Australia’s taxpayer-funded national broadcaster has been mocked and criticised for a biased, unbalanced and factually incorrect article on “active clubs” – groups of right-wing men who exercise together.
The ABC report, published on Saturday, is titled “Active Clubs and white supremacy groups targeting young men a ‘threat to social cohesion’ in Australia”, and is largely based on submissions by an international think tank to the Australian senate’s inquiry into “right-wing extremist movements”.
The Counter Extremism Project’s written and verbal submissions to the inquiry last week were quickly labelled “disinformation” by Australian researchers, but many of their inaccurate claims were reproduced in the ABC article, including the assertion, made without evidence, that the goal of active clubs is to “build a shadow militia”.
There was no comment included from the active clubs or Australian individuals mentioned in the article, and there were no quotes from experts with opposing views to provide the ABCs readership with balance as required by the broadcaster’s own editorial policies.
The article was instead framed around quotes from Dr John Coyne, head of strategic policing and law enforcement at neo-conservative defence establishment the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), who said he was concerned about active clubs.
“They represent a significant risk and a significant threat to social cohesion in this nation and potentially are the precursors for violent extremism,” Dr Coyne claimed, without evidence or explanation.
“We have seen these groups in Australia, and we’ve seen them make very deliberate efforts to breadcrumb general members of the public and legitimise their position. We saw this earlier this year, where we saw a group of black-clad young men on Australia Day going to protest in Sydney.”
Australia joins the list of worldwide locations where Active Clubs have been established. Experts say white supremacy groups like this are a threat to our social cohesion. https://t.co/g9Grze9G0W
— ABC News (@abcnews) August 3, 2024
But Australian social media users objected to the claim, which was included in the article’s headline, with many pointing to the social cohesion problems caused by immigrant crime, Muslim terrorism and imported ethnic grievances causing tensions between different migrant communities.
“Maybe they just don’t like the extra crime, expensive housing and lowered wages that extreme immigration brings? I’m sure there is a cooperative middle ground there somewhere that would diffuse this entire thing,” read one comment on the ABC X post, which has since had commenting restricted.
“So will any male-only gym in the future be labelled an active club and part of an extremist threat?” asked Unshackled editor Tim Wilms.
“The only threat to our social cohesion is the endless propaganda the ABC spreads,” read another popular comment.
“The left-wing woke media ignoring the dozens of Islamic terror attacks in Australia that have killed people, ignoring all the hate preachers in Western Sydney calling for the death of Jews and infidels to focus on some perceived threat by white supremacy groups!” said a fourth commenter.
Another user posted a photo of militant aboriginal activists holding a banner reading “kill the Australian in your head” with the caption: “What’s the ABC News position on the effect this has on social cohesion?”
Nationalist activist Blair Cottrell, who was recently banned from YouTube without warning after including a visit to a Queensland active club in a travel vlog, responded to the article by writing:
“Never mind the gangs of Africans ransacking homes and murdering old ladies on the street. White guys working out together are ‘infiltrating Australia’ and the real threat to social cohesion, according to the ABC. Our taxes pay for this ‘news’.”
In a follow-up post he said: “Feeling blackpilled? Consider this: Liberal democracy is so helplessly fragile that 10 White guys hanging out is national news and decried as a security threat.”
He told Noticer News on Saturday: “The surreptitious action taken by government agencies and the private sector to identify, vilify, censor and ostracise members of active clubs is illegal. The right for Australian citizens to gather for social purposes or for protests is protected by Australian law.
“Censorship and other furtive action currently serve as a way for the faceless bureaucrats of ‘Democracy’ to test out side-stepping the law to harass anybody suspected of dissent.”
Former Busselton council candidate Stephen Wells also criticised the article, calling it “utter drivel”.
“Our active clubs are simply made up of White guys who are not going to be silenced by the threat of losing our jobs, having our bank accounts shut down, being made homeless, being thrown in jail on bullshit charges or even on the threat of being murdered or our loved ones being murdered,” he said.
“What we offer is an uncompromising peaceful resistance to the globohomo multicultural hell that is being established around us.”
