#AustraliaHasFallen Used To Spread Covid-19 Conspiracy Theories After Novak Djokovic Deportation

The hashtag #AustraliaHasFallen is trending on Twitter once again. Why? Has the entire country of Australia tripped on a garden hose or a wombat and tumbled into a vat of vegemite? Not exactly. As I covered for Forbes on Sunday, the Australian government has now deported tennis star Novak Djokovic for not complying with Covid-19 vaccination requirements. These are same Covid-19 precautions that Australians and other tennis players at the Australian Open have been following because the world is in the midst of, you know, a Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. Yet, some have been claiming that Djokovic’s deportation is somehow a sign that Australia has “fallen” to what they’re calling a “tyrannical regime.”

Yes, they’re using “tyrannical regime” to describe Australia. This is the country that typically has a far greater percentage of the population voting in national elections than the United States. Australia ranks higher than the U.S. on The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index as well. Throughout the pandemic, the states and territories have been implementing many of Covid-19 precautions rather than the federal government. Oh, and Australia hasn’t recently had a political leader try to stay in power despite being vote out of national office.

Ah, but who cares about facts, right? Some people outside of Australia have been throwing around the “tyrannical regime” phrase as if it were shrimp on a barbie, with barbie here meaning barbeque and not the plastic doll with the 39-18-33 measurements. Take a look, for example, what Gillian McKeith, who runs a Wellness and Weight Loss Club out of the U.K. and not Australia, tweeted:

Coerced to take a medical procedure? It’s not as if Australia were requiring Djokovic to get Botox or breast implants to play in the Australian Open. Vaccination against diseases such as measles, pertussis, and hepatitis has long been a requirement for those growing up in the U.S. or wanting to enter the country. How often have you heard, “yeah, my kid had to get some medical procedures to go to school” though? Vaccination is not a medical procedure like a butt lift. Other are not going to be affected whether a tennis player has more or less booty.

However, by not getting vaccinated, Djokovic was potentially putting others around him at higher risk to catching severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). That’s why vaccination was a requirement to participate in the Australian Open. Djokovic probably won’t get a whole lot of sympathy from the 77.9% of the Australian population who have already chosen to get fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as January 16.

McKeith wasn’t the only one out of the U.K. commenting about Australia. U.K.-based comedian Dame Abi Roberts tweeted the following:

Again, another person from outside Australia making claims about Australia. In this case, Roberts was calling for public support for someone who made over $34.5 million last year and was number 46 on the Forbes list of world’s highest paid athletes for 2021. Roberts was asking others to support Djokovic during a Covid-19 pandemic that has already claimed the lives of over 5.54 million people around the world and left many with long Covid.

Oh, and Roberts used the f-word as well. No, not ferret or Foo Fighters but “fascist.” These days, people are being too freaking free with flinging around the word “fascist.” It seems like whenever some people are told to do something they don’t want to do they come back with the word “fascist.” Have to wear a face mask in the store? Oh, that fascist. Can’t pee in the swimming pool? How fascist.

But why stop at the word “fascist” when you can always reference, drum roll please, the Nazis:

It seems like everyone’s being called Nazis these days except for actual Nazis.

So the hashtag #AustraliaHasFallen seems to be implying that some force, some authority has now taken over Australia and may pose a threat to other countries around the world. Folks, hide your professional tennis players because they may not be able to play unvaccinated in Grand Slam tournaments:

This certainly hasn’t been the first time that some have tried to portray Australia as an oppressed land. Back in October 2021, I covered for Forbes how political commentator Candace Owens, who is not from Australia, actually asked, “When do we deploy troops to Australia? When do we invade Australia and free an oppressed people who are suffering under a totalitarian regime? When do we spend trillions of dollars to spread democracy in Australia?” Clearly, invading Australia has not been high on the U.S. Department of Defense’s priority list as they undoubtedly have other things to handle right now. Although, who knows? Maybe the Space Force has some free time?

Then on November 29, a social media account called the Howard Springs Quarantine Facility in the Northern Territory “Australia’s COVID (concentration) camp” and wrote, “This is exactly why our American forefathers gave us the right to bear arms,” according to Michelle Rennex writing for Junkee. The quote suggested that the post did not originate from Australia because Australia is not part of the U.S. Apparently, the hashtag #AustraliaHasFallen emerged soon after that.

The question is how many of these people and social media accounts pushing the #AustraliaHasFallen narrative are actually, you know, Australian. For example, @OverlordOfTwine tweeted, “#AustraliaHasFallen It’s a interesting hash tag. Used by a majority of ppl who are not Australian, who don’t live here, who are hijacking a hash tag for their own personal gain, In that spirit, Once again, From my country to every wanker screaming about tyranny.” The tweet included a picture that was a bit impolite and included an expletive so you’ll have to click on the link to see it.

Others on social media suggested that #AustraliaHasFallen was part of an organized campaign that didn’t originate from the Australian people or even Australia. Comedian Hal Sparks called it a “foreign influence campaign” and said “no on cares,” showing a video of a kangaroo munching in a “yeah, whatever” type of way:

Some showed what this supposed “tyranny” and “oppression” looked like with pictures of how much of a beach life is right now Down Under:

Then there was some hashtag hijacking going on to show some love for Australian professional tennis player Ashleigh Barty, who’s ranked No. 1 in the world in singles by the Women’s Tennis Association:

And some love for frogs as well:

Before you make any assumptions about Australia, it may be a good idea to talk to enough people who actually live in Australia. Throughout the pandemic, they’ve had a total of around 2,692 Covid-19-related deaths. This is certainly much more than they had before easing Covid-19 restrictions. But it pales in comparison to the over 850,000 Covid-19-related deaths that the U.S. has had and the over 152,000 that the U.K. has had. Australia has shown how science-based Covid-19 precautions like social distancing, face mask wearing, and vaccination requirements can substantially reduce the death and suffering from Covid-19. Yet, some, including many outside Australia, continue to try to politicize the pandemic. It’s pretty low to use the f-word to describe public health measures designed to help people. My how far have some fallen.

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