The cancellation of two disinformation seminars this week amid threats and harassment should be ringing very loud alarm bells.
The seminars, organised by the Disinformation Project and communicated through the Science Media Centre, were to allow journalists to discuss disinformation with a range of experts. However, details of the media-only events in Auckland and Wellington somehow appeared on extremist social media channels. Traffic on those channels suggested the events could be gate crashed and they were cancelled as a safety precaution.
The director of The Disinformation Project, Kate Hannah, told Newsroom political reporter Marc Daalder she had received a death threat after the decision to cancel had been made but before legitimate attendees had been notified. Members of the project had been scheduled to brief journalists.
What is disturbing about this episode – the latest in a string of intimidating actions – is that the invitations were privately despatched to individuals via the Science Media Centre. Like the Disinformation Project itself, the SMC is a highly reputable organisation (whose advisory board I had the privilege of chairing). The fact that a screenshot of the invitation then appeared on Telegram fringe channels raised the ugly possibility that one of the potential invitees shared it with someone connected to those channels, or that their email accounts have been hacked or otherwise compromised.
Perhaps perversely, I hope the latter is the case. A journalist deliberately leaking information to conspiracy theorists and extremists would be an appalling reflection on the whole profession at a time when it is struggling to maintain public trust.
Each possibility suggests to me that the matter should not end with cancellation of the seminars. It requires an immediate investigation to determine how information about the event, the security of which had been at the forefront of the organisers’ minds, found its way into the hands of malcontents.
Given the implications of the information breach, the investigation should be placed in the hands of New Zealand’s security services.
The integrity of communication between journalists and disinformation experts – including officials in the security services and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet – is vital. There is a basketful of background material – some of it confidential – for every word printed or broadcast on the subject. That background is essential if journalists are to understand the context of what they write or say…and the reasons why some information must be kept under wraps.
The director of the Disinformation Project made the right call in cancelling the seminars on safety grounds. However, the lunatic fringe must score no more than a pyrrhic victory. The hole in security must first be plugged by tracing the source of the leak, then the seminars must be held in secure locations.
The fight against disinformation is not lost but nor is it even half-won. The briefing paper on our national security framework released last week highlighted extremism and the effect of disinformation on social cohesion as high risks. The Prime Minister, in a speech to the hui on countering terrorism and violent extremism, committed the government to fighting both extremism and the corrosive effects of disinformation. She cited a survey that stated 80 per cent of people thought disinformation and misinformation were the greatest threat to them and their families.
And the threat is becoming increasingly personal.
Kate Hannah and her team have been the subject of ongoing threats and harassment this year. Journalists covering the occupation of the grounds of Parliament were threatened and subjected to online harassment (see Latter-day anarchists throw digital bombs at journalists https://knightlyviews.com/?p=2976 ). And last week an investigation screened on the BBC’s panorama revealed that the survivors of terrorist attacks were being directly approached and intimidated by people who believe the assaults were faked.
The Panorama investigation, by the BBC’s disinformation and social media correspondent Marianna Spring, included the results of a survey that suggests the contagion of conspiracy theories and disinformation is as easy to catch as the latest variant of Covid-19. It found, for example, that nearly a third of the public think the UK government has covered up terror attacks and even more (37 per cent) think there is a ‘deep state’ or other secret group controlling society. Suspicions have been heightened by the Covid pandemic, with a third saying it made them more suspicious of official explanations of events.
The survey, conducted by Kings College London, found a significant minority did not believe reports of attacks. Twelve per cent of people thought the Manchester Arena bombing (in which 23 people died and 1017 were injured while leaving an Ariana Grande concert) was a hoax. A slightly larger number thought the ‘victims’ were actors and that no-one died. Forty four per cent of those who get the majority of their news via Telegram channels were convinced it was faked, as were more than a third who relied on TikTok for news. These alternative media sources also figured strongly among those who believed at least some US school shootings were likely to be hoaxes.
Such beliefs have led to survivors of UK terrorist attacks being intimidated online and harassed in person. Spring interviewed one woman, profoundly disabled by the Manchester bomb, who was covertly filmed by a ‘disbeliever’ who erroneously suggested her injuries could not have been caused by the blast. Her father, who received a spinal cord injury from the bomb that left him wheelchair-bound, was accused by the same man of being an actor. A third told Spring he was subjected to online abuse – including threats that he would be executed “for treason”– while still recovering in hospital. He, too, was accused of being an actor.
The Panorama investigation and the Kings College survey show that almost two-thirds of the population reject conspiracy theories but that there is a hard core of about 10 per cent who strongly accept most or all conspiracy statements they encounter and have an abiding belief in the existence of a Deep State. Of that group, more than half are aged under 34, almost two-thirds are male and 70 per cent are white.
If those demographics also reflect the situation in this country – and I suspect there are many similarities – we are looking at the group that is least likely to engage with mainstream media and most likely to be suspicious of professional journalists.
So, what role can mainstream media play in reducing the impact of disinformation?
First, accept that the ‘true believers’ will not be dissuaded.
Second, expose and debunk disinformation for the rest of us by forensically taking it apart. That is the sort of work undertaken by researchers at the Disinformation Project, but it is not their province alone. The New Zealand Herald’s security correspondent David Fisher has a solid grasp on the subject, as evidenced earlier this year by his report on a Microsoft study that uncovered a spike in Russian disinformation and propaganda, directed at New Zealand, which preceded the occupation of the grounds of Parliament in protest against Covid-19 measures (and a host of bizarre notions).
Third, make us aware of the size and shape of disinformation and ‘out’ those who spread it. Marianna Spring’s documentary revealed a serial victim attacker in the UK. Justin Pemberton’s documentary Web of Chaos screened by TVNZ, brought the problem home for Kiwis. And the work done by Stuff during the lead up to the local body elections alerted voters to clandestine associations between candidates and conspiracy theory perpetrators.
Fourth, ensure that newsrooms keep up to date with the latest developments in disinformation, its detection, and countermeasures. That is the purpose of seminars such as those planned and now postponed by the Disinformation Project. I say ‘postponed’ because it is vital neither journalists nor academics are intimidated by the alternative truth brigade.
Fifth, lead by example. Mainstream media must demonstrate a determination to publish and broadcast news, based on verified facts, in which the public can reside its trust. It can start by making clear distinctions between fact and opinion.
And, at all costs, avoid propagating disinformation in the name of exposing it. The way in which news media tell the disinformation story must leave no-one in any doubt that the falsehoods in question are – so much like the self-interest cloaked in patriotism that was denounced by Samuel Johnson – the last refuge of a scoundrel.
Fair call about threats. I assume that police are focused on finding the offenders. Or can we have any faith that these people can be located and charged. Your premise on disinformation is flawed though.You believe that it is outsider malcontents who are distributing lies and that government agencies cannot issue disinformation/misinformation.
It also ignores the level of distrust about journalists The argument down the ‘ the single source of truth’ argument advanced by the PM . That is treated sceptically by many, including those who are not white supremacists, extreme anti-vaxx or Q anon zealots. State funded organisation liker he Disinformation Project that invited selected media, and excluded others is not a recipe for appeasing concern that the State in restricting debate. Not withstanding nthe threats which do the same The idea that an invitation to a private advisory should not leak out into the wider community seems optimistic. I’m not sure a witch-hunt would help the branding if the Disinformation Project.
This is a very interesting article on a very important topic, I look forward to reading more about your experiences with the Disinformation Project. Mis/disinformation, counter mis/disinformation campaigns and their philosophical and political underpinnings have become rather a hobby of mine recently and I am very interested on your perspectives on the matter. There is however a powerfully ironic element in this article which I wonder if you are aware of.
The irony is that you are decrying the leaking of factual information about a meeting of the government’s disinformation project, where a select group of journalists were to meet with members of the internal security forces to co-ordinate in secret their response to political dissent, whilst simultaneously decrying “The Deep State” as a lunatic conspiracy theory.
The existence of the deep state is far from a lunatic theory and I doubt that you are giving it the careful consideration that it deserves. The deep state is a more modern version of “The Establishment”, a concept that has been widely held and for generations. The way the deep state theory is framed in the popular press today is that it’s a belief that Western society is controlled by a cabal of satanic pedophiles, but in my view this is a deeply unfair and inaccurate framing. Disinformation one might say. Such a strong view probably is held only by a tiny fringe, but even in this extreme form it’s hardly an outrageously false view, if it’s given a little charitable translation.
“Satanic” is a rather spicy adjective, but it’s a reasonable stand in for “Morals radically opposed to traditional Christianity”. Traditional Christian nomenclature is hardly ever used by the modern elites but the faith itself can hardly be called radical extremism. Its tenets form the basis of modern Western morality.
“Pedophile” can be see as referring to not only technical pedophilia but also a wide range of deviant and criminal sexual behavior. That such sexual criminals have in the past operated within the highest levels of The Establishment is not a fringe theory, it is a verified and documented fact.
I don’t need to remind you of the facts in the case of Jimmy Saville. I’m sorry please excuse my error, in order to maintain the correct forensic accuracy in my inquiries I really must use his correct title, SIR Jimmy Saville.
Sir Jimmy Saville was a popular entertainer, a major media personality, pedophile, rapist, and appalling sexual deviant who was knighted by both Her Majesty The Queen and The Pope. Sir Jimmy Saville operated for decades within both the highest and lowest levels of British society and was never called to account for his crimes against women, children and the vulnerable despite multiple complaints against him.
All of these are documented facts.
Crossing over the Atlantic but still keeping with the sex offender theme, I’m sure you are familiar with the photos of the convicted multimillionaire sex offender Jeffery Epstein tete a tete with his good friend Prince Andrew. Again I’m sorry, please forgive, that should be, convicted multimillionaire sex offender Jeffery Epstein engaged in conversation with Prince Andrew Albert Christian Edward Mountbatten-Windsor, Duke of York, KG, GCVO CD.
So we’ve seen the photos, we know who took them, but we don’t know how that particular tabloid photo-journalist got the tip off that the Prince and the pedophile were meeting and how he managed to get past the Prince’s security detail to photograph him so closely. However, if you frame the question like that, then a rather obvious answer presents itself. Who better to evade security than the security forces themselves ?
So the deep state as a cabal of satanic pedophiles may still look outrageous, but the deep state as the media and security forces secretly working together to alternately conceal and reveal sex offenders working within the political establishment starts to look a lot more plausible.
But leaving sexual criminals aside I think the clearest evidence for the existence of the deep state can be found 50 years ago, by looking carefully at the events surrounding the Watergate scandal.
I’m sure you’re familiar with the basic facts, Richard Nixon, The Plumbers, Woodward & Bernstien of the Washington Post and their secret sauce Deep-Throat. But are you also aware that Deep Throat was later (much later) revealed to be Mark Felt the associate director of the FBI ?
So Mark Felt secretly the fed information to Woodward & Bernstien which was instrumental in bringing down Richard Nixon. That is all established historical fact.
But what was happening exactly ? Was it some private individuals secretly working on their own ? Was it the FBI working for the press secretly ? Was it the press secretly working for the FBI ? Or was it the press and the internal security forces secretly working together to bring down the duly elected president of the United States of America ?
Anyone can argue this way or that way about whether Woodward, Bernstein, Felt or Nixon were good men or bad, right or wrong, but I don’t see how anyone can argue that this was Democracy in action. That was classic Deep State in action.
All of that happened 50 years ago, the only reason we know these details now is that the principal players are dead and in the case of Felt, he was just too old to care when his identity was revealed. What are we supposed to believe happened in the ensuing 50 years ? Did that covert apparatus just dry up and blow away ? Or is it more reasonable to assume that it survived and continued to operate ?
But that’s old American history.
Right now in little old New Zealand we have a government funded Disinformation Project staffed by a small group of unelected journalists holding secret meetings with anonymous members of some sort of internal security force to create narratives to counter political dissidents. This cannot be denied, your article clearly states it. Whether these people are good or bad, right or wrong I cannot say. But there is no way that this can be called Democracy in action.
This is Deep State in action.
Sorry, you need to use your name on comments. I do not allow anonymous comments.
An absolute shocker this one, Gavin. I’m so gobsmacked I can’t even bring myself to comment except to say this. Has it crossed your mind that the Govt is the source of the sheer majority of disinformation we are all swimming in today? At all?
And if not, why not?
This is a very interesting article on a very important topic, I look forward to reading more about your experiences with the Disinformation Project. Mis/disinformation, counter mis/disinformation campaigns and their philosophical and political underpinnings have become rather a hobby of mine recently and I am very interested on your perspectives on the matter. There is however a powerfully ironic element in this article which I wonder if you are aware of.
The irony is that you are decrying the leaking of factual information about a meeting of the government’s disinformation project, where a select group of journalists were to meet with members of the internal security forces to co-ordinate in secret their response to political dissent, whilst simultaneously decrying “The Deep State” as a lunatic conspiracy theory.
The existence of the deep state is far from a lunatic theory and I doubt that you are giving it the careful consideration that it deserves. The deep state is a modern version of “The Establishment”, or “The Old Boys Club”, a concept that has been widely held for generations. The way the deep state theory is framed in the popular press today is that it’s a belief that Western society is controlled by a cabal of satanic pedophiles, but this is a deeply unfair and inaccurate framing. Disinformation one might say. Such strong views are probably only held by a tiny fringe, but even in this extreme form it’s hardly an outrageously false view, if it’s given a little charitable translation.
“Satanic” is a rather spicy adjective, but it’s a reasonable stand in for “Morals radically opposed to traditional Christianity”. Traditional Christian nomenclature is hardly ever used by the modern elites but the faith itself can hardly be called radical extremism. Its tenets form the basis of modern Western morality.
“Pedophile” can be see as referring to not only technical pedophilia but also a wide range of deviant and criminal sexual behavior. That such sexual criminals have in the past operated within the highest levels of The Establishment is not a fringe theory, it is a verified and documented fact.
I don’t need to remind you of the facts in the case of Jimmy Saville. I’m sorry please excuse my error, in order to maintain the correct forensic accuracy in my inquiries I really must use his correct title, SIR Jimmy Saville.
Sir Jimmy Saville was a popular entertainer, a major media personality, pedophile, rapist, and appalling sexual deviant who was knighted by both Her Majesty The Queen and The Pope. Sir Jimmy Saville operated for decades within both the highest and lowest levels of British society and was never called to account for his crimes against women, children and the vulnerable despite multiple complaints against him.
All of these are documented facts.
Crossing over the Atlantic but still keeping with the sex offender theme, I’m sure you are familiar with the photos of the convicted multimillionaire sex offender Jeffery Epstein tête-à-tête with his good friend Prince Andrew. Again I’m sorry, please forgive, that should be, convicted multimillionaire sex offender Jeffery Epstein engaged in conversation with Prince Andrew Albert Christian Edward Mountbatten-Windsor, Duke of York, KG, GCVO CD.
So we’ve seen the photos, we know who took them, but we don’t know how that particular tabloid photo-journalist got the tip off that the Prince and the pedophile were meeting and how he managed to get past the Prince’s security detail to photograph him so closely. However, if you frame the question like that, then a rather obvious answer presents itself. Who better to evade security than the security forces themselves ?
So the deep state as a cabal of satanic pedophiles may still look outrageous, but the deep state as the media and security forces secretly working together to alternately conceal and reveal sex offenders working within the political establishment starts to look a lot more plausible.
But leaving sexual criminals aside I think the clearest evidence for the existence of the deep state can be found 50 years ago, by looking carefully at the events surrounding the Watergate scandal.
I’m sure you’re familiar with the basic facts, Richard Nixon, The Plumbers, Woodward & Bernstein of the Washington Post and their secret sauce Deep-Throat. But are you also aware that Deep Throat was later (much later) revealed to be Mark Felt the associate director of the FBI ?
So Mark Felt secretly the fed information to Woodward & Bernstein which was instrumental in bringing down Richard Nixon. That is all established historical fact.
But what was happening exactly ? Was it some just a few private individuals secretly working on their own ? Was it the FBI secretly working for the press ? Was it the press secretly working for the FBI ? Or was it the press and the internal security forces secretly working together to bring down the duly elected president of the United States of America ?
Anyone can argue this way or that way about whether Woodward, Bernstein, Felt or Nixon were good men or bad, right or wrong, but I don’t see how anyone can argue that this was Democracy in action. That was classic Deep State in action.
All of that happened 50 years ago, the only reason we know these details now is that the principal players are dead and in the case of Felt, he was just too old to care when his identity was revealed. What are we supposed to believe happened in the ensuing 50 years ? Did that covert apparatus just dry up and blow away ? Or is it more reasonable to assume that it survived and continued to operate ?
But that’s old American history.
Right now in little old New Zealand we have a government funded Disinformation Project staffed by a small group of unelected journalists holding secret meetings with anonymous members of some sort of internal security force to create narratives in order to counter political dissidents. This cannot be denied, your article clearly states it. Whether these people are good or bad, right or wrong I cannot say. But there is no way that this can be called Democracy in action.
This is Deep State in action.
I do not accept anonymous posts.