> _“#Bigtech platforms were quick to shut down the #lableak hypothesis. For instance, in February 2020 #Facebook censored a New York Post article by the social scientist Steven Mosher arguing that the virus may have leaked from a lab, and a few months later #Twitter suspended the account of the virologist Li-Meng Yan for claiming the virus was made in a lab. Meanwhile, #Google ensured that typing terms like ‘#coronavirus lab leak into its search bar didn’t autocomplete (so users wouldn’t be led ‘down pathways’), and that searches for the terms would always yield statements by the WHO and other consensus-upholders as the top results. However, these measures were not enough for many liberal journalists and politicians, who demanded more be done, and so, in February 2021 Facebook issued a blanket ban on all posts suggesting the virus was ‘man-made or manufactured,’ a policy it awkwardly reversed four months later when the consensus began to change.”_

https://rabbitholemag.com/how-can-we-know-whats-a-conspiracy-theory-and-whats-not/