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Source: https://www.lmtonline.com/news/article/Journalists-threatened-and-detained-as-countries-15180361.php
Journalists threatened and detained as countries on multiple continents restrict coronavirus coverage
Louisa Loveluck, Robyn Dixon and Adam Taylor, The Washington Post Published 12:40 pm CDT, Sunday, April 5, 2020
LONDON -When a flu-like virus tore through the world, killing tens of millions and infecting far more, the papers in Europe told readers of "Spanish flu." King Alfonso XIII of Spain was one of many stricken, they reported in 1918. What they didn't say was that their own populations were being decimated, too.
It was the largest pandemic in modern history, but due to wartime censorship in many European countries, few citizens would know it at first. Only Spain, a nation neutral in the fight, allowed its press to work largely uncensored, and so it was that stories of the contagion spread too.
A century later, coronavirus is again testing the resilience of independent media around the world as governments exploit concerns over coverage of the epidemic to clamp down on press freedoms.
From Latin America to Russia, governments have tried to shape coverage so it avoids criticism or information that authorities deem harmful to public order. Questioning of official accounts has drawn fines, police investigations and the expulsion of foreign correspondents. In some countries, the virus has provided a pretext for governments to pass emergency legislation that is likely to curb freedoms long after the contagion has been extinguished.
The consequences could amount to life or death, free-press advocates say.
"During a public health emergency, there are extremely strong requirements of governments to provide truthful information to the public so that we as individuals and in our communities can make decisions about what we should be doing," said David Kaye, the United Nations' special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression. "That depends on a vibrant press that doesn't feel that when it reports that it could be subject to intimidation, threats or even criminal sanction."
In the Middle East, governments have detained or otherwise punished reporters who question the state's response to the epidemic. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have announced fines in the hundreds of thousands of dollars for individuals deemed to be sharing fake news, a fluid term that press advocates have long described as open to abuse by governments seeking to quash scrutiny...
Journalists threatened and detained as countries on multiple continents restrict coronavirus coverage
Louisa Loveluck, Robyn Dixon and Adam Taylor, The Washington Post Published 12:40 pm CDT, Sunday, April 5, 2020
LONDON -When a flu-like virus tore through the world, killing tens of millions and infecting far more, the papers in Europe told readers of "Spanish flu." King Alfonso XIII of Spain was one of many stricken, they reported in 1918. What they didn't say was that their own populations were being decimated, too.
It was the largest pandemic in modern history, but due to wartime censorship in many European countries, few citizens would know it at first. Only Spain, a nation neutral in the fight, allowed its press to work largely uncensored, and so it was that stories of the contagion spread too.
A century later, coronavirus is again testing the resilience of independent media around the world as governments exploit concerns over coverage of the epidemic to clamp down on press freedoms.
From Latin America to Russia, governments have tried to shape coverage so it avoids criticism or information that authorities deem harmful to public order. Questioning of official accounts has drawn fines, police investigations and the expulsion of foreign correspondents. In some countries, the virus has provided a pretext for governments to pass emergency legislation that is likely to curb freedoms long after the contagion has been extinguished.
The consequences could amount to life or death, free-press advocates say.
"During a public health emergency, there are extremely strong requirements of governments to provide truthful information to the public so that we as individuals and in our communities can make decisions about what we should be doing," said David Kaye, the United Nations' special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression. "That depends on a vibrant press that doesn't feel that when it reports that it could be subject to intimidation, threats or even criminal sanction."
In the Middle East, governments have detained or otherwise punished reporters who question the state's response to the epidemic. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have announced fines in the hundreds of thousands of dollars for individuals deemed to be sharing fake news, a fluid term that press advocates have long described as open to abuse by governments seeking to quash scrutiny...
