COVID-19 Quarantine Protests
Over the past few weeks, protests have taken place across the country in violation of social distancing laws to challenge just that. These people believe that stay at home orders are tyrannical and that leaving your home is a personal right. The protests started in Maine and Pennsylvania, and a series of demonstrations followed in Michigan, Minnesota, Maryland, California, Colorado, North Carolina, Virginia, and Kentucky.
Many of the protests were organized on Facebook, which has publicly declared that it has and will continue to remove anti-quarantine events from the social media platform. These actions were prompted by consultations with concerned state government officials. President Donald Trump has reportedly supported the protests and claims that some governors have “gone too far” with their stay at home policies.
Much of protest rhetoric revolves around the concept of individual choice, especially relating to health. The image above highlights the irony of this type of speech being used by protesters that mainly represent right-wing groups.
This story highlights how multiple modes of government surveillance operates. It broaches issues of enforcing stay at home policies, the government’s ability to censor information through third-party social media platforms, and the government’s capacity to control individual bodies.