Healthcare
Project Veritas: Facebook whistleblowers reveal massive effort to censor users to ease ‘vaccine hesitancy’
Two anonymous whistleblowers from Facebook reportedly came forward to Project Veritas to reveal that the social media platform is newly curbing content surrounding vaccine concerns. They have also leaked internal documents allegedly proving that an algorithm to censor these posts is in the works.
According to the leaked documents, posts surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine are allegedly given a “Vaccine Hesitancy Score.” The algorithm tags posts that appear to be about the vaccine and then determines if it’s spreading false information, expressing doubt or promoting vaccine alternatives.
“And then based on that score, will demote or leaving the comment alone based on the content within the comment,” one of the alleged whistleblowers told founder James O’Keefe. Should the algorithm not work on a particular tagged post, a human rater will reportedly make a decision on the post. A “demotion” is equivalent to being shadow banned by the platform.
These beta tests aren’t just for English posts. They’ve also supposedly tested the algorithm for up to 60 languages. It also applies to Instagram posts, since Facebook purchased the platform in 2012.
“What would happen if this was scaled larger and scaled to Twitter and the internet as a whole is way worse than anything that could happen from me getting fired from my job,” the whistleblower said.
The other whistleblower is allegedly the same source that revealed that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is an anti-vaxxer himself. He said they often talk about all facets of opinion regarding the vaccine within the office.
“Why is it okay for us to have these conversations at work as adults and not have somebody step in an say ‘Hey you need to stop talking about that’?” the whistleblower said. Yet, on the platform itself those same conversations are being censored. “It’s very ironic.”
In a statement earlier this month, Facebook announced its new policy surrounding vaccine content. They promised to “Encourag[e] people to share their support for vaccines,” “address content that could discourage people from getting vaccinated” and “reduce [discouraging vaccination posts’] distribution on Facebook.” Already, they’ve seen a 10% increase in vaccine acceptance since January.
According to Facebook, the number one reason users are hesitant to get the vaccine is concern about its side effects. The number two reason is users don’t trust the COVID-19 vaccine at all.
You can follow Jenny Goldsberry on Twitter @jennyjournalism
Earlier this week the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it will be working to import chemotherapy drugs from, of all places, China. The drug, called Cisplatin, is to help “ramp up supply amidst rampant drug shortages in the U.S.” reports Foreign Desk News.
Foreign Desk News writes:
Cisplatin comes from drugmaker Qilu Pharmaceutical, which is marketed and produced in China but has not been approved by the FDA. According to a May 24 letter, Qilu will work with the Canadian-based drug company Apotex to import and distribute the medication, which will come in 50-milligram vials with Chinese labels.
“The FDA is responding to yet another generic drug shortage,” said Edmund F. Haislmaier, an expert in healthcare policy and markets at The Heritage Foundation. “The underlying cause of those shortages is that generic drugs have become low-margin commodity products,” he added.
Last week on Twitter, FDA commissioner Dr. Robert Califf said the partnership with Qilu Pharmaceutical is temporary but will provide patients with a potentially life-extending drug.
“The public should rest assured that we will continue all efforts within our authority to help the industry that manufactures and distributes these drugs meet all patient needs for the oncology drugs impacted by shortages,” Califf said.
The public should rest assured that we will continue all efforts within our authority to help the industry that manufactures and distributes these drugs meet all patient needs for the oncology drugs impacted by shortages. https://t.co/8XvOuJzSL4
— Dr. Robert M. Califf (@DrCaliff_FDA) June 3, 2023
Foreign Desk News adds:
The latest move by the FDA is sure to spark concern and debate in Congress, as lawmakers in the House and Senate have called on the Biden administration to de-couple the U.S. economy from the Chinese markets, given Beijing’s aggressive push to expand in the South-China Sea and eventually take over the island state of Taiwan. China has also spread illegal and dangerous synthetic opioids and fentanyl drugs across the U.S. southern border, resulting in the devastating deaths of many Americans.
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