The second is that, as Facebook, Twitter and other tech giants crack down on disinformation, some of the people who truly believe in these theories are already thinking of ways to circumvent social media and build a bigger following offline, free from the gaze of factcheckers.
Shawn Jason Laponte.
It began in early November. At the time, Laponte made a long post to his Facebook page, apologizing to the people in his life whom he may have offended, but promising to keep speaking up about the “larger workings of the world” he claims to have uncovered over 16 years of research.
“I wish so badly I could instantly give you all the insight I have received over the thousands of hours I have poured into looking at this. But I cannot. I know I cannot change anyone's mind about the reality of the situation we are in,” he wrote. “All I can do is plant seeds.”
In an email response to questions from the Star, Laponte described that 16-year process of discovery further, detailing hours and years spent “soaking up perspectives” online. It’s led him to a number of “projects,” he said, which he spearheads in between carpentry and renovation jobs, including the love campaign and starting an association called the “lightworkers” of Ontario, which, in its broad definition, says it wants to spread joy and light through various spiritual practices.
“The more I discovered, the more I grew concerned about the way humanity was being intentionally divided and misled,” Laponte wrote. “My desire to help bring humanity together grew, and that has been the driving force behind everything I have done since then.”
Over the weeks following the initial publication of Druthers, Laponte opened a Facebook page and adapted his website — previously used for the “I love you pass it on” campaign — to recruit Torontonians to the cause of starting a 12-page newspaper. On a Facebook group, he recruited people to write articles and distribute the papers once they arrived, and used an online fundraising platform to raise about $3,500 for the first 10,000 newspapers to get printed.
The first paper contained articles promoting a campaign by an antivaccination group to challenge the government’s pandemic response, and unfounded claims of miracle drugs that are being held back from the public. It made further, unfounded claims that the pandemic is being used as an “untruthful narrative” by the government to wrest civil freedoms from the public.
After the first issue came out, it was distributed at antimask rallies in Toronto and at Adamson Barbecue, the restaurant which refused to follow COVID-19 orders and attracted a large crowd of anti-restrictions protesters when Toronto Public Health took possession of the restaurant in late November.
Sam Goldstein, a longtime Toronto criminal lawyer who was consulted by Adamson Barbeque’s owner during the ordeal, said the voices of dissent — including a newspaper such as Druthers — are legal expressions of opinion and untruths that are part of living in a free society. That’s even if the opinions and falsehoods expressed in Druthers and online sites promoting COVID-19 conspiracy theories are generally scorned by the public, and ignored by the government.
“You may not like ... conspiracy theories, but in order to protect your right to the truth, you also protect someone else’s right to be wrong,” Goldstein said. “History ought not to be written by governments.”
The spread of misinformation related to COVID-19 does have the potential for negative impact, even if it’s legal.
Research by EKOS, a Canadian polling company, found about one quarter of Canadians were hesitant about taking a vaccine, and that, compared to April, those questioning vaccines in July were more likely to doubt other things related to the pandemic too, such as believing the virus was created in a lab, or that the mainstream media is getting coronavirus news wrong.
In other words, there’s been a convergence of people who may have been inclined to mistrust mainstream narratives, around the issues presented by the coronavirus.
Shawn Jason Laponte.
It began in early November. At the time, Laponte made a long post to his Facebook page, apologizing to the people in his life whom he may have offended, but promising to keep speaking up about the “larger workings of the world” he claims to have uncovered over 16 years of research.
“I wish so badly I could instantly give you all the insight I have received over the thousands of hours I have poured into looking at this. But I cannot. I know I cannot change anyone's mind about the reality of the situation we are in,” he wrote. “All I can do is plant seeds.”
In an email response to questions from the Star, Laponte described that 16-year process of discovery further, detailing hours and years spent “soaking up perspectives” online. It’s led him to a number of “projects,” he said, which he spearheads in between carpentry and renovation jobs, including the love campaign and starting an association called the “lightworkers” of Ontario, which, in its broad definition, says it wants to spread joy and light through various spiritual practices.
“The more I discovered, the more I grew concerned about the way humanity was being intentionally divided and misled,” Laponte wrote. “My desire to help bring humanity together grew, and that has been the driving force behind everything I have done since then.”
Over the weeks following the initial publication of Druthers, Laponte opened a Facebook page and adapted his website — previously used for the “I love you pass it on” campaign — to recruit Torontonians to the cause of starting a 12-page newspaper. On a Facebook group, he recruited people to write articles and distribute the papers once they arrived, and used an online fundraising platform to raise about $3,500 for the first 10,000 newspapers to get printed.
The first paper contained articles promoting a campaign by an antivaccination group to challenge the government’s pandemic response, and unfounded claims of miracle drugs that are being held back from the public. It made further, unfounded claims that the pandemic is being used as an “untruthful narrative” by the government to wrest civil freedoms from the public.
After the first issue came out, it was distributed at antimask rallies in Toronto and at Adamson Barbecue, the restaurant which refused to follow COVID-19 orders and attracted a large crowd of anti-restrictions protesters when Toronto Public Health took possession of the restaurant in late November.
Sam Goldstein, a longtime Toronto criminal lawyer who was consulted by Adamson Barbeque’s owner during the ordeal, said the voices of dissent — including a newspaper such as Druthers — are legal expressions of opinion and untruths that are part of living in a free society. That’s even if the opinions and falsehoods expressed in Druthers and online sites promoting COVID-19 conspiracy theories are generally scorned by the public, and ignored by the government.
“You may not like ... conspiracy theories, but in order to protect your right to the truth, you also protect someone else’s right to be wrong,” Goldstein said. “History ought not to be written by governments.”
The spread of misinformation related to COVID-19 does have the potential for negative impact, even if it’s legal.
Research by EKOS, a Canadian polling company, found about one quarter of Canadians were hesitant about taking a vaccine, and that, compared to April, those questioning vaccines in July were more likely to doubt other things related to the pandemic too, such as believing the virus was created in a lab, or that the mainstream media is getting coronavirus news wrong.
In other words, there’s been a convergence of people who may have been inclined to mistrust mainstream narratives, around the issues presented by the coronavirus.
“My evidence is that there’s really a potent force shaping these views,” said Frank Graves, president of EKOS research, in a previous interview with the Star. “The people who have these extreme views, they’re lower information consumers, they’re not typically well educated, they tend to be middle aged or older. Though they don’t consume government websites and mainstream media, they tend to overconsume Facebook, Reddit and YouTube.”
In Druthers’ short life so far, the paper doubled in print output for the January issue. Then doubled again in February. Laponte started posting on Facebook and Telegram that he was surprised but pleased about the paper’s growth, and that he was getting contacted by Canadians from coast to coast who wanted to help distribute it. Laponte told the Star they’re aiming for 200,000 papers in March.
But while much of the conversation surrounding Druthers is happening in online communities, where conspiracy theorists have traditionally made their homes, this project has been sure to put the heart of its content into print, where big technology companies cannot stop it from spreading.
“Druthers was born from the need to get around the blatant censorship by the big tech companies,” Laponte wrote to the Star. “With tens of thousands of doctors and other health professionals voices being silenced online, and with mainstream media not giving these experts any airtime despite the potentially life saving info they were bringing to the table, it quickly became clear that printed information was the way to go.”
The health professionals Laponte refers to are, for example, the World Doctors Alliance, which has made videos shared thousands of times over social media and has been identified by the AFP Fact Check site as a group of medical practitioners making numerous false claims about COVID-19.
Ahmed Al-Rawi, who runs the Disinformation Project at Simon Fraser University, studying false information online, said it’s only to be expected that some conspiracy theorists will turn to alternative, or in this case old-school, methods of disseminating information when the big social media sites — Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, especially — start factchecking and taking down more false content.
Al-Rawi has noticed that some of the far-right Facebook groups he monitors have started recruiting followers to other platforms less likely to be censored.
In some cases, he’s seen the conversations become even more extreme and hateful when moved off the mainstream platforms.
“I’ve never seen this kind of hatred before,” Al-Rawi said, referring to one channel he followed on the mobile messaging app Telegram. “Yeah I do worry about it, especially if the customized mobile platforms are encrypted and harder for others to reach. Harder for us to monitor.”
Reached by the Star, both the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service said they do not monitor or investigate misinformation and conspiracy theories.
What they do investigate, meanwhile — threats to security and online communication that veers into threatening territory — is becoming harder to trace.
RCMP declined to comment on the investigative tools used. In an email statement, CSIS spokesperson John Townsend wrote that media and social media have enabled a surge in propaganda disseminated by threat groups.
“Most notably, the increased use of encryption technologies allows terrorists to conceal the content of their communications and operate with anonymity while online,” Townsend wrote. “They can evade detection by police and intelligence officials, which often presents a significant challenge when governments investigate and seek to prosecute threat actors.”
Druthers is not a source of those kinds of threats, nor does it appear to be an example of misinformation becoming more extreme when it moves offline — most of the articles, at least, are presented as opinion and do not deny the existence of COVID-19 outright.
But it may elucidate one way misinformation sources might endure beyond the threats of shutdown by mainstream social media sites.
In Druthers’ short life so far, the paper doubled in print output for the January issue. Then doubled again in February. Laponte started posting on Facebook and Telegram that he was surprised but pleased about the paper’s growth, and that he was getting contacted by Canadians from coast to coast who wanted to help distribute it. Laponte told the Star they’re aiming for 200,000 papers in March.
But while much of the conversation surrounding Druthers is happening in online communities, where conspiracy theorists have traditionally made their homes, this project has been sure to put the heart of its content into print, where big technology companies cannot stop it from spreading.
“Druthers was born from the need to get around the blatant censorship by the big tech companies,” Laponte wrote to the Star. “With tens of thousands of doctors and other health professionals voices being silenced online, and with mainstream media not giving these experts any airtime despite the potentially life saving info they were bringing to the table, it quickly became clear that printed information was the way to go.”
The health professionals Laponte refers to are, for example, the World Doctors Alliance, which has made videos shared thousands of times over social media and has been identified by the AFP Fact Check site as a group of medical practitioners making numerous false claims about COVID-19.
Ahmed Al-Rawi, who runs the Disinformation Project at Simon Fraser University, studying false information online, said it’s only to be expected that some conspiracy theorists will turn to alternative, or in this case old-school, methods of disseminating information when the big social media sites — Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, especially — start factchecking and taking down more false content.
Al-Rawi has noticed that some of the far-right Facebook groups he monitors have started recruiting followers to other platforms less likely to be censored.
In some cases, he’s seen the conversations become even more extreme and hateful when moved off the mainstream platforms.
“I’ve never seen this kind of hatred before,” Al-Rawi said, referring to one channel he followed on the mobile messaging app Telegram. “Yeah I do worry about it, especially if the customized mobile platforms are encrypted and harder for others to reach. Harder for us to monitor.”
Reached by the Star, both the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service said they do not monitor or investigate misinformation and conspiracy theories.
What they do investigate, meanwhile — threats to security and online communication that veers into threatening territory — is becoming harder to trace.
RCMP declined to comment on the investigative tools used. In an email statement, CSIS spokesperson John Townsend wrote that media and social media have enabled a surge in propaganda disseminated by threat groups.
“Most notably, the increased use of encryption technologies allows terrorists to conceal the content of their communications and operate with anonymity while online,” Townsend wrote. “They can evade detection by police and intelligence officials, which often presents a significant challenge when governments investigate and seek to prosecute threat actors.”
Druthers is not a source of those kinds of threats, nor does it appear to be an example of misinformation becoming more extreme when it moves offline — most of the articles, at least, are presented as opinion and do not deny the existence of COVID-19 outright.
But it may elucidate one way misinformation sources might endure beyond the threats of shutdown by mainstream social media sites.
Even if its Facebook page was taken down, the paper could still fundraise through donorbox, a fundraising platform that is well known for tolerating misinformation sources. And it could still maintain its network of volunteer paper distributors through chat applications.
Bob Martin, an 83 year-old retiree based in Victoria, B.C., is one of the people who raised his hand to help distribute the papers when they arrive in the province.
“I’ve talked to the guy — not on the phone, just messaging — and he seems pretty good pretty honest and just like most of us who want our freedom and to go out for a meal without putting a mask on,” Martin told the Star. “A lot of people don’t believe what I say and think and that’s fine: I’m just taking my side of freedom of speech to say what I believe is true, with sufficient evidence.”
He says he reads a lot online, using his “gut feeling” to sort out what he believes are facts from fiction.
“Conspiracy theories. Now the word ‘theory’, That’s the word you have to lose,” he said. “There’s evidence for conspiracy everywhere.”
Laponte wrote he was hesitant about responding to questions from the Star, because he feared Druthers would not be displayed in a positive light. But ultimately, he decided it was better to share his bit.
“I aim to see a day where we are printing 0 papers,” he wrote. “In a world where censorship isn't running rampant.”
=====
Tap through to read the comments. They are mostly quite supportive. Perhaps add your own comments too.
❤️
https://www.facebook.com/184906186150/posts/10161068643256151/
Bob Martin, an 83 year-old retiree based in Victoria, B.C., is one of the people who raised his hand to help distribute the papers when they arrive in the province.
“I’ve talked to the guy — not on the phone, just messaging — and he seems pretty good pretty honest and just like most of us who want our freedom and to go out for a meal without putting a mask on,” Martin told the Star. “A lot of people don’t believe what I say and think and that’s fine: I’m just taking my side of freedom of speech to say what I believe is true, with sufficient evidence.”
He says he reads a lot online, using his “gut feeling” to sort out what he believes are facts from fiction.
“Conspiracy theories. Now the word ‘theory’, That’s the word you have to lose,” he said. “There’s evidence for conspiracy everywhere.”
Laponte wrote he was hesitant about responding to questions from the Star, because he feared Druthers would not be displayed in a positive light. But ultimately, he decided it was better to share his bit.
“I aim to see a day where we are printing 0 papers,” he wrote. “In a world where censorship isn't running rampant.”
=====
Tap through to read the comments. They are mostly quite supportive. Perhaps add your own comments too.
❤️
https://www.facebook.com/184906186150/posts/10161068643256151/
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CTV lied about Druthers... We're aiming to get them to retract that piece and issue an apology using people power. Please see the description in this YouTube video to see how you can help. https://youtu.be/Xr-MVXP3w3o
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CTV News Blatantly Lied About Druthers. Here's How To Call Them Out & Force A Retraction & Apology.
Clearly, CTV is trying to smear Druthers with blatant lies and misinformation. Why would CTV make this stuff up? If they actually read an issue of Druthers t...
I'm working on getting over my camera shyness 😎 https://youtu.be/3Z1QcRKFiws
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6th Saturday In A Row Of Police Cracking Down On Peaceful Protestors In Toronto | www.Druthers.net
https://druthers.net - Canada's fastest growing newspaper is now creating digital content too! Here is our first report from the lockdown protests in Toronto from Feb 22nd 2021.
Subscribe: https://druthers.net/subscribe
Donate: https://druthers.net/donate…
Subscribe: https://druthers.net/subscribe
Donate: https://druthers.net/donate…
https://youtube.com/druthers Druthers is gearing up to do more digital content too! Come subscribe to our YouTube channel and stay tuned. Much more to come!
Well, here is our first attempt at reporting from Toronto's lockdown protests. Watch our camera man get attacked by an angry masker and watch Zoë really rock her role. We all enjoyed making this video and hope you enjoy watching it. Please share, and subscribe to the Druthers YouTube channel while you're there 😎
https://youtu.be/nB89mT_-SYE4
https://youtu.be/nB89mT_-SYE4
YouTube
Druthers Camera Man Attacked By Masker At Toronto Lockdown Protest (Assault happens at 7:42 into it)
https://druthers.net | This week, on Shawn & Zoë's Lockdown Protest Adventures, you'll see our camera man get attacked by an angry masker (7:42) and much more. We hope you enjoy our first presentation. Please leave some words of encouragement if you would…
Ohhh, looking great!! 4th issue of Druthers... 200,000 copies going coast to coast. Way to go everyone. Druthers is making waves and it's because of you!! 🎉 Send a message to admin@druthers.net with your city, province and how many bundles you would like (100 in a bundle) and we'll be in touch this week!
Do you trust BlogTO? Are they honest? Watch this short video before you answer that.
https://youtu.be/0V2PN2Ey1HU
https://youtu.be/0V2PN2Ey1HU
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BlogTO lied! Masker ATTACKS camera man
https://druthers.net | BlogTO lied. Here is video proof. She clearly attacked us, not the other way around. After watching this, share it, then go to BlogTO and let them know what you think of their fake news. https://www.blogto.com/city/2021/03/anti-maskers…
Think it’s a powerful front page? I hope it plants seeds of thought in the general population. Thank you everyone!! This wouldn’t be happening without you. Read it online at www.druthers.net/canada-2021-march
Repost this everywhere!!
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Repost this everywhere!!
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Above video is from the Brantford, Ontario protest today as we arrived with fresh Druthers in hand 😊
This last Saturday in Toronto... https://youtu.be/f2K2Bw0gWd4
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We Asked Toronto Protestors, WHY?
https://druthers.net | 8 weeks ago today the police started behaving as though protesting was illegal. This is the first weekend they actually 'allowed' us to protest without harassment! No fines or arrests were made.
What?? Protesting is illegal now in Canada??
https://youtu.be/lUJX37-rFt0
https://youtu.be/lUJX37-rFt0
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It’s ILLEGAL to protest In Canada?
https://druthers.net | Isn’t protesting a constitutionally protested right in Canada? From mid December to mid March, Toronto was on “stay-at-home” orders, during this time protesting was not allowed according to police. Multiple fines and arrests were given…
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Our Druthers Brothers & Sisters in Toronto yesterday!! ❤️ Pop up activism. We had a picnic and gave out 100’s of Druthers papers to people passing by.
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This is what a skid of 20,000 Druthers arriving in Ottawa looks like!! 🎉
Please invite a couple of your favourite, most druthery people to this telegram channel 😎
We took back Dundas Square!!! 🎉
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZT_yI1omeI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZT_yI1omeI
YouTube
Toronto Police Are "ALLOWING" Lockdown Protests Again?
https://druthers.net | After police aggressively kicked protestors out of Dundas Square in Toronto 9 weeks ago (with numerous tickets and arrests), watch as protestors take back the square this past Saturday. Are police 'allowing' protesting again? Did they…