COVID-19 & social media

The latter has been a force multiplier for both good and bad

The “Spanish Flu”, which killed millions during 1918-21, didn’t begin in Spain. But it was the Spanish media that first reported it. World War I was in its final year, when the first cases were identified in the US. By then, many soldiers in Europe had been infected. But the propaganda machines of combatant nations suppressed news of the disease. Neutral Spain did not. Censorship delayed policy responses that could have mitigated the impact of the flu. Similarly, the initial response to COVID-19 may have been inadequate, due to the tight leash kept on China’s freedom of expression. Doctors in