Don't let free speech be a casualty of coronavirus. We need it more than ever | Cas Mudde
Despots like Hungary's Viktor Orbin are banning speech to 'fight' Covid-19. But more democratic countries are too
In times of crisis, liberal democratic institutions and values are vulnerable to authoritarian power grabs, or corona coups, as we are seeing around the world today. One of the first victims, as always, is freedom of speech. But the current attack on free speech is particularly dangerous, because it does not only target, reasonably, "fake news" on coronavirus, but also critique of inadequacies in hospitals by healthcare workers.
Repressive measures against fake news have been a popular topic for years now, having reached feverish levels in the wake of the 2016 US presidential elections. Even though the actual effects of "fake news" and "Russian interference" remain unclear and highly disputed, many mainstream politicians have convinced themselves that the spread of fake news is one of the main reasons that they are losing votes and power to populists.
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