Press freedom is under attack. It needs defenders
Autocrats pay lip service to free speech while eroding it in insidious ways
HERE’S A THOUGHT experiment. If Russia had a free press, how many Russians would support Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine? Here’s another: how might the early days of covid-19 have unfolded if the virus had first emerged in a country with a free press, rather than China? Could the government of such a country have hushed it up for those crucial early weeks?
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “The gag tightens”
Leaders May 7th 2022
- How to save the Supreme Court from itself
- Wearable technology promises to revolutionise health care
- The Fed causes gyrations in financial markets
- How the West should respond to China’s search for foreign outposts
- Press freedom is under attack. It needs defenders
- How to solve Britain’s dirty-money problem
From the May 7th 2022 edition
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