US asks Facebook, Amazon to detail measures taken to curb COVID vaccine misinformation

Expressing concern over the USA's deteriorating COVID situation, US House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, on 8 September, called on Facebook and Amazon to detail their efforts against the spread of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation. He has written letters to the heads of Facebook and Amazon to share detailed explanations about the policies introduced by the companies to curb the spread of vaccine false information.

Taking to Twitter, Adam Schiff posted the pictures of the letters that he has sent to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. While sharing the letters, Schiff wrote, "Vaccine hesitancy stands between us and the end of this pandemic. And companies like @amazon and @facebook must do far more to tackle the viral spread of misinformation online. We need transparency. And we need accountability (sic)". In his letter, Schiff mentioned that online platforms play a significant role in the accessibility of accurate and inaccurate information. 

Shiff seeks detailed information on Facebook's policies

Schiff acknowledged the efforts of Facebook and Instagram in removing dangerous posts but he also raised concern over the growing audience of anti-vaccine influencers. In his letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Adam Schiff said, "As a Member of Congress who is deeply concerned by the prevalence of vaccine hesitancy during this time of crisis, I request additional, more detailed information on Facebook's policies regarding false or misleading health information in order to identify potential needs for federal regulation". 

In his letter to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, Schiff has mentioned that the company's recommendation systems promote dangerous misinformation on vaccines. Citing a study conducted by the University of Washington in January 2021, he said that the study showed that for vaccine-related search on Amazon, more than 10% had misinformation about health. Schiff has asked Amazon to explain the measures it is taking to ensure that filters and recommendations are not used to promote misleading health-related information. He has also asked the company to explain how they identify "abuse of recommendation system". 

COVID-19 situation in the US

According to US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), on 9 September, the USA reported 163,164 new COVID-19 cases which brought the overall tally to 40,523,954. The country reported 1,647 new deaths which took the number of fatalities to 652,480. According to US CDC, 208,305,270 people have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine while 177,433,044 people have been fully vaccinated. 

(Image: AP/Unsplash)