Facebook has lifted its ban on posts suggesting the virus that causes COVID-19 was man-made.
What You Need To Know
- Facebook says it will no longer remove posts claiming that the virus that causes COVID-19 was man-made
- Speculation that the virus leaked from a Chinese lab, long considered a conspiracy theory by many, has gained traction in recent days, although the origins of the virus still remains a mystery
- President Joe Biden instructed the intelligence community Wednesday “to redouble their efforts to collect and analyze information that could bring us closer to a definitive conclusion
- On Thursday, China responded to Biden’s call for further investigation by accusing the U.S. of using “the pandemic to pursue stigmatisation and political manipulation to shift the blame”
The social media company announced in February that it was removing claims it said were debunked about the origins of the coronavirus. While most experts believed the virus was passed from animals to humans, rumors quickly spread that it had escaped from a lab in Wuhan, China, where the virus was first identified.
Former President Donald Trump was among those who amplified the lab-leak theory.
“In light of ongoing investigations into the origin of Covid-19 and in consultation with public health experts, we will no longer remove the claim that Covid-19 is man-made from our apps,” Facebook said in a statement.
That lab speculation, long considered a conspiracy theory by many, has gained traction in recent days, although the origins of the virus still remains a mystery.
The Wall Street Journal on Sunday reported that three researchers from China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology were so sick in November 2019 that they sought hospital care.
Earlier this month, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the federal government’s top infectious disease expert, seemed to change his tune on the origins of COVID-19. After saying last year, that the evidence was “very, very strongly leaning toward this could not have been artificially or deliberately manipulated,” he said he’s now “not convinced” the virus developed naturally and called for further investigation.
And on Wednesday, President Joe Biden instructed the intelligence community “to redouble their efforts to collect and analyze information that could bring us closer to a definitive conclusion, and to report back to me in 90 days.”
The president said two “elements” in the intelligence committee lean toward believing the virus emerged from human contact with an infected animal, while one element leans toward believing there was a lab accident. Intelligence officials have a “low or moderate confidence” in both theories, Biden said.
A World Health Organization investigation in March concluded that is “extremely unlikely” the virus leaked from a lab. However, the United States and 13 other countries released a statement saying the investigation was “significantly delayed and lacked access to complete, original data and samples.”
On Thursday, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry responded to Biden’s call for further investigation by accusing the U.S. of using “the pandemic to pursue stigmatisation and political manipulation to shift the blame,” adding, “They are being disrespectful to science, irresponsible to people’s lives, and counterproductive to concerted global efforts to fight the virus.”
The spokesman, Zhao Lijian, also criticized the U.S. intelligence community for having a “notorious track record,” citing its faulty assessments that led up to the 2003 Iraq war.
