The White House on Tuesday announced an effort to fight “misinformation,” arguing it was responsible for radicalizing domestic terrorists in the United States.
“We must work to root out the hatreds that can too often drive violence,” President Joe Biden said in a statement expressing the need to take “short-term steps to counter the very real threats of today.”
Biden and his administration plan to “counter the polarization often fueled by disinformation, misinformation, and dangerous conspiracy theories online” as part of “supporting an information environment that fosters healthy democratic discourse,” according to a fact sheet released to reporters.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas detailed the new strategy in an interview with NBC News and tried to reassure Americans his department was “not targeting speech” as part of the renewed effort to combat domestic terrorism.
He also confirmed the government would work with social media companies to identify problematic information online.
“We are working with the social media companies to be able to better identify the false narratives, to be able to identify disinformation and misinformation and really educate the American public,” Mayorkas said.
NBC News reported in May the Department of Homeland Security created a new warning system to gather and analyze narratives on social media for potential threats.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.