Police are urging any members of the trans or rainbow community who are being threatened in the wake of the visit by a British anti-trans activist to contact them.
Analysts monitoring online extremism say since Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, known as Posie Parker, came to Aotearoa, there has been a marked increase in online hatred directed at the trans community here.
They say the content is now being widely distributed by anti-mandate and anti-government groups.
Police say violence or threatening behaviour towards people because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, race, faith, disability, and age is not acceptable.
They were recently named Young New Zealander of the Year for their work for rainbow communities - including the fight to ban conversion therapy.
The spotlight has prompted a backlash. Lal previously told RNZ they have been threatened with violence and feared for their safety at the awards ceremony and the threats prompted extra security at the event.
“A lot of these people who are sending threats could very much act on it,” they said.
“One of the threats I got says ‘if I see you I’ll snap your neck’.”
Shaneel Lal counter-protesting at Posie Parker's event in Albert Park. Photo / NZME
Outpouring of hate spreading in anti-vaccine mandate groups
Disinformation Project researcher Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa previously told RNZ the outpouring of hate towards the trans community triggered by Keen-Minshull visit was beyond anything he has seen.
“They are being hounded, harassed and harmed and hated upon online - to a degree we’ve never studied before.”
Hattotuwa said a major change had been the degree to which the “extraordinarily violent” content has been taken up and distributed by anti-vax and anti-mandate groups.
He said the extremity of the content was more characteristic of far right and neo-fascist and neo-Nazi groups, and the fact it was now being taken up by groups that flourished because of Covid measures was “really worrying”.
He said the vitriol directed at the trans community could be described as “genocidal”.
“Something that we’ve never seen before is the import of content from Australian neo-Nazi, neo-fascist, anti-Semitic networks and individuals and their personal networks, into Aotearoa New Zealand.”
Hattotuwa said there was an “extremely strong correlation” between online hate and the possibility of physical violence.
