Kate Shemirani – TROLL OF THE MONTH
The Troll of the Month is an incident we choose every month to expose racist and anti-religious haters and to show positive outcomes in the fight against intolerance in Europe.
Screenshot from the Nursing Times
In July 2021, Get the Trolls Out! (GTTO) selected British conspiracy theorist, anti-vaccine activist and former nurse Kate Shemirani as the Troll of the Month.
On Saturday 24th July, Shemirani made a speech at an anti-vaccine rally at Trafalgar Square in London, drawing comparison between Nazi doctors and nurses who “hung” after “the Nuremberg trials” and medical professionals battling the COVID-19 pandemic today. These dangerous comments were widely circulated online, drawing widespread condemnation.
"Some nursing staff have been subjected to abhorrent behaviour throughout this pandemic. Comments like these are reprehensible and could put nursing staff at risk," said Pat Cullen, General Secretary of the College of Nursing.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan tweeted – “This is utterly appalling, and I have raised it directly with the Met Police. Our NHS staff are the heroes of this pandemic and Londoners from across this city roundly reject this hate.”
The Metropolitan Police are currently investigating Shemirani’s statements for incitement to violence and antisemitic hate.
The BBC’s Disinformation and Social Media reporter, Marianna Spring, explains that the problem runs deeper than Shemirani – “Saturday’s rally” is simply one example of the anti-vaxx movement growing “increasingly aggressive both online and offline. There is frequent discussion of war crimes and execution - with threats often directed at medics, journalists and politicians who protesters believe are complicit in baseless nefarious agendas.”
Screenshot from the BBC
As GTTO have highlighted before, social media echo chambers have played a crucial role in driving pandemic-related radicalisation, much of it violently anti-Muslim and/or antisemitic.
Before the 26th July rally made her the focus of national attention, Shemirani was struck off the Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) register for spreading disinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic in social media posts, which were “contrary to official health advice and/or the law, inflammatory and/or derogatory” in May 2021.
Even earlier, Shemirani had already been permanently suspended by Twitter last year for referring to vaccination teams as "death squads" and calling the NHS the "new Auschwitz".
Her other posts baselessly claim that the vaccines have been designed to harm those who take them and the pandemic itself is a “global conspiracy”. Full Fact provide a comprehensive fact check of the main claims about the COVID-19 pandemic made by Shemirani.
Screenshot from the BBC
Speaking to the BBC, Sherimani’s own son Sebastian Shemirani called-out his mother’s social media activities “as very dangerous”. Explaining that his mother has always been into conspiracies, Sebastian also suggested that her ‘activism’ is driven by “self-interest” and love for “being the centre of attention”, at least in part.
Unfortunately, her views have resonated with the British far right – the very people who would not listen to her if they knew she had married an Iranian and has mix-raced kids, explains Sebastian.
Calling for the Met to prosecute her in another interview, he concludes:
“My mum is definitely beyond help. Because she is so arrogant in her worldview and truly believes that she is a conduit for the truth – on a spiritual level, not just on the scientific level, she thinks that she has been anointed by God or some other power – she thinks that she should not listen to people like us”.
