Most New Zealanders will have some understanding that after the COVID-19 pandemic, a large number of people have come to believe false and upsetting things.
Over the last four years, Aotearoa has experienced growth of misleading or harmful information being deliberately spread. This is called disinformation, and it's having serious impacts on our society.
Disinformation is defined as false or misleading information created or shared with the intent to cause harm, or which could reasonably be expected to harm an individual, group or community.
Disinformation is also:
A local and global issue that is having a growing impact on society.
Spread by individuals and online communities that have shared conspiratorial beliefs.
Often centred around existing fears, stereotypes and harmful beliefs about groups, as well as a belief that the government seeks to harm people.
Aided by technology like the internet, targeted online advertising and the use of unmoderated social media platforms.
Amplified by well-funded foreign groups who seek to benefit from creating disharmony across different countries.
Ultimately fuelled by a global backlash to progressive issues like public health measures, sharing decision-making with indigenous communities, and marginalised groups winning small gains towards their rights and wellbeing.
Mis or Dis?
You might sometimes hear the term ‘misinformation’. Misinformation is false information that is spread because a person believes it to be true, usually without intent to harm.
Disinformation is the term used most often because the impacts of spreading false information on a large scale are harmful, regardless of whether it started from a genuine belief.
Disinformation often promotes a distrust of people in power, like the government or ‘in groups’ who are believed to have influence. Holding leaders to account is a healthy and normal part of society, and many groups in Aotearoa have historically been mistreated and have very understandable reasons to distrust the government.
However, disinformation spreaders exploit this distrust by encouraging people to believe increasingly extreme ideas about the world. These ideas promote a constant sense of fear and anger in people, which creates a harmful disconnect between them, their families, communities and eventually wider society.
As online communities centred around disinformation continue to grow, so do their real-world impacts. Members of disinformation communities frequently express a desire for violence towards politicians, judges, public servants, academics and marginalised communities who they believe will cause them harm or take away their freedoms
Themes of disinformation
The most common theme in disinformation is the idea that the government, backed by powerful ‘in groups’, are engaging in mass-scale deception of the public.
An example of this is the false belief that the COVID-19 pandemic was fake and involved a genocide that has been covered up by groups ranging from healthcare providers through to the United Nations.
Other themes seek to exploit people’s existing biases and target groups who are already marginalised by spreading false ideas like:
Honouring the Treaty of Waitangi will take away the rights of non-Māori as part of a conspiracy between the government and a perceived group of ‘elites’.
Transgender and non-binary people are a danger to children.
The growth of immigration into New Zealand and other countries will result in the ‘replacement’ of white people.
Women’s rights have gone too far, and women are failing in their traditional roles as mothers and caretakers.
Moves to be more environmentally friendly, especially in infrastructure and transport, are secretly a way to take away people’s private property.