Patients infected by the COVID-19 coronavirus wait to be transferred from Wuhan No.5 Hospital to ... [+] Leishenshan Hospital, the newly-built hospital for the COVID-19 coronavirus patients, in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on March 3, 2020. - Across the world, 3,127 people have died from the new virus. More than 92,000 have been infected in 77 countries and territories, according to AFP's latest toll based on official sources at 1100 GMT on March 3. (Photo by STR / AFP) / China OUT (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images)

When crypto and blockchain technology get brought up in casual conversation, it often turns to the multiple ways they can be misappropriated by illicit actors. Examples include:

Laundering money

Financing terror

Trading drugs and other contraband

Crypto advocates immediately get defensive.

After all, they must concede that crypto could be used for these things, just like cash, but it can be difficult to present a tangible value proposition beyond investing that makes an impression.

No more. Not since COVID-19.

Since the virus first emerged, governments have struggled to find the right balance between providing up-to-date information without inciting panic and upending social order. In countries like the United States the issue is more about preventing fear mongering and ensuring a united front across the government.

For more authoritarian regimes the overarching concern is limiting social unrest and maintaining public faith in the regime.

This is a shame, because for something this important citizens should not have to rely on governments for what could turn out to be life-saving information.

With blockchain technology, they may no longer have to do so.

The Butterfly Information Effect in China

Countries like China were too slow to get information about COVID-19 to their population at the outset, and now they are struggling to allow for a tolerable amount of online dissent without losing control.

What does this look like in practice? According to a recent report from the University of Torontos Citizen Lab, censored content included criticism of government, rumors and speculative information on the epidemic, references to the late Dr. Li Wenliang, and neutral references to Chinese government efforts on handling the outbreak that had been reported on state media. Some specific examples cited in the report included:

YY, a live-streaming platform in China, began to censor keywords related to the outbreak on December 31, 2019, a day after doctors (including Dr. Li Wenliang) tried to warn the public about the then unknown virus.

WeChat broadly censored coronavirus-related content (including critical and neutral information) and expanded the scope of censorship in February 2020.

Whats worse, Citizen Lab found that the censors were blocking access toinformation sources,not just commentary about COVID-19.

The View From Tehran

In Iran, the government has been inundated with accusations that it is minimizing the impact of the virus within its borders. The numbers suggest there is truth behind them. For instance, according to official figures cited in theFinancial Times,Iran has the highest COVID-19 mortality rate in the world.

TEHRAN, IRAN - MARCH 02: An ambulance staff wearing a protective mask and a suit takes a patient to ... [+] a hospital as death toll from coronavirus (Covid-19) rises to 66 in Tehran, Iran on March 02, 2020. The death toll from coronavirus in Iran has reached to 66 as 12 more people lost their lives due to the virus and the total number of confirmed cases rose to 1,501. (Photo by Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

This seems hard to imagine since by the time it reached Iran much more was known about the virus than when it first emerged in China. Therefore, there are only two ways that this can be true:

1.For some reason COVID-19 is more deadly in Iran than anywhere else in the world

2.The Iranian government is underreporting the number of cases in the country

If the latter is true, why would Iranian officials do this? Well, from the perspective in Tehran all of this obfuscation makes sense for a couple of reasons:

The healthcare system in Iran is substandard

The government is still reeling from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps accidentally shooting down a citizen airliner earlier this year

Obviously neither one of these options is ideal, but if the latter is true it could mean that the government unnecessarily exposed millions of citizens to the virus.

We All Deserve Better

Citizens in China, Iran, and other countries around the world should not have access to potentially life-saving information filtered, or censored, by governments with competing priorities.

Every governments top priority is to protect its citizens, and during times of global health emergencies that involves directly giving people full and correct information, or at the very least letting them find it for themselves.

Blockchain Technology and Open Protocols are the First Step

Blockchain technology at least solves one of these issues. Open networks are censorship-resistant and immutable. When information goes up on a blockchain it stays there forever. This could prove to be a necessary lifeline for individuals in affected areas.

Now, it is important to note that these traits are necessary, but not sufficient by themselves to solve the problem. We must have the infrastructure and applications necessary to send billions of messages and gigabytes of data. Additionally, citizens need ways to evaluate the accuracy of data and detect the signal from the noise. Finally, citizens in China, North Korea, and other restricted areas require consistent access to the Internet. Fortunately, work is taking place behind these scenes, and hopefully things will be different during the next crisis.

However, with blockchain technology the first step is in place, suggesting we are off to the right start.

Read the original post:

The Global Struggle For Information About COVID-19 Is A Reminder Of Blockchains True Value - Forbes