CHARBONNEAU – The ‘Disinformation Dozen’ and its anti-vaccine campaign

I’VE ALWAYS WONDERED why the pro-disease folks have nothing original to say. These antivaxxers parrot banality.

It turns out that a small number of people generate a lot of misinformation about vaccines.

According to the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a “Disinformation Dozen” produces most of the anti-vaccine misinformation on social media platforms. They were responsible for posting falsehoods that reached tens of millions on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter.

Kamloopsians on Facebook are no exception. The pro-disease followers can’t seem to find anything original to say. They find memes about how they are being harassed like the Jews were in Nazi Germany.

They go to websites like Memedroid where they can find the “papers please” meme upload by badAndy. It features two side-by-side panels; one with Nazis checking people’s papers in 1942 and another in modern times with the police stopping people, presumably checking for vaccination cards. The caption reads: “It’s almost fall. Don’t forget to turn your clocks back to 1942.”

Haha — both funny and ridiculous at the same time. One responder revealed the absurdity:

“How could you possibly link the purposeful genocide of minority groups by nazis and efforts by the world’s brightest and most dedicated minds with more evidence for their research than antivaxxers could hope to fabricate in a lifetime… sad when embittered political opinion interferes with basic logic and respect for vulnerable in the community.”

Another Kamloopsian parrots the phrase “Guzzled the Koolaid.” She claims that: “vaccination is a personal health choice.”

I replied: “You can’t decide whether you want to infect others with a deadly disease or not. Public health, by its very definition, is not a personal choice.”

She responded: “It appears you have Guzzled the Koolaid….so disappointing to see people sucked in to this evil agenda of lies and tyranny….pathetic.”

A friend of mine noticed the same phase used by antivaxxers. I found it being widely circulated on Twitter by @angrywoodchuck.

Even “Mad Max” Bernier, leader of the People’s Party of Canada (PPC), can’t seem to come up with original hate speech.

In the last federal election race, Bernier echoed former U.S. President Donald Trump’s charged rhetoric. He told a British Columbia rally that “when tyranny becomes law, revolution becomes our duty.”

Dumb-struck protesters were evident during the last federal election. At a loss for words, PPC supporters at a Trudeau rally in London, Ontario, shouted “Lock him up,” echoing Trump supporters.

An incensed Bernier, angry at his failure to win a seat after the election, lashed out at journalists who asked legitimate questions. Bernier went on Twitter to single out three journalists – calling them idiots, posting their e-mail addresses and calling on his 160,000 followers to go after them. “They want to play dirty, we will play dirty too.”

As a result of Bernier’s rant, journalists received death threats, rape threats and racism.

Behind the vacuous rhetoric and borrowed memes is a seething anger.

A primitive part of the pro-death brain attacks what it sees as a threat to its existence. The inability to articulate anger has them resorting to what others say. It represents a childlike way of responding to a world that’s collapsing around them.

David Charbonneau is a retired TRU electronics instructor who hosts a blog at http://www.eyeviewkamloops.wordpress.com.