Last week, the White House slammed Facebook for the spread of COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccine disinformation on the platform, traced to 12 individuals known to be the major spreaders on social media. US President Joe Biden accused the company of “killing people” as the disinformation persists, before eventually softening his tone, and clarifying that he was blaming the spreaders.

On Thursday, July 22, American celebrity Selena Gomez came out with a tweet reiterating her call for action on Facebook and Instagram’s part. 

Gomez in December 2020 had previously called out the social media giant, saying that “scientific disinformation has and will cost lives.”

“Facebook said they don’t allow lies about COVID and vaccines to be spread on their platforms. So how come all of this is happening?” the actress tweeted then. 

Gomez reshared the said December tweet, and followed up with a tweet with a link to the Center for Countering Digital Hate’s findings on the 12 people spreading about 65% of anti-vaccine content on both Facebook and Twitter known as the “Disinformation Dozen.” 

The actress also referred to previous call-outs from Biden, and US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, and asked “So why do they [Facebook] still refuse to act?” – Rappler.com