Analysis of leaked government censorship directives dating to 2013 by Freedom House shows that suppression of public health information is commonplace. In 2016 and 2017, for example, public health and safety were among the two most censored categories of breaking news. Such efforts — once mostly focused on overseas Chinese media — have been deployed with increasing frequency against mainstream news services in recent years. AdvertisementGlobal disinformation campaigns on social media platforms could also be deployed. Chinese media controls have always had deeply corrosive effects at home and abroad, but their potential threat to human life if this outbreak becomes a pandemic would be devastating.

Source: Los Angeles Times February 03, 2020 23:59 UTC