{"id":1191773,"date":"2023-03-12T04:10:32","date_gmt":"2023-03-12T08:10:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/uk-disinformation-unit-monitored-headmaster-who-questioned-covid-19-vaccines-for-children\/1191773\/"},"modified":"2023-03-12T04:10:32","modified_gmt":"2023-03-12T08:10:32","slug":"uk-disinformation-unit-monitored-headmaster-who-questioned-covid-19-vaccines-for-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/uk-disinformation-unit-monitored-headmaster-who-questioned-covid-19-vaccines-for-children\/1191773\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Disinformation Unit Monitored Headmaster Who Questioned COVID-19 Vaccines For Children"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

UK Disinformation Unit Monitored Headmaster Who Questioned COVID-19 Vaccines For Children<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by Owen Evans via The Epoch Times,<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

A headmaster who questioned the effects of lockdown and masking on children, as well as the mRNA vaccine rollout, was reported to the UK\u2019s terror watchdog and had his social media posts monitored by government disinformation units.<\/p>\n

In January, Westminster confirmed that it had\u00a0monitored lockdown critics<\/a>\u00a0including Conservative MPs and journalists on social media platforms via its disinformation units,\u00a0after documents were obtained by the civil liberties group Big Brother Watch.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Headmaster Mike Fairclough, who has\u00a020 years\u2019 experience<\/a>\u00a0in running the state-funded West Rise Junior School for 7- to 11-year-olds in Eastbourne\u00a0on the south coast, told The Epoch Times that he also had been monitored.<\/p>\n

Fairclough was one of the very few voices in education, and the only serving headmaster, to express concerns over the effects of the response to the pandemic on children and the resultant\u00a0mental health problems.<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cMy personal belief is that the risks from these vaccines outweigh any possible benefits for a child,\u201d <\/strong><\/em>Fairclough told The Epoch Times.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have conveyed my opinion using my social media channels, generally by reposting and quoting mainstream media articles which have supported my stance,\u201d <\/em>he added.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Fairclough said that colleagues within the education sector have remained \u201cpublicly silent\u201d on the subject of the vaccines for children and that \u201cthere is still an air of fear and caution around even mildly sceptical conversations about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

A person using a computer in an undated file photo. (Dominic Lipinski\/PA Media)<\/em><\/p>\n

Counter Disinformation Unit<\/h2>\n

Fairclough submitted requests for copies of his data held by government disinformation units, which The Epoch Times has seen.<\/p>\n

The Counter Disinformation Unit (CDU), part of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS), leads the UK government\u2019s operational response to \u201cdomestic disinformation threats online.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

During the pandemic, the government used different units including the CDU, the Rapid Response Unit, and the Government Information Cell. Each had roles in \u201ctackling harmful narratives online,\u201d and monitoring and flagging \u201cdisinformation\u201d content to social media companies.<\/p>\n

A government spokesman\u00a0previously told the Epoch Times<\/a>\u00a0that these units used publicly available data, including material shared on social media platforms, to assess UK \u201cdisinformation trends and narratives.\u201d<\/p>\n

A government spokesperson told Epoch Times by email: \u201cOnline disinformation is a serious threat to the UK and public health, which is why during the pandemic we brought together expertise from across government to monitor disinformation about COVID.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThese units monitor publicly available data, including material shared on social media platforms, to assess UK disinformation trends and narratives.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThey do not target individuals or take any action that could impact anyone\u2019s ability to discuss and debate issues freely.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

He added that \u201cthey did not target individuals or take any action that could impact anyone\u2019s ability to discuss and debate issues freely.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

One Twitter post was flagged by the CDU in February 2022. Fairclough wrote: \u201cNatural immunity is more powerful than vaccines. Antibodies in un-jabbed Covid survivors are \u2018stronger\u2019 over time than in people who\u2019ve had two shots but no infection.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHence no need to vaccinate naturally immune children against Covid-19,\u201d he wrote, adding an article from the\u00a0Daily Mail<\/a>\u00a0that reported on a study that found that people who\u2019ve had COVID-19 but no jabs may have longer-lasting immunity than those who\u2019ve been double-jabbed.<\/p>\n

Prevent<\/h2>\n

Fairclough also said that because of his views, he was reported to the Home Office\u2019s flagship counter-extremism policy Prevent, which aims to identify people at risk of committing terrorist acts.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThankfully, I\u2019ve been cleared of all wrong-doing each and every time and therefore continued to campaign,\u201d <\/strong><\/em>he said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The email came from a whistleblower who had raised concerns about Fairclough\u2019s opinions relating to \u201cthe anti-government and anti-vaccine messaging\u201d he posted on Facebook and other platforms. It was also sent to Ofsted, the Children\u2019s Commissioner, and the Department of Education\u2019s Counter Terrorism team.<\/p>\n

An investigation found \u201cno evidence of Mr Fairclough breaking Headteacher Standards and principles afforded those who hold positions of trust and high standing members of the community.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are 362 pupils at West Rise who come mainly from the local council estate, places which are often part of England\u2019s poorest neighbourhoods. The school has a very close connection to nature, with a farm, a forest school, beekeeping sites, and children are taught to use knives and guns and to forage for food.<\/p>\n

\u2018Galloping Authoritarianism\u2019<\/h2>\n

The Free Speech Union (FSU) told The Epoch Times by email that Fairclough had approached them to discuss legal options.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThe way he\u2019s been treated is a disgrace,\u201d <\/strong>said FSU founder Toby Young.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cPrevent was set up to counter extremism, not to monitor critics of government policy. This episode is typical of the way the state apparatus of counter-extremism, which was originally set up to protect people from terrorists, has been repurposed to suppress domestic dissent,\u201d he said.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThis fundamental shift, with the so-called counter-terrorism experts training their spyglasses away from ISIS training camps and towards domestic citizens like Mike was happening before the pandemic, but has accelerated significantly over the past three years,\u201d <\/strong>he added.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Young said that we \u201cneed to urgently address this galloping authoritarianism before Britain descends into an Orwellian dystopia.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThe real extremists are the officials in shadowy parts of the British state who\u2019ve been so captured by woke ideology they\u2019ve convinced themselves that a schoolteacher who has concerns about forcing children to wear masks in lessons is a threat to national security,\u201d<\/strong><\/em> added Young.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Fairclough was suspended from Twitter last year, though he has now been reinstated.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are in fear, and you can\u2019t actually speak out when there are clear harms going on, then they\u2019ve got you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMoving forward, we need to be able to have a culture which celebrates different opinions and which embraces questions about things,\u201d<\/em><\/strong> he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nSun, 03\/12\/2023 – 07:00<\/span><\/p>\n

From:Zerohedge<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UK Disinformation Unit Monitored Headmaster Who Questioned COVID-19 Vaccines For Children Authored by Owen Evans via The Epoch Times, A headmaster who questioned the effects…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1191773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1191773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1191773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1191773\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1191773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1191773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1191773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}