Censorship on Coronavirus Imperils Public Safety, States Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS)Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS)
Feb 03, 2020, 13:19 ET
The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus (2019-nCoV) has reached 17,489, with 362 deaths, as of the morning of Feb 3, according to the interactive map provided by Johns Hopkins CSSE (Center for Systems Science and Engineering). But Jane Orient, M.D., executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), asks: "Would China have locked down more than 17 cities for only 362 deaths?" ...
Although timely information is critical to allow people to protect themselves, some in the U.S. apparently favor imitating China's Great Firewall, the most sophisticated internet censorship operation in the world, suggests Dr. Orient. According to ABC News, Facebook, Twitter, and Google are taking steps to "stop the spread of coronavirus conspiracy theories." Facebook's head of health Kang-Xing Jin stated in a blogpost that it has "a third-party team of fact-checkers reviewing content related to the virus," so that Facebook can limit the spread of what it deems false information.
The dominant internet service providers are also suppressing any information they deem to be "anti-vaccination," such as reports of adverse effects. AAPS has filed a lawsuit against Rep. Adam Schiff for abuse of government power to pressure these corporations to hinder dissemination of material he believes inappropriate. ...
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