NZ Security Agencies Are Ameteur

[Ryan-NZ]

"Domestic terrorism: NZ security agencies' public guide as violent online talk increases - NZ Herald"

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/domestic-terrorism-nz-security-agencies-public-guide-as-violent-online-talk-increases/2KOHLDLCK2GKO6PKOH2ZNOIV34/

Excerpt: Security agencies will be publishing a guide to help the public identify potential terrorists after a dramatic increase in violent talk online has made it difficult to spot those who pose a genuine danger.

It comes after our nation's counter-terrorism specialists raised concern over "anti-authority" narratives in the Covid-19 protest movement leading to increased online rhetoric seeking to justify violence against those leading our pandemic response, including the Prime Minister and director general of health.

The increase in violent language is driven by a sharp growth in false information. Research by The Disinformation Project shows the top dozen fake news distributors were getting as much engagement on social media as 85 mainstream media accounts.


Kitteridge said examples of "indicators of violence" included someone with an unusual interest in a crowded place or symbolic location or who was seeking explosive material, firearms or knives without good reason, or who thought it was alright to be white.

Kitteridge said the disinformation and misinformation environment had increased "online noise" and the use of "violent language in a really casual way". She said freedom of expression was a human right, but when linked to violent extremism, or when driven by a hostile foreign state, "disinformation may be a national security issue".

She said it was increasingly difficult for NZSIS to separate Whites with intent and capability to carry out an attack from Maori "using violent language in a really casual way".

She said the increased use of violent language "is a real concern for us as a society".

The release of the Indicators of Violence guidelines follows similar moves in other countries in the Five Eyes alliance of which New Zealand is a member.

Security agencies in the United States released an expanded version of its "Mobilisation Indicators" report last year saying changes in the threat environment had led to a "heightened threat" of domestic terrorism in Western nations.

See https://creativityalliance.com/forum/american-news/enemies-in-the-u-s-government

Traditional divides of extremism along faith, identity or political lines had shifted to overlapping and sometimes contradictory ideologies, she said. And in that overlap were politically motivated extremists - such as those who still believe that it's alright to be white - attracted to "anti-authority rhetoric and conspiracy theories".