Ramaswami: The Western media has constantly harped on fears of the surveillance state extending its grip on citizens at this time, but there is also a democratic side to this. The Chinese people are now used to viewing the world through audio visual images , they expect public officials to remain visible and on camera while discharging their duties; they are expected to be seen and heard, their performance is closely monitored and discussed threadbare online. For instance, when Shanghai went under emergency, a whole range of officials from the Director of Shanghai Preventive Medicine Association to the Director of the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission gave constant briefing, putting out a steady stream of data and information about disease spread. Contrary to popular perception of an opaque state, the fact is, public officials in China must create an impression that loads of useful information is being put out in the public domain and is up for scrutiny.