Apple, Microsoft and Google are among six firms who will meet with the White House today, March 11, to discuss coordinating a response to the coronavirus outbreak.
As reported by Politico:
The White House will convene representatives from the largest technology companies on Wednesday to discuss ways the federal government and the industry can coordinate their response to the unfolding coronavirus outbreak.
Facebook, Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Twitter are all expected to participate in person or via teleconference, a spokesperson for the Office of Science and Technology Policy said. U.S. Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios will lead the meeting.
The report claims it was unclear whether any White House officials or agency representatives would be present.
Like many other corporations, Apple and others have worked to restrict the travel of its employees to regions that have been heavily affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, as well as encouraging employees to work from home.
No doubt Facebook and Twitter will be included in discussions regarding the spread of misinformation about the virus. Apple has also recently kicked off special coverage of the oubreak on its Apple News platform to try and source stories from reputable institutions such as CNN, WSJ and the LA Times.
The report notes:
The social media platforms have also been battling the rampant spread of coronavirus misinformation, choosing to prominently display links to reputable sources like the CDC. Amazon and other online retailers have also been called on to eradicate products that falsely claim to treat the illness and to halt sellers from dramatically raising prices on in-demand goods like hand sanitizer.
Given the rapidly changing nature of the situation, it seems plausible that any course of action agreed will likely be rolled out pretty quickly.
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