Dangerous Voice to parliament lie being peddled by conspiracists lashed by experts

Conspiracy theorists are using social media to spread a lie about the upcoming Voice to parliament referendum.

Conspiracy theorists have taken to social media to spread misinformation on the upcoming Voice to parliament referendum.

The conspiracy theory running online is that there will be two questions in the referendum and that answering yes to the first will override the no to the second one.

“So the latest on the Voice. They’re gonna ask you two questions, not just one,” one woman falsely claimed in a widely-circulated clip TikTok.

“The answer to both of them will be no, unless you want to be run by the UN and have forced immunisation…so when it asks you if you know who the Aboriginal people are, the original people of the land and the Torres Strait Islanders…no. The answer’s no.”

Podcaster and self-described “freethinker” David Michael Graham also used TikTok to repeat the same information, stating that the Australian government has “set up a trick in the referendum to come for the Voice.”

“Okay, apparently there’s going to be two questions guys,” Graham said.

“Number One is going to be ‘do you recognise the Indigenous people?’ Now must of us people would obviously go ‘yes’. Well if you do say yes, this trick will override your no vote for the other question. So there’s two questions but if you tick ‘yes’ for the first one, it’s going to overrode your no vote in the second one.”

David Michael Graham using TikTok to spread misinformation of the Voice to parliament. Picture: @stoptherotsackthelot/TikTok

A woman took to TikTok and falsely stated that there were two questions in the upcoming Voice to parliament referendum. Pciture: @timetogrow44/TikTok

“So understand what they’re doing guys, alright, you know [these] are dangerous times ahead. Okay, they’re gonna try and push this thing [and] this is what they’re doing guys.”

This has been proven false as on the Australian government’s website under the Referendum 2023 section, it outlines that “voters will be asked to vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on a single question.”

“A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. Do you approve this proposed alteration?” the question states.

The Australian Electoral Commission also took to Twitter on Monday to dismiss the conspiracy, writing: “There will only be one question at the upcoming referendum with a single answer required (write either Yes or No to ensure your vote is counted).”

There will only be one question at the upcoming referendum with a single answer required (write either 'Yes' or 'No' to ensure your vote is counted).

A referendum requires legislation to pass parliament. The legislation that passed parliament outlines a single question only.

— AEC ✏️ (@AusElectoralCom) August 14, 2023

A Yes23 spokesperson stressed how important it was for “all Australians to have the facts when they vote this year.”

“We urge people get informed and educated by attending a community forum or have a conversation with one of our campaign’s 20,000 volunteers who are on the ground across Australia,” they told news.com.au.

Using scare tactics

With how easily conspiracy theories thrived on social media during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Associate Professor Tom van Laer from the University of Sydney (USyd) warned about the power of using fear as a strategy to influence people.

“Fear is an intense, powerful emotion that encourages passivity — we tend to prefer the status quo if we are afraid. Such a response is seldom reasoned, which can make it difficult to counter. Fear strategies are directed at undecided voters in an effort to harden attitudes against the Voice and encourage them to vote ‘no’,” Mr van Laer told news.com.au.

Using fear mongering as a tactic is something social media researcher and conspiracy theory specialist, Dr Joanne Gray from USyd says is a common tool used online.

“People use fear mongering tactics to scare others and by liking it and sharing it online, it gives a public endorsement. We’ve seen the damaging effect it’s had on the Yes campaign,” Dr Gray said.

“I’m worried people will be misinformed when it comes time to make a monumental decision like the Voice.”