Young Research & Publishing Inc.

Investment Research Since 1978

Compensation was paid to utilize rankings. Click here to read full disclosure.

  • About Us
    • Contributors
    • Archives
    • Dick Young’s Safe America
    • The Final Richard C. Young’s Intelligence Report
    • You’ve Read The Last Issue of Intelligence Report, Now What?
    • Dick Young’s Research Key: Anecdotal Evidence Gathering
    • Crisis at Vanguard
  • Investment Analysis
    • Bonds
    • Currencies and Gold
    • Dividend Investing
    • ETFs & Funds
    • Investment Strategy
    • Retirement Investing
    • Stocks
    • The Efficient Frontier
  • Investment Counsel
  • Retirement Compounders®
  • Free Email Signup

Facebook FAIL: What Happens When Big Tech Censorship Gets it Wrong?

May 27, 2021 By Jeremy Jones, CFA

By Troyan @ Shutterstock.com

Facebook is backtracking this week, now allowing posts that question the origin of COVID-19. The question of COVID-19’s origin hasn’t been fully answered, so Facebook’s censorship of speculation it has been created in a lab was simply the company’s preference. Now that the lab creation theory seems to be gaining traction in the media, Facebook is being forced to backtrack on its original censorship, revealing a broken system. Newley Purnell reports for The Wall Street Journal:

Facebook Inc. FB +0.31% 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.

Read more here.

Share this:

  • Email
  • Twitter
  • Facebook

You Might Also Like:

  • Which One of These Tech Companies Will Survive?
  • Facebook Still an Ad Business
  • Can Facebook Survive Accountability?
  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Jeremy Jones, CFA
Jeremy Jones, CFA, CFP® is the Director of Research at Young Research & Publishing Inc., and the Chief Investment Officer at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. CNBC has ranked Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. as one of the Top 100 Financial Advisors in the nation (2019-2022) Disclosure. Jeremy is also a contributing editor of youngresearch.com.
Latest posts by Jeremy Jones, CFA (see all)
  • Money Market Assets Hit Record High: $5.4 Trillion - May 26, 2023
  • The Mania in AI Stocks Has Arrived - May 25, 2023
  • The Wisdom of Sam Zell - May 24, 2023

Search Young Research

Most Popular

  • Wellington and Wellesley Funds Not Managed by Vanguard
  • The Single Worst Market Timing Event in History
  • “No Way I’m Spending That Much on Those”
  • Should America Move Closer to the Saudis, or Push them Away?
  • The War Machine's Manpower Problem
  • Vanguard Wellesley (VWINX) vs. Wellington (VWELX): Which Fund is Best?
  • The Power of a Compound Interest Table
  • Will the Fed Hold Up Its End of the Bargain?
  • “You Didn’t Eat That Again, Did You?”
  • Profits Becoming Elusive in China

Don’t Miss

Default Risk Among the Many Concerns with Annuities

Risk and Reward: An Efficient Frontier

How to be a Billionaire: Proven Strategies from the Titans of Wealth

Cryptocosm and Life After Google

Warning: Avoid Mutual Fund Year End Distributions

Is Gold a Good Long-term Investment?

How to Invest in Gold

Vanguard Wellington (VWELX): The Original Balanced Fund

What is the Best Gold ETF for Investing and Trading?

Procter & Gamble (PG) Stock: The Only True Dividend King

The Dividend King of the North

You’ll Love This if You’re Dreaming of an Active Retirement Life

The Importance of a Balanced Portfolio

Invest with Peace of Mind and Comfort

What Kind of Life Are You Investing For?

RSS The Latest at Richardcyoung.com

  • Bidenomics: Distrust of Public Officials and Institutions
  • Investing Habits of the Fairly Wealthy: #10 Powerball
  • “The Goal Is to Break Down the Individual”
  • Blackwater Founder Erik Prince a Hillsdale College Graduate
  • The Point to the GOP Debates
  • “The Economy Is Buried Under Trillions in Debt”
  • Will Desperate Democrats Replace Biden with Michelle or Hillary?
  • Your Survival Guy: “Life on Main Street Hasn’t Been This Hard in a While”
  • A Government of Control Freaks
  • The Elephant in the Room

RSS The Latest at Yoursurvivalguy.com

  • Investing Habits of the Fairly Wealthy: #10 Powerball
  • Your Survival Guy: “Life on Main Street Hasn’t Been This Hard in a While”
  • Your Retirement Life: Striped Bass Fishing off Block Island
  • “Then One Day the Grandfather was Gone”
  • How Joe Biden Raised Oil Prices
  • Is the Philadelphia Looting Spree the Wake-up Call America Needs?
  • “No Way I’m Spending That Much on Those”
  • What Trade Policy Serves America’s National Interest Best?
  • California Wants to Make the 2nd Amendment Unaffordable
  • “You Didn’t Eat That Again, Did You?”

About Us

  • About Young Research
  • Archives
  • Contributors

Our Partners

  • Richard C. Young & Co.
  • Richardcyoung.com

Copyright © 2023 | Terms & Conditions

 

Loading Comments...
 

    loading Cancel
    Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
    Email check failed, please try again
    Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.