During the COVID-19 pandemic, the need to implement measures to protect public health compromised many of the civil liberties that we would normally take for granted.

Margaret Simons, an award-winning journalist, author, political biographer and journalism academic, presented on the extent that civil liberties could or must be compromised during a crisis, while balancing the demands of the collective with the right to individual autonomy.

She also shared her views about the rights and responsibilities of the press and social media in the transformed media landscape now dominated by the tech giants.