Last Friday afternoon, just as President Joe Biden was boarding Marine One for a weekend at Camp David, a reporter yelled out a question: “On Covid misinformation, what is your message to platforms like Facebook?” Above the din of the helicopter, Biden responded with his quintessential frankness: “They’re killing people.”
His comment didn’t come out of nowhere. Just the day before, the Surgeon General, in his first formal advisory of the Biden administration, issued a stark warning about Covid-19 related misinformation, specifically calling out social media companies for providing a platform for the dangerous inaccuracies. Ron Klain, Biden’s chief of staff, has named Facebook as a major source of anti-vaccine fear-mongering. And on the same day that Biden headed for Camp David, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, made a point of saying that Facebook should be doing more, especially because some of the misleading information comes from two of America’s biggest
Exclusive longform investigative journalism, Q&As, news and analysis, and data on Chinese business elites and corporations. We publish China scoops you won't find anywhere else.
A weekly curated reading list on China from David Barboza, Pulitzer Prize-winning former Shanghai correspondent for The New York Times.
A daily roundup of China finance, business and economics headlines.
We offer discounts for groups, institutions and students. Go to our Subscriptions page for details.
Why is one of Taiwan's largest media groups — Want Want China Times Media Group — spreading anti-U.S. rhetoric? Largely because its billionaire owner, Tsai Eng-meng, is known to sympathize with the Chinese Communist Party and favors unification with the mainland. Now, with Taiwan gearing up for a critical presidential election, Want Want’s efforts are picking up and helping to normalize CCP talking points.
A look at ZPMC: how it came to dominate ports around the world; its role in Chinese foreign policy; and the consequences of its links to the Chinese state.
The author and academic talks about how trade has actually changed over the last 40 years; why China's rise is linked to Asia's regionalization; and why international supply chains are efficient and resilient.