Photo: Supplied / Stuff
Two prominent Voices for Freedom spokespeople have been elected to local body positions, in an election that otherwise saw a widespread rejection of candidates who advanced false claims and conspiracy theories.
Jaspreet Boparai and Gill Booth are active members of VFF, and have fronted videos about running for local elections.
Dairy farmer Boparai, who pushes a conspiracy theory about a UN agenda to enslave humanity, was elected to the Southland District Council.
Booth was elected to the Teviot Community Board in Central Otago. She is a frequent guest speaker on VFF's online channel. In declaring her candidacy, she told supporters to "absolutely disrupt and rip to pieces our local council".
In August, Stuff Circuit documentary Fire and Fury revealed VFF were targeting local body elections, encouraging supporters to run for seats.
The movement claims to have 100,000 supporters. It has said it wasn't explicitly endorsing candidates but did encourage and assist those who shared similar views. That support included coaching, advice on social media messaging, and handling journalists.
Photo: Supplied / Screenshot
The group itself had said there were "literally hundreds" of like-minded candidates running for seats. A Stuff analysis identified more than 200, who were running in at least 159 races.
As of Saturday night, fewer than a dozen of those identified by Stuff had been successful, and several incumbent councillors with those views lost their...
Kolkata: Kolkata Police has been grappling with a fresh challenge since the past week — controlling fake news. While it initially started with fake circulars, beginning with "restrictions" on cert...