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Two days after Facebook confirmed that it would no longer censor posts discussing whether the coronavirus pandemic originated from a Chinese lab leak, Twitter is refusing to say whether it will do the same.

Despite President Biden ordering US spy agencies to conduct a 90-day investigation into whether COVID-19 was released by the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Twitter said it had no updates to share at this time.

It has held firm in the two days since Biden’s order and the immediate move by Facebook.

Twitter did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for clarification on its misinformation policy, though a spokesman told Politico that it continues to “work in close consultation with global public health authorities.”

The commander-in-chief’s announcement came Tuesday.

In a statement, he revealed that two theories predominate current US official thinking: that the virus emerged naturally from animals or escaped from a lab in Wuhan, China.

The White House said the next afternoon that it wasn’t ruling out any possibilities, including the deliberate release of the virus.

By that evening, the Senate had unanimously approved a measure requiring the federal government to declassify intelligence on the origins of COVID-19.


  Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced a bill to declassify intelligence on the origins of COVID-19. CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Imag Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced a bill to declassify intelligence on the origins of COVID-19. CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Imag

That bill, offered by Sens. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), was passed by unanimous consent, a method which expedites proceedings if no present member of the Senate objects.

It is not clear what the bill’s fate will be in the House, though it is certain to have bipartisan support.

Biden’s abrupt pivot came after weeks of the administration being on defense about deferring to the World Health Organization for answers on how the pandemic started.

The lab leak theory gained traction more recently, hitting the mainstream media this week after the Wall Street Journal reported that three employees at the Wuhan Institute of Virology fell so ill that they were hospitalized in November 2019.


  Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) co-sponsored the bill with Hawley that was unanimously approved by the Senate. CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Imag Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) co-sponsored the bill with Hawley that was unanimously approved by the Senate. CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Imag

Twitter, for its part, has had a penchant for censoring content on its platform, especially from The Post.

In the final month of the heated 2020 presidential race, The Post revealed a trove of emails from Hunter Biden’s laptop that raised questions about then-candidate Joe Biden’s ties to his son’s foreign business ventures in Ukraine and China — which resulted in The Post’s Twitter account being immediately locked and links to the story disabled on the platform.

The water-damaged MacBook Pro was dropped off for repair at a Delaware computer shop in April 2019, but the individual who dropped it off never returned to pick it up.

It was seized by the FBI in December of that year.

Immediately following the release of The Post’s exposé, Twitter demanded The Post delete six tweets that linked to the stories based on files from the abandoned laptop in order to regain account access, finally caving and unlocking the account after a two-week stalemate.


  The lab leak theory gained traction after it was reported that three employees at the Wuhan Institute of Virology fell so ill that they were hospitalized in November 2019. AFP via Getty Images The lab leak theory gained traction after it was reported that three employees at the Wuhan Institute of Virology fell so ill that they were hospitalized in November 2019. AFP via Getty Images

During that time, The Post refused to remove the tweets and actually gained followers.

At a Senate hearing just two weeks after The Post’s return to the site, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey conceded that the company made “a mistake” in its actions.

“We recognize it as a mistake that we made, both in terms of the intention of the policy and also the enforcement action of not allowing people to share it publicly or privately,” said Dorsey, responding to a question from Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) about the forced media blackout.

Asked again in March at a congressional hearing on misinformation and social media about the matter, Dorsey reiterated his assertion that the move was a “total mistake.”

“It was literally just a process error. This was not against them in any particular way,” Dorsey told the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

“If we remove a violation, we require people to correct it,” he added. “We changed that based on their not wanting to delete that tweet, which I completely agree with. I see it. But it is something we learn.”

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