Fact check: Biden doesn't want to monitor private texts for vaccine misinformation

Devon Link, USA TODAY
·4 min read
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The claim: Biden wants phone companies to monitor people's texts for vaccine misinformation

In a July 12 article about the Biden administration’s response to COVID-19 vaccine disinformation, Politico reported that groups allied with President Joe Biden are working with text messaging carriers to fight the spread of vaccine misinformation.

“Biden allied groups, including the Democratic National Committee, are also planning to engage fact-checkers more aggressively and work with SMS carriers to dispel misinformation about vaccines that is sent over social media and text messages,” Politico wrote.

Since the article was published, speculation and falsehoods about the initiative have spread.

“Biden wants phone companies to monitor your texts for vaccine misinformation,” claims a July 13 Instagram post.

The falsehood has also circulated in conservative media circles.

Fox News reported that “the Biden administration has plans to work with tech companies and SMS carriers to monitor and combat misinformation.” Fox host Tucker Carlson reiterated the claim on his show July 13.

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But the initiative doesn’t involve monitoring or controlling private text messages, and the Biden administration is not involved.

USA TODAY reached out to the Instagram user for comment.

DNC isn't monitoring private messaging, and Biden isn't involved

In an email to USA TODAY, a spokesperson for the DNC said the claim was false on several counts. Senior spokesperson Lucas Acosta said the committee is not monitoring private texts, and the Biden administration is not part of the initiative.

"Of course the DNC has no ability to access or read people’s private text messages, and we are not working with any government agency, including the White House, to try to see personal text messages," he wrote.

Rather, Acosta said, "when the DNC's counter disinformation program receives complaints or reports of fraudulent broadcast SMSs that we believe violate the text aggregators’ terms of service, we notify the broadcast text platform to help combat this troubling trend.”

A report in Politico said the Democratic National Committee was part of an effort to help dispel misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines that is sent over social media and text messages.
A report in Politico said the Democratic National Committee was part of an effort to help dispel misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines that is sent over social media and text messages.

Broadcast SMSs are mass messages organizers send to lists of subscribers. Organizers use third-party applications (known as SMS APIs), like Twilio or Bandwidth, to contact mass audiences via text message on their cellphones.

Political campaigns often use broadcast SMSs to reach voters and donors.

Many of these SMS APIs prohibit organizers from using their services to send fraudulent messages.

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Acosta stressed that "the only texts (the DNC) reviewed are those distributed en masse to American citizens through broadcast text platforms and reported to the DNC."

He told USA TODAY the DNC has reported these instances of suspected fraud and disinformation – related to vaccines and other issues – to SMS APIs since 2020.

Reporter addresses misinterpretations of Politico article

Natasha Korecki, one of the Politico reporters who wrote the July 12 article, dispelled exaggerations and misinterpretations several times on Twitter.

She said private groups are working to flag misinformation campaigns to SMS companies – not monitor private texts.

“As the story points out, it's allied, private groups that are working with SMS carriers – not the White House. Even then, there is no ability for groups to read individual texts aside from the ones they receive themselves,” she tweeted July 12.

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USA TODAY could not find any evidence that Biden ever said he wanted to monitor citizens' private text messages.

Our rating: False

Based on our research, the claim that Biden wants phone companies to monitor people's texts for vaccine misinformation is FALSE. This is a misinterpretation of the DNC's effort to report disinformation. A spokesperson from the DNC said it has no ability to monitor private text messages. Instead, the DNC shares instances of possible terms-of-use violations, reported by the public, to the SMS API companies. The Biden administration is not involved.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Biden doesn't want to monitor texts for vaccine misinfo