A new analysis has explored how social media activity contributed to tensions that resulted in the Parliament protest earlier this year. Jamie Morton has reported on this shifting landscape for the Herald. According to the analysis, Covid-19-related social media activity has helped push people toward racist and violent ideologies, creating deep concern for our democracy and sense of social cohesion and inclusion.
Juliet discussed with the Herald how the Parliament protest had made many people more aware of disinformation and how it is affecting our country.
“We have historically enjoyed high levels of trust in government, and science, in New Zealand, but will need to work hard against a rising global tide to maintain this trust and counter the impacts of what the authors describe as a ‘tectonic shift’ in mis, dis, and malinformation,” she said.
“New Zealand needs to play its part in the global effort to foster social cohesion and to empower our children to learn skills which make the next generation strong critical thinkers who are as resilient as possible to an increasingly polluted online environment.”