[Canada] Canadian Politics Redux

[Jacob]

In a development I'm sure we will all find shockingly surprising:

'Freedom convoy' forums find new focus: disinformation about Russia-Ukraine war

As the tire tracks fade from the so-called "freedom convoy" that occupied downtown Ottawa streets, some of the Telegram forums devoted to the convoy have taken up the torch of a new cause: Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Much like the misinformation that fueled some of the trucks headed for Ottawa, conspiracy theories are at the core of some of their conversations about Ukraine — leading them to decry Western intervention in the conflict, or in some cases, express outright support for Russia.

"I fully support Russia," wrote one Telegram user in the channel titled Convoy to Ottawa 2022, which has just shy of 30,000 subscribers.

In another post on the channel, a user addresses the Russian military: "We, the Russian residents of Kiev, are waiting for you. But be careful, there are a lot of hostile people here. And outright enemies and simply deceived by propaganda."

It can be difficult — if not impossible — to ascribe motivations to the people participating in these forums, disinformation experts say. But one thing is clear: some pro-convoy forums have shifted from posting misinformation about COVID-19 to posting misinformation about the Russia-Ukraine war.

"It is definitely a trend that is happening," said Carmen Celestini, who is a post-doctoral fellow with the Disinformation Project at Simon Fraser University.

...

Another narrative that can be seen frequently in convoy circles is the allegation the war is simply intended as a distraction from the "tyranny" here in Canada.

Blankenship said, especially before Russia actually invaded Ukraine, a common comment among convoy supporters she studied on Twitter was that the "impending invasion that was going on was just a distraction" and that the "real war that's going on is in Canada."

This "distraction" theme is still evident in the pro-convoy Telegram channels.

"Canada is where the real war is," said one user in the Convoy to Ottawa 2022 channel.

"War in Ukraine is a Great Reset distraction," wrote another user, citing the widely debunked theory that details a vague "they" or a generally nameless "global elite" conducting looming, ominous power grabs around the world.

(Excerpts from: https://globalnews.ca/news/8659667/ukraine-russia-convoy-misinformation-conspiracy/ )

[viper37]

Telegram is a pretty anonymous social media.  That Russian agents would target people susceptible to anti-government behavior and tend to believe in conspiracy theories is not exactly a huge surprise, especially since they have an easier time keeping their real identities hidden.

[HVC]

Damn liberals, this is somehow their fault.

[crazy canuck]

What is the Great Reset they are on about?

[Syt]

What is the Great Reset they are on about?

This BBC article explains it quite well:

https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-57532368

What is the Great Reset - and how did it get hijacked by conspiracy theories?
By BBC Monitoring and BBC Reality Check
BBC News

24 June 2021

A vague set of proposals from an influential organisation has been transformed by online conspiracy theorists into a powerful viral rallying cry. What is the truth behind the "Great Reset"?

Believers spin dark tales about an authoritarian socialist world government run by powerful capitalists and politicians - a secret cabal that is broadcasting its plan around the world.

Despite all the contradictions in the last sentence, thousands online have latched on to this latest reimagining of an old conspiracy theory - updated for the age of Covid.

Where did it begin?

Like many popular conspiracy theories, this one starts with a grain of fact.

In June 2020, the Prince of Wales and the head of the annual Davos summit launched an initiative calling for the pandemic to be seen as a chance for what they called a Great Reset of the global economy.

A flashy launch video interspersed images of a world in chaos - a dead killer whale, a hurricane, a kangaroo caught in a fire - with a speech by Prince Charles.

"We have an incredible opportunity to create entirely new sustainable industries," the prince said. "The time to act is now."

The other founder of the initiative is Prof Klaus Schwab, head of the World Economic Forum (WEF), which organises an annual summit in a Swiss ski resort for some of the world's wealthiest and most powerful people.

He explained the idea behind the Great Reset in an article accompanying the launch:

"The pandemic represents a rare but narrow window of opportunity to reflect, reimagine, and reset our world to create a healthier, more equitable, and more prosperous future."

There's a Great Reset podcast and even a 280-page book. But the plan is light on specific detail.

Prof Schwab does speak about a "wealth tax" and ending fossil fuel subsidies. But the scope is huge - covering technology, climate change, the future of work, international security and other themes - and it's difficult to see precisely what the Great Reset might mean in practice.

This lack of clarity, combined with the plan being launched by an influential organisation, provided fertile ground for conspiracy theories to grow.

A conspiracy theory is born

The proposals, along with the WEF itself, face legitimate criticism from a variety of sources. Conservative political figures and media outlets accuse the organisation of pushing for environmental policies that would hurt the economy.

There are questions about whether unelected individuals like Mr Schwab should have the power to lobby so prominently for ideas that could potentially transform the global economy. The Davos meeting is certainly filled with powerful people who have a huge influence on world events. There are also concerns about the impact of technology on civil liberties and jobs.

But the real energy online is not about legitimate political questions - discussions about fossil fuels and income equality - but in the shape of wild and unsubstantiated claims.

The term "Great Reset" has received more than eight million interactions on Facebook and been shared almost two million times on Twitter since the initiative was launched, according to BBC Monitoring research.

Among the most popular posts are baseless statements that the Great Reset is a strategic part of a grand conspiracy by the global elite, who somehow planned and managed the Covid-19 pandemic.

In this narrative, lockdown restrictions were introduced not to curb the spread of the virus, but to deliberately bring about economic collapse and a socialist world government, albeit run for the benefit of powerful capitalists.

The nebulousness of this conspiracy theory means it has found followers among anti-vaccine activists, anti-lockdown campaigners, new-age healers, and those on the far right and far left.

Melanie Smith, head of analysis at Graphika, who researches online movements and disinformation, says the rumours are typical of an "anti-establishment conspiracy theory".

"The most intricate of those typically prove popular with government sceptics from across the political spectrum," she says.

In the hands of a diverse group of online activists, the Great Reset has been transformed - from a call to encourage people to think about a sustainable future, to a sinister plot against humanity.

How did it go viral?

These conspiracy theories began circulating online around the June 2020 launch, but only gained significant traction later in the year.

On 15 November, the phrase started trending on Twitter when a video went viral showing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a UN meeting in September, saying the pandemic provided an opportunity for a "reset". It's unclear whether he was referring to the WEF plan.

But some claimed his speech was proof that global leaders were using the pandemic as a pretext to introduce a range of socialist and environmental policies.

Thousands of Donald Trump supporters boosted this idea. They claimed that that a victory for Mr Trump in November's election was the only chance to thwart the so-called secret plot.

What's the historical background?

Most of the narratives being promoted around the Great Reset are not new.

Experts say similar ideas about the emergence of a totalitarian world government have been circulating since the 1960s under the umbrella term New World Order, which itself borrows ideas from conspiracy theories of the 18th Century.

Great Reset sceptics repackage those ideas, folding in new baseless Covid-era claims - for instance about how vaccines "contain microchips" and "enslave" people.

Its "adaptability and close ties with New World Order narrative", Ms Smith says, make it likely that the conspiracy theory will outlast the pandemic.

In a video from January, the WEF acknowledged that the messaging around the Great Reset didn't quite go to plan.

"Hands up, this kind of slogan hasn't gone down well," a voiceover says.

In response to questions about whether the discussion had been hijacked by conspiracists, the WEF said in a statement: "Conspiracy theories replace reason with fantasy. They are a noisy but peripheral part of the public sphere.

"We encourage rationally grounded, fact-based debate."

What next for the 'Great Reset'?
Conspiracy beliefs are also seeping into discussions about the global response to climate change.

Mr Schwab's proposal emphasises the use of more green public infrastructure projects and "greener growth".

Ms Smith says online activists who deny the existence of climate change often engage with the Great Reset theory to "dismiss sustainability and renewable energy initiatives as an elite agenda for control".

"The overlap of those conversations may become stronger as climate issues become even more prominent," she says.

[Malthus]

It all dovetails neatly.

Russia needs the West fragmented and Russia needs Europe dependant on Russian gas and oil. So Russia prods and inspires existing groups in the West - with nonsense conspiracy theories and self-harming actions from across the political spectrum.

Going green is portrayed as part of a shadowy government socialist conspiracy, by people on the right. At he same time, nuclear energy is attacked from the left by green types. Both positions exist already, but Russia benefits by exacerbating them.

[crazy canuck]

Many thanks Syt

A socialist world order run by capitalists and announced by a Prince.  That's our extreme right wing climate change denying intellect at work.

[crazy canuck]

Made me chuckle

https://twitter.com/wineguy_69/status/1501657356383391745?s=21

[Sheilbh]

Telegram is a pretty anonymous social media.  That Russian agents would target people susceptible to anti-government behavior and tend to believe in conspiracy theories is not exactly a huge surprise, especially since they have an easier time keeping their real identities hidden.

Just as a warning Telegram is absolutely not an anonymous social media site. It is really pretty vulnerable - I know of one reporter/cyber expert who basically said that especially with channels there such big flaws and vulnerabilities that it is better understood as a convenient tool to reveal people's identities.

But it is hugely popular in certain countries (especially Eastern Europe) - I also think that Turkey and Russia spent a lot of effort pushing the (broadly debunked) story of a big hack of Signal, which is sitll far safer. One of the theories at the time was that it was possibly a state sponsored hack exactly to discredit a genuinely anonymous communication tool (except in very geeky circles) while people would perceive unhacked but wide open Telegram as a safer alternative.

Having said that I'm not 100% sure that's really a story worth reporting - it's very cheap and easy to report on social media trends and controversies. But in that story we've got a Telegram channel of 3,000 - more broadly over 90% of Canadians support Ukraine which is about as close to unanimity as you can get in a democratic society. It seems like reporting about chain emails with those sort of numbers.

I'm not saying it's a conspiracy - but I think it is striking that so much attention is paid to the risk and danger to democracy from social media coinciding with cuts to media organisations and social media being a very cheap and easy to report on thing. You see it all the time where media organisations pick up a story of "people are saying" on social media and with a bit of investigation it's basically a tweet by someone with 27 followers, or the BBC reporting on a twitter beef. I think we maybe focus on it too much because it's cost-effective and the volume of reporting inflates its importance (though obviously there is some).

[crazy canuck]

It's a report of our right wing useful idiots pivoting from anti vacc to pro Russia.  I agree it is not much of a story.  The are just copying the American equivalent.

[Jacob]

Look, it's a story that confirms my bias that our hard-core convoy / anti-vax / anti-Trudeau activists are Russian stooges. Therefore I share it. It's not that they're a massive threat because Canadians support them in numbers. It's that they should continuously be discredited for being the anti-democratic tools of a hostile foreign power.

[crazy canuck]

Look, it's a story that confirms my bias that our hard-core convoy / anti-vax / anti-Trudeau activists are Russian stooges. Therefore I share it. It's not that they're a massive threat because Canadians support them in numbers. It's that they should continuously be discredited for being the anti-democratic tools of a hostile foreign power.

They are not Russian stooges.  They are a lower life form than even that.  They are MAGA copy cats.

[Sheilbh]

Look, it's a story that confirms my bias that our hard-core convoy / anti-vax / anti-Trudeau activists are Russian stooges. Therefore I share it. It's not that they're a massive threat because Canadians support them in numbers. It's that they should continuously be discredited for being the anti-democratic tools of a hostile foreign power.

Fair

It's more a moan at media reporting things on social media - which I get is cheap but I think almost always far less important than anything else they could be covering with that resource (and the reporting itself elevates the importance and we're in a vicious cycle). It slightly infuriates me and I lash out

[crazy canuck]

Look, it's a story that confirms my bias that our hard-core convoy / anti-vax / anti-Trudeau activists are Russian stooges. Therefore I share it. It's not that they're a massive threat because Canadians support them in numbers. It's that they should continuously be discredited for being the anti-democratic tools of a hostile foreign power.

Fair

It's more a moan at media reporting things on social media - which I get is cheap but I think almost always far less important than anything else they could be covering with that resource (and the reporting itself elevates the importance and we're in a vicious cycle). It slightly infuriates me and I lash out

The problem is if their online comments are not referred to people like Viper argue they are not all that bad.

[Jacob]

Look, it's a story that confirms my bias that our hard-core convoy / anti-vax / anti-Trudeau activists are Russian stooges. Therefore I share it. It's not that they're a massive threat because Canadians support them in numbers. It's that they should continuously be discredited for being the anti-democratic tools of a hostile foreign power.

They are not Russian stooges.  They are a lower life form than even that.  They are MAGA copy cats.

Yeah, I guess to be a stooge you need to know where your orders are coming from. These guys are N steps removed from the people who are using them.