Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre when the White House intends to delete its Twitter account over their concerns about misinformation and hate speech.
The press secretary told reporters at Monday’s briefing that the White House is “monitoring” Twitter since CEO Elon Musk’s takeover of the company. The White House has expressed concern over alleged misinformation and the reinstatement of suspended accounts, including those of former President Donald Trump and Kanye “Ye” West.
“When are you guys going to delete the White House Twitter account?” Doocy asked.
“Why would we do that?” Jean-Pierre asked.
“Well, you’re saying that you’re keeping an eye on Twitter because it might not be a suitable platform, so why use it?” he asked.
Look, I want to be very clear here, the president has always said and he has been very clear in his belief that it is important for social media platforms to continue to take steps to reduce hate speech and misinformation and he will continue to say that. But media platforms make independent choices about their information that they present so look, I don’t have anything to share on any policy or any changes that we will be making. We have multiple platforms, as you know, that we utilize to communicate with the American people.”
Doocy continued pressing her on “monitoring” the platform, asking if the White House would attempt to “shut Twitter down” over a post they “don’t like.” The press secretary said the administration monitors Twitter because it is prominent in the news.
She cited the NAACP and other organizations who have voiced their concerns about misinformation and hate speech on the platform.
“We are reading what you all are writing and looking at what you are all reporting about misinformation that is out there, but, you know, I would hope that all Americans, including social media companies, civil rights organizations that I just laid out, including Fox [News] as well, would agree that we need to call out hate speech and misinformation,” she said.
The White House has previously cheered on social media companies to prevent the spread of misinformation and disinformation. Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters in February that Facebook and Twitter should take stronger action against misinformation when podcaster Joe Rogan came under fire for interviewing a vaccine skeptic.
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