Facebook exec believes society & not social media is responsible for COVID misinformation

American technology executive Andrew Bosworth says society and not social media is to be blamed for the spread of online misinformation regarding COVID-19. Speaking at an interview with Axios on HBO about the role of social networks on societal problems, the vice President in augmented and virtual reality at Meta, Bosworth claimed that political and medical misinformation related to the Nobel Coronavirus are "societal problems" rather than issues that have been magnified by social networks. The remarks from the longtime Facebook veteran come as a stark counter-statement to critics who have blames Facebook and other social networks for playing a significant role in vaccine hesitancy and political misinformation.

Explaining that misinformation is data and information shared on social media by individuals, Bosworth said "Individual humans are the ones who choose to believe or not believe a thing. They are the ones who choose to share or not share a thing." He also added that misinformation is an outcome of the freedom of speech, which "can be dangerous at times," especially when used for misinformation.

"I don't feel comfortable at all saying they don't have a voice because I don't like what they said," vice President in augmented and virtual reality at Meta, Andrew Bosworth told Axios.

When asked whether attitude towards a vaccine against COVID-19 would have been the same without social networks, Bosworth emphasised that Facebook plays a significant role in "spreading authoritative information" about Coronavirus. Nevertheless, it is up to the users to decide on what information they choose to believe in adherence to their personal believes. He also added whether or not they will rely on reputable information or abide by noted from friends and family is "their choice."

"They are allowed to do that. You have an issue with those people. You don't have an issue with Facebook. You can't put that on me," Bosworth said.

When pressed about if social media platforms are fuelling the misguided beliefs of people, the executive stressed that "people want that information" from social media. Emphasising that the problem of disinformation is primarily demand-based, he explained social networks cannot deny providing certain information viewers seek. "At some point, the onus is, and should be in any meaningful democracy, on the individual," he said.

Misinformation on social networks

Facebook has recently cropped up on the brunt of criticism over the spread of misinformation and manipulation since the US Presidential Elections. Additionally, other social media applications like Twitter, Google have also been under the microscope and often blamed for spreading fake news. As recently as on Saturday, Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan described social media as "one of the main threats to democracy." His remarks as Turkey is planning to pursue legalisation to criminalise the distribution of fake information online. Earlier in November, Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry also described online misinformation as a "global humanitarian crisis" in a report titled "The Aspen Commission on Information Order," which is aimed at tacking growing misinformation online with appropriate guidelines against fake news.

However, in October when UK lawmakers grilled Facebook representatives over the handling of online social media security by the tech giant. Facebook head of global safety Antigone Davis had then said that the company has "no interest" in offering a negative and unsafe experience on their platform. "We have no business interest, no business interest at all, in providing people with a negative or unsafe experience," said Antigone Davis, Global security head of Facebook, as per AP.

Earlier in November, a US Senate panel questioned Youtube, TikTok, and Snapchat to gather data on online safety while using the applications. As per AP, the companies provided "little firm commitment" to the US online safety legislation. A report, analysed by the Associated Press, provided by the US Securities Exchange Commission, showed that Facebook had numerous times priortised profits over safety.

(With inputs from AP)