Facebook Ends Ban on Posts Asserting Covid-19 Was Man-Made -- Update
May 27 2021 - 1:24PM
Dow Jones News
By Newley Purnell
Facebook Inc. has ended its ban on posts asserting Covid-19 was
man-made or manufactured, a policy shift that reflects a deepening
debate over the origins of the pandemic that was first identified
in Wuhan, China, almost 18 months ago.
The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that three researchers
from China's Wuhan Institute of Virology became sick enough in
November 2019 that they sought hospital care, according to a
previously undisclosed U.S. intelligence report.
"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 said in a statement on its website Wednesday.
President Biden on Wednesday ordered a U.S. intelligence inquiry
into the origins of the virus. The White House has come under
pressure to conduct its own investigation after China told the
World Health Organization that it considered Beijing's part of the
investigation complete, calling for efforts to trace the virus's
origins to shift into other countries.
Earlier this month a group of 18 prominent scientists called for
a deeper investigation into the circumstances in which the virus
emerged, including the possibility that a laboratory accident
released it.
China has repeatedly denied that the virus escaped from one of
its labs and accused the U.S. of hyping the lab-leak theory. On
Sunday, China's foreign ministry cited a WHO-led team's conclusion,
after a visit to the Wuhan Institute of Virology in February, that
a lab leak was extremely unlikely.
Facebook in February began the ban on claims the virus was
man-made or manufactured as part of a list of misleading health
claims that aren't allowed.
"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," Facebook said in its
statement Wednesday.
Facebook has struggled with regulating user content, resulting
in complaints from lawmakers, advocacy groups and users who said
that its decisions are opaque, inconsistent and unfair. Even though
it lists community standards on its website, other internal
guidelines aren't made public. The logic behind some other
enforcement efforts is unclear, and its system for adjudicating
content has resulted in many users facing punishments for
infractions they don't understand.
Facebook's independent oversight board has been critical of the
company's enforcement effort. In its decision earlier this month
upholding a ban on former President Donald Trump, the board said
the company must better explain its reasoning if it decides to
permanently lock him out. The board urged the company to more
clearly articulate its rules for prominent individuals and develop
penalties for violators, and levied criticism over failing to state
clear rules and explain how it enforces them.
The board has also reversed some moderation decisions, including
a ruling that it had been too strict in removing a user's post
praising the use of hydroxychloroquine, a once widely discussed
treatment for Covid-19 that medical authorities have generally
found not to be effective.
Sarah Needleman contributed to this article.
Write to Newley Purnell at newley.purnell@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 27, 2021 13:11 ET (17:11 GMT)
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