Content warning: This article discusses transphobia, suicide, and abuse. 

A new Disinformation Project report shows how anti-Covid-19 groups refocused to target the trans community, leading to an unprecedented surge in online abuse that is so extreme it could be considered genocidal. 

Research fellow Kayli Taylor worked on the report and says the level of abuse shows the same “widespread use of the language and visual imagery of genocide”. 

“From a data point of view, it is unprecedented. But from a personal point of view, it’s terrifying,” they say.

Taylor says since April 2022, online communities started to shift away from a concern about Covid-19 as vaccine restrictions eased, and Government policies and media coverage moved on. 

Researchers noticed the communities that rallied around Covid-19 misinformation still had a lot of anger but were struggling to find the next big issue to direct their anger towards. 

“We were observing lots of little issues that they were having, like misogyny, anti-Māori racism, Islamophobia, but nothing was really big enough to galvanise everybody”, Taylor says.

“And so what the Posie Parker incident was, was that moment that galvanised everybody towards an issue.”

One person who has been targeted is Alice Simpson.

When Simpson came out as a trans woman while at Nelson College for boys, she says horrible things happened to her but she always knew who the hate was coming from.

Alice Simpson says being on the internet as a trans woman means having to justify her existence to strangers constantly. Photo supplied: Nelson Mail

Now, after anti-trans activist Posie Parker visited New Zealand, Simpson is sent violent and transphobic messages from people she doesn’t even know and the abuse has taken a darker, more violent turn. 

“It's no longer just, ‘maybe we should think about how young we let children transition medically’. Instead, it's ‘trans people shouldn't exist anymore’,” she says.

The “Parker Effect”

The report details how organisers of the 2022 Parliament Protest, who established themselves as “trusted” anti-vaccine and anti-mandate sources, managed to shift the focus of their audience  into another “almost universally accepted motivating narrative, and in doing so, further their impact, reach, and status.”

The report calls this the “Parker effect” and researchers found GIFs, memes, and sticker packs that depicted violence towards trans people, suicide, weapons, racist and white supremacist themes. 

“Many were too violent, and feature harms too graphic, to feature in this working paper,” the report says.

The researchers also highlight how these same tactics were used by the Christchurch terrorist before the mosque attacks in 2019. 

Simpson says because of this hate, being on the internet as a trans woman means she has to constantly justify her existence to strangers. 

“We are inextricably forced into becoming experts in anatomy, biology, sociology, endocrinology, surgery, psychology, and philosophy. Because the alternative is to have those fields misrepresented to define us out of reality,” she says.

We don’t how much harm has been caused

The Disinformation Project is an independent research group studying misinformation in Aotearoa and Taylor says their feelings towards these findings are “indescribable”.

As a researcher and a queer person, Kayli Taylor says they are tired. But says now is not the time to be tired when “shit is ramping up”. Photo: supplied.

“The data is the data but there are harms that are present in the data that some people don't see, and then the way that bleeds through, and will continue to bleed through the experience of trans people in wider society. 

“We don't know the significance of this harm. And we won't know for years and years. And that's what’s awful,” they say.

The rise in trans hate in New Zealand 

Mia Madeline Crossan says strangers have sent her death threats online. Photo: Supplied.

Mia Madeline Crossan is a 20-year-old trans woman living in Auckland, and has been sent messages online threatening to “murder” her. 

“I’ve had people impersonate Nazis…I’ve heard people say people like me are monsters and paedophiles”, she says.

Online transphobia isn’t new but Crossan says the amount of threats and how violent they are feels new to New Zealand.

She has watched transphobia in the United Kingdom and the United States but now fears that what happened in those countries will become a constant part of her life in New Zealand.

“I will always be loud and proud about my identity even if they want to suppress me or kill me,” Mia says.

“But I hate to admit it, there are moments of doubt where I think ‘what if they are right?’ That insecurity they keep trying to push does get into your brain. And sometimes I feel less connected to my gender, less connected to being a woman.

“When you have a million people telling you that what you think you are is wrong, even if you know they don’t understand, it still does affect you.”

Transphobia has become ‘blind aggression’

Radha Patton, who is a non-binary person living in Auckland, says they also experienced hate and death threats from people they don’t know when they were helping organise the Posie Parker counter-protest.

Radha Patton says transphobia has become ‘blind aggression’. Photo: Supplied. 

“I received messages on Instagram and especially on Twitter threatening violence towards me saying they would hurt me,” the 17-year-old says.

“To have someone message you ‘I’m going to kill you’ was pretty alarming. But obviously, I am not going to stop because ‘Twitterman64’ with no profile sent a threat.”

Radha says what’s frustrating is that the hate is “blind aggression”. 

“It's not ‘oh, let's have a discussion about it, it is ‘Fuck you. Go die’.

“And that’s scary for me because I don't mind talking to people about it, but it doesn’t even matter what I say because it’s such blind hatred. They don’t care what I have to say.”

Who or what will be the next target?

Taylor’s biggest concern is not knowing what group or issue will become the next focus. 

They say people who were concerned about the Covid-19 vaccination were brought on a path that has led to transphobia. And the same tactics can be used for the next issue. 

“At any moment, any community who is of some description of a minority is potentially in the limelight for this targeting and harassment. And we can't predict that with any certainty around what that will be.

“We've also witnessed an escalation of the normalisation of violence and there's no sense in the data that that's going to stop or that that's going to de-escalate. Instead, we are seeing things are ramping up and getting even worse.”

As a researcher and a queer person, Taylor says they are tired. 

“But I am also aware it is not the time to be tired. Shit is ramping up and we need to continue to support each other and exist,” they say,

“People have a right to exist. I mean, the fact that I have to say that is fucking ridiculous.”

To get in touch with the author of this article, email zoe@renews.co.nz

Where to get help:

• 1737: The nationwide, 24/7 mental health support line. Call or text 1737 to speak to a trained counsellor.
• Suicide Crisis Line: Free call 0508 TAUTOKO or 0508 828 865. Nationwide 24/7 support line operated by experienced counsellors with advanced suicide prevention training. 
• Youthline: Free call 0800 376 633, free text 234. Nationwide service focused on supporting young people.
• OUTLine NZ: Freephone 0800 OUTLINE (0800 688 5463). National service that helps LGBTIQ+ New Zealanders access support, information and a sense of community. 

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