Ever since the day of the coronavirus outbreak, several medical experts have been hinting at the possibility of the pandemic being leaked from the Wuhan Virology Institute in China. Even though no concrete evidence to substantiate this theory was put forward, experts strongly believe that the Covid pandemic that is currently wreaking havoc in many countries could be manmade. However, social networking giant Facebook, known for proclaiming the 'freedom of expression has refrained users from writing posts that claim the manmade origin of coronavirus. And now, Facebook has reversed its policy of banning posts that suggest Covid was created by China to kill millions and destroy the global economy.
Facebook shows ''generosity''
Facebook announced its latest move on Wednesday, and in a recent post on its website, the social networking giant highlighted the challenges of policing misinformation and disinformation.
"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. 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," said Facebook in a statement.
Facebook's dual face on freedom of expression exposed
Facebook has now allowed posts related to Covid's origin, but the social networking giant has classified such posts as misinformation until now. Even though the platform called this move a fight against misinformation, speculations related to Covid's origin have been the hottest talking topic among millions of people worldwide. As the coronavirus showed no signs of slowing down, people in western countries strongly speculated that Covid could be actually a bioweapon released by China to gain domination on the world's economy.
However, Facebook safely underplayed the emotions of the general public, and they classified posts that connect Covid and Wuhan as misinformation. Even though the theory that suggests China's involvement in the coronavirus pandemic was not proven, it was never disproven too.
And now, the social networking giant was compelled to change its policy, as President Joe Biden's chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci, and others have acknowledged the possibility of the Chinese laboratory being the origin point of the Covid pandemic.
