EXC: Foreign governments are funding global misinformation “prebunking” operations to prevent other countries from adopting Trump-style immigration policy.
“In the US, Trump has introduced new border-control measures and announced plans for mass deportations.
Some European leaders are considering following suit. In this context, misinformation may circulate in the near future,” warns the paper.
Researchers encourage giving a “motivational warning”:
“In the current political environment, we'll see the tried and tested strategy. of blaming refugees and migrants for all manner of problems.
Certain politicians want us to be afraid so that we feel like we need their heavy-handed policies.
Don't let them trick you into thinking we need to throw out our shared values of fairness and compassion.”
They suggested the following “preemptive refutations”:
“They'll use fear-mongering to make you feel unsafe, painting refugees and migrants as a faceless threat rather than real people. This trick is designed to stoke fear and distract you from more important issues. It's part of a 'divide and rule' trick certain politicians think they can use to win elections.”
“Australia is a geographically isolated island, and this gives it much more control over its borders than other countries. Like it or not, we already have some of the toughest border controls in the world.”
Other examples of “misinformation” Australian government-funded researchers were researching how to “prebunk” include migrant crime, housing crises, lax border security, and the massive scale of immigration.
Behavioral Insights Team, which is partnered with the US government, worked on the research alongside the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law at UNSW Sydney. This school is publicly funded.
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