This was published 4 years ago
Pandemic linked to rise of conspiracy theories
By Anna Patty
Riccardo Bosi doesn't trust many people. But he has faith in his belief the government has over-reacted to the COVID-19 pandemic, that masks don't stop the spread of the coronavirus, the 5G mobile network is a surveillance tool of the Chinese government, and vaccines can be ineffective.
Much of this is untrue of course. But these conspiracy theories are increasingly common on the social media feeds of many like-minded Australians. Many are aligned to the QAnon movement, which has made its way from the "dark web" and into Facebook and Instagram. It is just one strand in a growing web of disinformation and fake news flourishing during the pandemic.
Riccardo Bosi (standing) and his wife Rhiannon Bosi (seated).
A spokesperson for ASIO said it was aware of extremists seeking to exploit the circumstances and uncertainties of the COVID-19 environment. The spokesperson said some other extreme right-wing groups and individuals willing to engage in acts of violence to achieve political objectives represented "a serious, increasing and evolving threat to security".
Mr Bosi says he does not align himself with QAnon even though he shares some of the movement's views. "I align myself with me," he said.
The 60-year-old son of Italian migrants, born and raised in Sydney, is a motivational speaker and a former Australian Army lieutenant. He is starting his own political party called AustraliaOne after two tilts at Parliament running as an independent in the Eden-Monaro byelection and a NSW Senate candidate in Senator Cory Bernardi's de-registered party. He says he has thousands of prospective members.
"The reason we started the party was because I didn't trust anybody, literally. The only person I trust is me myself, my wife and a small team around me," Mr Bosi said.
Australian security experts including Lydia Khalil and Joshua Roose from Deakin University have warned that extreme conspiracy groups including QAnon have promoted false theories that the pandemic was either a deep-state plot, a hoax, or a Chinese bio-weapon. They said the management of disaster and emergency response needs to recognise how the pandemic and the summer bushfires have been exploited to promote social division.
Dr Roose said an increasing number of socio-economically marginalised people felt disempowered by politicians and were angry about the way the pandemic was being handled.
"The government needs to do more to communicate with people in the suburbs and to make them feel more empowered and valued," Dr Roose said.
"There is a lot of anger in the community and there are a lot of quite reasonable people who have lost it and ranting on Facebook about conspiracies. I think it is the impact of having been in some form of lockdown for the best part of six months."
Mr Bosi's views include a belief that Australia's response to COVID-19 was "completely overblown" as was the reporting of the number of deaths attributed to the virus. He said masks were "ineffective", "symbolic" and "another way of controlling" citizens. He said people "should not be forced to vaccinate" and some vaccinations carried health risks, including the disproven link to autism.
"The entire country should end the COVID lockdown immediately and get back to work before we destroy more lives," he said. "Coronavirus is a more virulent form of a flu. We don't stop the world for a flu outbreak."
The federal government has reported more than 26,000 cases of COVID-19 and 737 deaths.
Mr Bosi dismissed concerns right wing extremists and supporters of conspiracy theories were exploiting coronavirus fears as a "joke" and believes "agent provocateurs" will be in place at the rallies to provoke fights.
"The people aren't being stirred up by the right, the politicians' actions are stirring up the people and they've had enough," he said.
Asked about QAnon allegations about a global network of Satan-worshiping paedophiles including a cabal of Democrats and Hollywood celebrities who allegedly control a "deep state" within the US government, Mr Bosi said he had no evidence. But he believes unproven allegations raised by former Senator Bill Heffernan in 2015 about a list of 28 alleged paedophiles including a former prime minister needs to be investigated.
Mr Bosi's views about the dangers of some vaccinations and the security risk posed by the 5G network which he believes is a surveillance tool of the Chinese government have earned him the growing support of conspiracy theorists. While he and his wife Rhiannon Bosi, who works as his chief of staff, do not identify as part of the QAnon movement, Mr Bosi says he "likes the idea of Q" as a cute meme.