Il modulo è lo stesso anche in Italia, e non da ieri: propaganda su FB e
coordinamento su Telegram.
Trattandosi di piattaforme non sicure e considerate come mezzi di
sorveglianza mi sorprendo: evidentemente la sorveglianza non è quella
delle autorità nazionali.
<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/08/canada-ottawa-trucker-protest-extremist-qanon-neo-nazi>
Thousands of demonstrators have successfully occupied Canada’s frigid
capital for days,
<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/07/ottawa-protesters-defy-deadline-end-occupation-capital>
and say they plan on staying as long as it takes to thwart the country’s
vaccine requirements.
The brazen occupation of Ottawa
<https://www.theguardian.com/discover-cool-canada/ottawa> came as a
result of unprecedented coordination between various anti-vaccine and
anti-government organizations and activists, and has been seized on by
similar groups around the world.
It may herald the revenge of the anti-vaxxers.
The so-called “freedom convoy” – which departed for Ottawa on 23 January
– was the brainchild of James Bauder, an admitted conspiracy theorist
who has endorsed the QAnon movement and called Covid-19 “the biggest
political scam in history”. Bauder’s group, Canada
<https://www.theguardian.com/world/canada> Unity, contends that vaccine
mandates and passports are illegal under Canada’s constitution, the
Nuremberg Code and a host of other international conventions.
Bauder has long been a fringe figure, but his movement caught a gulf
stream of support after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced last
year that truckers crossing the US-Canada border would need to be fully
vaccinated against Covid-19. The supposed plight of the truckers proved
to be a compelling public relations angle and attracted an array of
fellow travelers.
Until now, a litany of organizations had protested Canada’s strict
public health measures, but largely in isolation. One such group, Hold
Fast Canada, had organized pickets of the Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation’s headquarters, where they claimed that concentration camps
had already been introduced in the country.
Another group, Action4Canada, launched legal challenges to mask and
vaccine mandates. In one 400-page court filing, they allege that the
“false pronouncement of a Covid-19 ‘pandemic’” was carried out, at least
in part, by Bill Gates and a “New World (Economic) Order” to facilitate
the injection of 5G-enabled microchips into the population.
Both groups are listed as “participating groups” on the Canada Unity
website, and sent vehicles and personnel to join the convoy.
Other organizers joined Bauder, including Chris Barber, a Saskatchewan
trucker who was fined $14,000 in October for violating provincial public
health measures; Tamara Lich, an activist for a fringe political party
advocating that Western Canada should become an independent state;
Benjamin Dichter, who has warned of the “growing Islamization of
Canada”; and Pat King, an anti-government agitator who has repeatedly
called for Trudeau to be arrested.
Since they have arrived in Ottawa, the extreme elements of the protest
have been visible: neo-Nazi and Confederate flags were seen flying,
QAnon logos were emblazoned on trucks and signs and stickers were pasted
to telephone poles around the occupied area bear Trudeau’s face,
reading: “Wanted for crimes against humanity.”
The official line from Bauder and his co-organizers, however, has
remained focused; in a Facebook live broadcast, Bauder instructed his
supporters to “stop talking about the vaccine” and instead stick to
message of “freedom”.
Such strict message control has attracted mainstream support. Numerous
members of the Conservative party, Canada’s official opposition, have
come out to meet the protesters. Elon Musk and Donald Trump have both
endorsed the convoy. Fox broadcasters Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson
have provided glowing updates on the continuing occupation.
Bauder vowed the convoy would camp out in Ottawa until their demands are
met, insisting to his followers that a “memorandum of understanding
<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/07/ottawa-protests-explainer-vaccine-mandates-whats-next>”
would force the government’s hand, possibly even triggering fresh
elections, if enough people sign.
A Canada Unity organizer went further, saying it would require the
Senate to “go after the prime minister” for “corruption” and “fascism”.
There is no legal basis for those claims.
King has laid out a more direct plan of action to the occupiers: “What
we want to focus on is our politicians, their houses, their locations,”
he said in a January Facebook stream. If political pressure doesn’t
work, King said, blocking major supply chains “will be later on”.
Soon after, the head of security for Parliament issued an extraordinary
warning to Members of Parliament to avoid the protest entirely, for
their own safety.
The occupiers have deliberately made life difficult for anyone in
Ottawa’s downtown core. Trucks have been laying on their air horns
throughout the day, often well into the early morning hours. An Ottawa
court granted an injunction Monday afternoon, ordering that the honking
must cease.
In the shadow of Parliament, a flatbed truck was converted into a stage
– functioning as a speaker’s corner during the day, where far-right
politicians and occupiers took the microphone to decry Trudeau and Covid
vaccines. At night, the stage functions as a DJ booth for raucous dance
parties.
Technology has made the occupation even easier: drivers share
information on routes and the best ways to evade police barricades via
the walkie talkie app Zello. Organizers in other cities use the secure
messaging app Telegram to share information, coordinate messaging and
plan solidarity protests.
The occupiers now have the resources to stay for an extended period of
time: they have raised more than C$6mthrough various crowdfunding
platforms, in cash and Bitcoin, despite having been booted from
GoFundMe’s platform
<https://www.theguardian.com/global/2022/feb/07/gofundme-criticism-pulling-funding-ottawa-protests>
after raising over C$10m.
The Ottawa occupation is proof that a few thousand determined protesters
can overwhelm police and shut down major cities with enough vehicles and
coordination. Solidarity convoys have already shut down the busy Coutts
border crossing between Alberta and Montana, strained police resources
in Toronto and Quebec City, and activists as far away as Helsinki,
Canberra, London, and Brussels have taken not. On the convoy channels,
protestors warn this is just the beginning.
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