A NEW PUBLIC Health Bill is in the early stages of development in Northern Ireland, with a public consultation on the legislation currently underway.
An early draft of the bill has led anti-vaccine activists and fringe media outlets to make false claims about what it entails, with some conspiracy theorists claiming it represents a step towards a New World Order – a global totalitarian system of government.
People opposed to the bill, reposting one fake news story in particular, have falsely claimed that it would affect people in the Republic of Ireland.
But the bill is the product of the government of Northern Ireland and therefore will have no effect on people south of the border. The bill is also only in the early stages of development and none of the provisions contained in the public consultation document have been implemented, let alone gone through the actual legislative process.
Northern Ireland’s Health Minister Mike Nesbitt has even said that he is not in favour of the most controversial measure proposed in the early draft of the bill – mandatory vaccination.
The claim that the Irish government will force people to be vaccinated in the future has been widely shared on social media in recent days, and stems from an article posted on a US-based fake news website called The People’s Voice.
The headline reads: “Ireland To Arrest Citizens Who Refuse mRNA Shots During ‘Future Pandemics’”.
The sub-headline expands on this, saying: “The Irish government has vowed to mass arrest citizens who refuse to take the mRNA jabs during the next pandemic.”
The Irish government has made no such vow.
The article goes on to claim that the bill, as written, would allow the government in Northern Ireland to “forcibly inject” people with “experimental vaccines”.
The website is a serial spreader of fake news stories and conspiracy theories.
For example, on 5 October it ran a story claiming that Hurricane Helene, which recently devastated large parts of the southeastern United States, was an “engineered weapon” that was used as part of a “land grab project” by elites.
On 9 October, the site ran a story with the headline: “WEF: Kids Must Have Microchips Installed in Their Brains To Help Pre-Bunk ‘Conspiracy Theories’”
The WEF (World Economic Forum), a convention for the rich and powerful held in Davos, Switzerland every year, is often invoked by conspiracy theorists as the place where elites plot to enslave the world’s population and create a totalitarian one-world government.
The story about the Irish government arresting people who refuse vaccines has found an audience on a number of social media platforms, most notably X (formerly Twitter), and not just among Irish people.
In one example, an X user that shared the fake story received 10,000 likes and almost 8,000 retweets. That account has a blue tick, meaning its user can make money from garnering engagement, a system that essentially incentives people to spread alarming, exaggerated and often completely untrue claims on the platform.
One post in Italian, which was retweeted 400 times, also shared the story.
A Facebook user in Italy shared the story with the following comment:
“And then what will they do, shoot them? If the Irish people rise up, they will eat the army and government in one bite, but we must rise up united. Get ready, it’s us or them.”
The story has also been posted on Gab, a social media site known for its far-right user base.
The aim of the proposed legislation is to ensure preparedness for future public health emergencies, like the Covid-19 pandemic. The bill is set to replace Northern Ireland’s 1967 Public Health Act.
It has been a source of controversy and criticism among the public and politicians in Northern Ireland.
After a two-week extension announced in mid-September, members of the public in Northern Ireland have until 14 October to submit their opinions on the bill through the public consultation process, which opened in July.
The Department of Health in Northern Ireland said the extension would ”help maximise the number of responses to the proposed legislation”.
Two parts of the proposed bill have been the focus of the most controversy, and provided fodder for disinformation campaigns: mandatory vaccination and detention in medical facilities.
It is true that the bill currently contains proposals about mandatory vaccinations and the detention of infectious people during public health emergencies.
Both of these are referenced in the public consultation document, but are not things that are definitely going to be enacted.
In the public consultation draft of the bill, one of the restrictions that may be imposed allows for a person to be “detained in a hospital or other suitable establishment”.
Another proposed provision is to “require a person to (be) vaccinated or to receive other prophylactic treatment”.
“Specific provision will be made prohibiting regulations that impose or enable the imposition of a requirement that a person undergoes medical treatment. Medical treatment does not include vaccination and other prophylactic treatment,” the document says.
It then includes a question: “Do you agree or disagree with the proposed ‘restrictions and requirements’ that may be included in health protection regulations? Please give reasons for your answer.”
A fact file published on the Northern Ireland Government’s website says that the option for mandatory vaccination has been included in the public consultation “to give people the opportunity to have their say”.
It also clarifies that the North’s Health Minister Mike Nesbitt “has stated publicly that he does not favour any mandatory vaccination powers being introduced”.
“It will be for the Minister to decide what would be included in the Public Health Bill that goes to the Executive and Assembly,” it says.
“I am not in favour of mandatory vaccination even in limited and tightly prescribed circumstances,” Nesbitt said when extending the consultation period.
“Nevertheless, it is right that we have a public conversation about all potential options in the public consultation, as we decide what should be in the final Bill to protect us all.
“Unfortunately, there has been some misunderstanding about the planned new bill.”
On the issue of mandatory quarantine, the fact file says that existing legislation already provides for it: in Northern Ireland, a magistrate court’s order can be obtained in order to remove an infectious person to hospital to prevent the spread of disease.
The Covid-19 pandemic played a major role in turning people towards conspiracy theories, especially around vaccination and civil liberties. Lockdowns and other restrictions provided useful talking points for people who already believed in, or peddled, conspiracy theories like the New World Order.
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