Early last year, openDemocracy began tracking how governments around the world were responding to the pandemic. Alarmingly, many of them seized the opportunity to crack down on political opponents and consolidate power.
This rollback of human rights also affected press freedom on several continents, from Hungary to South Africa, Russia and the Philippines. Journalists were completely or partly blocked from doing their work in 73% of the 180 countries monitored by the organisation, Reporters Without Borders.
Attacks on journalists take many forms: in Egypt and Iraq, female journalists have been disproportionately targeted on social media, while in Greece, a corporate media monopoly has led to pliant coverage of the government.
