Surgeon General Blames Big Tech for Letting Covid Misinformation Run Rampant: This ‘Poison’ Poses an ‘Imminent and Insidious Threat’

United States Surgeon General Vivek Murthy sounded the alarm on Covid-19 misinformation, blaming technology companies for not doing enough to keep their users from the “poison.”

“Misinformation poses an imminent and insidious threat to our nation’s health,” Murthy said during Thursday’s White House briefing. “We must confront misinformation as a nation. Lives are depending on it.”

Welcoming Murthy, press secretary Jen Psaki announced that the surgeon general had published his first advisory as the nation’s top doctor, which focuses on disinformation surrounding both the virus and its vaccines.

Murthy deemed disinformation as, “one of the biggest obstacles that’s preventing us from ending this pandemic,” while speaking to reporters, explaining how health misinformation has cost lives.

The surgeon general went on to call out technology companies for their role in higlighting inaccurate information, calling on them to help halt the spread of  fake news.

“While it often appears innocuous on social media apps, on retail sites, or search engines, the truth is misinformation takes away our freedom to make informed decisions about our health and the health of our loved ones,” he said. “During the Covid-19 pandemic, health misinformation has led people to resist wearing masks in high-risk settings. It’s led them to turn down proven treatments and to choose not to get vaccinated.”

“This has led to avoidable illnesses and death,” he added. “Simply put, health misinformation has cost us lives.

Murthy acknowledged that health misinformation did not start with the coronavirus, yet noted the difference in the “speed and scale” at which inaccurate news is spreading.

“Modern technology companies have enabled misinformation to poison our information environment with little accountability to their users,” he said. ” They’ve allowed people who intentionally spread misinformation, what we call disinformation, to have an extraordinary reach. They designed product features, such as like buttons, that reward us for sharing emotionally charged content, not accurate content.”

He went on to note that social media algorithms often target users by pushing posts similar to ones that the user has interacted with in the past, “putting us deeper and deeper into a well of misinformation.”

“We are saying we expect more from our technology companies. We are asking them to operate with greater transparency and accountability,” he said. “We are asking them to monitor misinformation more closely. We are asking them to consistently take action against misinformation super-spreaders on their platforms.”

Murthy went on to ask news organizations to address public health questions without inadvertently pushing information that would harm their audiences.

The surgeon general later concluded on a more personal note, revealing that he has lost 10 loved ones to the virus:

On a personal note, it’s painful for me to know that nearly every death we are seeing now from Covid-19 could have been prevented. I say that as someone who has lost 10 family members to Covid-19 and who wishes each and every day that they had had the opportunity to get vaccinated. I say that also is a concerned father of two young children, who are not yet eligible for the vaccine. But I know that our kids are depending on all of us to get vaccinated, to shield them from this virus. Every week, I talked to doctors and nurses across our country who are burning out as a care for more and more patients with Covid-19 who never got vaccinated, all too often because they were misled by misinformation. We must confront misinformation as a nation. Everyone of us has the power and responsibility to make a difference in this fight. Lives are depending on it.

Watch above, via C-SPAN.