Watchdog: Governments use pandemic to crack down on online dissent

The report by Freedom House said authorities in dozens of countries have cited the Covid-19 outbreak ‘to justify expanded surveillance powers and the deployment of new technologies that were once seen as too intrusive’. — Dreamstime/TNS

WASHINGTON: Governments around the world are using the pandemic as a justification to expand surveillance and crack down on dissent online, resulting in a 10th consecutive annual decline in Internet freedom, a human rights watchdog report said on Oct 14.

The report by Washington-based Freedom House said authorities in dozens of countries have cited the Covid-19 outbreak “to justify expanded surveillance powers and the deployment of new technologies that were once seen as too intrusive”.