As the Covid-19 pandemic has spread, governments around the world have used right to information laws to manage and limit the impact of the pandemic on their countries. In Brazil, the government has imposed restrictions on right to information laws to obscure its response to the crisis, while in Italy, the government has suspended the laws unless requests are urgent or related to the pandemic. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression has said that temporary disruptions to right to information laws are to be expected, but in Brazil, the restrictions have been criticised for limiting access to information about the government's response to the crisis.