Reports of deleted content related to the novel coronavirus emerged across various platforms, including scientific journals, social media, and Chinese internet services, raising questions about information control during the pandemic.

Retractions in Scientific Literature

Scientific papers concerning COVID-19 have been subject to retractions from various journals. Retraction Watch has been tracking these retractions as part of its database.

One paper, titled “5G Technology and induction of coronavirus in skin cells,” was published in Biological Regulators & Homeostatic Agents on July 16, 2020, and subsequently withdrawn on July 24, 2020.

Another study, “6-month consequences of COVID-19 in patients discharged from hospital: a cohort study,” appeared in The Lancet on January 8, 2021. An Expression of Concern (EOC) was issued on November 24, 2022, and the paper was retracted and republished on June 8, 2023.

“A Bioinformatic Approach Based on Systems Biology to Determine the Effects of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Patients with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy,” published in Computational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine on September 27, 2022, was retracted on December 13, 2023.

“A Case Series of patients with Pulmonary Embolism during post COVID-19 period,” published in Cardiovascular Research on October 21, 2022, was retracted on December 26, 2022.

“A Case Series of Stent Thrombosis During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” published on May 27, 2020, in JACC: Case Reports, was retracted due to a journal error as a duplicate publication. The specific retraction date is not known.

“A comparative study of the policy response to COVID-19 in the ASEAN region: A dynamic simulated ARDL approach,” published in PLoS One on January 26, 2023, was retracted on August 25, 2025.

“A Comparison of Early Rehabilitation in the Intensive Care Units of Patients With Severe COVID-19: A Propensity Score Matching Analysis,” was published on November 10, 2022.

Social Media Content Removal

Users reported that their Facebook posts related to the novel coronavirus were vanishing around March 18, 2020. These users received notifications stating that their posts violated community standards. Facebook's community standards define what is and is not allowed on the platform, based on community feedback and expert advice in fields such as technology, public safety, and human rights. Posts flagged for violating these rules are often linked to violence, extremist content, or scams.

The platform's policy aims to prevent the spread of misleading or fake information, including claims about specific products being cures or assertions that the respiratory illness was developed as a bioweapon. However, reports indicated that legitimate articles from reputable sources were also removed from Facebook.

As complaints escalated on both Facebook and Twitter, leading to accusations of censorship, Alex Stamos, the former CSO of Facebook, suggested that the issue was likely caused by an "anti-spam rule going haywire."

Censorship on the Chinese Internet

In the initial weeks following the appearance of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, Chinese journalists produced reports highlighting whistleblowers and government malfeasance. Despite a period of relatively freer media, censorship continued.

An article that first appeared in Young Weekly examined 20 popular and influential media accounts within the WeChat Official Account ecosystem, analyzing which of their reports were deleted. The analysis found that business media, negative reporting, and articles focusing on doctors and patients received the most attention from censors.

The Young Weekly article itself attempted to evade WeChat’s censorship algorithm by blurring characters, incorporating English words, and using pinyin. It garnered tens of thousands of views before it disappeared hours after publication. Young Weekly is produced by nine graduates from Nanjing Normal University’s journalism class of 2017. Most of the censored articles mentioned in the Young Weekly piece can be found on Github’s nCovMemory site.

The Young Weekly article, titled "消失的41篇疫情报道" (xiāoshī de 41 piān yìqíng bàodào), was published on March 23. It was translated by Jordan Schneider, with assistance from Erik Stahle. During the COVID-19 period, approximately 700 journalists reported from Hubei, and demand for news increased. TV programs such as Common Concern (共同关注 gòngtóng guānzhù), Oriental Horizon (东方时空 dōngfāng shíkōng), and News 1+1 (xīnwén 1+1) saw increased viewership.

Key Facts

  • Multiple scientific papers related to COVID-19 have been retracted from journals, including Biological Regulators & Homeostatic Agents, The Lancet, Computational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine, Cardiovascular Research, JACC: Case Reports, and PLoS One.
  • Facebook users reported posts about the coronavirus being deleted, with notifications citing violations of community standards.
  • Legitimate articles from reputable sources were among those removed from Facebook.
  • Former Facebook CSO Alex Stamos suggested an "anti-spam rule going haywire" as a potential cause for Facebook content removal.
  • Chinese media reports on COVID-19, particularly those from business media and those focusing on doctors and patients, were subject to censorship on platforms like WeChat.
  • An article from Young Weekly detailing 41 disappeared coronavirus reports was itself censored after gaining tens of thousands of views.