Governments around the world have used the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to stifle critical voices, writes Amnesty International in a new report.
Freedom of expression is vital because the free flow of accurate, timely, evidence-based information increases awareness of health risks and ways to prevent and manage them.
The report "Silenced and Misinformed: Freedom of Reporting at Risk During COVID-19" reveals how governments and authorities' reliance on censorship and punishment during the crisis has reduced the quality of information reaching people.
"During the pandemic, governments have launched an unprecedented attack on freedom of expression, severely limiting human rights. Communication channels have been targeted, social networks have been censored, and media outlets have been shut down, having a dire impact on the public's ability to access vital information about how to deal with COVID -19," said Rajat Khosla, Amnesty International's senior director of research and policy advocacy.
"In the midst of the pandemic, journalists and health workers have been silenced and imprisoned. As a result, people have been unable to access information about COVID-19, including how to protect themselves and their communities. Approximately five million people have lost their lives to COVID-19, and lack of information was probably one of the contributing factors," Khosla said.
Amnesty also recalls the very beginning of the pandemic and Chinese health workers and citizen journalists who tried to raise the alarm back in December 2019.
"However, they were targeted by the government for reporting on the spread of the then-unknown disease. As of February 2020, 5.511 criminal investigations had been opened against individuals who published information about the spread of the virus for "fabricating and intentionally spreading false and harmful information."
In one case, journalist Zhang Zhan traveled to Wuhan in February 2020 to report on the spread of COVID-19. She disappeared in May of that year in Wuhan. It was later revealed that she was taken into custody by the police, accused of "causing quarrels and trouble" and sentenced to four years in prison.
A number of other countries have enacted oppressive laws that limit the right to free expression and silence critics under the guise of or in the context of a pandemic, including Tanzania, Russia and Nicaragua.
Information needed to defeat the virus
The ability of everyone to engage in the discussion of possible solutions and contribute to the response is a key element in overcoming the crisis itself, Amnesty said in its report. Defeating the virus involves not only government-led activities, but also bottom-up approaches that can only be achieved by enabling freedom of expression and access to information.
As the World Health Organization says, in order to successfully combat COVID-19, countries should "inform, empower and listen to the community". However, Amnesty writes, in the current context of COVID-19, governments have restricted freedom of expression rather than encouraging it.
In the name of protecting public health or curbing the spread of "fake news" and "preventing panic," some governments have used legislation and other measures to limit human rights beyond what is permitted under international law.
In March of last year, as part of a package of emergency measures, the Serbian government decided to centralize all information about the pandemic and enable criminal prosecution of journalists if they use information that was not approved by the government or that was taken "from unofficial sources", writes Amnesty.
As a result, journalists are prevented from attending press conferences, receiving information from health authorities or documenting the work of law enforcement officials.
When people do not have access to credible, objective evidence-based data, their ability to make informed decisions about their health is limited.
False and misleading information became more prevalent in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, spreading rapidly on social media and other media, creating confusion and mistrust among the general population.
Misrepresentations, rumors and conspiracy theories related to COVID-19 included trivializing the risk of the virus, equating the coronavirus with seasonal flu, questioning the effectiveness of measures and controls such as the use of masks, promoting unproven or harmful treatments, and questioning the development and distribution of vaccines. and motives for public health measures.
Amnesty also states that many leaders around the world have been identified as leading disseminators of disinformation. Especially in the early stages of the pandemic when the world was struggling to understand and deal with the new disease, authorities at the highest level publicly challenged and questioned the scientific evidence.
There have been numerous examples of politicians mis-messaging, manipulating and minimizing the pandemic in places like the United States, Brazil, Mexico, China, Iran, the Philippines, Tanzania among others.
In numerous situations, misinformation has provided an opportunity to gain political capital, sow division, suppress dissent, and shift blame for government unpreparedness and incompetence in the midst of a pandemic.
Misinformation and conspiracy theories throughout the pandemic became even more entrenched as politicians and other influential figures who bought into polarizing "anti-establishment" narratives also spread false and misleading information.
A study conducted in several countries across Europe found a direct link between these narratives and vaccine hesitancy in countries such as Italy, Hungary, Poland and France. As political leaders in those countries claimed to be "fighting elites" and defending individual liberties, they also tended to spread misleading and inflammatory messages about public health measures such as wearing masks and physical distancing.
What to do?
States have an obligation to respect human rights and to ensure that everyone, without discrimination, is protected from the threat of the pandemic, and that everyone is given the best possible chance to cope with and recover from the impact of the pandemic on health, society and the economy, Amnesty said in its report. .
Social media must strengthen efforts to address the challenge of disinformation and uphold its responsibility to respect human rights.
However, the global crisis caused by the outbreak of COVID-19 also represents an opportunity for countries and political leaders to rebuild societies and trust that many around the world have lost in governments. Political leaders around the world have the opportunity to prove that they are able to bring people together to help build just and equal societies based on respect for human rights.
Amnesty's recommendations to governments around the world are to ensure that everyone has free, unhindered and easy access to credible, reliable, objective, evidence-based information, then to remove unnecessary restrictions on the right to freedom of expression, including the right to seek, receive and impart information about COVID-19.
Repeal or change laws that impose criminal penalties on those who exercise their right to freedom of expression. Further, refraining from targeting critics or other sources of credible information with draconian measures that unjustifiably limit the right to freedom of expression in the name of fighting COVID-19.
Social networks involved in enabling and moderating online content must adhere to their human rights responsibilities, and must also ensure greater transparency regarding content moderation practices and policies as well as the algorithms that support their systems.
Amnesty also recommends the adoption of appropriate legal frameworks that are consistent with human rights obligations, to address the harmful effects of false or misleading information that could threaten the right to health.
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