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‘CONSPIRACY THEORY’: ARDERN BLAMES ‘RUSSIAN DISINFORMATION’ FOR ANTI-JAB MANDATE PARLIAMENT PROTEST

FORMER PM JACINDA ARDERN HAS STIRRED CONTROVERSY AFTER SUGGESTING RUSSIAN DISINFORMATION PLAYED A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN FUELLING NEW ZEALAND’S 2022 ANTI-MANDATE PROTESTS.

Speaking on the Pod Save the World podcast, Ardern claimed New Zealand was among the top consumers of “Russian disinformation” in early 2022, alongside the Solomon Islands.

“Six days after the convoy in Canada… we had the same in New Zealand,” she said, implying foreign interference may have catalysed the local protests. However, critics have slammed the claim as an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory and dismissive of public dissent.

New Zealand Doctors Speaking Out With Science (NZDSOS), which supported the protests, rejected the claim outright: “Russia had zero influence on our decision to head to Wellington… Using ‘Russian disinformation’ to undermine what happened is really just a conspiracy theory.”

Broadcaster Chris Lynch was equally blunt: “There is no concrete evidence that Russia targeted New Zealand… Blaming Russia is a coward’s excuse… instead of confronting the truth that thousands of Kiwis simply refused to be controlled.”

Social media users also questioned the lack of specifics in Ardern’s claims, noting she failed to cite a single example of Russian disinformation.

“If they know there was Russian disinformation, they should be able to show us,” one user wrote, while another added, “Putin probably doesn’t even know she exists.”

Ardern’s remarks have reignited debate over the balance between combating disinformation and silencing legitimate dissent, with many accusing her of deflecting from the real causes of public anger over the government’s pandemic response and the mandating of an experimental mRNA medical product after she had earlier promised there would be “no consequences” for those who declined to take it.