Trump administration officials, including U.S. Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios who led the call, discussed the response, including combating online misinformation about the COVID-19 coronavirus and other measures during a teleconference Wednesday with tech companies including Apple, Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Amazon, Facebook, IBM, Microsoft, Twitter and other companies and tech trade groups.
The discussion focused on information-sharing with the federal government, coordination regarding telehealth and online education and the creation of new tools to help researchers review scholarship, according to a statement from the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy.
“Cutting edge technology companies and major online platforms will play a critical role in this all-hands-on-deck effort,” Kratsios said in a statement. He said his office would unveil a database of research on the virus in coming days.
Officials from the Labor Department, Health and Human Services Department, Education Department, National Institutes of Health and other federal agencies also joined the call.
Researchers and journalists have documented many cases of misinformation about the virus spreading online. Social media companies have been trying to tackle it, with a particular focus on false health information.
Three of the most influential internet platforms — Google, Facebook and Twitter — are all sending users who search for information on the virus to health authorities such as the CDC and WHO, and donating ad inventory to health organizations and key NGOs [nongovernmental organizations].
MacDailyNews Note: More info on the Prevention & Treatment of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) via the U.S. CDC is here. Track the Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) here.
Fighting misinformation would be good. From the nightly news on March 11, 2020:
On the National News: Vice-President Mike Pence, who is in charge of the task force co-ordinating the response to the crisis, has said that “any American can be tested, no restrictions, subject to doctor’s orders”, and that insurers had promised to offset the charges.
On the Local News: The state laboratory for the Texas Department of Health Services is telling local health departments that they only have the capacity to process 25 tests a day. They have therefore adopted a policy not to test anybody who is under 50, who has no suspicious contacts, OR who is not already seriously ill. NB: Texas has 29.49 million residents, many of whom are uninsured.
Your knee-jerk reaction to BLAME TRUMP because ORANGE MAN BAD was tired shtick long ago, yet you continue with your tedious posts.
You’re not convincing anybody. You’re not changing anyone’s vote. Give it a rest. We get it, you hate Trump. Tough shit. He’s president and quite likely to be so through January 20th, 2025. You might even get a President Pence right after that. How would you ever survive?
How about turning from knee-jerk blame game unhelpful negativity toward constructive ideas and positive solutions going forward?
Heh, you don’t know much about politics. Trump isn’t going to win. Biden is going to crush him. Anyone who studies data can see this obvious outcome.
Joe Biden won’t win. Here’s why.
That’s one opinion.
Do the other 360 million Americans share that opinion? About 53% of Americans would vote for anyone but Con Don.
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/?ex_cid=rrpromo
Both extremist camps are operating from a position of weakness. As stupid is it is for the Dems to put forth a 76 year old with decades of on-record speaking gaffes, it’s equally as stupid for the Repubs to rally around a 73 year old compulsive liar with an order of magnitude more political baggage and a pile of discarded staffers buried behind the White House. Right, Tim Apple?
It’s also not the first time the extreme right rallied around a guy with less than 100% cognitive abilities. In June 1981 at a mayoral convention, Reagan arrived with his entourage and greeted his Secretary of HUD Sam Pierce who had arrived with him, “How are you, Mr. Mayor? How are things in your city?” Everyone thought it was an innocent mistake and laughed it off. But Reagan kept forgetting names and details as the years went on. Ron Reagan, youngest son of the president, wrote that he personally suspected dementia as early as 1984. White House staffers of both terms have gone on record to state that he had frequent memory lapses, fuzziness. Others in the White House had no inclination, assumed it was Reagan’s hearing aid not working, or simply didn’t feel it significant enough to raise a flag (and lose one’s job!). By the 1986 Iran-Contra affair, it should have been obvious to everyone that Reagan couldn’t run a tight ship. He didn’t know what his own administration was doing. Thankfully, there were some accomplishments. Reagan signed a nuclear arms treaty with Russia in 1987 — one that Tweety in Chief would rip up decades later.
Of course all the embarrassing stuff in Reagan’s decline was carefully hidden from the public and at the time he left office, Nancy was carefully managing his schedule and appearances. Almost immediately after leaving office, Reagan fell off a horse and that became Nancy’s go-to excuse for Reagan’s obviously slipping mental state. They moved from the Ranch to Bel-Air in the Evil state of California for obvious reasons: Reagan could not be safe on the ranch, and he needed both privacy and quick access to medical care.
Mind you, the US has a president today that refuses to make any public appearance before 10 or 11 AM, cannot hold a press conference, and when not using a teleprompter he cannot speak with one thought per sentence, spelling errors or not. But most of all, it’s simply disgusting to have a president with this kind of record for falsehoods: https://projects.thestar.com/donald-trump-fact-check/
It truly is a shame that voters allow political party machines to set up a bipolar choice with no actual qualifications for presidential fitness. The presidency has become as pathetic as a television singing show, but with less talent on display. There are few jobs in America like this where simple minimum standards aren’t even considered, and with enough sheep in the fold, it doesn’t even matter if the shepherd has a clue.
A third and fourth political party and a completely reformed electoral system with instant runoff voting will have to emerge to save the republic from its own creaky inadequate Constitution. Americans should not be willing to let their democratic republic be chipped away by dark money, anonymous PACs, and rampant gerrymandering, picking the worst of two evils every 4 years.
If Joe wins, he will need to be propped up. Maybe virtual reality will be deployed when it’s time for a public appearance, or a speech to the nation. Until the technology is believable, I expect a type of marionette, or a disguised ventriloquist. Regardless, I’m preparing for a programmed image as my leader. It’s time.
See my comment above. The current POTUS is already propped up in too many ways to count, and it certainly wouldn’t be the first time. What’s the difference if the props hold up another septuagenarian from the other side?
I do age discriminate. As soon as First Whatever confirms that he’s less than 65, I’ll write him in on my ballot. I will also write in Dd to my local township election for dog catcher, because he’s so adept at flinging excrement.
don’t forget to hire goebie as court jester. he may not be useful, but he is an idiot. once you feed him, he will be loyal and unquestioning forever
Sarah, I did not blame Trump. I just pointed out an obvious inconsistency that would have been obvious to anybody watching any of the Austin TV stations between 5:45 and 6:15 last night. What’s done is done. There is no profit in finger pointing. I don’t know or particularly care why the tests are unavailable in America’s eleventh-largest city.
My point was that they ARE unavailable. Telling people that their doctor can get them tested immediately is not true. When you repeatedly tell people untruths, you lose your credibility. The US cannot operate as a constitutional republic without the trust of its citizens. We do not have enough police and soldiers to run this country without the consent of the governed.
My “constructive idea and positive solution going forward” is to be honest with the American people. There were at least tens of thousands of Americans who died unnecessarily in 1918 because the government tried to minimize the seriousness of the flu epidemic. I see the same thing happening in 2020. Americans are strong. They can handle the truth.
polite applause
“Sarah, I did not blame Trump.“
Right, you never do…🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Someone has to use facts and data to counter the blind devotion that “Sarah” has to her orange superhero.
so a couple of points got your panties in a tight bunch. jeebus.
Sarah, you’re just embarrassed because Trump just won’t shut up, proving daily that he is the most incompetent president to serve in the White House. He fired everyone who could have prepared this country for this and never replaced them. But don’t worry, he put Dr. Pence in charge clamp down on information and make sure no one said anything without his approval.
This country doesn’t hate Trump, they just hate what he says and does.
“Sarah, you’re just embarrassed because Trump just won’t shut up, proving daily that he is the most incompetent president to serve in the White House.”
Sarah was not embarrassed one atomic particle as I can tell — she forcefully and directly posted the truth, Just the Baloney.
I am damn proud living these days while the GREAT ORANGE ONE is the best president in my lifetime… 🤠
Your best post ever, Sarah!
You effectively called USER out for what he is and I have effectively called him out for what HE IS NOT (conservative Republican)…👍🏻🇺🇸🦅
Please explain why you think deliberately lying to the American public about the availability of coronavirus testing is acceptable.
If you offered a few more rubles than he is paid now, you could probably get Goeber to carpetbomb tech blogs for your puppet candidate too.
A suspicious soul might wonder whether the Chinese blithely spread the virus around the world, cynically calculating that the deaths of a few million Chinese would be a small price to pay if the virus could lead to severe consequences for the U.S. and a president who, unlike all previous others, demands fair, balanced trade.
you should share all your conspiracy theories with Goeb. he doesn’t need any facts or verification to blindly follow whatever strongman tells him what he wants to hear. you two are kindred spirits