Facebook now allows users to claim on its platform that coronavirus is man-made

Facebook now allows users to claim that coronavirus (COVID-19) may have originated from the lab in Wuhan, China. It’s a complete reversal of its previous policy that banned comments suggesting the coronavirus was man-made.

In April last year, Facebook announced that it was imposing limits on “harmful misinformation about COVID-19.”

In February, the company announced that it was expanding its crackdown to include claims that the virus was man-made. Facebook said in a blog post that it would not allow conspiracy theories about COVID-19 vaccines. (Related: Questions over social media censorship of Wuhan lab leak after Fauci admits possibility.)

“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 or manufactured from our apps,” Facebook stated in a blog post announcing the lifting of the ban Wednesday, May 26.

“We’re continuing to work with health experts to keep pace with the evolving nature of the pandemic and regularly update our policies as new facts and trends emerge.”

The move comes as President Joe Biden ordered his intelligence agencies to launch a probe into whether SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, leaked from a Wuhan lab. Biden asked intelligence agencies to report back within 90 days.

During a recent White House briefing, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Dr. Anthony Fauci said he still thinks the most likely explanation is a natural transfer to humans but that a deeper investigation is needed.

“Because we don’t know 100 percent what the origin is, it’s imperative that we look and we do an investigation,” he said.

Democrats and mainstream media criticized Trump when he floated lab-leak theory

Last year, Fauci insisted there was “no evidence” to point to coronavirus having been manufactured when then-President Donald Trump raised it as a possibility.

Claims by the Trump administration that the coronavirus may have originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) – one of China’s top virus research labs – were met with skepticism from mainstream media.

Democrats and anti-Trump commentators in the press accused Trump and his administration of advancing a theory about China deliberately creating the coronavirus in order to deflect attention away from its handling of efforts to mitigate the spread of the disease in the U.S.

Authorities linked early COVID-19 cases to a seafood market in Wuhan, leading scientists to theorize the virus first passed to humans from animals.

Earlier this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a report written jointly with Chinese scientists on the origins of COVID-19, which said the chances of it having started in a lab were “extremely unlikely.” It said the virus had probably jumped from bats to humans via another intermediary animal, but more research was needed.

But recent reports about an apparent cover-up of the origins of the virus have prompted a re-examination of the issue.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, May 23, that workers at WIV were hospitalized with an illness that resembled COVID-19 – several weeks before China acknowledged the first case of the disease. The WIV hasn’t shared raw data, safety logs or lab records on its extensive work with coronaviruses in bats, which many consider the most likely source of the virus.

While circumstantial in nature and lacking details on what became of the scientists and detailed information on their illness, that report has ignited new focus for the potential of the lab-leak theory. (Related: Top researchers insist Wuhan coronavirus lab escape theory still viable, call for more investigations.)

Biden adopting Trump’s stance on the origins of COVID-19

After months of minimizing the possibility of the virus escaping from a lab as a fringe theory, the Biden administration is joining worldwide pressure for China to be more open about the outbreak.

Biden directed laboratories to assist with the investigation and the intelligence community to prepare a list of specific queries for the Chinese government. He also called on China to cooperate with international probes into the origins of the pandemic.

“The United States will keep working with like-minded partners around the world to press China to participate in a full, transparent, evidence-based international investigation and to provide access to all relevant data and evidence,” said Biden.

The president said a firm conclusion might never be reached, given the Chinese government’s refusal to fully cooperate with international investigations. “The failure to get our inspectors on the ground in those early months will always hamper any investigation into the origin of COVID-19,” he said.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday, May 25, that the Biden administration supports a new WHO investigation in China, but she noted that an effective probe “would require China finally stepping up and allowing access needed to determine the origins.”

Follow Pandemic.news for more news and information related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

WSJ.com

BBC.com