China on Thursday defended its use of social networking platforms Twitter and Facebook following a report that it had used its growing media presence to spread disinformation about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.
When asked about the report, the Foreign Ministry's top spokesperson, Hua Chunying, didn't directly address the allegations about China's role in spreading virus disinformation. However, she called the report ''exaggerated'' and said China should have the right to use social media too.
Image via AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
This article was republished here with permission from The Associated Press, however it is no longer available to read on Snopes.com.
BRUSSELS (AP) It took just three months for the rumor that COVID-19 was engineered as a bioweapon to spread from the fringes of the Chinese internet and take root in millions of people’s minds. By March 2020, belief that the virus had been human-made and possibly weaponized was widespread, multiple surveys indicated. The Pew Research Center found, for example, that one in three Americans believed the new coronavirus had been created in a lab;…
When asked about the report, the Foreign Ministry’s top spokesperson, Hua Chunying, didn’t directly address the allegations about China’s role in spreading virus disinformation.
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