The vitriolic venom directed at the PM & others

[Praktica]

Very convenient now that the govt decides to "lift" the mandates. Obviously the protest in Wellington made some impact.

You seem to confusing correlation with causation.

Covid brain fog?

[Magoo]

Most of us know of  those who these days, seem to so  enjoy making spiteful little comments online about others, & probably have seen some of the stuff aimed at public figures, much of it in the USA, particularly under former president Trump.

There's quite a lot of it here, too both in online forums & I came across these articles about its effect here recently.


In particular when aimed at the PM, there's often a large dollop of not-even-slightly-concealed misogyny included.

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/...2Zv996ER9g

" It's probably not an overstatement to say Ardern is presently one of the most reviled people in Aotearoa New Zealand, attracting vitriol that violates the bounds of normal, reasoned political debate.
During the recent illegal occupation of parliament grounds, the apparent hatred was fully evident. There were ludicrous claims the prime minister is a mass murderer, and demands she be removed from office and executed for "crimes against humanity".

Even on the supposedly professional social networking site LinkedIn, false claims that Ardern is a "tyrant" or "dictator" have been increasingly commonplace. For those making such claims, factual, constitutional, electoral and legal realities seemingly hold no weight.

Rather, it's clear this is rooted in sexist and misogynistic attitudes and beliefs, further amplified by conspiratorial mindsets.

Overall, the sexism and misogyny inherent in these traditionalist beliefs mean Ardern is treated more harshly than a male prime minister pursuing the same policies would be.

Worryingly, the 2021 Gender Attitudes Survey (carried out by the New Zealand National Council of Women) showed such traditional views about leadership and gender are on the rise.
Insults and abuse commonly directed at Ardern on social media reflect the generally gendered nature of cyberviolence, which disproportionately targets women. These insults translate traditionalist beliefs into sexist and misogynistic acts.

Referring to Ardern as "Cindy", for example, infantilises her. Calling her a "pretty communist" not only reflects the sexist and misogynist view that a woman's worth is measured by her appearance, but also suggests her looks disguise her real aims.

This plays on the traditional trope of woman as evil seductress. From there it's a short leap to the conspiracy theories that depict Ardern as part of an evil international cabal."




And then there's this utter nonsense:

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zeala...cFtdL7Nfxc

"A fabricated Newshub headline alleging Jacinda Ardern filed to have AM co-host Ryan Bridge banned from media platforms appears to have come from a "package of disinformation", a sociologist says.

The bogus headline, which emerged last week and was interpreted as genuine by some social media users, reads: 'PM Jacinda Ardern has filled [sic] to have Ryan Bridge banned from all major platforms, and rejects any further interviews with the reporter.' The headline had spelling and style errors. "



The internet has definitely brought us into contact with others around the world, & in many ways has brought us all closer, but there are those who just seem to use it to spread hatred or misinformation & disinformation. And those who appear to be bordering on being loony tunes.

You really do have to wonder what might happen if that continues unhindered.

I know that lots of people cant stand her, even those that initially supported her response to covid.
Lots of business's are hurt and thats why there were so many protesting about the restrictions in Wellington, a great deal of the public felt they were lied to because they still had restrictions when they were guranteed some form of assurance they could operate under these alert levels.
The hospitality sector was especially hurt the most.
Very convenient now that the govt decides to "lift" the mandates. Obviously the protest in Wellington made some impact.

you mean those mandates they said would be dropped by end of march.
and now the travel mandate finishing early, like they said it might.
this is only news to those idiots too dumb to respond to mainstream media. there was no caving in, we all knew it was happening. 
the poor saps that participated, they made zero, zip, nada difference, other than pissing everyone else off. the public was never behind it, we all thought they were fuckwits before the protest, and the protest just proved it.

the fraction of those people who thought it was justified and right is miniscule. we think they are a joke. this is why they are so bitter. no one likes being treated like a fucken idiot but we arent left with many other words to describe the pitiful wretches.

most dont mind her (the PM), but too much time in right wing echo chambers will make you think hatred is the norm.
they sow distrust and misinformation to harvest the gullible and lonely. this is not normal, these sites do not reflect the mainstream thinking on any of these topics

but hey, dont look at that,,, theres a communist butterfly riding a unicorn. honest.