ramonmercado
CyberPunk
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2003
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What's it really about? Why do they want to know how many bedrooms you have? Just tell them you don't contract with them!
by Conor Gallagher
The census, once the relatively uncontroversial collection of information for the provision of public services, has become the latest antagonist for Ireland’s small but vocal conspiracy theorist community.
Misinformation about the census, which takes place on April 3rd, is being spread on large social media groups which established during the pandemic to oppose measures such as lockdowns and masks.
With these measures in the rearview mirror – for now at least – some of these groups have pivoted to other causes, including the idea that the census is a means of Government coercion.
These Covid-19 conspiracy groups, on platforms such as Facebook and Telegram, have provided a ready-made infrastructure for the spread of this census misinformation to tens of thousands of social media users.
It is not just Ireland that is experiencing a newfound distrust of the census. Authorities in the US, UK, Greece and Australia have been battling an upsurge in census-related conspiracy theories in recent months and years.
The Irish census is being conducted by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) which, it is understood, has been monitoring the spread of misinformation online.
In relative terms, the number of people who believe in these conspiracy theories is very small but the issue has caused some concern among officials.
The most prominent census misinformation relates to a new question on the 2022 form asking about the number of bedrooms in a house. Conspiracy theorists claim this is to allow the Government to assess how many migrants or refugees homeowners will be forced to take in. The Ukrainian refugee crisis has only added fuel to this theory. ...
Census conspiracy theories sometimes accompany racist or anti-migrant sentiments. One far-right activist has complained about the television advertisement for the census showing too many non-white people, while another believes the inclusion of Roma people under the heading of “white” is a “trick to fudge statistics”.
Much of this misinformation is accompanied by nonsensical legal theories common in the Freeman of the Land movements, which are active in several parts of Ireland. These movements variously claim that governments are corporations, that citizens do not have to do anything unless they actively consent – like pay taxes – and that almost all laws are invalid.
“Our reasons for urging people to not fill out the census is because we want no contract with the government that has actively tried to destroy our people and our way of life over the last two year,” said a group called Anti-Lockdown Ireland.
“If the census people come to your front door pull out your phone and start recording them,” another person said in a widely shared video which has been viewed many thousands of times. “When they tell you you have to fill out the census, you tell them ‘show me the contract with my name and the other party’s name to say I consented to take part in this year’s census’.” ....
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ire...round-of-irish-conspiracy-theorists-1.4836075
Census 2022: the latest battleground of Irish conspiracy theorists
Covid conspiracy groups have provided a ready-made infrastructure for the spread of census misinformation
about 20 hours agoby Conor Gallagher
The census, once the relatively uncontroversial collection of information for the provision of public services, has become the latest antagonist for Ireland’s small but vocal conspiracy theorist community.
Misinformation about the census, which takes place on April 3rd, is being spread on large social media groups which established during the pandemic to oppose measures such as lockdowns and masks.
With these measures in the rearview mirror – for now at least – some of these groups have pivoted to other causes, including the idea that the census is a means of Government coercion.
These Covid-19 conspiracy groups, on platforms such as Facebook and Telegram, have provided a ready-made infrastructure for the spread of this census misinformation to tens of thousands of social media users.
It is not just Ireland that is experiencing a newfound distrust of the census. Authorities in the US, UK, Greece and Australia have been battling an upsurge in census-related conspiracy theories in recent months and years.
The Irish census is being conducted by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) which, it is understood, has been monitoring the spread of misinformation online.
In relative terms, the number of people who believe in these conspiracy theories is very small but the issue has caused some concern among officials.
The most prominent census misinformation relates to a new question on the 2022 form asking about the number of bedrooms in a house. Conspiracy theorists claim this is to allow the Government to assess how many migrants or refugees homeowners will be forced to take in. The Ukrainian refugee crisis has only added fuel to this theory. ...
Census conspiracy theories sometimes accompany racist or anti-migrant sentiments. One far-right activist has complained about the television advertisement for the census showing too many non-white people, while another believes the inclusion of Roma people under the heading of “white” is a “trick to fudge statistics”.
Much of this misinformation is accompanied by nonsensical legal theories common in the Freeman of the Land movements, which are active in several parts of Ireland. These movements variously claim that governments are corporations, that citizens do not have to do anything unless they actively consent – like pay taxes – and that almost all laws are invalid.
“Our reasons for urging people to not fill out the census is because we want no contract with the government that has actively tried to destroy our people and our way of life over the last two year,” said a group called Anti-Lockdown Ireland.
“If the census people come to your front door pull out your phone and start recording them,” another person said in a widely shared video which has been viewed many thousands of times. “When they tell you you have to fill out the census, you tell them ‘show me the contract with my name and the other party’s name to say I consented to take part in this year’s census’.” ....
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ire...round-of-irish-conspiracy-theorists-1.4836075