New Delhi (NVI): Amid the coronavirus outbreak, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has urged Chinese authorities to ensure free flow of information around COVID-19, to allow its own citizens and the global community to remain informed.

The pandemic is still active with a number of cases being reported daily across the world. Amid the ongoing global crisis, the IFJ remains particularly concerned about the censoring of key reports on the coronavirus.

“The Chinese authorities’ response to the crisis is being closely monitored for undue censorship on critical information,” the group said in a statement today.

IFJ has claimed that an important report, based on an interview with the director of the Wuhan Central Hospital Emergency Rescue Unit, has been blocked in China and copies of the publication have been removed from sale.

“First published in China’s People magazine, ‘Whistlemaker’ was published in the week beginning March 9 and documented Dr Ai Fen’s account of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as the first doctor to identify the virus,” the group says in its report.

“She subsequently went on to share this report among medical doctors in Wuhan, including ‘whistleblower’ Dr Li Wenliang, who alerted other doctors about the potential danger of the virus on 30 December, 2019,” it says.

Shortly after, the authorities accused Dr Li of spreading rumours. Li was later exposed to the coronavirus while treating a patient and succumbed to the virus on February 7, 2020.

IFJ further stated in its report that Netizens across China argue that the report exposed otherwise unknown aspects of the pandemic to the public.

In a bid to counter China’s censors, netizens created a variety of versions of the report including posting it in different languages, using Chinese internet slang as well as Chinese calligraphy. The various versions available in the Chinese online space were gradually all removed, it said.

The federation, it report further states that the authorities have tightened control over China’s online space even further after the outbreak of coronavirus. This included an order put into effect from March 1 that all “content should be mainly positive, uplifting and devoid of rumours,” it said.

The IFJ report has also accused China of cracking down on freedom of expression related to COVID-19 which includes the arrest and disappearances of activists and journalists reporting on the coronavirus pandemic in the epicentre of the outbreak in Wuhan province. These include Li Zehua, Chen Qiushi and Fangbin, it claimed.

However, the group also stated in its statement that a breakthrough in China’s transparency came on March 19 when the Chinese government concluded that local authorities in Wuhan had acted inappropriately in their treatment of the late Dr Li. “The authorities noted Dr Li’s positive influence in raising the alarm around the coronavirus and said two officers involved in the matter had been reprimanded,” it said.

In it’s appeal to China for for ensuring free flow of information, IFJ said: “The control over information by the Chinese authorities at this time is highly concerning. The IFJ reaffirms that the access to public information is critical, particularly during the public health crisis we are currently facing. The IFJ urges the Chinese authorities to consider its country’s place in the global community and the need for free flow of vital information at this unprecedented time.”