Besides the obvious implications that restrictions on media freedom can have for democracy and freedom of expression, the coronavirus crisis has also highlighted the potential public health ramifications of increased censorship. During the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak, officials from the Chinese government worked to suppress information regarding a ‘SARS-like coronavirus’ that had emerged in Wuhan.
Many observers – including frontline hospital staff based in Wuhan – have argued that the Chinese government’s initial decision to censor information regarding Covid 19 severely inhibited medical professionals’ ability to suppress and contain the virus. Meanwhile, media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) have suggested that the existence of a free press in China could have helped to prevent the virus outbreak from spiralling out of control and becoming the global pandemic we have today.
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