The Disinformation Project: "...they scaremonger in an opportunistic way."

"The Disinformation Project was established to keep a close eye on fringe posts on social media ... sell[ing] its analysis services to social media companies and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC)....
    "[The Project's Sanja] Hattotuwa is now arguing for the Government to invest more in political infrastructure, as it did during the pandemic, to control dissident or extremist views and politics.... His critics have suggested Hattotuwa might simply be drumming up demand for business ...
    "There is an element of escalation in Hattotuwa’s own claims. In media interviews over the last few years, the statement is constantly made that the latest levels of extremism and hate are 'worse than anything he’s seen.' Each month, each year, each debate is apparently worse than the one before. A common refrain is that they are witnessing an 'exponential growth' in disinformation, or hate has grown 'inexorably.' ...
    "It is troubling [too] that the Disinformation Project only concentrates on the misinformation and disinformation of fringe actors but never on that spread by authorities. A true disinformation project would also hold governments to account for when they have been caught out distributing or endorsing misinformation....
    "The only complaint the Disinformation Project ever makes about the Government is that they aren’t investing enough money, or seeking enough advice, on defeating disinformation. As one critic suggested last week, the message about disinformation seems to be: 'It’s so bad, you need to give us money'...
    "[The Disinformation Project] are correct that extremism, hate, and disinformation are serious issues that need serious attention. But the Disinformation Project does a disservice to democracy and the fight against disinformation when they scaremonger in an opportunistic way."

~ Bryce Edwards, from his post 'The Need to Take Disinformation Seriously'