White House officials demanded Facebook to give them special access to tools that would allow them to target vaccine-reluctant users. They also criticized Facebook’s employees for not sharing sufficient data. This contradicted White House claims made at the time.

Fox Business viewed internal communications from Facebook that showed the White House asking for special access tools to target Facebook users.

Rob Flaherty, the digital director for President Biden, asked: “Can we give agencies access that they would not normally be able to?”

This idea was brought up during a discussion about convincing people who are worried about the side effects of the COVID vaccination to take it.

A Facebook employee said on an April 5th phone call that if someone were worried about nose bleeding as a possible side effect of the vaccination, they would in an ideal situation direct them to relevant information. Flaherty then asked the Facebook team, “Are you able provide resources?”

A second Facebook employee responded that showing people a resource that addresses their concern could trigger some people. Facebook employee: “We have to be careful how we approach”.

Flaherty asked: “If people are talking, do we presume that they should be allowed to talk?” Send them to CDC. What happens next?”

Facebook’s employee responded, “We know many people who have experienced the feeling that Facebook is listening to their thoughts.”

Facebook’s employee informed Flaherty of the possibility that a message generated immediately about nosebleeds could give users a “Big Brother feeling”. However, he suggested showing it on pause to avoid alarming users.

The Facebook employee stated, “We should be paying attention to these conversations and make sure people get the information they need, even if not at that moment.”

Courtney Rowe, Biden’s director of strategic communication and public engagement, for the nation’s response to COVID-19, mocked the ability of middle America to discern what was true and what wasn’t.

Rowe stated that “if someone in rural Arkansas views something on Facebook, it is the truth.” What we need is to help dispel the myths.

Peter Doocy, a FOX reporter in July 2021, asked the White House about the idea that “Big Brother’s” snooping was on Facebook conversations. The White House dismissed the notion at the time. Doocy, then the White House press secretary Jen Psaki, was asked at the time by FOX’s Peter Doocy if the government “spied” on peoples’ profiles to look for vaccine misinformation.

Psaki stated “This is public information. People sharing information online.” You all report information on your news channels.

Doocy continued, “I think the biggest concern for many people on Facebook, is that this is now Big Brother watching you.”

“They are more worried about that than the people who will die across the country due to a pandemic in which misinformation is spreading on social media platforms?” Psaki responded, “That seems unlikely to me.”

The White House’s calls with Facebook became more hostile. Andy Slavitt and Flaherty, the White House Senior Advisor to President Biden for COVID Response, both criticised Facebook on a phone call held between White House officials, as well as Facebook staffers, on April 14, for not providing enough information.

Slavitt said that Facebook and WhatsApp are much more difficult than other platforms with which the White House interacts.

Slavitt stated that “Conversations with others are much easier – they’re more direct.”

Flaherty also agreed: “It feels like we are going around in circles.” Some partners are very helpful, while others tell us to get out of here. It feels like we are chasing after our tails. “If you don’t wish to provide information, simply say that.”

“My wish for FB is that they play ball. Flaherty added, “It’s about whether we can get out of this f—ing mess.” “I don’t doubt that you are trying to solve this issue in good faith. I doubt that you’re telling us all… We need to explain to the President… why misinformation is on the internet… we don’t want be in a situation where we have to remove bad news. If your company’s goal is to increase the likelihood that people will receive vaccines, then you have a problem. “People don’t only see it one way.”

A Facebook employee responded, “We cannot ask news outlets that they remove bad news”.

Facebook sent a massive amount of data to White House after the heated call on the 14th. Nick Clegg emailed the team on April 18, recapping his phone call with Slavitt.

Clegg wrote: “He [Slavitt] appreciated the data we sent through on Friday and confirmed Rob F’s statement that they had not received so much data before from us.”

Clegg stated that they had agreed to have Flaherty share the data and recommendations of the researchers “asap, so we can give a thoughtful reply as to what further steps we might/might not be able take.”

Meta confirms that Clegg’s data dump was a result of CrowdTangle. CrowdTangle is Meta’s platform for analyzing public content. Facebook has admitted in the past that it shared CrowdTangle information with the White House.

Meta declined to comment on this article.