The Front Page: How misinformation and disinformation are becoming mainstream

Misinformation is moving from the fringes into the mainstream. Photo / Mike Scott

The dual issues of misinformation and disinformation have again raised their heads in the lead-up to this election.

In addition to the usual onslaught of questionable online content, we’ve also seen political parties accused of lying and high-profile politicians making comments aligned with conspiracy theories.

Kate Hannah, a founding member of The Disinformation Project, joined The Front Page podcast to discuss how disinformation has evolved – and continues to do so – since the last election.

“Back in 2020, electoral disinformation around key political and social issues was much more limited,” says Hannah.

“There were definitely conversations happening in fringe groups and spaces [on topics like] electoral integrity, and that was related to similar narratives out of the United States. There was also misinformation about the Covid-19 protection framework. But disinformation is far greater, and it’s not just in fringe areas. It’s actually in mainstream discourses on mainstream social media platforms and in commentary on mainstream media.”

This trend hasn’t gone unnoticed by politicians, who are now also borrowing some of these talking points for their campaigns.

“Mainstream politicians see an opportunity to engage with a sector of society [which is] connected to disinformation or conspiratorial thinking,” says Hannah.

“While it’s quite common in the United States, Canada, the UK and Australia, it’s really disappointing to see it to this extent in Aotearoa in 2023… I think it’s perfectly fine to debate robustly key political issues and key political standpoints, but basing that debate [on] false and misleading information is not okay.”

Asked for examples, Hannah points to some of the narratives that have been shared on the issue of race relations in New Zealand.

“It’s really important that all New Zealanders engage with understanding Te Tiriti and talking about what co-governance might mean, but if that conversation is based on things that are false and misleading, like denying that Māori are the indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand, then that isn’t a healthy way for us to have that important democratic conversation.”

Hannah points here to comments made by NZ First Party leader Winston Peters at a public meeting in Nelson in September.

On top of this, we’ve also seen the Labour Party called out for making false statements about National policies.

Hannah says a cohesive society depends on cross-party consensus on certain fundamental aspects of the country.

“In the late 1970s, we had cross-party consensus on the need for the Waitangi Tribunal. We’ve had a cross-party consensus on te reo Māori and its expanding use. When I went through primary school and high school, the growth of Māori as a language was something celebrated across the board.”

Hannah says society is now grappling with new ideas that essentially pull at the fabric of cohesion that existed before.

“There are these ideas that the Treaty process is somehow unfair or that te reo Māori is taking over. These are actually new ideas. So we need to get back to thinking about what we’ve had a shared accord on for quite some time and why. Is it now that these concepts have been painted as divisive?”

Listen to the full episode of The Front Page podcast for a broader discussion about the impact of disinformation in New Zealand.

The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. It is presented by Damien Venuto, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in business reporting who joined the Herald in 2017.

You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.