Anti-vax leaflet under scrutiny
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is investigating an anti-vaccination Covid-19 leaflet after the group behind it sent copies nationwide.
University of Auckland fellow Kate Hannah, who is the lead researcher for a group monitoring Covid-19 disinformation, received complaints about the leaflet from Auckland, Wellington, Nelson, Marlborough, Gisborne and Dunedin over the weekend.
Voices For Freedom, which produced the leaflets, said it fundraised to print 2 million of them and the campaign was planned in advance to run alongside the Government’s vaccine campaign.
Now, one of the largest companies that handles the printing and distributing of advertising and advocacy mail has called for an industry-wide stance against working with such groups.
Hannah said the leaflet often arrived in people’s letterboxes at the same time as official Covid-19 information on the vaccine plan.
‘‘Which is really concerning, because obviously it creates a sense of like-for-like,’’ she said.
Data suggested the people heading anti-vaccination groups were closely related to anti-1080 efforts, gun control opposition, and anti-5G groups, Hannah said.
The Government’s Computer Emergency Response Team (Cert NZ) also monitors Covid disinformation. A spokesman said he was aware of the leaflet being circulated ‘‘substantially nationwide’’.
The fliers include eight points that cast doubt on the safety or efficacy of the vaccine – arguments that vaccinologist Helen PetousisHarris, an associate professor at the University of Auckland, recently wrote a piece discrediting.
Reach, which claims to be one of the country’s two largest printing and mail distribution companies, said it was not involved with the anti-vax leaflet. Chief executive Struan Abernethy said Reach was working to get an industry-wide consensus on not printing such material. ‘‘We will not be distributing this material and lead the industry in our ethical approach to not allowing any objectionable material to be sent via a Reach Media channel,’’ he said.
The ASA received four complaints about the leaflet. Chief executive Hilary Souter said she could not comment on an active investigation.