Disinformation Project Vale

Farewell to a Phenomenon

An announcement was made on 3 October by the Disinformation Project. The announcement was that the Project was closing. Apparently there are other things that the three members of the Project wish to undertake.

No other reason is advanced although one reason may be that funding has dried up and the Project is no longer financially viable.

Another reason may have something to do with a threat of litigation that was initiated by one Chantelle Baker. She threatened proceedings against The New Zealand Herald and Kate Hannah of The Disinformation Project. The matter concluded with The Herald recognising the damage caused by unsubstantiated allegations by retracting false claims, issuing a formal apology to Baker, and a confidential settlement amount.

The lawsuit revolved around Kate Hannah’s assertions that Baker, a prominent citizen journalist known for her coverage of the COVID-19 protests, was part of the so-called “NZ Disinformation Dozen” and referred to her as a “useful idiot.” These claims, presented as expert opinion, were found to lack credibility.

One of the issues was whether or not Ms Hannah misused “expert opinion” in making the comments that she did. It’s not actionable to express criticism or negative opinions, provided they are based on verifiable facts or clearly presented as opinion. However, when baseless accusations are made to discredit someone, that’s where the line is crossed.

Ms. Baker also has a legal issue surrounding her portrayal by the producers of Fire and Fury – a documentary emanating from Stuff which also involved comments by Ms. Hannah.

Ms Hannah will also be remembered for her generalisations in the documentary Web of Chaos about how people are drawn into mis/disinformation networks in in different ways. She referred to the “trad wife” viewpoint. She claimed that white Christian pseudo-Celtic pseudo-Nordic ideology lay behind this viewpoint. They (presumably the “white Christian pseudo-Celtic pseudo-Nordic”) use Pinterest and Instagram to draw in other women who are interested in interior design, children’s clothing, knitting, healthy food for children.

 From this innocent start people are drawn in towards a set of white nationalist ideas. Fair skinned children with braids is a danger signal according to Ms Hannah. She did not explain why this was the case.

She then referred to the association of these ideas with a toxic masculinity which had

  ”…very fixed ideas about gender roles, race, ethnic identity, national identity, nationalism and rights to  things like free speech – very influenced by a totally US centric model.” (“Web of Chaos” at 21.5)

 In essence these characteristics, according to Hannah, derive from US based alt-right perspectives.

Another member of the Disinformation Project, Dr. Sanjana Hattotuwa discussed what he calls toxic information and commentary including material directed about the then Prime Minister. What was extraordinary was the suggestion that this toxic informational landscape was being used by 350,000 New Zealanders – all grooming and harvesting. Dr Hattotuwa emphasized “It is here. It is amongst you” (“Web of Chaos” at 29.30). No evidence was offered to support either the numbers or the assertion.

It was an example of Dr Hattotawa’s penchant for sound byte generalisations.

And indeed the Disinformation Project was very good at attracting mainstream media attention and characterising problems in a graphic and often exaggerated manner.

Although they started as one of the messaging organisations for the Government’s COVID-19 strategy, dealing with how false information contributed to people’s responses to public health interventions, they rapidly expanded their horizons to consider conspiracy theories and their connection to “far-right, neo-Nazi, and accelerationist networks and actors – both domestic and foreign. Disinformation has become both more mainstream, and more connected to wider issues of political and social division, violence, extremism and national security.”

I examined the Disinformation Project in detail in the following articles

The What How and Who of the Disinformation Project

Papers and Media – The Public Face of the Disinformation Project

The Public Face of the Disinformation Project 2B

The Disinformation Project and the Evidence

What concerned me, and why it is that I do not mourn the departure of the Disinformation Project from the landscape, was the lack of rigour and the approach that was taken. Critical theory and neo-Marxist analysis – the conflict between the “empowered” and the “disempowered” – dominated the discussion along with the use of imprecise and opaque language. A further matter of concern was the reluctance to publish the data which supported the conclusions that the Project had reached.

Yet Mainstream Media uncritically drank the Disinformation Project Kool Aid, citing their sound bites as authoritative when clearly they were not. In this respect the Disinformation Project was promulgating its own form of if not disinformation, then misinformation. If it is the latter then they were entitled to express their opinion. But it should have been something MSM should have critically analysed and they did not.

Disinformation Project Vale .

Note: Vale = Farewell (Latin)