Facebook had doubts about the accuracy of the Center For Countering Digital Hate’s (CCDH) report that President Joe Biden’s administration used to urge censorship on the platform, newly uncovered emails show.
CCDH’s “Disinformation Dozen” report, released in March 2021, purported to identify the “Twelve Leading Antivaxxers” who were allegedly the source of 65% of anti-vaccine content. The White House used the report to push Facebook to censor these accounts, despite the company’s concerns about its accuracy, according to emails obtained by the House Judiciary Committee.
The report asserts that the 12 individuals who make up the “Disinformation Dozen” are responsible for the majority of “anti‑vaccine content circulating on social media,” but Facebook stated it knew this was not true, according to the emails.
“It seems like the WH thinks if we just removed these 12 accounts, this would cause 65 percent of anti-vax misinformation to go away (‘there’s about 12 people who are producing 65 percent of anti-vaccine misinformation on social media platforms.’ If this were true, I would also want us to do this … but it unfortunately isn’t that simple,” a redacted Facebook employee’s email states.
