We’ve also seen the administration shut down the biggest media corporation for being anti-government, creating a huge gap in access for rural areas. For example, President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the killings of thousands of people that his administration deemed “criminal suspects” without trial-a campaign that appears to have intensified during the pandemic. This has allowed the government to railroad legislation. Similarly in the Philippines, scare tactics have continued to be adopted in the country that has experienced a year long lockdown. As well as this, the NGO bill will criminalise anything concerning good governance or addressing sticky issues. The Patriotic Bill for example is gaining fierce traction in Kenya, criminialising anyone deemed to be against the government. The threat of the virus and the psychological aspect of the lockdown has created an opportune environment for an authoritarian context to thrive. We’ve seen in Kenya, the suspension of parliamentary activities and bi-elections to silence the opposition and give increased power to the executive. In 2020, in multiple countries, governments cited public health reasons to suspend regular parliamentary activities (such as briefings and other transparency activities) and suspend campaigning for elections as well as state leadership elections, allowing the incumbent to retain power uncontested. With the COVID-19 pandemic, instead of a country-specific or regional disaster, we have a global disaster for the first time ever. For months, all eyes have been on the primary and secondary impacts of and responses to the pandemic-providing perfect cover for diversionary maneuvers, and, in many cases, justification for suspending parliament and operating legislating bodies without debate. It describes the development and passing of controversial legislation during states of emergency, which enable governments to act with fewer checks and balances-and allows “back door” activities to go unnoticed. The term was coined by Naomi Klein in her eponymous book of 2007. The shock doctrine is a theory for explaining the way that force, stealth, and crisis are used in implementing neoliberal policies.

The shock theory