Covid-19 ushers in a new wave of privacy and free speech threats

War is excellent for introducing all sorts of measures curtailing civil liberties, human rights, and free speech without a peep from anyone; but pandemics, too, are proving to be pretty useful towards achieving the same goal. Opportunistically and with no real debate, coronavirus is used as an excuse to erode rights and speech around the world.

We are witnessing Big Tech refreshed and emboldened to do what it does anyway, only with less real scrutiny than ever: collect personal data, use it for whatever the purpose of the hour may be, and silence critics and alternative voices, seemingly with no accountability to anyone.