How Media and Culture Affect Pandemic Responses: Masks and Ehteraz in Qatar
During the pandemic in Qatar, the media, specifically social media, became a battleground where people were very vocal about their thoughts on the government’s way of dealing with COVID-19. Through the pandemic, Twitter proved to be the leading site of the battle where prevention measures, the government’s vaccine campaign, the citizen’s rights to delete Ehteraz, and the rights of the unvaccinated were heavily contested. This continued altercation between the Qatari citizens and the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Public Health better showed the media’s significance, especially regarding a battle of perception between the media and the state. Using the case study of Qatar and focusing on two particular aspects of the state’s public health response, the instance on mask-wearing and the Ehteraz application, this paper argues that in Qatar, media and culture meditated how state and society responded to the pandemic. Specifically, this paper looks at mediatized and cultural dimensions of resistance for those who did not wear masks and download the application under the threat of prosecution.
Faculty mentor: Prof. Uday Chandra
