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Scott Morrison vows to snuff out QAnon ‘rubbish’, Covid conspiracies
Authorities say they are intercepting pandemic conspiracy ‘extremists’ as the Prime Minister vows to stamp out QAnon ‘rubbish’ and misinformation spreading online.
Perry Duffin - August 12, 2021
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has vowed to fight the insidious spread of QAnon and Covid-19 conspiracy theorists after The Daily Telegraph’s revelations that families are being torn apart by dangerous misinformation.
It comes as NSW and Federal authorities warn they are witnessing growing “online extremism” leading to the arrests and charging of multiple people in recent weeks.
This week doctors and nurses spoke emotionally of internet conspiracy theory QAnon brainwashing their loved ones.
The pandemic frontline heroes are now returning home from Covid-filled wards to friends and family who believe Covid is a hoax or the pandemic is a plot by evil global “elites”.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison, on Wednesday, was asked what his government was doing to stop the online conspiracy theories that are threatening the crucial vaccine rollout.
“Crazy rubbish conspiracy theories have no place when it comes to the public health of this country and this government will have no association with it,” Mr Morrison told Question Time.
“Countering misinformation is a task for all of us, it is certainly a task for the government and one we are acting on.”
NSW Police said Covid-19 had “enlivened extremist views and conspiracy theories” which exploit the internet’s capacity to connect.
“This has seen an increase in online extremist commentary with mixed and often complementary ideologies,” a spokeswoman said, noting it was almost entirely online.
“The risk associated with this activity is a concern and the NSW Police Force closely monitors online activity and assesses online sentiment.”
The Fixated Persons Unit, which monitors the ideologically motivated potential threats inside the state, has charged three people for online threats since the start of July.
The Australian Federal Police said it had observed nationalist, racially motivated and religious extremists among those “exploiting public fear” during the pandemic.
“Ideologically motivated violent extremism (IVME) propaganda, and increased time spent online, has seen extremist narratives influencing a broad mainstream audience,” an AFP spokesman said.
“This comes in many forms including by spreading disinformation, conspiracy theories, and in some cases to incite violence.”
“Extremists do this for a range of reasons including to promote their ideology and recruit new members.”
Last week the AFP arrested a group for allegedly starting their own “strain of the AFP” using a fake video they circulated online.
In the video a man, masquerading as AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw, allegedly urges people to join them as they work to overthrow the Commonwealth Government.
The fake AFP had allegedly established its own commissioners and was issuing “arrest warrants” for high profile Australians as it planned to “dissolve” the government.
Such expressions are commonplace among the QAnon, Sovereign Citizen, anti-lockdown and other conspiracy movements.
Investigators allege the group is IVME motivated.
Joint Counter Terrorism Teams, the AFP’s specialist squads, say they have disrupted multiple IVME plots this year — and say they will continue to disrupt others.
“Our community and our families are going through some very testing and trying times right now,” the AFP spokesman said.
“Many Australians are doing it tough because of the pandemic and are being targeted while they are vulnerable. The Covid pandemic will not stop the work of JCTTs in ensuring the safety of the community.”
Since 2014 there have been nine terror attacks and 21 major disruptions, the AFP said — of these two were IVME plots.
The AFP spokesman urged the community to only get their information from trusted sources.
The Prime Minister said he was working with multicultural and faith leaders, particularly in South West Sydney, to have the trusted community figures encourage vaccines.
Regional neighbours Papua New Guinea, he said, were also fighting against a tide of misinformation and Australia was working to increase vaccine uptake there.
Health Minister Greg Hunt told Question Time his department was “mythbusting” across multiple languages.
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/police-courts-nsw/cops-reveal-battle-with-extremists-as-pm-pledges-to-snuff-out-qanon-rubbish/news-story/e4e3a98d51ddfb8e02a580a9576b6f72