FRONTLINE 4: The murmuration of information disorders: Aotearoa New Zealand‚ mis- and disinformation ecologies and the Parliament Protest :

Kate Hannah; Sanjana Hattotuwa; Kayli Taylor

doi:10.24135/pjr.v28i1and2.1266

Kate Hannah The Disinformation Project, Aotearoa New Zealand
Sanjana Hattotuwa The Disinformation Project, Aotearoa New Zealand
Kayli Taylor The Disinformation Project, Aotearoa New Zealand

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24135/pjr.v28i1and2.1266

Keywords: authoritarianism, democracy, disinformation, extremism, identity, misinformation, New Zealand, news media, Parliament siege, propaganda, QAnon, social cohesion, social media, The Disinformation Project, transdisciplinary

Abstract

The Parliament Protest from February 2022 to March 2022 was a significant online and offline event in Aotearoa New Zealand. Offline, its physical presence captured the attention of the nation and fuelled debates about ideas of legitimate protest in Aotearoa New Zealand. Online, its data signatures showed never-seen-before popularity with misinformation, disinformation, and extremist thought. In this article The Disinformation Project (https://thedisinfoproject.org/) incorporates quantitative and qualitative data analysis to explore the role misinformation and disinformation played in the nurture and nature of the protest on Parliament grounds. The article also explores how the protest was projected on social media, disinformation and misinformation ecologies associated with it, and lasting impacts on social cohesion, identity, news media and democracy in Aotearoa New Zealand.

This article has been published with permission from The Disinformation Project (https://thedisinfoproject.org/), Te Pūnaha Matatini, and Centre for Science in Society, Te Herenga Waka, Victoria University of Wellington as a collaboration with Pacific Journalism Review: Te Koakoa under the umbrella of PJR’s Frontline critical reflexive journalism programme.

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Author Biographies

Kate Hannah, The Disinformation Project, Aotearoa New Zealand

Kate Hannah is the director of The Disinformation Project and a historian of science and technology. She works within and across fields of cultural history, critical science and technology studies, and public understandings of science and technology. Guiding Hannah’s research with The Disinformation Project are questions around how disinformation narratives are targeting and radicalising people in Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally, and how information disorders are intertwined with narratives and tropes of white supremacy, racism, and extreme misogyny.

Sanjana Hattotuwa, The Disinformation Project, Aotearoa New Zealand

Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa is a research fellow with The Disinformation Project. Since 2002, he has studied the uses of social media and digital technologies to strengthen peace, human rights, and governance, with policy input and research conducted in South Asia, South East Asia, North Africa, the United States, Europe and the Balkans. His doctoral research investigated information disorders in Sri Lanka, and the representation of New Zealand's March 2019 Christchurch massacre on Twitter. He currently focusses on disinformation's growing imprint on fragile, and mature democracies.

Kayli Taylor, The Disinformation Project, Aotearoa New Zealand

Kayli Taylor is a researcher with The Disinformation Project and a historian. Taylor’s previous research has investigated topics of gender, queer histories, sexual violence, and student activism. Taylor’s research interests extend to assessments of power structures, the way they influence our lives, and how equitable systems can be built and maintained.
kaylitaylor@thedisinfoproject.org

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