Satirical news website Betoota Advocate is facing backlash for publishing two articles that seemingly defended the anti-lockdown protesters who clashed with police in Sydney's CBD on Saturday in scenes that shocked Australia.
The website, known for its opposition to the Morrison government and the Murdoch press, was criticised by its predominantly left-leaning, millennial readers for its sympathetic take on the maskless thugs at the so-called 'Freedom Rally'.
The articles, published on Saturday and Sunday, suggested the demonstrators weren't anti-vaxxer conspiracy theorists but were in fact just ordinary Sydneysiders expressing their dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Scott Morrison's handling of the Covid pandemic.
This is despite the fact hundreds of protesters carried placards with anti-vax slogans like 'my body, my choice' and 'the media is the virus' and spread conspiratorial nonsense when confronted by journalists.
Several high-profile figures have blasted the website for its questionable take on the protests, including Waleed Aly's academic wife Dr Susan Carland and outspoken Bachelor star Abbie Chatfield.
'Understandable distrust': Satirical news website Betoota Advocate is facing backlash for publishing two articles that seemingly defended the anti-lockdown protesters who clashed with police in Sydney's CBD on Saturday in scenes that shocked Australia
Saturday's article, written by one of Betoota's editors under the byline 'Clancy Overell', featured the headline, 'Thousands March To Highlight Understandable Distrust of PM's S**thouse Public Health Messages.'
The story, published on Instagram and the Betoota Advocate website, said the protests in Sydney and other cities 'speaks to the bigger issue' of the government's botched vaccine rollout - which is ludicrous given the protesters are opposed to the vaccine to begin with.
The article went on to allege the government deliberately 'generated fear and hesitancy' around vaccines to 'buy more time' while waiting for them to arrive.
Missing the mark: Betoota published another story on Sunday, this time trying to portray the lockdown protests as a symptom of class struggle
Criticism: Several high-profile figures have blasted the website for its questionable take on the protests, including Waleed Aly's (left) academic wife Dr Susan Carland (right)
Not impressed: 'Jeez guys, no,' Dr Carland commented below the article on Instagram
This ignores the fact vaccine hesitancy is usually the product of misinformation spread on social media, not because of politicians or the press.
The article went on to characterise the protests as 'a damning insight into how the government is being perceived by the people' and suggested the
