Whistleblowers have become essential watchdogs during the COVID-19 pandemic. In my recent article in the European Journal of Risk Regulation I discuss the main whistleblowing cases in China, the USA and Europe showing how workers, especially medical workers, are not only on the front line of dealing with this global crisis, but also confronting censorship of information by governments and authorities.

Dr Fen and Dr Wenliang were the first whistleblowers in China to report that a new pandemic was possibly underway. Rather than addressing the legitimate concerns expressed by the doctors, Chinese authorities’ efforts focused on silencing and intimidating them. Dr Wenliang was detained under the accusation that he was “spreading false rumours” and he was forced to sign a police document admitting that he had “seriously disrupted social order”.

Whilst the effects of supressing and controlling information in China are severe, workers around the globe, especially medical workers at the frontline of fighting COVID-19, have faced pressure from governments and authorities to remain silent. Medical workers in New York City have been asked not to speak with the media, and similar instructions were received by the health professionals at the UK’s National Health Service.

In European countries where the rule of law was weakened even prior to the pandemic, measures have been even more extreme. In Poland, a healthcare professional was fired for posting in social media the lack of appropriate medical equipment, whereas Hungary has adopted measures further limiting freedom of expression, directly targeted at journalists, including a prison term of five years for “fake” reporting.

Censorship only enables governments to control the narrative and public opinion in the short term. When dealing with a crisis such as COVID-19, sustaining transparency is not only a checklist item for good governance; it can actually save lives. Whistleblowers are uniquely placed to expose risk at early stages and they should not face detrimental consequences for exposing the truth.

Vigjilenca Abazi is an Assistant Professor of European Union Law at Maastricht University. Read the article, “Truth Distancing? Whistleblowing as Remedy to Censorship during COVID-19” from European Journal of Risk Regulation.