Covid Info, Misinfo, Disinfo, and Reformed Info: The US Government Now Cares

April 25, 2022

In a long overdue move, reports Engadget, “US Surgeon General Orders Tech Companies to Reveal Sources of COVID-19 Misinformation.” In keeping with his declaration last year that health misinformation is an urgent threat, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has appealed to tech companies to voluntarily reveal the sources and scale of misinformation that has crossed their platforms related to the disease itself and vaccinations. Writer S. Dent cites reporting from The Washington Post as he tells us:

“Murthy’s request pertains to social networks, search engines, crowd sourced platforms, e-commerce and instant messaging companies. To start with, he wants data and analysis on typical vaccine misinformation already identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That includes falsities like ‘the ingredients in COVID-19 vaccines are dangerous’ and ‘COVID-19 vaccines contain microchips.’ The administration seeks to learn how many users have been exposed to such misinformation, and which demographic groups may have been disproportionally affected. On top of that, it’s looking for data about the major sources of COVID-19 misinformation, including individuals or businesses that sell unapproved COVID-19 products or services. Tech companies have until May 2nd to comply, though they won’t be penalized if they don’t.”

We recognize a strongly worded advisory is the limit of the Surgeon General’s regulatory power, but will these companies cough up the requested information voluntarily? Certain platforms make big bucks from circulating false information. They have shown time and again profits are more important than their reputations, so a public shaming is likely to be ineffective. Still, we suppose Murthy had to try. The advisory is part of the administration’s “COVID National Preparedness Plan.” (Preparedness? Hasn’t that ship sailed?)

Cynthia Murrell, April 25, 2022

Written by Stephen E. Arnold · Filed Under Government, News

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Stephen E. Arnold monitors search, content processing, text mining and related topics from his high-tech nerve center in rural Kentucky. He tries to winnow the goose feathers from the giblets. He works with colleagues worldwide to make this Web log useful to those who want to go "beyond search". Contact him at sa [at] arnoldit.com. His Web site with additional information about search is arnoldit.com.