Amid roaring coronavirus fears, world leaders consolidate power

CHICAGO — There was no doubt that a coronavirus protection bill presented by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to parliament on March 30 would pass. With a two-thirds majority, Orbán’s party gifted him the ability to rule by decree, indefinitely. Since then, he has expanded his powers to crack down on journalists, imprison members of the LGBTQ community and even assert more control on theatrical productions.

In the face of uncertainty amid the global pandemic, actions by world leaders like Orbán raise concerns that they are using the guise of coronavirus protection to quietly consolidate power.

“They’ve used the crisis in order to create a reason to give the president more powers and now that this has happened, he may just keep [these powers] for himself for as long as he’s in office,” said Nina Jankowicz, a disinformation fellow at the Wilson Center in Washington, during a panel earlier this month. 

Orbán is not alone in using the pandemic to expand his powers. In Russia, President Vladimir Putin said that increased surveillance efforts, including advancements in facial recognition technology and additional cameras installed in Moscow, are meant to make sure that citizens follow quarantine guidelines. And last week, the Turkish Health Ministry announced they are working with local cell service providers to monitor the movement of patients diagnosed by the virus. 

But some leaders are using increased surveillance efforts to change the historical timeline. In December, Chinese Doctor Li Wenliang was working in Wuhan when he sent information through WeChat, a popular social media platform, to fellow medics about experiencing SARS-like symptoms. Dr. Li was among some of the first doctors in the city to issue warnings about the new virus. 

Chinese officials scolded Dr. Lie for making “false comments.” As his messages began circulating on the social platform, officials in the country prompted WeChat to censor over 500 new keyword combinations including “Unknown Wuhan pneumonia” and “SARS outbreak.” By March, officials launched more aggressive censorship efforts, including deleting accounts and limiting post and discussion features.

Rui Zhong, a program associate at the Wilson Center, said that in the wake of Dr. Li’s death, state-run agencies have even begun changing the timeline of the outbreak. Last week, state-run Xinhua News agency published a timeline that tracks “in detail” the spread of the virus. But the timeline, Zhong said, leaves out critical details, including claiming the first cases were detected in late December when studies have indicated it appeared much earlier.

“It’s not a narrative in itself, but it is also a set of guidelines on what China is going to encourage people to post and discuss and what it discourages people from posting and discussing,” Zhong said.