Course for councillors in spotting conspiracies in the misinformation age

Victorian councillors can get training on dealing with conspiracy groups who bombard them with theories about 5G towers and 15-minute cities amid fears fringe groups will upend October’s local government elections.

A new four-week university course will help council candidates spot conspiracy theories and provide the tools to combat them as the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) deals with concerns that fringe groups will flood elections with misinformation. The course is not compulsory.

“Freedom movement” protesters in Melbourne in 2021.Credit: Eddie Jim

The MAV and the University of Melbourne have combined to offer a course in “Recognising and Managing Disinformation” before the council elections.

“A lot of it is breaking it down to why: why is disinformation such an issue? Why are people creating this? Why are they using it? Why are they disseminating it?” said Ika Trijsburg, a research fellow in city diplomacy at the University of Melbourne.

“But also what are those societal fault lines that we have that allow this to flourish?”

Trijsburg said the course would teach councillors, council staff and candidates about the main players in the disinformation space and key tactics and techniques they could use to boost their confidence in spotting conspiracy theories.

Topics will include disinformation campaigns around COVID-19, climate change and gender, as well as common conspiracies ventilated at council level: around 5G towers and 15-minute cities.

Conspiracy theorists believe the urban planning concepts of 15- or 20-minute cities, which aim to provide residents key services within walking distance of their homes, are a ploy to keep people locked in their suburbs.

“We’ll be going through some key case studies of local governments that have put in place different types of responses and ways that we can learn from those,” Trijsburg said.

In recent years, council meetings and events have been interrupted or been the scene of protests by those pushing a range of controversial views. They include a “sovereign citizen” theory of legal rights that argues taxes, land titles and even governments are illegitimate; anti-vaccination and “freedom movement” ideas popularised during COVID-19 lockdowns; and opposing council-run drag queen storytime events.

A spate of disruptions last year prompted Victorian councils to install duress alarms, set up security text lines, closed public galleries, hired security guards and move to ticketed public meetings.

Over a period of months, Yarra Ranges Shire Council, on Melbourne’s eastern fringe, became bogged down with disinformation to the point police were called and the public gallery was closed. A man associated with a conspiracy group unsuccessfully challenged the action in the Supreme Court.

“That became an issue at every single council meeting and it erupted,” said Councillor Jim Child, who was Yarra Ranges mayor at the time.

Child said the $1500 course should be mandatory for all councillors and candidates.

Jim Child was Yarra Ranges mayor when he halted a 2023 council meeting when the public gallery became unruly.Credit: Joe Armao

“I think councillors should be aware of what they are committing to,” he said.

“And those prospective candidates might be putting their hands up from groups like My Place and if it [the course] was mandatory, they would be involved in this education piece as well.”

The Age reported in January that followers of My Place – a loose movement that operates largely via private social media pages and espouses various controversial ideas – were being urged to prepare to contest Victoria’s local government elections.

Some councillors and commentators have expressed unease about measures such as closing councils’ public galleries, and described the move as an over-reach that could be used in cases where it was not warranted.

Municipal Association of Victoria chief executive Kelly Grigsby.Credit: Greg Briggs

Last year, Hobsons Bay Council closed a meeting to the public when a peaceful rally of locals attended to protest their eviction from an industrial estate.

Council meetings have also been disrupted by pro-Palestine activists since October. Darebin Council recently had to adjourn a rowdy meeting for 20 minutes after constant interruptions and chanting from the public gallery.

Trijsburg said it was a “nuanced question” how the course would separate legitimate, open expression from disinformation that required a response.

Darren Bergwerf started the My Place network.

“Particularly around disinformation and mal-information, there’s that deliberate intent to mislead and a lot of actors in this space are motivated either by the desire to erode trust and create havoc, or [they have] financial goals,” she said.

MAV chief executive Kelly Grigsby said the university course was “not about limiting people’s right to have their own opinion” and it was the role of councils to uphold open local democracy.

“I think it’s when it plays out in a way that deliberately misinforms and deliberately misrepresents facts, I think that’s where it becomes problematic,” she said.

Grigsby said such training – and a forthcoming handbook on disinformation – might be considered necessary for councillors in the future.

Darren Bergwerf, who started the My Place Australia but doesn’t represent the entire network, said the MAV, the University of Melbourne and “all levels of government and the media” were “squashing free speech and covering up fraud and corruption at the highest level”.

“So it’s no surprise they only want indoctrinated people running for council,” he said.

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