White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki called Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy’s question about the Biden administration “spying” on Americans “loaded and inaccurate.”
Doocy asked Psaki during a White House press briefing on Friday, “For how long has the administration been spying on people’s Facebook profiles, looking for vaccine misinformation.”
Psaki replied, “That was quite a loaded and inaccurate question.”
Doocy pressed Psaki, “Inaccurate how?”
Psaki explained, “As you know, we’re in regular touch with a range of media outlets… As we are in regular touch with social media platforms. This is publicly open information, people sharing information online, just as you are all reporting information on your news stations.”
The press secretary went on to voice her opposition to misinformation.
“Our biggest concern here, and frankly I think it should be your biggest concern, is the number of people who are dying around the country because they’re getting misinformation that is leading them to not take a vaccine,” Psaki said.
Watch the video below:
"Our biggest concern here, and frankly I think it should be your biggest concern, is the number of people who are dying around the country because they're getting misinformation that is leading them to not take a vaccine" — Jen Psaki to Peter Doocy pic.twitter.com/xOj7j450dj
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 16, 2021
Doocy suggested the concern for Americans on Facebook is that this is “Big Brother watching you.”
Psaki argued, “They’re more concerned about that than people dying across the country because of a pandemic where misinformation is traveling on social media platforms? That feels unlikely to me.”
On Thursday, she revealed during a briefing the White House was working with social media companies to stop the spread of misinformation.
“We’ve increased disinformation research and tracking within the surgeon general’s office, we’re flagging problematic posts for Facebook that spread disinformation,” Psaki said.
She added, “We are working with doctors and medical professionals to connected medical experts who are popular with their audiences with accurate information and boost trusted content.”