16/05/2026
Extremist rhetoric is on the rise in Aotearoa. We have removed a wave of comments from our Facebook post about Dame Jacinda Ardern, including violent threats, abuse and misogynistic slurs.
Among the most serious were comments appearing to encourage shooting the former PM, su***de, calls for imprisonment, and remarks referencing murder and death. Many other commenters described Ardern as “evil”, a “dictator” and a “tyrant” all of which are not true, while several blamed her for supposed social division and COVID-19 mandates despite uncertainty at the time during a global pandemic.
Much of the language mirrors conspiracy-driven rhetoric imported from American QAnon and far-right online circles, narratives that gained traction in New Zealand during the pandemic and continue to fuel real-world incited hostility and dangerous extremism online.
The volume and severity of the abuse show there are growing levels of online hostility and extremism across social media platforms.
Comments on our page that breach Facebook Community Standards will not be tolerated and will be removed.