Anti-vax leaflet campaign being investigated by Advertising Standards Authority
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is investigating an anti-vaccination Covid-19 leaflet after the group behind sent copies nationwide.
Auckland University research fellow Kate Hannah, who is the lead researcher for a group monitoring Covid-19 disinformation, received complaints about the letter from Auckland, Wellington, Upper and Lower Hutt, Nelson, Marlborough, Gisborne, and as far south as Dunedin over the weekend.
Voices For Freedom, which produced the leaflets, said it fundraised to be able to print 2 million of them and the campaign was planned in advance to run alongside the Government’s vaccine campaign.
Supplied/Stuff
The anti-vax leaflet appeared to have been delivered with other junk mail.
Now, one of the largest companies that handles the printing and distributing of advertising and advocacy mail has called for an industry-wide stance against working with such groups.
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Hannah said the anti-vaccination leaflet often arrived in people’s letter boxes at the same time as official Covid-19 information on the vaccine plan.
“Which is really concerning, because obviously it creates a sense of like-for-like,” she said.
Data suggested the people heading anti-vaccination groups were closely related to anti-1080 efforts, gun control, and anti-5G, Hannah said.
“All of these hot-button issues are interconnected and the people who are spearheading these conversations on social media and at public events are talking to each other.”
JOHN BISSET/Stuff
Oscar Laws, 4, found anti and pro Covid-19 vaccination pamphlets in his letterbox in Timaru.
The Government’s Computer Emergency Response Team (Cert NZ) monitors Covid-19 disinformation. A spokesman for the outfit said he was aware of the leaflet being circulated “substantially nationwide” and said it had received numerous reports about it.
The flyers include eight points that cast doubt on the safety or efficacy of the vaccine – arguments vaccinologist and associate professor at Auckland University, Helen Petousis-Harris, recently wrote a piece discrediting.
Reach, which claims to be one of the two largest printing and mail distribution companies in the country, said it was not involved with the anti-vax leaflet and chief executive Struan Abernethy said his company was working to get an industry-wide consensus on not printing such material.
“We will not be distributing this material and lead the industry in our ethical approach to not allowing any objectionable material to be sent via a Reach Media channel,” he said.
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Reach chief executive Struan Abernethy says he would like to see an industry-wide consensus on not accepting anti-vaccination commissions.
ASA investigating breach of standards
The ASA is now investigating the leaflet after receiving four complaints, but chief executive Hilary Souter said she could not comment on an active investigation or speculate on its outcome.
The decision will depend on balancing the requirements of social responsibility and truthful presentation with freedom of expression rules, covered in the ASA’s Guidance on Advocacy Advertising policy.
A case that might set a precedent was a decision over Advance New Zealand advertising, which claimed the death rate from Covid-19’s was comparable to the season flu and the Government had overreached in its response.
Supplied
ASA chief executive Hilary Souter said she could not comment on an active investigation in relation to anti-vaccination leaflets being sent around the country.
The ASA decision to uphold the complaint was based on the reference to seasonal flu not having been substantiated and found its use to support statements about Government overreach was not socially responsible.
Advance New Zealand, the now-defunct political party led by Billy Te Kahika, also had an ASA complaint upheld against advertising claiming vaccination would be mandatory.
If a complaint is upheld the publisher will be asked not to run it again, but the ASA does not issue fines or other punitive action.
Kiwis react to anti-vax mail
One woman who received the flyer in Whangaparāoa, Auckland, told Stuff it appeared to have arrived among a bundle of other junk mail on Sunday May 2, suggesting it was from the same distributor.
The woman described the flyer as “very disappointing, to say the least”.
“It looked professional and interestingly those colours were sort of semi-resembling ministry of health type, Covid-type, colours.”
“I had a quick look at the website and of course it was just, you know – rubbish. But it’s shiny thick paper, it’s a professional printing job.”
A spokeswoman for Voices For Freedom said:“This had been planned in advance and was well-timed to coincide with the government’s new vaccine campaign.
The spokeswoman said the group’s print and distribution channels were confidential.
An Auckland Council spokeswoman said its bylaws did not deal with the content of material distributed in letter boxes, only whether the distribution complied with the regulations, or was a litter issue.
A Ministry of Health spokeswoman said the ministry was aware of the flyers.
“The best sources of accurate and reliable Covid-19 vaccine information are the Ministry of Health, Unite Against Covid-19 and trusted sources like District Health Boards,” she said.
“We are very confident in the Pfizer vaccine, which has been through all the relevant clinical trials and found to be safe and effective, and has now been administered to tens of millions of people around the world.”
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