The Disinformation Project are moving on to pastures new “after nearly four and a half years of pioneering research, analysis, and reporting on the growing landscape of disinformation in Aotearoa”. Their timing seems curious to say the least.
Chantelle Baker just won a defamation case against NZ Herald and Kate Hannah of the Disinformation Project, and launched a second lawsuit against Kate Hannah last month. Alia Bland from Voices for Freedom recently disclosed that she has now been waiting a cool 17 months for the Disinformation Project to respect a 20-day compliance period for release of information requested via the Privacy Act.
New projects are in the pipeline to continue monitoring your alarming opinions and develop ways to counter your mis-, mal- and dis-information: fundamentally important work for an establishment who view everyday citizens as adversaries.
As Kate Hannah, Sanjana Hattotuwa and Nicole Skews-Poole depart from an early iteration of “best-practice analysis of the Aotearoa disinformation landscape and its impacts since the issue first emerged” (in 2020?), similar organisations work at directing your thoughts towards the single source of truth. One such protection racket is Fighting Against Conspiracy Theories, FACT Aotearoa.
A quick look at their website and X.com account shows an anonymous group “because of the risk of doxxing and threats”, claiming to have received $62,500 since 2021. $50,000 of this came directly from the New Zealand government’s Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism Fund, confirming their sole purpose is to promote the single source of truth and label opponents as violent extremists.
The group are represented by Stephen Judd. In March 2022 he was given a platform on 1News Breakfast to explain the dangers of “conspiracy thinking”. He spoke with authority but no mention was made of his background or credentials to justify this authority.
In August 2022 Judd spoke similarly with 95bFM about the alleged rise in conspiracy theories. He claimed his group includes “journalists, medical professionals, researchers and I’m the spokesperson”, before explaining their role as being to identify harmful conspiracy theories and bring them to public attention.
The FACT Aotearoa website provides a “Report Behaviour” page with information on a range of authorities who may wish to be alerted if someone you know is “wrongspeaking” and/or “wrongthinking”. Prioritised above Crimestoppers for criminal acts is the government’s Computer Emergency Response Team who address “vaccine scams or misinformation”.
At the time of Judd’s 2022 radio interview, 130 local election candidates had been reported to FACT Aotearoa. He claims the group volunteers then spent at least half an hour looking at each candidate’s background to identify their “unusual beliefs”. Some of these people then featured in mainstream media articles.
Two main concerns identified by Judd were undisclosed affiliation with Voices for Freedom, and “people who subscribe to a whole variety of conspiracy theories, from vaccines being a plot to poison your kids, to Agenda 2030 being part of an international plot to bring in one world government and depopulate the earth”. Judd explains that functioning democracies require transparency from political representatives and that some conspiracy theories are harmful, for example the idea that vaccination is a plot to poison your children.
He claims that people who believe these harmful conspiracies are “likely to act out” through violence or covert action that disrupts normal life. This is in keeping with the inconsistent claims from “security expert” Paul Buchanan within weeks of Judd’s radio interview, that members of the “anti-mask movement” could be engaging in terror activities.
Criminalising opponents of government diktats seems to be Judd’s perceived way to protect democracy? Furthermore this is an absurd statement as criminals usually try to hide their faces!
Judd is unsure of what to do about the alleged “rise in these kinds of groups” other than informing the public about “who people really are”. He does not hold the same standard for unelected members of FACT Aotearoa, whose anonymous members he represents as a source of government-funded truth.
Government control of information in the American context is explained succinctly by Sharyl Attkisson. This is just as relevant to the New Zealand of today, where public funds are spent ensuring only one perspective is heard or considered valid.
FACT Aotearoa have attempted to discredit NZDSOS since our recent conference, which focused on a range of issues centering around medical ethics and scientific evidence and featured speakers with relevant credentials, from oncology and intensive care to law, human rights, behavioural science, general and integrative medicine. One glaring omission from this conference was pharmaceutical industry representation: the exact opposite of what happens at most medical conferences.
The main point by FACT Aotearoa, as far as we can see through the word salad of “conspiracy theorist techniques”, “anti science hostility” and character assassinations against high profile and well-credentialed supporters of NZDSOS, is that we are “dangerous”. We see no specific counter-evidence from FACT Aotearoa to any of the information we share in our articles and social media. If this group does in fact consist of medical professionals, then what medical information do they share and where can we find it? Certainly not on their website.
We suggest to Stephen Judd that a threat to the “single source of truth” is the exact opposite of a threat to democracy. He may wish to read some history in order to grasp the concept properly, and the role he is choosing – consciously or not – to play. We recommend The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin’s Russia.
Behavioural scientist David Charalambous explained in his presentation at our recent conference, the strategy of labeling, as used repeatedly by FACT Aotearoa. It is clear that their role is to ensure public support for government authority by dismissing and even criminalising those who dare to oppose government policies. Such propaganda should concern anyone who values freedom and democracy.
What is needed is more conversation, not less, and if FACT Aotearoa have concerns about the medical and scientific information we provide, we’d be more than happy to have a public discussion with one or more of their scientific or medical members. But their blinkered history doesn’t fill us with any confidence.
Watch: David Charalambous on the Strategy of Labeling
David Charalambous, speaking at the NZDSOS 2024 Auckland conference, explained the strategy of labeling, and ways to find common ground. This is a two minute clip taken from his longer form presentation.
This article was originally published by New Zealand Doctors Speaking Out With Science.
