Quarantined Brazilians protest from their houses during President Jair Bolsonaro's televised address on March 24. Photo: Screencap from video by Deutsche Welle/YouTube. Check out Global Voices’ special coverage of the global impact of COVID-19. There is a very good chance that you're in lockdown as you read this. One in every three people on earth is under some sort of social distancing order as governments scramble to slow the spread of COVID-19, which has claimed more than 100,000 lives since the novel coronavirus was first detected in China in December 2019. Lockdowns have been watched vigilantly by rights groups, who are urging governments to tread carefully when restricting civil liberties in these exceptional circumstances. But lockdowns do present a paradox for accountability on that very matter: How can citizens ensure officials don't misuse their new emergency powers when public protests present an immediate danger to one other? Fortunately, people have found alternatives. From Kosovo to Spain, from Brazil to the Philippines, pot-banging from balconies and windows emerges as a COVID-safe way to capture the attention of politicians. Of course, such demonstrations are nothing new. As documented by historian Emmanuel Fureix, this type of protest was first seen in France in 1830. Back then, when the Republicans opposing the Louise-Philippe monarchy used kitchenware to make noise as a sign of protest, it was called charivari. This method of resistance later reached other parts of the world. In 1961, during the Algerian war of independence one protest became known as “the night of the pots.” Other popular protests of this kind took place in Chile in 1971, during the Allende administration, in Quebec during the 2012 student protests, and in Turkey, during the 2013 Gezi Park protests. Today it is particularly popular in Latin America, where it's known as cacelorazo, and panelaço in Brazil. In Kosovo, citizens banged pots and pans from the balconies and windows every night for a week to show discontent with the current political situation — a power struggle in the ruling coalition over the emergency measures. The protests did not prevent the prime minister from losing a no-confidence motion on March 25, making Kosovo's government the first in the world to fall in relation to the coronavirus crisis. NEWS – #Kosovo television broadcast live protest of people from balconies, as the voting starts to bring the government down. pic.twitter.com/8tnAuDtJry — Stefan in Kosovo (@StefanInKosovo) March 25, 2020 With the Kosovo government ousted, the decision to either form a new government or dissolve the country's parliament and call for early elections falls to President Hashim Thaçi, the main beneficiary of the prime minister's sacking. However, holding elections in the midst of a pandemic seems impossible, leaving various important issues up in the air: Motion passed, government collapsed, exposed to extreme uncertainty, quarantined, battling covid19, bracing for an agreement between Kosovo & Serbia. A long list of issues tormenting an average citizen of #Kosovo. — Donika Emini (@donikaemini) March 25, 2020 On March 19, 2020, as the King of Spain, Felipe I, gave a nationally broadcasted speech asking for unity in confronting COVID-19, people went to their windows and balconies to demand that his father, Juan Carlos I, donate to the public health system the 100 million euros he allegedly has in a Swiss bank account, courtesy the King of Saudi Arabia. Spain: massive banging of pots and pans protest as the King starts a TV address to the nation. People in lockdown come out to their balconies to reject the Crown's corruption Solo puedo decir #NiVirusNiCorona.#Cacerolada pic.twitter.com/f4hTbz8a2Z#CoronaCiao — Jorge Martin (@marxistJorge) March 18, 2020 Just a few days later, a similar protest was held against Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his government, as a criticism of their handling of the COVID-19 pandemic: Cacerolada de hace un rato. Pedro Sánchez DIMISIÓN, en Capitán Haya, Madrid. pic.twitter.com/FqD80On5sJ — Alfredo Martínez (@alfmartinx) March 21, 2020 Banging pots and pans for a while. Pedro Sanchez RESIGNATION, in Capitán Haya, Madrid. On April 1, right-wing and far-right again called on social media under the hashtag #cacerolada21h for a protest from the balconies against the government's handling of the COVID crisis. However, this call ended up having little or no success in some parts of Spain. Since March 17, pots and pans have been echoing from Brazilian households at around 8:30 p.m. every night, in protest over how President Jair Bolsonaro is handling policies to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic in a country with 200 million people: “Bolsonaro out!” says downtown São Paulo.