https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-66470376
'"People have been let off the leash," Thomas Mayo says quietly, swiping
through screenshots.
Racist memes depicting First Nations Australians as "grifters", "wife beaters"
and "primitives" flash across his phone.
Then, personal threats appear - accusing him of "providing cover for evil".
Mr Mayo is one of the public faces of the Yes campaign in Australia's historic
Voice to Parliament referendum, to be held on 14 October.
If successful, the vote will change the nation's constitution for the first
time in 46 years, creating a body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people to advise the government on policies affecting their communities.
Opinion polls had long shown support for the change but now suggest the No vote
is leading.
Though some argue the shift reflects public sentiment, Yes campaigners blame it
on an ecosystem of disinformation - which they say is being led by figures in
the No camp and "amplified" by suspicious accounts on social media.
Independent experts say the most "pernicious" and pervasive falsehoods
"spreading like wildfire" online concern race.
Amid all the noise, concerns are growing over the mental health of First
Nations communities, who find themselves at the centre of an increasingly
divisive debate.
And questions are again being raised over whether Australia is ready to grapple
with the open wounds at the heart of its nationhood.'
Via Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
