No surprise: World governments are using pandemic as excuse to behave like autocrats

From Bloomberg Quint: “Many governments are using the Covid-19 pandemic as cover to silence dissent, free press and disrupt elections, resulting in an erosion of democracy and human rights, according to a new report by U.S.-based Freedom House. Since the outbreak began earlier this year, the situation has worsened in 80 countries, with a “particularly acute” decline in struggling democracies and highly repressive states, the report showed. At least 91 of the 192 nations cited in the report, or 47%, have “experienced restrictions on the news media as part of the response to the coronavirus outbreak,” it said.”