this is part II of my story about physical & emotional abuse within new zealand’s biggest megachurch, arise. this final piece contains distressing descriptions of sexual & emotional abuse. please take care when reading.

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webworm.co/p/downwardspir… PS: arise says it will start its HR review “after easter”.
easter is BIG for arise: they’ve been sending school kids home with easter buns, advertising their easter church services. these will take place across arise’s 11 churches. make no mistake: this is a recruitment drive

thread 1/8: it's been 10 days since i wrote about the experiences of former and current interns at arise church (webworm.co/p/arise), and still no comment: thread 2/8: now arise church has engaged a PR firm. i found out last night they'd done this - because they'd engaged with *another* media organisation (@critictearohi) - but not me:

thread 1/6: the latest maildrop from fringe disinformation group "voices of freedom" contained the usual lies - but also something interesting in the top right hand corner: a tick from kiwi advertising watchdog, the advertising standards authority: 2/6: curious, i dug in, and yes - it appears the ASA agreed with 5 of the 6 pieces of disinformation distributed by voices for freedom. here is just one example, of many:

thread 1/8: often hear from people asking for advice on what to do when a loved one or friend falls down the conspiracy theory / misinformation rabbit hole - so here's a list of pieces i've run featuring advice from experts, that may help: thread 2/8: how to talk to people stuck in a conspiracy theory hellscape, with mick west - master debunker and creator of tony hawk pro skater: webworm.co/p/how-to-talk-…

1/10: i've been sent a cease & desist by chris patterson barrister on behalf of dr dan, the NZ doctor i wrote about who’d been posting about ivermectin. they want a signed apology & retraction by end of day. i will not be doing that, and this is why: webworm.co/p/ceaseanddesi… 2/10: at its most basic, the 3 page letter alleges the webworm i’d sent was defamatory (it wasn’t). it ended with the threat that if i didn’t sign the document “we reserve all of our client’s rights including his right to bring proceedings against you without further warning”

1/5: i wanted to explore the strong links between evangelical christianity & the anti-vax movement, so started by looking at new zealand's city impact church which recently held a 90 minute "special meeting", spreading conspiracy theories & misinformation: webworm.co/p/worshipping-… 2/5: i was alerted to this by concerned family members who have loved ones that attend this church. while destiny church gets a lot of flack, i'd argue city impact is much bigger & more dangerous - yet tends to fly under the radar (because, well: white. it's very fucking white)

should i sell this man pictures of my feet for $2700 dipping my toes in. if any money comes from this it’s going to charity. i’ll aim for the full $2700 USD

THREAD 1/5: THE INFECTION IN OUR ELECTION

a collaboration with @yeehawtheboys & webworm.

a very brutal look at how conspiracy shit is spreading online, and into our 2020 politics with the likes of jami-lee ross and billy tk jr:

webworm.substack.com/p/the-infectio… THREAD 2/5: THE INFECTION IN OUR ELECTION

1/5: why deranged ideas are winning:

"the price of being a deranged conspiracy theorist used to be higher. conspiracy theorists themselves risked social ostracism. now the most famous conspiracy theorist in the world is the most powerful man in the world" webworm.substack.com/p/why-saveourc… 2/5:
"promoting conspiracy theories doesn’t isolate you anymore. it pushes you into a welcoming community. when people can acquire power and find companionship despite professing counterfactual claims about the world, don’t be surprised when bullshit becomes more popular"

thread 1/5: back in 2018, i went to ireland to do some filming with @romero, one of the john’s behind DOOM, wolfenstein 3D and quake. basically invented the first person shooter. this is me, john, and john’s wife @br who also develops games! both are so kind and cool! thread 2/5: i was developing a documentary idea about the two john’s who changed the course of video game history. no fortnite, halo or pubg without these lads! (the subject of a great book btw, “masters of doom”)

tenet thread 1/5: hands down adored tenet. seen it twice now on imax (sorry anyone not in new zealand) and it’s an experience that pummels you with big ideas without bothering to wallow in exposition and i’m DOWN with the confusion 2/5: it’s a lot like primer in that i got hugely lost but SUCH a good feeling when it all slammed into focus in my stupid dull brain before being whisked away again! this is fucking bonkers big cinema!

thread 1/5: thso - the new zealand herald chooses to publish a column from an “academic” that rallies behind gay conversion therapy, treating it as a whimsical choice thread 2/5: just briefly - fuck him. try being a kid coming to terms with your sexuality and having the weight of your religion and everyone you know in your life actively telling you you’re a piece of shit.

kids commit suicide over this

thread RE: qanon, 1/6:

good morning. i have a podcast up with @JoeUscinski - associate professor of political science at the university of miami. he tells me belief in qanon & conspiracy theories is not going up. it’s stable: webworm.substack.com/p/episode-3-ma… thread RE: qanon, 2/6:

it’s a deeply unusual conversation, and i really enjoyed it. joe does these huge polls for pew research, and he reckons q isn’t even a far right thing:

thread 1/4: for webworm members, @DylanReeve and i reflect on our interview with "james", the reddit user whose post got out of control and turned into a racist conspiracy theory: webworm.substack.com/p/reflections-… thread 2/4: after getting a call from the police, dylan talks a lot about the way we so often "fling" a thing out into the internet, without having any sort of personal, intelligent investment in that thing:

thread 1/4:

another reason that facebook is an utter trash-fire:

today's biggest trend so far is people & pages sharing the 2nd part of the COVID-19 disinformation campaign "plandemic": thread 2/4:

to twitter's credit, all DMs telling me about it hid the link, and if you chose to click through, you get another warning:

thread 1/5:

an important webworm today:

my colleague @DylanReeve tracked down the man who started the rumor / conspiracy theory about the outbreak of COVID-19 in NZ.

he is patient zero, i suppose, and he's been freaking out for the last 48 hours:

webworm.substack.com/p/webworm-talk… thread 2/5:

we have chosen not to publish the reddit user's name, because we think this conversation can offer insight into how a conspiracy theory starts, and ends up super-charged with racism & hate on your facebook timeline.

thread 1/6:

i speak to author sonny whitelaw, who after penning a variety of STARGATE novels, went to some science fiction conventions and met a variety of fans convinced their fiction was 100% REAL:

webworm.substack.com/p/the-attracti… thread 2/6:

this spurred sonny on to write a master's thesis called "THE ATTRACTION OF SLOPPY SCIENCE"

thread 1/7

td;dr - time to quit facebook, perhaps.

i've been writing all week on conspiracy theory culture for webworm.co, & have been getting plenty of pushback from the qanon crowd.

but here we are, with people trawling through my photos of friends and family: thread 2/7

i have no problem being dragged into things personally, but when photos of whanau are brought into it, well, that's just where we are i suppose.

all over a squiggle design on my tee shirt.

thread 1/6:

with new zealand seeing more cases of COVID-19, we are seeing certain lockdown measures coming into play again.

and with it... the immediate push back from the QAnon crowd.

this influencer with 63,000+ followers says not to wear a mask, and not rush to get tested. thread 2/6:

this reminded me that QAnon is not an american problem or an internet problem, it's a new zealand problem, too - so i have expanded my thoughts here:

webworm.substack.com/p/as-new-zeala…

thread 1/5:

you might be seeing a lot of talk about "saving our children", pedophiles & hollywood.

this "movement" is in america, it's in new zealand, it's everywhere.

irl, and online.

to be clear: this movement has NOTHING to do with saving children from human trafficking thread 2/5:

it's just another arm of QAnon, the deeply racist, ignorant and batshit insane idea that's sweeping the world.

the disinformation & misinformation we have to wade through is getting worse, so i've tried to gather my thoughts in one place:

webworm.substack.com/p/why-saveourc…

thread 1/4: sometimes i feel like i’m drowning in a sea of people who are increasingly believing *anything* and *everything*

& feeling increasingly lost, annoyed & frustrated at them

so i decided to talk to a full time conspiracy theory debunker about how to engage with them thread 2/4: his name is @MickWest, and he made one of my favourite videogames of all time - tony hawk’s pro skater.