How do you refute a smear campaign? With FACTS...

  • By Brian Leveson
  • •
  • 19 Nov, 2022
  • •

Road closure skeptics have found themselves the subject of smears and social media abuse. I have been wondering, how can we deal with that?

Caveat

I have no legal training, this is not an advice column, there are my own musings in the public domain as the smears have been made in the public domain.

Are we talking about an orchestrated smear campaign?

I don't know if we are experiencing an orchestrated smear campaign or not. What I have seen and screenshots are people in power in the community - leaders at the council, church leaders, charity patrons and other campaigners - making allegations based on 'fears', things they have 'heard' and seemingly unsubstantiated assumptions of the actions, political beliefs, social prejudices and motives of those of us who are opposed to wider spread road closures  known locally as 'low traffic neighbourhoods' or 'LTNs'. 

This produces to camps: the pro-LTNers and the anti-LTNers.

What can we do about it?

  1. Firstly, ask for the evidence to support the claim being made. - We have made numerous requests for evidence, none has been forthcoming.
  2. Secondly, the hearsay is of allegations of allegations (not a repetition there), they are frequently already re-stating 'something' that 'somebody' said happen to 'somebody else'. No one should give credence to such a childish game of whispers!
  3. If you need to take actions because of harassment including false allegations you need to get evidence - screenshot, photograph and record.
  4. Follow the appropriate complaints procedure
    1. Organisations have Codes of Conduct for members and formal complain procedures. Ask for copies of both, be clear what you think the breach is, provide evidence and follow the complaints process.
    2. You might get fobbed off. You need to escalate to the next level of the procedure and keep escalating until all of you concerns are addressed.
  5. Use the social media report functions to report harassment.
  6. Use Cease and Desist letters to tell the people to stop the unwanted behaviour.
  7. Go to the police if you feel you are being subjected to targeted harassment

One final point - this is who we are!

I am the member of a wide range of Haringey based social media groups campaigning against the road closures.

I have never seen any activities or threats of activities or extreme or radical political beliefs suggested by some commentators that someone else fears they might experience.

We are just normal regular law abiding tax paying citizens who aren't used to the political games and in fighting of Haringey.

Please consider this to be a CEASE AND DESISTS open letter to all local Haringey based people who are in favour of road closures.

Could you kindly refrain from smearing people on the grounds that they are, but not limited to 
  1. Disabled people concerned about access - in addition you have no right to ask about the specifics of a persons disability
  2. Informal unpaid carers who are caring for a friend or family member for no financial gain but are having to juggle multiple responsibilities at the same time - in addition unpaid carers are twice as likely to suffer ill health and give up work
  3. Paid carers and therapists, people who go to clients homes to deliver health and social care, who are often self employed and do not have a fixed based but have miles to travel across North London to look after their clients
  4. People on low incomes who are struggling with the cost of the extra miles and times spent in traffic in the middle of a cost of living crisis
  5. People who live on roads with the extra traffic on, either through displacement or design. They have a right to be concerned about intentional congestion and its impacts on their health and wellbeing.
  6. People with health conditions who are unable to get to medical appointments without long delays in traffic or whose health conditions are exacerbated by long journeys and who are in real physical pain as a result.
  7. People who are small business owners who see that their businesses are suffering in the middle of a recession suffering further because road closures reducing access to their business.
  8. People who Haringey Council have told them their road is too dangerous to push a wheelchair along.
  9. People who are concerned that disabled people are 5 times more likely to be injured as a pedestrian than an able bodied person and are concerned that there are more cyclists without any actions taken to mitigate poor cyclist behaviour will lead to even more injuries or disabled people too afraid to go out.
  10. People who are appalled that decided to conduct a social experiment to encourage transport modal shift on those most vulnerable residents, in an area of less wealth and higher rates of disability at the time of a cost of living crisis. Why Tottenham and not Crouch End? Why Tottenham and not Highgate? Why Totenham and no Muswell Hill? Why Tottenham and not Alexandra Palace?

This blog isn't about whether I agree of disagree with a person about road closures - its about being clear who were are, because we are not the smears being thrown at us.

I struggle to extrapolate that anti-LTNers are :
  • A hate mob
  • Crackpots
  • Child haters
  • Bigots
  • who cheer on vandals, bullies and criminals
What I see is a funny photo of a camera with a box on it and someone else being reminded of the song "The sun has got his hat on. hip hip hip hooray!"

I see no basis for the unsubstantiated smears. But I am not a hater.

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