Facebook bans posts that claim coronavirus is man-made

Facebook will crack down on 'misinformation' about Covid-19, including claims that coronavirus was man-made, the tech giant has announced, sparking freedom of speech fears.

The news comes despite the outbreak's source still not being identified, and after WHO scientists researching the origins of Covid in China said it is 'extremely unlikely' the virus leaked from a lab. Facebook said that it has banned misinformation about all vaccines in a blog post on Monday, after years of controversy over the company's perceived inaction. 

Some of the claims that Facebook said it would be clamping down on includes unproven claims that Covid-19 is man-made or manufactured and that vaccines cause autism or have other harmful effects. Claims that vaccines are not effective against preventing disease and that it is safer to get the disease than to get a vaccine have also been banned from the platform. 

Posts making such claims will be removed from the website, as well as Facebook-owned Instagram, the company said in the post that came with a list of 'misinformation' it was banning from its platforms.