Pandemic Post-it Protest

Pandemic or Plandemic?

REECE PAPE speaks to a member of Liverpool Freedom Fighters about their controversial views

When you hear the words ‘conspiracy theorist’, the usual picture that the mind cooks up is of a dishevelled individual in the dead of night, hunched over a computer and spewing outrageous and unverified vitriol onto various Internet forums.

Typically, it is not a description that a person wishes to be associated with.

However, there seems to be a growing number of people in Liverpool proudly identifying themselves as such, and ‘fighting’ for the right to be heard.

Large crowds formed at both St John’s Gardens and Clayton Square last weekend, for what was called a ‘mental health rally’ to oppose the latest restrictions put on the city.

Like many of these events, it was predominantly promoted on social media – specifically Facebook.

One such Facebook group – Liverpool Freedom Fighters – features frequent posts containing the common ideas that these groups share: 5G towers frying braincells, shadowy organisations pulling the strings of the world and the very relevant ‘Plandemic’, which suggests that the virus was engineered by world leaders in a multi-layered Machiavellian scheme to make the masses more subservient.

Of course, experts have easily debunked these propositions on various occasions.

Why then, after being proven to be wrong so many times, are these groups still so popular?

One member of the Freedom Fighters, who wished to remain anonymous, was willing to provide an insight into why the group attracts followers.

She said: “It’s a matter of trust. The government haven’t been completely honest with any of us throughout any of this, they keep making silly mistakes, so the idea of a group that questioned things and didn’t just blindly accept whatever they said seemed quite attractive.

“I suffer from some mental health issues, and the lockdown didn’t do much to help them. I was cut off from my support network and I know that it’s a pandemic and we need to put some measures in place to help prevent the spread, but I felt completely isolated at some points and it felt like nobody in charge particularly cared.

“A friend’s mum died in hospital on her own, he wasn’t even allowed to see her. I just don’t think that’s right,” she added.

On the topic of the more ‘radical’ ideologies, the member was quick to distance herself.

She said: “I want to make it clear that I do believe there is a virus, and social distancing and masks are crucial in fighting it. The Plandemic stuff and the ‘Bill Gates is a Lizard’ thing, I don’t think have any truth in them.

“For me, the group is one of the only ones (where people are) taking their frustration and actually saying something about it. Talking about the threat to mental health and having a platform to rip into and criticise the handling of all this is appealing to me.”

The Liverpool Freedom Fighters have had their fair share of controversies.

The other week, Mayor Joe Anderson took to Twitter to distance the city from the group, stating that many of the posts contained anti-Muslim remarks and, contrary to their name, they did not represent Liverpool or care about freedom.

That same weekend, Piers Corbyn, the brother of the former Labour leader, stood in front of Clayton Square and declared, surrounded by a huge crowd of unmasked protesters, that the coronavirus did not exist.

This came shortly after Royal Liverpool Hospital staff told BBC Breakfast that if the infection rate of the city did not stop increasing, there would be no more beds available.

Speaking on this, the anonymous user said: “Again, I don’t believe in that. There are some bad eggs in every group, but not everyone believes in all that stuff.

“I’m not racist, 95% of the group aren’t racist. I’m not going to deny that some of that goes on, but if I see any of it I either don’t interact with it or I report it to Facebook.

“Posts like that are basically ignored by people, there’s more comments and conversations surrounding mental health issues. To say that it’s

Bor-is-liar graffiti Photo by Reece Pape

about race isn’t accurate, it’s about not being satisfied with how things are working and saying something about it.”

With many people frustrated with the state of the world, it’s easy to see how an outlet for their anger, as well as an explanation, no matter how outrageous, would be tantalising. Misinformation, however, is a growing issue and in times such as these, it’s important to remember that you shouldn’t always believe everything you read on Facebook.

Piers Corbyn at a protest Photo by Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona on Unsplash

‘I want to make it clear that I do believe there is a virus ‘