"The right to freedom of expression has been attacked globally in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and increased the dangers posed by the public health crisis," the organisation said on Tuesday.

"Freedom of expression is vitally important because a free flow of accurate, evidence-based and timely information increases awareness about health risks and how to prevent and deal with them."

As a result of repressive government measures, many people were left without access to information about the coronavirus and therefore did not know how to protect themselves and those around them, it said.

The report singled out China's suppression of information about the coronavirus as a particularly fateful example.

As early as December 2019, medical staff and citizen journalists in the Chinese city of Wuhan tried to draw attention to the outbreak of the then-unknown disease.

Rather than being heeded, however, they were prosecuted by the government for their actions, the report said.

By February 2020, 5511 people who had published information on the COVID-19 outbreak had been investigated for "fabrication and deliberate dissemination of false and harmful information," according to Amnesty.

Australian Associated Press