Members of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behavior have expressed regret about ‘unethical’ methods used to control behavior in Covid crisis and admitted they should be considered ‘totalitarian’.
Scientists on a committee that encouraged the use of fear to control people’s behavior during the Covid pandemic have admitted its work was “unethical” and “totalitarian”.
Members of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behavior (SPI-B) expressed regret about the tactics in a new book about the role of psychology in the Government’s Covid-19 response.
The group warned in March last year that ministers needed to increase “the perceived level of personal threat” from Covid-19 because “a substantial number of people still do not feel sufficiently personally threatened”.
Gavin Morgan, a psychologist on the team, said: “Clearly, using fear as a means of control is not ethical. Using fear smacks of totalitarianism. It’s not an ethical stance for any modern government. By nature, I am an optimistic person, but all this has given me a more pessimistic view of people.”
The government has faced a barrage of criticism and been accused of ramping up the threat from the pandemic to justify lockdowns and coerce the public into abiding by them.
Read full story here: Source: The use of fear to control behaviour in the Covid crisis was ‘totalitarian’, scientist group admits – Unity News Network