“The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit.”
President Joe Biden used his farewell address to the American people to warn about the dangers of social media misinformation and disinformation, as he took aim at platforms for giving up on fact checking.
Biden is in the last few days of his presidency before Trump takes office, after the latter ran a campaign based on misinformation, lies and the politics of division.
In this, Trump was aided by tech billionaire and owner of X, formerly Twitter, Elon Musk, who not only has allowed misinformation and extremist content to thrive on X since taking over, but also himself posted a number of fake claims and misinformation. In recent weeks, Musk has been community noted by his own platform after posting a series of false claims about UK MPs and the grooming gangs scandal on his X platform, falsely accusing ministers of inaction over gang rape and child abuse.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has also announced that his company will be abandoning the use of independent fact checkers on Facebook and Instagram, as he also tries to cosy up to the Trump presidency.
Trump and his Republican allies have criticised Meta for its fact-checking policy, calling it censorship of right-wing voices.
In his farewell address, Biden said: “Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation enabling an abuse of power.
“The free press is crumbling. Editors are disappearing. Social media has given up on fact-checking.
“The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit.”
He went on to add: “We must hold the social platforms accountable, to protect our children, our families and our very democracies from the abuse of power.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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