Protesters gather during a Freedom and Rights Coalition protest at Parliament on November 09, 2021 in Wellington, New Zealand. Protesters gathered outside parliament calling for an end to COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates in New Zealand. (Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)
Unraveling viral disinformation and explaining where it came from, the harm it's causing, and what we should do about it.
Advertisement
Advertisement
One supporter said the arrest came after Ardern signed some document that authorized China to spy on former President Donald Trump. “That’s an act of war, brother,” the unnamed QAnon supporter said.Though Ardern did meet Trump in 2019, the meeting took place in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. There is no indication that Ardern ever signed any document to authorize spying on Trump.As has been the case elsewhere, QAnon took hold in New Zealand at the same time as the country enacted a hugely restrictive country-wide lockdown as it sought to reach a zero-COVID state. The country was one of the first to shut its borders to all international visitors in March 2020, only allowing residents to return if they agreed to complete two weeks of hotel quarantine first. While New Zealand briefly opened a travel bubble with Australia earlier this year, that was subsequently shut down again in response to a spike caused by the delta variant.
Advertisement