UK scientists slam government’s attempt to censor virus report

Young journalists club

News ID: 46028
Publish Date: 19:12 - 09 May 2020
Tehran, 09 May_Scientific advisers to the British government have expressed indignation over what they call the censorship of their report and criticism of the government’s hygiene-related proposals during the coronavirus lockdown across the country.

UK scientists slam government’s attempt to censor virus reportThe British daily newspaper Guardian said the advisors were annoyed by the government’s heavily redacting of the official report before it was released to the public.

The report was one of a series of documents published by the Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies (Sage) this week to mollify growing criticism about the lack of transparency over the advice given to ministers responding to the deadly flu-like pathogen.

However, large blocks of text in the report, produced by SPI-B — the Sage subcommittee providing advice from behavioral scientists on how the public might respond to lockdown measures — were entirely blanked out.

In separate interviews with the Guardian, several SPI–B members said the redacted portions of the document contained criticisms they had made of potential government policies they had been formally asked to consider in late March and early April.

On Friday afternoon, after the British daily revealed frustrations over the redacted report, a member of the government’s advisory committee took to Twitter to complain of what he said was “Stalinist” censorship.

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