Coronavirus? What’s a coronavirus? Turkmenistan‘s authoritarian government has banned all uses of the word “coronavirus” from public discourse in a bizarre attempt to control any mention of the COVID-19 disease.
State-controlled media have been ordered not to use the word and police are arresting citizens who say “coronavirus” or wear face masks in public, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), an international NGO dedicated to promoting free speech.
RSF cites the Turkmenistan Chronicle, one of the country’s “few sources of independent news,” in its reporting. The Chronicle published a story earlier this month showing that “coronavirus” has been removed from all state Ministry of Health pamphlets. “The Turkmen authorities have lived