Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa
@sanjanah.bsky.social
Studying confluence of influence operations, disinfo, truth decay, information integrity & policies addressing online harms. Many thoughts, sometimes prayers.
You’re most welcome. Suspected many here wouldn’t have seen it, which would have been a pity.
December 4, 2025 at 2:39 AM
You’re most welcome. Suspected many here wouldn’t have seen it, which would have been a pity.
That I am doesn't take away from the very good points you raise. Kia ora.
December 3, 2025 at 8:11 AM
That I am doesn't take away from the very good points you raise. Kia ora.
No one supports or pays for the mahi that I do to study NZ's far-right, disinfo, violent extremist landscapes. It's fulfilling to see the rare journalist like Bale take an interest in the research, and clearly lay out threats to social fabric, human security, Māori, and democracy growing at pace.
![Hattotuwa says there’s been a spike in hateful rhetoric towards Māori (and experts like Salmond) since Seymour began to campaign on his Treaty Principles Bill before the last election. Debate on the bill and its associated claims of activist judges overturning the will of Parliament triggered many on the right. It gave permission to criticise the “Māorification” of society and recirculate myths that undermine Māori claims to indigeneity and hard-won rights over land and language.
Seymour knows that more extreme people find stimulus in his views. He says that is the price of speaking your mind: a tiny percentage of people will go far further and may even act. He says he is fervently against anti-Semitic rhetoric but would not ban it.
As to whether the left is as bad as the right, he points to what he sees as racist posts by Te Pāti Māori MP Tākuta Ferris over Labour’s use of “Indians, Asians, Black and Pākehā” in the Tāmaki Makaurau by-election. Seymour also condemned the attack on Peters’ house, saying on X, “If you find yourself vandalising people’s homes, you’ve lost the argument.”
He acknowledges there may be what he calls “Christchurch skinhead types” on the right, but maintains the real problem is on the left. Te Pāti Māori, he says, “openly say things that, were they said in reverse, would create absolute outrage”.
Hattotuwa fears worse is to come – even though we have seen how things may turn out. It is a bleak summation and what concerns him is the role of politicians in fanning it. Again, he refers to Tarrant, his live video and his manifesto, as a template.
“I’m frightened, appalled, angry, saddened. It’s because I have studied that livestream perhaps more than any New Zealander, because I’ve had to. And I’ve read that damn manifesto quite a few times, again because I’ve had to.
“What is now being platformed or signalled or telegraphed [by politicians and influencers] boggles the mind.”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4vvvbvu4cu46qqqjabjgcnns/bafkreifexxyirfb4kh2v7f6taqumm7y2f5tp3b22vnhsgdzqk52yurpl3q@jpeg)
December 3, 2025 at 2:19 AM
No one supports or pays for the mahi that I do to study NZ's far-right, disinfo, violent extremist landscapes. It's fulfilling to see the rare journalist like Bale take an interest in the research, and clearly lay out threats to social fabric, human security, Māori, and democracy growing at pace.
"The country's top cop denies police has a culture problem or systemic bias" The jokes write themselves. | Scrutiny Week: Top cops field questions in Parliament www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...
December 3, 2025 at 1:49 AM
"The country's top cop denies police has a culture problem or systemic bias" The jokes write themselves. | Scrutiny Week: Top cops field questions in Parliament www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...
Video explainer in Sinhala.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9UD...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9UD...
මිත්රත්ව මායාව: චීනයේ බලපෑම් මෙහෙයුම් සහ ඉන්දියාව උපායමාර්ගිකව මකා දැමීම
YouTube video by Sanjana Hattotuwa
www.youtube.com
November 23, 2025 at 2:07 AM
Video explainer in Sinhala.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9UD...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9UD...
Video explainer in English.
youtu.be/6ZIQ7DwFgfc?...
youtu.be/6ZIQ7DwFgfc?...
The friendship illusion: China’s influence operations, and strategic erasure of India
YouTube video by Sanjana Hattotuwa
youtu.be
November 23, 2025 at 2:07 AM
Video explainer in English.
youtu.be/6ZIQ7DwFgfc?...
youtu.be/6ZIQ7DwFgfc?...
Related infographics.
November 23, 2025 at 2:07 AM
Related infographics.
Language in commentary combined contempt, schadenfreude, expressions of "good riddance", misogyny, character assassination, denigration, dehumanisation, racism, sexism, and a violent othering, sometimes even wishing significant offline harms. Why would anyone put up with this, day in, & day out?
November 20, 2025 at 3:35 AM
Language in commentary combined contempt, schadenfreude, expressions of "good riddance", misogyny, character assassination, denigration, dehumanisation, racism, sexism, and a violent othering, sometimes even wishing significant offline harms. Why would anyone put up with this, day in, & day out?