Balancing public health and civil liberties in times of pandemic

Orzechowski, Marcin; Schochow, Maximilian; Steger, Florian

doi:10.1057/s41271-020-00261-y

Cited by 17 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Indeed, anti-government protests, reduced adherence to social distancing regulations, and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy or refusal have all been attributed to the uptake of conspiracy theory beliefs during the pandemic (e.g. Imhoff & Lamberty, 2020 ; Keane, 2020 ; Orzechowski et al, 2021 ; Pummerer et al, 2021 ; Romer & Jameison, 2020 ; Roozenbeek et al, 2020 ). The success of virus containment measures are contingent on people-trusting authorities and adhering to their advice.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19 Conspiracies, Trust in Authorities, and Duty to Comply with Social Distancing Restrictions

et al. 2022

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In 2020 governments worldwide implemented various laws and social distancing restrictions to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus. At the same time, conspiracy theories emerged purporting that authorities were using the COVID-19 pandemic to permanently control or harm citizens. These conspiracies undermined government responses to the pandemic and in some cases elicited civil disobedience. Using survey data from 779 Australians collected eight months into the pandemic, we examined the relationship between conspiracy beliefs, trust in the government, and duty to comply with authorities during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also examined whether trust in government moderated the association between conspiracy beliefs and duty to comply. We found that those prone to conspiracy theory beliefs and who distrusted government were less likely to comply with authorities during the pandemic. We also found that trust in the government moderated the negative relationship between conspiracy beliefs and duty to comply; high trust served as a protective factor against conspiracy beliefs. Importantly, we found that how government actions were experienced and perceived during the pandemic were important correlates of Australians’ level of trust in the government. Our findings point to the importance of governments maintaining high trust in their efficacy and approach during a crisis.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19 Conspiracies, Trust in Authorities, and Duty to Comply with Social Distancing Restrictions

et al. 2022

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“…Orzechowski et al [1] focus on Hungary and Poland. Hungary "passed a set of regulations that give the government a right to issue special decrees under emergency rule."…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Considering that making good policy in a pandemic means balancing incommensurable goods under conditions of uncertainty and limited control, how should governments decide? The authors of the Viewpoint about which I write say, "decisions should not be based on political strategy but on scientific data" [1]. Science certainly has a role, but no empirical evidence or algorithm can determine how to balance potentially competing goods, such as individual liberty versus public health, economic equity versus economic growth, or controlling the virus versus protesting the government.…”

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confidence: 99%

Why protect civil liberties during a pandemic?

Levine

2021

J Public Health Pol

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During a public health emergency, a government must balance public welfare, equity, individual rights, and democratic processes and norms. These goods may conflict. Although science has a role in informing wise policy, no empirical evidence or algorithm can determine how to balance competing goods under conditions of uncertainty. Especially in a crisis, it is crucial to have a broad and free conversation about public policy. Many countries are moving in the opposite direction. Sixtyone percent of governments have imposed at least some problematic restrictions on individual rights or democratic processes during the COVID-19 pandemic, and 17 have made substantial negative changes. The policies of Poland and Hungary reflect these global trends and continue these countries' recent histories of democratic erosion. The expertise of public health should be deployed in defense of civil liberties.

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“…Finally, it was despite the so-called "indivisibility of human rights" that the political and civil aspects of fundamental rights were separated from their social, economic and cultural counterparts by means of the two 1966 International Covenants mentioned before. This problem and the balance of different rights is also manifest in the context of the current pandemic 10 with the problem of finding the right balance between individual rights and liberties and their restrictions due to public health during pandemics [91,100].…”

Section: The Age Of Paradox or "Fake News" As A Glocal Phenomenonmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Global Regulation of “Fake News” in the Time of Oxymora: Facts and Fictions about the Covid-19 Pandemic as Coincidences or Predictive Programming?

Neuwirth

2021

Int J Semiot Law

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The beginning of the twenty-first century saw an apparent change in language in public discourses characterised by the rise of so-called "essentially oxymoronic concepts", i.e., mainly oxymora and paradoxes. In earlier times, these rhetorical figures of speech were largely reserved for the domain of literature, the arts or mysticism. Today, however, many new technologies and other innovations are contributing to their rise also in the domains of science and of law. Particularly in law, their inherent contradictory quality of combining apparently antagonistic suppositions challenges the traditional dualistic mode of reasoning and binary logic. As reflected in terms like fake news, alternative facts or conspiracy theories, these concepts are seen as a threat to the rule of law and legal certainty and have been described as harbingers of an age of disinformation or post-truth. The challenge posed by these apparently contradictory concepts requires a closer look at the premises that guide our legal thinking and a more integrated theory of the senses and their role in law, as captured by the terms "legal synaesthesia" and "legal semiotics". It also calls for an inquiry into the mind's functioning generally and how it processes information in the creative process of decision making, linking thoughts and actions as well as facts and fictions. Based on the qualification of "fake news" as an oxymoron, this article critically examines the deficiencies in a dichotomous distinction between fact and fiction exemplified by information about the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 in an attempt to clarify the principal issues for a global regulatory debate regarding "fake news".

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Balancing public health and civil liberties in times of pandemic

Cited by 17 publications

References 8 publications

COVID-19 Conspiracies, Trust in Authorities, and Duty to Comply with Social Distancing Restrictions

COVID-19 Conspiracies, Trust in Authorities, and Duty to Comply with Social Distancing Restrictions

Why protect civil liberties during a pandemic?

The Global Regulation of “Fake News” in the Time of Oxymora: Facts and Fictions about the Covid-19 Pandemic as Coincidences or Predictive Programming?

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