How New Zealand Dealt With “Disinformation”

Authored by Tom Jefferson and Carl Heneghan via The Brownstone Institute,

The Lord of the Rings trilogy is spectacular, with Orcs, Elves and breathtaking scenery filmed on location in New Zealand. The special effects were good too – the eye of Sauron looked very realistic – perhaps it is.

We have come across a minimally redacted 28-page draft of a Kiwi Government document entitled “Communications approach to managing disinformation, online harms and scams” dated 10 Dec 2021 (Available here). 

The document’s aim appears to be coordinating countering disinformation seeking to harm “by threatening public safety, fracturing community cohesion and reduced trust in democracy.”

All well and good then; it’s a bit like saying, do not open fire on the Red Cross. 

Except that the object is “disinformation” relating to the Kiwi government’s response to the Covid pandemic.

The definition of disinformation in the document is on page 5:

We will not summarise the complex and superficial content of the document other than to note that this is precisely the attempt at normalising the message of the pandemic that we have reported. The government has put out a message, and its credibility must be defended at all costs, with tech media partners, academics, the community and, of course, the armies of Sauron.

One consideration is that the Covid narrative in Middle Earth (as elsewhere) is based on the misuse and misinterpretation of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the death of clinical medicine, as we have made clear. 

Cases may not have been active cases, hospitalisations may not be due to SARS-CoV-2, and deaths may be due to various causes related or unrelated to SARS-CoV-2. We will never know for sure. Why? Because the PCR cycle threshold for testing PCR “positive” in Middle Earth was 40 to 45, ensuring that most tested people would test positive even in the total absence of contamination (a very tall order). 

So presenting figures of cases, hospitalisations and deaths based on qualitative PCR results inflates the totals and undermines the confidence in the competence and honesty of public health bodies: it is disinformation.

We make the document available now (see here), and all our readers will find different parts interesting or as scary as the orcs.

So if you think you live in a democracy, one last word of warning: do not go too near the Black Gate. You may think it is fiction, but it’s not.

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Republished from the author’s Substack