Australia's spy chief warns anti-immigration rallies are being exploited by neo-Nazi groups and "Russian operatives" to sow discord, spread disinformation
Australia's spy chief warns anti-immigration rallies are being exploited by neo-Nazi groups and "Russian operatives" to sow discord, spread disinformation
reuters.com
Australia's spy chief has warned anti-immigration rallies are being exploited by neo-Nazi groups and "Russian operatives" to sow discord, as the country faces a trend seen across Western democracies of declining trust and rising disinformation.
The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation's director-general of security, Mike Burgess, said on Tuesday community cohesion is under attack in an unprecedented way.
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ASIO is investigating pro-Russian social media influencers who are working with an offshore media organisation to condemn Australia's support for Kyiv, while also using "social media to spread vitriolic, polarising commentary on anti-immigration protests and pro-Palestinian marches", he said.
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Australia in August expelled Iran's ambassador and said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had directed two anti-Semitic attacks in Australia by using intermediaries.
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Such efforts were achieving "limited traction", he added, pointing to the stabilising impact of Australia's social-welfare safety net, compulsory voting and growing economy.
While social media algorithms are accelerating extremism and raising the risk of violence, it is people who create the content and decide to act on it, Burgess said.
"I worry we risk creating real world 'aggro-rhythms' where grievance, intolerance, polarisation and rhetoric feed on themselves," he said.
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They're being run by neo-Nazi groups. We've been talking about that for months in this comm. The second M4A was a mask-off white supremacy rally.
TIL Russian spies grew the NSN members in vats and loosed them on us. They are also behind the white Australia policy and our refusal to reckon with genocidal and slaving history.
Like I'm sure operatives can do a few nudges or offer some funding or training but like... the Nazis are coming from inside the house.
Yep, this. We can't blame the local racism on others. At its core, it's Australian, and it's up to us to keep making it unAustralian.
That would be the Azov Battalion, and US neo-Nazis. The Russian gov are likely more into informational campaigns, like giving digital megaphones to the Nazis inside the house.
That's the funny thing, the leader of the NSN is actually a kiwi.