Avoiding the rabbit hole

Misinformation can kill, and almost two years since Covid-19 hit our shores it’s a national security issue with no easy solution. How is it impacting how we treat each other, and society at large? Michelle Duff reports.

Remember laughing at the United States? Even a year ago, it seemed implausible that people here would seriously believe the world is controlled by a cabal of Satanworshipping paedophiles running a global sextrafficking ring. Yet in government documents grappling with how to contain the infodemic, this outlandish theory from far-right conspiracy group QAnon was cited among the misinformation that poses a threat to our way of life.

‘‘Anti-mask and antilockdown narratives, often couched in broad human rights and basic freedoms terms (and often grounded in narratives linked to the US constitution) [have] found fertile ground amongst followers of a few influencers, political parties and some church congregations,’’ a Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet briefing reads.

It outlines how so far, the country’s relatively high level of trust in the state and the media has largely inoculated the public from widespread belief of false or misleading information. We aren’t yet in the same post-truth environment as the US, the United Kingdom or even Australia. But that was preAuckland lockdown. Now, says Sanjana Hattotuwa, , of the University of Auckland Te Pū naha Matatini’s The Disinformation Project, we are there.

‘‘I can’t stress this enough. The social fabric of New Zealand is being tested and threatened daily, in ways that are historically unprecedented,’’ Hattotuwa says. ‘‘You have here, and for the first time with this veracity and increasing violence, an issue that has been brewing in other parts of the world. It is here, and it is a hellscape.’’

Covid-19 conspiracy theories and mis- and disinformation have increased exponentially since August 17, when Auckland went into level 4 lockdown. The Government identified it as a national security threat before this, with NZSIS DirectorGeneral Rebecca Kitteridge using a speech in June to raise the radicalising power of disinformation and its increasing potential for offline violence.

By now, everyone knows someone who has fallen down the rabbit hole. No-one seems immune. Journalist and former Franklin County News editor Rex Warwood was spreading anti-Covid misinformation on his Facebook page shortly before dying from the illness last week.

The vast majority of us are vaccinated, trust what Dr Ashley Bloomfield is telling us, and don’t think Covid is a hoax. Many of the vaccinehesitant do not believe in vast conspiracy theories. But, once ensconced in the disinformation ecosystem of closed Facebook groups or shadow social media apps like Telegram, where sense and fact-checking is almost nonexistent, reality as we know it can cease to exist. Vaccine mandates, the traffic light system, and opening up of the vaccination to young children have fuelled and accelerated anger. The rage is often vitriolic, misogynist, and racist. It’s rooted in intolerance, but also distrust, fear and a sense of righteousness, which makes addressing it complex.

In research by the Classification Office earlier this year, more than half of respondents said government was best placed to deal with this. But Stuff can reveal the main question it has grappled with for the past several months is: how?

National security threat

Documents viewed by Stuff show the Government is treating the risks posed by the infodemic to both individuals and society as a ‘‘significant national security issue’’. That’s in relation to the danger of radicalisation and extremism leading to terrorist attacks, but also the health and safety of people in general and the way we relate to each other and live our lives.

The Government is in a challenging place. It is aware any attempts to counter disinformation could feed into conspiracy narratives of state control. Unlike child sexual exploitation or terrorist extremist content, misinformation has often existed in a grey area where it was legal (but could still cause untold harm.)

‘‘This confusion over what is true could not only lead individuals to make misinformed choices in their own lives, it can also have significant issues for national security,’’ it states.

This includes the politicisation of scientific facts to undermine the Covid-19 response, creating and amplifying social divisions, challenging national values,

The social fabric of New Zealand is being tested daily ... Sanjana Hattotuwa

and inciting violence.

Racist, Treaty of Waitangibased and gendered narratives were of real concern, it said. ‘‘Online spaces are being systemically weaponised against women leaders, with politically motivated gendered stereotypes and personal attacks posing a serious threat to women’s equal political participation.’’

It has pulled together a group of 11 government agencies including the DPMC, Ministry of Health (MOH), Ministry of Justice, the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA), CERT NZ and the police to work on a strategic plan to address disinformation and its harms. It will report to a group of ministers. But in the briefing documents, there’s little detail on policies that might go towards stemming the infodemic. The DIA media content regulation review is discussed. Long-term moves could include building resistance to disinformation and critical thinking teaching into the school curriculum.

But any move had to be considered within the context of whether it would make matters worse. It was better to work with other independent groups more widely to tackle misinformation, rather than have it come from a single government entity, the documents state.

In a way, this is logical. As Dylan Reeve wrote in The Spinoff, a comment by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, where she said the Government was the ‘‘single

source of truth’’, has since been used by various groups to allege mind control.

But public research organisation The Workshop’s Jess Berentson-Shaw says the Government is too risk-averse. ‘‘It’s great they are proposing a strategy and framework. Less great is the focus on civil society to do the work. That’s very much the job, I think, of people in government. They are there to create robust systems for our wellbeing, and one of them is building societies and communities that are resistant to false information.

‘‘There’s been a slow uptake in understanding how people in government develop and deliver information, and that’s a critical skill that’s missing. They need good public education that’s not just this neutral presentation of facts, and any shift from that approach is seen as risky now.’’

Research shows trust in government increases when people see themselves as part of it. ‘‘They should be concerned about how we rebuild some trust, and don’t let any slip.’’

In a statement, DPMC national security group deputy chief executive Tony Lynch said the strategy for mis- and disinformation would be developed next year. Teams within DPMC and the MOH were actively monitoring disinformation now, along with CERT NZ and Te Pū naha Matatini, which was informing Covid-19 messaging.

Misinformation overlap

CERT NZ is the government agency responsible for receiving and collating reports of mis- and disinformation related to Covid-19. It has received more than 1500 reports this year. In an analysis produced in August of the 860 reports in the first half of the year, obtained by Stuff under the Official Information Act, it found more than 80 per cent of the misinformation produced in New Zealand came from the same related sources. Voices for Freedom, failed political party Advance NZ and an organisation called The Real News were identified as the main proponents of false information, and were linked through individuals associated with them and the content and themes they pushed.

Thirteen themes were identified, which rose and subsided over time, often in alignment with what was being circulated internationally. Suspicion of the vaccine remained the most prominent. The items with the most reports were flyers from Voices for Freedom, of which millions have been distributed around New Zealand, with titles like: ‘‘Covid Vaccine Facts Reference List; Are You Fed Up With Covid Yet?,’’ and, ‘‘What’s All The Fuss About Masks?’’

Events like the beginning of vaccination, the Auckland lockdown, and the travel bubble with Australia each brought new waves of misinformation.

This relatively small number of people responsible for spreading falsehoods is similar to patterns identified overseas. In a recent report from the Centre for Countering Digital Harm, 12 individuals in the US were identified as responsible for 65 per cent of all online antivaccine content. But trying to shut down these groups is like spraying weeds. Voices For Freedom, kicked off Facebook, encouraged followers to join them on Telegram. In this unregulated space, more than 158,000 New Zealanders are soaking up what’s served to them daily and nightly.

Hattotuwa says even if the number of Covid disinformation consumers and spreaders is relatively small, it will infiltrate the way mainstream New Zealand thinks and acts. ‘‘It is definitely going to impact the way of life here. It will move, and it might have already moved, from a Covid-19 problem to striking at the heart of the democratic process, and impacting elections. The level of hostility and violence, of openly instigating harm against journalists, politicians, experts talking about the vaccine, this is all new.’’

He says the Government has been slow to act, and needs to move to improve social cohesion and limit polarisation now. The proposals in the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the mosque terror attacks contain a blueprint for how to do this. ‘‘The applicable laws, frameworks and processes of dealing with all-of-government problems are not fit for purpose, and in a way this is moving faster and with more... complexity than the Government probably can handle,’’ he says. ‘‘It’s a challenge that’s so complicated because in a country like Aotearoa, misinformation feeds off historical inequities, gendered discrimination, and communal grievances, and new things like Covid-19 thread into that like a garment.’’

But anarchy is not destiny, he says. ‘‘What happens henceforth will be determined by how we deal with people who don’t want to be vaccinated, how we deal with the planned protests, aggression, tension, and anxiety. It’s already having an impact, and whether it expands and entrenches remains to be seen.’’

There are still some protective factors. The codirector of Auckland University of Technology’s centre for Journalism, Media and Democracy (JMAD), Dr Merja Myllylahti, says trust in the news media is generally higher here than abroad, though it’s still relatively low, with just 48 per cent of New Zealanders trusting the news media.

The most recent JMAD survey found it had dropped by five percentage points since 2020, and is expected to erode further. This should be a concern for everyone, she says. ‘‘It’s verified information, it has proper sources which are normally named, it’s professionally produced, it’s been checked. Key news values are accuracy and transparency – we know where claims come from.

‘‘How do people participate in processes if they’re misinformed? If they have wrong information about party politics, if it’s biased and not factual, of course it has a massive impact on democracy. It doesn’t help them to act as citizens in a society.’’

People in the survey said they did want accurate information. ‘‘They have enough opinions, they just want facts and data they can trust,’’ Myllylahti said.

Chance for change

Society works because people accept rules and regulations, that those at the top know what they are doing and are generally telling the truth and acting in our best interests. This is part of the ‘‘social contract’’ that organises our lives. New Zealander M R X Dentith, a conspiracy theory researcher at Beijing Normal University, says this is one of the things conspiracy theories threaten. Incidents like the anti-lockdown traffic protests are a group of people going out of their way to disrupt an agreed way of life because they believe it’s inherently wrong or corrupt. ‘‘If you don’t believe there are a trusted set of people doing the mahi at the top of society, and you start doubting the experts, then you start doubting other rules.’’

Dentith doesn’t think tendencies to believe in these ideas are new, simply that we can now see it on a larger scale. And it’s clear certain places, for example faith-based community Destiny Church, become hubs for bad ideas and information. ‘‘It might be the case that this has always been a feature of our society, but it’s curious we tolerated this before the pandemic. Maybe we need to look at how society is structured to allow these communities to exist.’’

Dentith thinks NZ has done a better job than other countries in maintaining trust, particularly early on. ‘‘It was the best health communication response anywhere in the Western world, and there was a much lesser chance for disinformation to enter the public discourse. That’s the kind of thing we need.’’