‘Wrong on many levels’: Disinformation researcher criticises University of Auckland’s ‘silencing ‘ of Siouxsie Wiles

A disinformation researcher has told the court he was “astonished” to read a risk assessment by the University of Auckland which said the risk of harm to microbiologist Dr Siouxsie Wiles “is unlikely to be high”.

Research fellow at The Disinformation Project Sanjana Hattotuwa was giving evidence in the Employment Court in Auckland where Wiles, an associate professor at the University of Auckland, is arguing her employer did not do enough to ensure her safety during the pandemic when harassment towards her increased.

After outlining the extent of abuse, hate and harm Wiles has and continues to experience – including death threats – Hattotuwa said: “I do not understand how the risk assessment can come to that conclusion.”

He said no evidence of social media monitoring in the risk assessment was a “red flag” about the expertise of the people who undertook it.

“The university’s social media reports and tracking data are not fit for purpose. In fact, I consider them to be so poorly conceived of and executed that they are farcical,” Hattotuwa said.

“In my view, the risk assessment is woefully inadequate and not fit for purpose… It does not deal with what Siouxsie is facing and has no understanding of the degree and nature of what she is doing and the risks that she faces.”

He said he did not have words for the “extraordinary delay” that saw the draft and final copy of the risk assessment given to Wiles two years after the harassment and pandemic started.

The court was shown multiple examples of hateful comments from a variety of social media sources.

“Siouxsie is one of the most targeted and harassed people online in Aotearoa New Zealand,” Hattotuwa said. “She faces a huge amount of vituperative, vicious and violent harassment on virtually every online platform and on an almost daily basis.”

He said she was particularly vulnerable to harassment for several reasons.

“Her messages of pro-vaccination, pro-lockdown and pro-mandates are contentious and provoke a large volume of misinformation and disinformation. B, her gender is female. C, she has unique features as a public intellectual and a science communicator. D, she is visually identifiable in her appearance – her pink hair, for example.

“The harassment of Siouxsie targets all of the above features and threatens violence, hanging, execution and rape against her.”

Hattotuwa referenced a website called Nuremberg NZ that targeted Wiles alongside a handful of politicians and the Director-General of Health.

“Given that she is generally one of the most-targeted persons in the country outside of politicians and in the academic community, these factors combined to make her arguably one of the most at risk, individuals in Aotearoa New Zealand.

“Siouxsie is at far greater risk of random violent attack occurring against her than New Zealanders in general are.”

He said this was only what could be seen on public channels, not what had likely been said on private accounts, Facebook Messenger groups, and other instant messaging apps like WhatsApp.

Hattotuwa said a letter from the vice-chancellor to Wiles which urged her to minimise her Covid-19 commentary was “wrong on many levels”.

“I do not believe that this would be something that would stop the harassment that Siouxsie gets and therefore it is not, in my view, a step that Siouxsie should be taking to fulfil health and safety obligations.

“Regardless of whether she continues to comment or not, Siouxsie is a known figure who is already reviled online by a vocal sector of the community, owing to the stance she has taken on Covid-19.

“By urging Siouxsie to moderate/minimise her comments, the university is essentially silencing Siouxsie.

“Moderation is not something Siouxsie can realistically be asked to do, since it is also victim-blaming and shaming.”

University of Auckland lawyer Rachael Judge cross-examined Hattotuwa. She asked whether he believed the Covid-19 level four lockdown in August 2021 and the protests at Parliament increased online harassment.

Judge queried his association with Wiles. He said his colleague Kate Hannah, who founded the Disinformation Project had a relationship with Wiles, not him.

Hattotuwa said the harassment increased incrementally each time: “The lockdown amplified it in every measurable way.

“The explosion of individuals subscribing to the content and commentary that was produced during the Parliamentary protest, it was unprecedented… That added to what was in August 2021 an explosion of content and commentary around the lockdown.”

The hearing continues.