Facebook executives say society is responsible for covid-19 misinformation

Andrew Bosworth, a longtime Facebook worker, insists that political and COVID-19 misinformation is a social problem, not a problem amplified by the social network. Critics point out that Facebook and other social networks have played an important role in the spread of vaccines' hesitation and political misinformation.

"The human individual is the one who chooses to believe or not believe one thing. They're people who choose to share or not share a thing," Bosworth said in an interview with Axios on HBO, "and I don't feel comfortable saying that they don't have a say because I don't like what they say." ”

Bosworth has been leading Facebook's hardware efforts, which include work on virtual and augmented reality. Next year he will be CTO of Facebook's parent company, Meta Corporation.

And when asked if social media would be the same for Americans' hesitation in choosing a vaccine, Bosworth defended Facebook's role in fighting COVID, noting that the company conducted one of the world's largest information campaigns to disseminate authoritative information.

He said there are individual choices about whether to listen to the information or rely on lesser-known information spread by friends and family.

And when asked if Facebook and other companies are amplifying those views, Bosworth called it a demand issue, not a problem caused by the amount of misinformation on social media.

"People want that information. I don't believe the answer is 'I will reject the information these people seek and I will enforce my will on them'. At some point, the responsibility is, and in any meaningful democracy, it should be on the individual," Bosworth said.