Coronavirus Pandemic May Lead to Censorship, Advocacy Group Warns

With the total number of coronavirus cases in the United States now topping 65,000, and the death toll expected to top 1,000 before the end of the week, state governments around the country have taken struct measures to contain the virus. But the digital rights organization Fight for the Future issued an ominous warning on Tuesday—the pandemic could be used by authorities as an excuse to crack down on basic civil and human rights. “It’s essential for our leaders to protect our health and safety while also protecting our civil liberties and basic human rights,” FFTF wrote in an online statement. “Medical experts have warned that crackdowns on basic liberties can actually make the pandemic worse.” The group cited a 2008 report by the American Civil Liberties Union which was issued during that year’s avian, or “bird,” flu epidemic.  “Too often, policymakers are resorting to law enforcement and national security-oriented measures that not only suppress individual rights unnecessarily, but have proven to be ineffective in stopping the spread of disease and saving lives,” the ACLU wrote. The FFTF specifically warned that the government may attempt to “censor free speech or limit the free flow of information” during the pandemic. The group also referred to a recent attempt by the Department of Justice to assume new powers, including the ability to hold people in custody indefinitely, without trial. “Law enforcement has no authority to detain or question people without reasonable suspicion, and that should not change under quarantine,” FFTF wrote in the statement. Last year, the National Institutes of Health published a report calling on the government to respond to pandemics and other public emergencies with a public health approach, rather than with law enforcement—and to do that, political considerations must go out the window, the NIH said. “For a quarantine to succeed, individuals must be granted temporary immunity from arrest, deportation, or similar adverse consequences,” the NIH wrote. “But doing so will be politically unpopular.” Fight for the Future also warned against government attempts to use the coronavirus pandemic as a rationale to “increase invasive surveillance or monitoring of our movements and communications, or require companies to hand over our personal data to the government.” Photo by Fight for the Future / Wikimedia Commons Public Domain