to take an untested drug. And who is to say it was disinformation especially at the time? Especially when our own government was not really that knowledgeable or was lying about the virus themselves, at least at first.
And as far as people dying of COVID, how many have died because of the vaccine? We still do not know.
232,000 deaths were attributed to the unvaccinated
While some studies have previously estimated lives saved by COVID-19 vaccination, we estimate how many deaths could have been averted by vaccination in the US but were not because of a failure to vaccinate. We used a simple method based on a ...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Just to be clear about this and keep on topic.
I'm not, nor was ever against the forced vaccination if it is for the public good.
But I am vehemently opposed to the government censoring speech from doctors and scientists who want to contribute their knowledge of the subject in facebook, google, or twitter. I feel we have the guaranteed right to speak to one another even if it is about a subject the govenment feels it should have a monopoly.
I also believe that doctors and scientists with knowledge and expertise should not be prevented from sharing that knowledge and expertise.
Unfortunately, not all doctors or scientists had or have the requisite expertise to contribute accurate and relevant information on specific topics, such as new vaccinations against a novel virus such as COVID. Unfortunately that did not stop some people from ‘sharing’ what turned out to be disinformation, sometimes with what appeared to be underlying political motivation. The consequences were deadly for some people, including a young man I knew, newly married. He and his wife were advised to not get vaccinated because the vaccine might interfere with their attempts to conceive. This otherwise healthy adult contracted COVID and died. His widow had not conceived and there was never a baby or pregnancy. I am still white hot furious at what this happy young couple lost: their life together, the promise of children they both wanted and his life. It’s been a few years now and it is impossible not to see the sadness in her eyes, even when she is laughing.
I did not know at the time that they were being given such poor advice or I would have done my best to steer them towards a more reliable source of information. Unfortunately, not all medical practitioners are aware of the limits of their expertise. People generally want to trust their medical providers. Unfortunately, not every medical provider deserves that trust.
I believe that social media platforms and news outlets have an absolute duty to only publish medical information when it comes from proven sources.
Unfortunately, the Trump administration did damage beyond the terrible COVID response and disinformation that Trump himself propagated while ensuring that he got the most cutting edge treatment himself. The Trump administration did its best to undermine the confidence and trust that Americans put in their government and agencies. It will likely be decades before this damage is undone.
I have zero problem with people taking different political positions than mine, or talking about them and trying to persuade others of the validity of their POV. But spreading disinformation and outright falsehoods in order to convince the general public that your political position is the best one at the cost of their health and lives—this is more than shameful. It is an abject betrayal of the trust of those who look to their leaders for guidance as we all do in every society. That Trump and his minions did so for their own personal enrichment and power is an abomination.
