Social media has infected our minds, and the results are playing out on our streets

Without Facebook and its friends Twitter and Instagram, it’s hard to see how this week’s violent anti-vaccination protests in Melbourne could have eventuated, writes MATT CUNNINGHAM.

IF you still needed proof, the evidence of the poisoning of the human mind was on full display in Melbourne this week.

There are many good reasons to protest, but it’s hard to see how being forced to take a vaccine that will save your life and possibly the lives of many others is one of them.

But this is where we are in 2021.

The evidence that vaccinations are safe and effective is overwhelming. Yet thousands took to Melbourne’s streets over several days in violent anti-vaccination protests.

Protesters gather at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

Some, particularly those on the left, tried to describe the rallies as the work of right-wing extremists. They were partly right.

There’s no doubt the views expressed are extreme, but last time I checked the CFMEU (Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union) was most closely aligned with the left faction of the Labor Party.

The alliance of far-left unionists with far-right, anti-government extremists is not as unlikely as you might think. The extremes of the political spectrum have many similarities. Their views are rigid and are becoming ever-more radicalised.

In the face of overwhelming evidence, they have almost no ability to see reason with an alternative point-of-view.

Police and protesters clash at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

The pandemic has accelerated this phenomenon, but it’s one that has its roots in Silicon Valley not long after the turn of the century.

Our minds have been infected by social media, and the ugly – potentially deadly – consequences are now playing out on our streets.

In fact, without Facebook and its friends Twitter and Instagram, it’s hard to see how this week’s protests could have eventuated. How else could so many people be convinced a life-saving vaccination was something to get angry about?

Ask any serious medical professional and they will tell you vaccines will save lives. Read any mainstream media article – from the Guardian to the Australian – and you will see near-universal acceptance that the vaccines are safe and necessary.

Yet head to social media, and if you’re inclined to perhaps believe this might all be some sort of government conspiracy, you can be fed a never-ending stream of dodgy “facts” to reinforce that view. Click on one and Facebook’s algorithm will start sending you them in spades until you’re so far down the rabbit hole there’s no return.

Protesters spread their anti-vaccination sentiment, often gathered from dodgy ‘facts’ on social media. Photo: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

Melbourne might have some excuse for the outrage that spilled on to the streets this week. This week it became the world’s most locked-down city since the pandemic began. But we have no excuse in the Northern Territory – a relatively Covid-free utopia that has been given every possible opportunity to put up our defences before the virus arrives.

Yet, despite some furphies being floated by our politicians, data published by the ABC this week shows we are on track to be the last jurisdiction in the country to achieve 80 per cent double vaccination.

Perhaps this is because we have thousands of people here – including senior community leaders – who seem to be doing everything in their power to discourage vaccination. Some of their actions are so bizarre they would be hilarious, if the stakes were not so high.

This week we learned of a letter, sent from the Kalymnian Brotherhood committee to Chief Minister Michael Gunner. “It has come to our attention, through reliable sources, that members of your government are planning a fictitious Covid-19 outbreak, that will implicate the Greek Orthodox Church of St Nicholas and its parishioners, which we belong to,” the letter said.

“This pre-planned outbreak is said to be scheduled to commence on the 23rd (or 25th) of this month, following positive cases that will be said to have spread in the community, from the attendees of the Divine Liturgy, this Sunday coming. This ‘so called event’, will lead to an immediate lockdown, that will last one to two months and will only lax if the vaccination rates increase within the Darwin community.”

Bizarre. Meanwhile, Father Joel from the abovementioned church took the same sort of nonsense to the pulpit. “These are not vaccines, these are experimental biological agents and the companies are immune from all liability and then they will bring about a tracking system, track you down if you’ve been vaccinated or not,” he reportedly said in a sermon.

What’s even more remarkable than the comments themselves are the number of people willing to believe Father Joel has a better grasp on the Pfizer vaccine than thousands of the world’s best epidemiologists.

When the NT News posted a story about this sermon on Facebook, the comments feed was full of people keen to make it clear they #StandWithFatherJoel.

Darwin's Greek Orthodox Church on Cavenagh St . Picture: Glenn Campbell

The CLP had a couple of dishonourable mentions this week with MLAs Jo Hersey and Marie-Clare Boothby writing to government ministers to voice the concerns of those who choose not to be vaccinated. “We live in a democratic society, not a dictatorship,” Ms Hersey said. Normally I’d agree. Freedom and liberty are important parts of a democracy. But most democracies draw the line at acts of freedom that endanger the lives of others.

Choosing not to be vaccinated will endanger more lives than just your own, particularly if you’re heading to work in a remote Indigenous community. It will also prevent the return of our freedom, at massive cost to business.

Labor’s response to these letters was confected, over-blown and possibly counter-productive, but the sentiment is essentially right. Our community leaders should be doing everything in their power to promote and encourage vaccination, not push the barrow of the objectors.

As the Prime Minister told Federal Parliament last month: “It is up to all of us as members to seek to do everything we can to ensure that we are countering that (misinformation) in our own communities”.

Yet Federal Labor Senator Malarndirri McCarthy still appeared to go into bat for the anti-vaxxers on ABC radio on Thursday morning. Perhaps she was confused as to whether her allegiances should lie with her constituents, or the unions who support her pre-selection.

Now she appears to be on a unity ticket with Nationals MP George Christensen, opposing the mandatory vaccination of workers against a virus that could still kill thousands more Australians if those jabs don’t go into arms. Strange days indeed.

Originally published as Social media has infected our minds, and the results are playing out on our streets