Facebook Plans To Promote COVID Vaccines To Curry Favor With Biden White House

Facebook has decided on a novel strategy to try and get back in Joe Biden’s good graces (and hopefully stave off a heavy-handed antitrust crackdown): brainwash convince its 2 billion users that COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective, while also promoting content about the Paris Climate Accords, especially arguments about the US rejoining the agreement. 

Part of the company’s strategy, as we’ve noted before, is to elevate the status of Nick Clegg, a former deputy PM from the UK who already has a close relationship with Biden (who served as VP in the US for part of Clegg’s time in the highest echelons of British government).

But will this be enough to salve the fury of progressive Democrats who accuse Facebook of failing to safeguard American Democracy by allowing too many conservative voices to flourish on its platform. Progressives have accused Facebook of allowing hate speech and Russian propaganda to flourish, with little in the way of actual evidence (though every once in a while progressive journalists will find a ‘white supremacist’ group whose Facebook page hasn’t yet been taken down). In reality, Dems are angry that the most popular Facebook pages belong to Ben Shapiro and Dan Bongino, two conservative pundits with more reach than some of the biggest “mainstream” media companies (like the NYT).

The top-performing link posts by U.S. Facebook pages in the last 24 hours are from:

1. Dan Bongino
2. Donald J. Trump
3. Dan Bongino
4. Fox News
5. Franklin Graham
6. Fox News
7. Classic Hollywood | Los Angeles Times
8. Breitbart
9. Bernie Sanders
10. CNN

— Facebook’s Top 10 (@FacebooksTop10) November 19, 2020

According to the FT, Facebook’s most immediate goal is to try and secure a ‘hearing’ with Biden and his top policy team (which, to be sure, includes many Silicon Valley stalwarts who are sympathetic to Facebook’s corporate aims).

In its attempt to secure a hearing from the new administration, Facebook is planning a series of initiatives that align with Mr Biden’s top priorities in government, insiders say. The company will expand its efforts to combat misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic, and is considering publishing a banner advertisement at the top of users’ news feeds encouraging them to take a vaccine once it is approved.

Such a move threatens a backlash from the majority of Americans, however, who say they are not convinced that a vaccine will be safe and are not sure they will receive one.

The company is also working on how to promote action on climate change, including a range of new stickers, buttons and other functions to encourage users to share content about the Paris climate agreement, which Mr Biden has promised to re-join.

Mr Biden will now have to decide whether to lend his weight to various Congressional efforts to regulate social media, including whether to follow through on his threat to try to repeal Section 230. And his pick to head the FTC will decide whether to push for Facebook — which bought Instagram and WhatsApp in 2012 and 2014 respectively — to be broken up altogether.

Of course, as the FT pointed out, Facebook’s vaccine push could risk upsetting users who are skeptical of the new COVID vaccines and their safety. The company has already taken steps to try and suppress anyone questioning the ‘official’ narrative, however.

Clegg and Biden have worked closely together during the 5 years – between 2010 and 2015 – that they worked in parallel positions in their respective governments. The two men stayed in touch following their respective stints in government, and they even helped to create the “Transatlantic Commission on Election Integrity” and they participated in an hour-long podcast back in 2018.

One senior FB employee told the FT that the company knows “Sir Nick” won’t save Facebook from being broken up. “A lot of the Democrats simply hate Facebook right now. We know Nick Clegg is not going to save us from that, but at least he will help us get a hearing.” Ultimately, that will probably depend on how much influence Elizabeth Warren and other progressives like AOC will have during the Biden Administration.