COVID-19: World Leaders Using Coronavirus To Suppress Freedom Of Expression, Press -By Ohaga Ohaga

Towards the end of 1918, history records that the Great War (WWI) was coming to its end in Europe. Germany had officially surrendered and all countries involved in the war had agreed to end the fighting while the peace treaty was negotiated. But as fate would have it, just when the world thought that peace was on the horizon, something else erupted. 

At first, it was as harmless as a cold – with symptoms of coughs and sneezes. However, as the days progressed, the world learned that the new enemy was more than the common cold. By the end of its wake, the monster had killed more people than WW1 and was cited as the world’s worst pandemic in recorded history. Spanish flu as it was named lasted for two years. January 1918 to December 1920.

History books indicate that the Spanish flu infected 500 million people while the death toll is estimated to have been anywhere from 20 million to 50 million, and possibly as high as 100 million. 

Today, even though the world is not recovering from any war, it finds itself yet again in another flu pandemic. This time, the COVID-19 or Chinese virus like the US President prefers to call. Before the WWI, Keisinger Florian (2014) notes that newspapers in Europe were increasingly popular, free and independent, and transnational…censorship had been abolished in most European states, and in a general atmosphere of economic prosperity, a (more or less) free and independent press was established (Keisinger & Florian 2014). 

However, with the outbreak of the war, there was a systemic re-introduction of strict censorship in all aggressive countries. When the Spanish flu started just after the war, there was even more censorship of the press as most affected countries made deliberate effort to minimize early reports of illness and mortality. More or less what China did with the outbreak of COVID-19. 

A century later, the world finds itself where it was 1918. Gripped with another pandemic. Even though doctors have claimed that the two flus are not the same, the world is just lost as it was a hundred years ago. 

According to John Hopkins University & Medicine, there are currently 3,753,112 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 263,841 deaths worldwide by May, 7, 2020.

Although the two flus may not have many similarities, there exists a common denominator- the fact that many governments across the globe have shown the desire to suppress freedom of expression and that of the media. 

There have been reports of media attacks by different governments across the world. For instance, in Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro through a live TV interview condemned journalists covering the epidemic saying that “people will know soon that a large part of the media has deceived them in this issue of the coronavirus,” Bolsonaro claimed on March 22. 

In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi requested a directive from the country’s Supreme Court that would require media houses to seek state permission before publishing any content related to COVID19. The implication of this edict would mean media censorship- fundamentally allowing the government to stifle media operations as it considers fit. 

In China, a citizen journalist based in Wuhan was reported missing, presumed detained according to The Guardian. 

In Hungary, the Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, sought to implement measures that would make it easy for his government to jail journalists.  

In Kenya, when President Uhuru Kenyatta declared a nationwide curfew on March 27, many Kenyans didn’t know what to expect. That reality dawned on them a few hours later when many of them found themselves at the mercy of the police. Children, men, and women were mercilessly flogged, teargassed and beaten. The President would later apologize to Kenyans for the excesses of his security agents.  

Nonetheless, beyond these excesses, there has been a systemic assault on the media by the Government. 

On February 26, before the assault on the press begun, a Kenyan citizen Ali Gire had been suspended by his employer -Kenya Airways which claimed that he had violated security laws by recording and sharing a video that exposed poor screening for the deadly Coronavirus at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA). Gire had recorded the landing of the China Southern Airlines plane at the JKIA, contrary to communication by KQ that flights from China had been suspended. 

On March 19, Cabinet Secretary of Health Mutahi Kagwe unleashed a warning shot to Kenyans sharing unverified information in the social media.

On March 23, popular blogger Robert Alai was charged with publishing false information on his twitter handle about the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. The blogger was accused of publishing false information on coronavirus deaths, an act the prosecution said was meant to cause panic and fear.

On March 25, another blogger Cyprian Nyakundi was arrested over Coronavirus post. Nyakundi had posted on his twitter handle that a senior Kenya Revenue Authority official had traveled out of the country and failed to self-quarantine after returning home.

On March 27, Nation Media Group NTV cameraman was clobbered by an Administration Police officer at the Likoni ferry in Mombasa as he discharged his duties. 

On March 28, a cameraman with Weru TV was accosted by three policemen who attacked him as he filmed the officers and administrators violently enforcing social distancing at Mitunguu market, Meru County. 

On March 29, Dagoretti South Member of Parliament John Kiarie was arrested by the DCI over his Facebook/Twitter posts claiming the government was sugar-coating the real situation of Coronavirus in the country. 

The same day, (March 29), two journalists attached to Citizen TV were arrested in Eldoret and taken into custody after they allegedly continued holding interviews past curfew hours. 

On April 2, Cabinet Secretary of Health Mutahi Kagwe once again fired another warning shot to social media users after Kenyans discredited, he recovery story of two COVID19 patients. 

In April 06, Police in Nakuru County summoned two Standard Group journalists over a story about Lanet Army Barracks being under lockdown due to Coronavirus. The barracks were reportedly put under lockdown after one of KDF soldiers was reported to have come into contact with a Covid-19 patient.

Since the curfew order was given by President Uhuru, everything has been done within the law. Except in cases like the excesses of the police. However, it must be noted that even in these difficult times, our Constitution and the rule of law has not been suspended. As much as the state wants to protect its citizens from COVID-19, it must act within the confines of the law. Freedom of expression and Freedom of the press are rights guaranteed in Articles 33 and 34 respectively in Kenya’s Constitution. 

It is also evident that COVID-19 has shaken every corner and core of the world; disrupted lives as we knew it, and threatened the very existence of humankind. Nevertheless, governments across the world must not use this pandemic to infringe upon the rights of its citizens with COVID-19 as the guise especially the gains and liberties of the media. 

Ohaga Ohaga is a Kenyan Journalist, Writer, and Communication Specialist with special interest in Media Law and Political Communication. He remains a close observer of, and participant in, Journalism and the Media.