Rebekah Jones said she was dismissed after refusing to “manually change data” to present a favorable picture for the state’s efforts to reopen.
The Florida official in charge of designing and managing the state’s online dashboard of COVID-19 data says she was fired after refusing to censor and “manually change data” in order to present a picture justifying the state’s process of reopening and loosening COVID-19 restrictions.
On Monday, Jones told Florida’s CBS12 that her removal from the dashboard position, effective May 5, was “not voluntary,” saying she was dismissed after refusing to “manually change data to drum up support for the plan to reopen.” “The Florida COVID-19 Dashboard was created by the Geographic Information System team in the Division of Disease Control and Health Protection at the Florida Department of Health,” she said. “Although Rebekah Jones is no longer involved, the GIS team continues to manage and update the Dashboard providing accurate and important information that is publicly accessible.”
In her email Friday, Jones said the management of the dashboard — which initially earned widespread praise for its transparency and accessibility, and has since been replicated by officials in other states — was now under a new team for “reasons beyond my division’s control.”
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