Thread by @reason

Thread 🧵 on the #FacebookFiles:

1) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (@cdcgov) played a direct role in policing permissible speech on social media throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
reason.com/2023/01/19/fac…

2) Confidential emails obtained by Reason show that Facebook moderators were in constant contact with the CDC, and routinely asked government health officials to vet claims relating to the virus, mitigation efforts such as masks, and vaccines.

3) For a broader analysis of the federal government's pandemic-era efforts to suppress free speech see @robbysoave’s March 2023 cover story on the ramifications of these emails. This article provides screenshots of the emails themselves.
reason.com/2023/01/19/how…

4) The #FacebookFiles, which were obtained by Reason as a result of the state of Missouri's lawsuit against the Biden administration, reveal that the CDC had substantial influence over what users were allowed to discuss on Meta's platforms: Facebook and Instagram.

5) For instance, in May 2021, CDC officials began routinely vetting claims about COVID-19 vaccines that had appeared on Facebook. The platform left it up to the federal government to determine which assertions were accurate.

6) Claims vetted by the CDC included whether "COVID-19 is man-made." The CDC told Facebook that it was "theoretically possible, but extremely unlikely."

7) By July 2021, the CDC wasn't just evaluating which claims it thought were false, but whether they could "cause harm."

8) Then, in November, the FDA granted emergency authorization for children to receive Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine. Meta proudly informed the CDC that it would remove false claims—"i.e. the COVID vaccine is not safe for kids"—from Facebook and Instagram.

9) Meta also provided the CDC with a list of new claims about vaccines and asked whether the government thought they could "contribute to vaccine refusals." The CDC determined that this label applied to all such claims.

10) It's important to consider the ramifications. Meta gave the CDC de facto power to police COVID-19 misinformation on the platforms; the CDC took the position that essentially any erroneous claim could contribute to vaccine hesitancy and cause social harm.

11) Meta also kept the CDC apprised of criticism of Anthony Fauci, the White House's COVID advisor. One email warned the CDC that Facebook users were mocking Fauci for changing his mind about masking and double-masking. The CDC replied that this information was "very helpful."

12) If the tone of Meta's communications seems overly friendly, it's worth noting that staffers viewed government employees at the CDC as their "colleagues.”

13) This is just a snapshot of the messages exchanged between the CDC and Meta. They also had regular conference calls. The CDC was not the only arm of the federal government engaged in this work. #FacebookFiles
reason.com/2023/01/19/fac…

14) The new Reason magazine cover story, published today, further examines "how the CDC became the speech police."
reason.com/2023/01/19/how…