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Image: Tina Tiller
Image: Tina Tiller

InternetJanuary 27, 2022

A conversation with the woman behind a viral video attacking Jacinda Ardern

Image: Tina Tiller
Image: Tina Tiller

The video, shot from a car that blocked the PM’s van, gained loads of attention online, but how does its creator feel days later? Dylan Reeve finds out for IRL

On Saturday, January 21, the prime minister travelled to Northland to participate in the Waitangi National Trust Board’s virtual Waitangi Day pre-recording (the trust had opted in late 2021 to make this year’s event virtual). But according to popular claims on conspiracy theory Telegram and Facebook groups, the real reason was more suspicious: the prime minister was, they suggest, secretly conspiring to complete a vital ceremony ahead of time to avoid massive protests. 

As with any public appearance in recent months, the PM’s visit was met with loud protests, mostly focused on the government response to Covid, specifically vaccinations and the various restrictions connected with vaccination status. What was more unusual on this occasion was a video that began circulating the following day. Filmed from the passenger seat, the video shows a car attempting to block the PM’s van as it exits a parking area in Paihia. The van’s driver is forced to take evasive action, driving over the curb and across a footpath to get past.

The story made headlines across New Zealand media, and was the subject of questions put to the prime minister during a post-cabinet press conference on Tuesday. “At no point was I worried about my safety or the safety of anyone who was with me,” Ardern said at that time. 

Lolly*, a Northland mum in her mid-20s, was a passenger in the car that blocked the PM’s vehicle and shot the now-viral videos of the incident. She was also the voice heard yelling abuse out the open window towards the van. “My mouth went a little crazy in the video,” she admitted sheepishly when I cold-called her to ask about what thousands had watched.

“There’s Jacinda in her fucking bullet-proof van, hiding from the public, we’re fucking chasing her round Paihia,” Lolly can be heard saying in one of the videos.

Lolly’s concern was mainly around the impact of vaccination requirements, she says. “Ever since everything has come into play, really, it’s just divided everybody and everybody looks at each other differently now. Like, I don’t know about everywhere else, but in [town] if you’re not vaccinated you’re treated so differently.” 

Personally, Lolly has got “got nothing against” the Covid vaccine. “My best friend and everyone I live with is fully vaxxed,” she told me, adding that she was planning to get vaccinated after completing her pregnancy. (It should be noted here that there is ample evidence of the safety of the Pfizer vaccination at any stage of pregnancy, and pregnant people are at greater risk of serious illness from Covid-19.)

But she was in Paihia that day, she claimed, to support a family member who’d heeded a call to join protests. “[It was] something to do with money? I wasn’t really interested in that, I just went to support my [family member].”

Lolly isn’t reflexively anti-Labour; she’s voted for the party in the past, although she clarified she’s “been a Green supporter for a while”. But Lolly’s opinion of the prime minister has definitely soured since the beginning of the pandemic. “I think everyone up here, and I can speak for a lot of people, they’re just really pissed off that [Ardern] won’t come out into the community and speak to the people who are suffering from the decisions that she’s made.”

In a Facebook livestream as they pursued the PM’s car, Lolly can be heard saying, “didn’t want to get out and talk to the public, she ran! Everyone’s after her”. 

‘At no point was I worried about my safety or the safety of anyone who was with me,’ Ardern said (Photo: Mark Mitchell/Getty Images)

The massive amount of online attention was a surprise to her. “I did not expect that video to go viral. I literally just posted it up there for all my mates that couldn’t actually make it up there,” Lolly told me. “The next day I’ve got like a million comments and a fricking million messages from random people.”

“If I knew that was gonna happen, I definitely wouldn’t have sworn that much,” she laughed. 

In the video, and others that were posted on her Facebook page, she screamed at the PM’s van, accusing her of “hiding in the fucking back” and calling her a “fucking little bitch” as the vehicle sped away. 

Lolly was keen to point out that she had no violent intentions. “I didn’t want to post the video to encourage people to do that stuff,” Lolly explained. The sometimes vitriolic support the video received online caught her by surprise. “I had to go through the comments and delete everything that was negative. Some people were being pretty agro about it, like giving me big-ups, but that’s not what I wanted. […] Once it started getting shared, I couldn’t put a stop to it and what others were saying and how they were reacting or motivating themselves.”

Some commentators have expressed concerns about increasing violent rhetoric towards the prime minister and others. The 1News story about the incident packaged it alongside threats of death and violence made against the prime minister. It’s not an outcome Lolly is hoping for. “I can see others going further, but I’m hoping not,” she said of suggestions that others might see her actions as something to one-up.

From her point of view, the incident wasn’t planned, and she and those she was with just got caught up in the moment. “We literally didn’t plan to block her in the driveway. We were going out the driveway and she came up beside us,” she said. “If I could take it back, I’d do it in a more calm way. I think it was just the heat of the moment.”

In the videos, however, there were clearly plenty of opportunities for those in the car to make different decisions. As they sped down a Paihia road, in pursuit of the prime minister’s tiny motorcade, Lolly recorded herself enjoying what was unfolding: “Oh this is fun! We’re on a chase!”

Despite being a bit sheepish about the events, Lolly doesn’t seem too regretful. “If only all this viral stuff made me rich [rather] than famous,” she joked in an email after we spoke. 

Despite reports that police are now investigating, Lolly told me she hasn’t yet been contacted by them. “I’m not really worried about the police getting involved,” she said, sounding surprisingly relaxed. “I can explain to them my situation and the way I feel about [Ardern] and why I feel that way.”

Asked for comment, a police spokesperson said that police “do not comment on matters pertaining to the security of the prime minister”, but confirmed “Northland District Police are looking into the matter”.

*We have opted not to reveal Lolly’s real name, nor identify the specifics of family members who were with her.

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Image: Tina Tiller
Image: Tina Tiller

InternetJanuary 26, 2022

Do you really need a VPN?

Image: Tina Tiller
Image: Tina Tiller

YouTubers and podcast hosts are constantly extolling the virtues of a VPN. For IRL, Dylan Reeve weighs up the pros and cons. 

If you’ve watched many videos from high-profile YouTubers, or listened to popular podcasts, you’ll almost certainly have heard promotions for various Virtual Private Network (VPN) providers. “Without a VPN, your internet browsing data can be tracked by your ISP, cellular provider, ad companies and hackers,” YouTuber Jon Tron warns his 15 million viewers in one video.

But contrary to the dire warnings about hacking, tracking and scamming, it’s far from clear that most people require a VPN to browse the web. In fact any selling point beyond “it’ll help you watch Netflix stuff from overseas” is stretching the truth in most cases. That overseas viewing thing might be enough, though. 

First, a little technical background: When you’re using the internet, the data exchanged between your computer and internet sites, commonly called traffic, passes through a large number of third parties on its way.

In the most basic sense, this could look like a website request leaving your computer, reaching a server at your internet provider and then being directed to a large web hosting company before reaching the website’s server. In practice, there are even more companies in the middle. Think of this like passing notes in class – it passes through a lot of hands, and maybe you’re worried that people might sneak a peek on the way. 

YouTubers and podcast hosts are always shilling VPNs.

A virtual private network is a technology that collects the information you’re sending, combines it into an encrypted package, and sends it across the internet to some other server operated by the VPN provider. When it arrives, the data is unpacked and sent on its way, and does the same in reverse for the replies. Basically, the notes you’re passing back and forth in class are now in very well-sealed envelopes.

In principle, this means that your ISP can’t see what you’re sending, or where. Everything going to and from your computer is an indecipherable stream of encrypted data going into a tunnel to some mystery location. And, on the other side of the connection, the server you’re talking to can’t see where the data came from originally – they just see the VPN’s exit point, with no idea of where on the internet (or in the world) the data originated. Stretching the note metaphor a little too far, the last person in the chain takes the note out of the envelope and passes it to the recipient, without saying exactly where it came from.

So, about those privacy and security claims:  They are fundamentally untrue or, at best, are significantly misstating the reality of just how the internet works normally. 

The vast majority of websites now use Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS), indicated by the little padlock in your browser’s address bar. This means that your connection with the website is encrypted and can’t be intercepted by anyone in between you at the website: put simply, your ISP already can’t see what you’re doing. The best they can hope for is to know what servers you’re connecting to – so they can see you went to Wikipedia, for example, but not which page and what you searched for while you were there.

What advertisers can determine is more complex. They generally aren’t relying on data intercepted by your ISP or other providers, but rather tracking cookies embedded on the websites you visit. The nature of advertiser tracking is worthy of an article of its own, but in general if you’re using the same computer and web browser you normally do, it doesn’t matter if you’re using a VPN or not, advertisers can track you just as efficiently. 

The world at your fingertips: a VPN control panel waiting to transport you around the world.

So that leaves security. Are VPNs more secure? In short, no. As mentioned above, the data you send between your browser and most of the sites you visit is encrypted by HTTPS. This includes everything from your login name and password, to the credit card data you provide when shopping online. Adding another layer of encryption to this transaction doesn’t make it any more secure.

As for whether a VPN will protect you from hackers? There is really only one scenario in which that may be the case: public wifi.

Public wifi is typically unencrypted, so it’s theoretically possible for someone in the same physical area to “sniff” your network data out of the air — you’re sitting in a cafe innocently browsing the web and some sneaky hacker sitting nearby is snarfing down all your passwords and your Snapchat messages.

That may have been a risk years ago, but now most of the technologies you’re using on that network are encrypted, such as the HTTPS websites mentioned above. But there are still occasionally network connections your computer or phone might make that aren’t as secure, such as some older email systems or websites that aren’t using the HTTPS system.

In that very specific circumstance – connected to a public wifi, using an insecure internet protocol or application, with a malicious hacker cowering nearby – a VPN would add a layer of protection. But that’s a pretty specific and unlikely circumstance these days.

A VPN probably isn’t necessary to protect you against this guy. (Photo:
shironosov / Getty)

So then, what use is a VPN?

Basically the most practical use for a VPN for the vast majority of users is: pretending to be somewhere else. 

By pushing all your internet traffic through a VPN, you can control where in the world you appear to be to the servers you’re talking to. There are a few practical applications for this, such as doing online shopping overseas, but the one most people care about is lying to Netflix. 

If you can make Netflix’s servers believe you’re in the USA then you can watch the shows and movies available to US Netflix users. And it’s not just the US, of course, the streaming service has different content offerings all over the world.

And it’s not just Netflix either. The BBC’s iPlayer service is only available to people in the UK, or at least people who appear to be in the UK. Hulu is just for Americans, or for people whose internet connections are in the US.

Now, in most cases getting access to overseas services requires lying during your signup process, and in some cases where payment is required that creates another hurdle, as foreign credit cards may not be accepted. But the first challenge for any of these things is the technical one of having your connection appear to be in the right place in the world, and that is what VPNs are for.

Of course, the companies that run these services are not supposed to show their content to people outside the regions they’re licensed to serve, so there does tend to be a bit of cat and mouse – VPN users sometimes find themselves cut off from a show mid-episode when streaming providers detect VPN use – but VPN companies are usually quick to make changes to keep things working, and so the game continues. 

There are drawbacks to consider, too. A VPN isn’t free – well, some VPNs are free, but you should probably stay clear of them; VPNs aren’t cheap to operate so free ones are doing something sneaky to make money. You’ll be paying $5-10 a month for most of the more reputable providers. And they can be a hassle to set up, sometimes slow down your browsing and occasionally cause weird technical issues that can trigger minor bouts of hair-pulling.

So, do you need a VPN? Well if you’re in the mood to binge Zooey Deschanel’s absolutely flawless seven-season sitcom New Girl then you’ll need a VPN in order to convince Netflix you’re watching from the US. But if you’re just worried about your ISP seeing your searches for Zooey Deschanel trivia, or Russian hackers intercepting your credit card while you’re buying Zooey Deschanel air fresheners, then I wouldn’t worry.

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