Covid protests on social media censored by Australian government

Secret documents reveal Australian government censors monitored social media posts protesting about Covid lockdowns and vaccine mandates - and pressured Facebook and Twitter to shut them down.

New freedom of information documents reveal the Federal Government was secretly pressuring Facebook to censor information about lawful public protests against Covid lockdowns and vaccine mandates.

The FOI documents show a social media team within a “National Incident Room” in the Health Department also pressured Twitter to try to shut down posts by then sitting Liberal MP Craig Kelly railing against censorship.

Mr Kelly said the revelations highlighted the dangers of the Albanese Government’s new “misinformation” social media laws - and that attempts to censor his tweets ridiculing former Premier Gladys Berejiklian over lockdowns was “banana republic stuff”.

The secret team of censors, located in the Sirius Building in Canberra, also wanted to remove an entire group devoted the medical stories of people injured by vaccines saying they had 743 members and they wanted to “flag it before it got too many more” as their stories were “unsubstantiated”— but Facebook refused.

The censors were on friendly terms with Facebook staff, exchanging daily emails and chit chat about going on paternity leave and signing off with happy emojis.

Former MP Craig Kelly attending an anti lockdown anti mandate protest in Melbourne during the pandemic. Picture: Alex Coppel.

In April 2021, at the height of the pandemic, the government censors asked Facebook to shut down an Australian group called United Collective, attaching screenshots of the group promoting marches against lockdowns and mandate policies.

“Happy Monday, I hope you both had a good weekend,” the public servant, whose name was redacted, wrote to the Facebook team.

Health Department censors asked Facebook to censor a social media page that promoted protests against vaccine mandates. One of the FOI documents showing Health Department officials asking Facebook to shut down a protest page in April 12, 2021. Photo: Supplied

Scenes from anti-vaccine protest, 'Millions March Against Mandatory Covid Vaccinations’, at Hyde Park in Sydney Australia on February 20, 2021. Picture: Facebook via NCA NewsWire

“We believe this group infringes on Facebook’s policy as it has promoted events and calls to action advocating against the Covid-19 vaccine and also spread misinformation to push this message.

“I’ve also included a snip of the recent media on the page that you can see is quite openly against Covid-19 requirements and has numerous petitions being promoted in the comments on the posts.”

The snippets include posters promoting legal demonstrations in February that year in capital cities under the banner “Millions March against mandatory Covid vaccinations”, including in Sydney’s Hyde Park, where chef Pete Evans spoke.

Facebook replied saying they reviewed the group and deleted nine pieces of content “for violation of our policies”.

Protester against lockdowns under a Worldwide Rally For Freedom movement.

The government official then replied asking why they didn’t just remove the group as a whole.

“There is demonstrated evidence the group is purely designed to go against Covid information by the posts it allows,” they argued.

In response, the Facebook employee said: “The group has posted a large volume of content which does not violate our policies.”

The censors also targeted Mr Kelly, an outspoken former Liberal MP who campaigned against lockdowns and vaccine mandates.

Health Department officials also wanted to censor a Facebook group of the medical stories of people with Covid vaccination reactions. Photo: Supplied

“We’ve got the Department of Health wanting to censor a post by me complaining about censorship, it’s beyond ridiculous,” he said.

“The documents also show the government trying to shut down people spreading information about a lawful protest against government policy - that’s banana republic stuff.”

Twitter refused a request to censor some of his tweets, stating on 27 April 2021 that: “we didn’t find a violation of our rules in the content you reported”.

The tweet that Australian Government censors asked Twitter to remove, which was made by then MP Craig Kelly on August 3, 2021, about the lockdowns. Photo: Supplied

Former outspoken Sydney Liberal MP Craig Kelly, a critic of government over reach and a target of the censors. Picture: NCA NewsWire /Gaye Gerard

In another, under the heading “We’ve got your report about Craig KellyMP” on August 2021 Twitter said they’d received the complaint about Mr Kelly tweeting:

“Looking desperate and running out of ideas … harming people’s mental health with endless lockdowns, raw abuse of police power … Ignoring Israeli (followed by a symbol of a needle) Shame Gladys Shame Time to resign.”

It included a newspaper cartoon ridiculing ex-premier Ms Berejiklian.

“They were attempting to censor political discussion,” Mr Kelly said.

“The Morrison Government was trying to shut me down and shut down my political speech on Twitter.

“Pressuring of Twitter by a secret unit inside (former Health Minister) Greg Hunt’s Ministry for Health to censor an elected member of parliament was misfeasance in public office.”

A Health Department spokesman did not respond to queries about what the budget of the unit was, or Mr Kelly’s complaints about being censored, saying it wanted Australians to have “access to credible evidence based health information”.

“Throughout the pandemic the Department monitored and responded to COVID-19 and vaccine related misinformation on social media.

“Where the department identified posts or accounts which may not be consistent with the policies of each social media company, the Department raised these with the companies to consider.”