Jen Psaki Says She Believes in “First Amendment Rights” But That Big Tech Companies Must Do More to Censor “Disinformation”
Evan James
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White House press secretary Jen Psaki claimed she supports the First Amendment—but then stated that the Biden administration wants Big Tech companies to do more to censor “disinformation.”
During Wednesday’s press briefing a reporter inquired about Facebook’s decision to keep Donald Trump indefinitely banned from making posts. She quoted Ted Cruz’s tweet reacting to the story and asked Psaki what she made of it.
“Well, let me first say that this is an independent board’s decision and we’re not going to have any comment on the future of the former president’s social media platform,” Psaki responded. “[President Joe Biden’s] view is that the major platforms have a responsibility related to the health and safety of all Americans to stop amplifying untrustworthy content, disinformation, and misinformation, especially related to COVID-19, vaccinations, and elections.”
Psaki added that Biden “also supports better privacy protections and a robust antitrust program.”
“His view is that there’s more that needs to be done to ensure that this type of misinformation, disinformation, damaging, sometimes life-threatening information is not going out to the American public.”
The reporter followed up by asking if there were any concerns about the First Amendment and where the White House “draws the line on that.”
“Well, look, I think we are, of course, a believer in First Amendment rights,” Psaki responded. “I think what the decisions are that the social media platforms need to make is how they address the disinformation, misinformation, especially related to life-threatening issues, like COVID-19 and vaccinations, that continue to proliferate on their platforms.”
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