Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolution

Floor Speech

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Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the COVID-19 Disinformation Research and Reporting Act. I thank Representative Jennifer Wexton for working with me on this important piece of legislation, which will help shine a light on the ways social media and other online platforms amplify and spread misinformation and disinformation about the coronavirus pandemic to the detriment of public health.

Representative Wexton was able to get the substance of this bill included in the HEROES Act, a bill passed four months ago by the House of Representatives to provide much needed relief to those suffering from the coronavirus pandemic and accompanying economic downturn. Because the Senate failed in its duty to pass the HEROES Act, I am introducing the COVID-19 Disinformation Research and Reporting Act with my colleagues--Senators Booker, Blumenthal, Klobuchar, Warren, and Reed.

As I stand here today nearly 7 million Americans have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and over 200,000 have died from the virus.

The numbers alone are staggering. But when you hear and read the personal stories of individuals and families who are suffering, it is truly tragic. It makes you mournful that for many of the individuals who died, they died alone in the absence of their loved ones.

While many things contributed to this massive loss of life, I am here to talk about one in particular: the insidious spread of coronavirus- related misinformation and disinformation online. This ``infodemic'' has undercut the efforts of public health officials at every turn, and threatens to prolong the virus's impact on the health of our people and economy long after a safe and effective vaccine is available.

The online spread of misinformation about public health is nothing new. Claims that the 2014 Ebola epidemic was a form of population control spread across social media. Anti-vaccination groups have long used Face book and YouTube to share junk science and recruit new members.

However, social media platforms' response to coronavirus was supposed to be different. Early in the pandemic, the major social media platforms announced new measures to combat misinformation while making sure users had access to accurate, authoritative information about the virus. Facebook added a COVID-19 Information Center to the tops of users' News Feeds and announced it would remove misinformation that could contribute to imminent physical harm. Twitter verified accounts that provided credible updates on the pandemic and committed to removing false or misleading content that contradicted information from health authorities. YouTube began directing users who searched for COVID-related information to the WHO or other health authorities and banned false information contradicting health authorities on treatment, prevention, diagnosis, or transmission of COVID-19.

Unfortunately, these measures proved lacking and insufficient. The conspiracy film Plandemic was viewed more than 8 million times across social media platforms, and the sequel was viewed over 100,000 times on YouTube during its first week alone. A study by advocacy group Avaaz found that misinformation about vaccines and other health topics had been viewed an estimated 3.8 billion times on Facebook in the past year--four times more than factual, authoritative content from institutions like the WHO and CDC. The study also found that only 16% of previously fact-checked health misinformation on Facebook carried a warning label.

Spend even a small amount of time on the internet or social media and you will find rampant misinformation and conspiracy theories about COVID-19. Some examples of these falsehoods include: Bill Gates created the virus to use a vaccine as cover to implant microchips into Americans. No, actually, Dr. Fauci created the coronavirus to seize political power. You shouldn't wear a mask to protect against the coronavirus, because wearing a mask actually weakens your immune system. And do not worry if you catch the corona virus--you can treat it by drinking bleach.

These claims might seem ridiculous, but they have real word consequences. A study published in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene found that 5,800 people had been hospitalized and at least 800 people died in the first three months of this year alone as a direct result of coronavirus-related misinformation. As recently as August, the Georgia Department of Health and the Texas Poison Control Center had to warn people not to drink bleach to treat COVID. While more Americans regularly wear masks in public, a recent poll found that 15% still do not. And, perhaps must troubling, polls suggest that between 35% and 50% of the U.S. population will not get a COVID vaccine when it is approved. If we hope to get past the coronavirus and avoid similar public health crises in the future, we must understand where misinformation originates, how it spreads, and strategies to stop it.

This is exactly what the COVID-19 Disinformation Research and Reporting Act will do. It directs the National Science Foundation to partner with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to conduct a study on the spread of COVID-19-related disinformation and misinformation on the internet and social media platforms. This study will provide critical information on the roles disinformation and misinformation have played in the public response to COVID-19; the sources of COVID-19-related disinformation and misinformation and the ways it has influenced the public debate; the role social media plays in the disseminating and promoting this disinformation and misinformation; and potential strategies for combatting misinformation and disinformation in the future.

This information will not stop the next pandemic from coming. And, it will not force the next Administration to take it seriously and follow the advice of doctors and scientists. But it can give us the knowledge and tools necessary to avoid another infodemic and ensure the American public receives accurate and authoritative information when it is most needed.

I therefore encourage my colleagues to support the COVID-19 Disinformation Research and Reporting Act.

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