DISINFO: Authoritarian regimes are best at handling disasters
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coronavirus European Union Democracy

DISINFO: Authoritarian regimes are best at handling disasters

SUMMARY

What happens in the United States (the spread of the Coronavirus) confirms that capitalism is a catastrophe, and neoliberalism remains a very big predicament because it only cares for big investors and neglects people.

Democracy cannot be present amid the spread of such an epidemic (Coronavirus). Democracy is a disaster. There must be a dictatorship and I call for more oppression.

RESPONSE

The claim about the superiority of political authoritarianism and isolationist “closed societies” in preventing and controlling epidemics does not reflect reality. Authoritarian regimes, which tend to control and manipulate information and to limit the freedom of doctors and scientists to engage in international cooperation, are often an obstacle to the timely detection and containment of epidemic outbreaks.

A clear example isChina’s deliberate cover-up of the early days of the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan. The regime suppressed information about the virus and allowed it to spread unchecked in the crucial early days and weeks. The Chinese authorities censored and detained those doctors and whistleblowers who attempted to sound the alarm and warn their fellow citizens when they understood the gravity of the coronavirus threat.

Furthermore, the real antidote to the coronavirus pandemic (and to future epidemic outbreaks) is not to revert to nationalist isolationism and “closed societies” but to develop a global response (UN Secretary General address on 19.03.2020).

A coordinated, cross-border effort of the scientific and medical community to understand the virus, create cures and treatments, and speedily disseminate a vaccine across national borders, will end the pandemic.

Read here a previous case claiming thatdemocracy and freedom prevent Europe from fighting the virus effectively.

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Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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