On the same day that United States President Joe Biden announced he had directed the national intelligence community to redouble its efforts into the origin of Covid-19, Facebook said it would no longer remove from its platforms claims that the virus was man-made.
The company had announced in February it would remove any such claims after “consultations with leading health organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO).”
But in a statement to CNN on Wednesday, a Facebook spokesperson said: “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.
“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 spokesperson added.
Politico was first to report the policy change.