Voices for Freedom
TJB 2021 Limited, trading as Voices for Freedom, is an advocacy group in New Zealand that formed in December 2020 to oppose the New Zealand Government's COVID-19 mitigation policies and vaccination rollout. The organisation is founded and led by food blogger and former Advance New Zealand candidate Claire Deeks, Libby Jonson and Alia Bland. Voices for Freedom has been criticised by NZ Skeptics, The Spinoff editor Madeleine Chapman, and FACT Aotearoa for spreading misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccinations.
Leadership and structure
Voices for Freedom was founded in December 2020 by food blogger and former Advance New Zealand candidate Claire Deeks, Libby Jonson and Alia Bland as "a non-political organisation focused on protecting New Zealanders' fundamental human rights with a particular focus on freedom of speech, health/medical freedom and all freedoms under attack from an overzealous and oppressive Covid-19 response."Voices for Freedom registered as a limited liability company, under the legal name TJB 2021 Limited, on 27 April 2021.
As of 15 August 2022, VFF claimed to have 100,000 members.
The organisation's financial sources remain opaque, having spent large amounts on promotion and court cases, but claims to have received donations from "thousands of concerned Kiwis".
Communications output
Flyers
In March 2021, Voices for Freedom teamed up with the Advance NZ party to distribute a magazine called The Real News promoting conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccines, using discredited internet-based sources. The Real News is published by Full Courts Press director and shareholder Jonathan Eisen and his wife Katherine Smith, whose company has also published the pseudoscientific The New Zealand Journal of Natural Medicine and the conspiracy theory–promoting Uncensored magazine. By 12 March, at least 60,000 copies of the magazine had been distributed to postboxes. By May 2021, the VFF and Advance NZ had raised NZ$10,000 to print and distribute 60,000 copies of The Real News. The following month, a second issue of The Real News was circulated.In late April 2021, Voices for Freedom distributed a 29-page 'COVID Response Survival Kit' questioning the safety of COVID-19 vaccines and minimising the danger posed by SARS-CoV-2. In response, University of Waikato biological scientist Alison Campbell and the University of Auckland Helen Petousis-Harris criticised the pamphlet for spreading disinformation and propaganda that did not meet the standard of scrutiny.
In mid-May 2021, Deeks claimed that the VFF had raised NZ$50,000 towards printing two million virus "fact flyers" which it intended to distribute nationwide. In response, University of Otago clinical microbiologist and immunologist James Ussher criticised the flyers for spreading disinformation about the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Meanwhile, lawyer Mark von Dadelszen cautioned against donating to Voices for Freedom since it was neither a registered charity nor an incorporated society with a formal structure.
In mid-August 2025, Voices for Freedom began selling a book called The People's Position, which it purported to "shatter the official COVID-19 narrative", on social media. The book alleged that foreign DNA found in Pfizer and Moderna vaccine vials caused cancer and "genomic instability," that the booster vaccine rollout cause deaths and questioned the scientific evidence for cloth face masks. By 13 August, it had sold over 4,000 copies.
Advertising
In late July 2021, Voices for Freedom was banned from the social media platform Facebook for spreading misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to the ban, VFF's Facebook page had attracted 12,000 followers. In response, co-founder Bland claimed that Facebook had silenced them since they were reaching half a million people each month and alleged that the Government and mainstream media were spreading misinformation about COVID-19.In early August 2021, the VFF posted a series of advertisements on LUMO Digital Outdoor's four digital billboards in Auckland calling for submissions on the Government's hate speech legislation. Two of these digital billboards were situated outside the public broadcaster Radio New Zealand's Auckland office. Due to the group's controversial views and disinformation about COVID-19, Voice for Freedom's advertisements were removed.
On 28 April 2022, the Advertising Standards Authority ruled that three Voices for Freedom billboards opposing face masks and vaccination had breached advertising regulations on social responsibility, truthful presentation and advocacy advertising. However, the ASA did not uphold a complaint against a fourth billboard published in February 2022 highlighting a Dunedin man who had died from an adverse vaccine reaction in late 2021.
On 27 May 2022, the ASA ordered the removal of another VFF advertisement questioning the Government's vaccination effort on the grounds that it breached advertising guidelines on social responsibility and truthful representation. This marked the third time that the advertising watchdog had ruled against the organisation's advertisements.
Online output
By mid-August 2022, Voices for Freedom had developed a website, email newsletters, a Telegram channel, and a video channel called "Freedom TV" on a far right streaming platform. These were used to facilitate communication, local activism and disseminate anti-vaccination disinformation.Reality Check Radio
In March 2023, VFF launched an online radio station called Reality Check Radio. The group's three core leaders Deeks, Bland and Libby Jonson each have a 33.33% stake in the company, which was registered as NZ Media Ventures Limited. Notable hosts include former ACT Party leader Rodney Hide, former TVNZ broadcaster Peter Williams, anti-vaccine influencer Chantelle Baker, former Radio New Zealand broadcaster Paul Brennan, VFF activist and local councillor Jaspreet Bosparai, former Federated Farmers president Don Nicholson and former Green Party candidate Natalie Cutler-Welsh, The station has promoted anti-woke, anti-transgender content, COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, and climate change denial. In April 2024, the station went off air due to financial problems, leading to a fundraising campaign led by host Williams.Activism
Networking
In February 2021, Peter Williams had encouraged listeners on his Magic Talk radio station to visit Voices for Freedom's website, agreeing with their opposition to the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and support for ivermectin as a treatment for COVID-19. Williams subsequently joined VFF's Reality Check Radio in March 2023.By March 2021, Voices for Freedom had established a partnership with 'Covid Plan B', a group of anti-lockdown health professionals and academics led by University of Auckland epidemiologist Simon Thornley. In March 2020, Thornley had criticised the New Zealand Government's COVID-19 alert level system, which utilised lockdowns. Thornley also served as a keynote speaker at a VFF event in March 2021 and appeared on the group's webshow. Covid Plan B's Facebook page also shared social media posts by Voices for Freedom. COVID-19 Plan B's partnership with VFF was criticised in an open letter by the anti-misinformation group Fight Against Conspiracy Theories.
On 20 October 2022, Voices for Freedom supporters participated in the farming advocacy group Groundswell NZ's nationwide protests against the Government's plans to farm carbon emissions from 2025. VFF protesters attended several Groundswell protest events in Auckland, Dunedin, Wellington, Christchurch, and Timaru. According to Stuff journalist Charlie Mitchell, VFF and Groundswell leaders had allowed VFF members to attend Groundswell protests in order to boost the latter's numbers. Mitchell attributed Voices for Freedom's support for Groundswell's protests to an "identity crisis" caused by the Government's lessening of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, which prompted the VFF to look for new causes in response to declining public engagement with their content.
Protests
Voices for Freedom staged several protests across New Zealand in 2021 and 2022. On 6 November 2021, 20–30 supporters led by Dunedin coordinator Tracey Pita staged a protest in Dunedin's Cumberland street near the University of Otago's Dunedin campus. They opposed the Government's vaccine mandates for health, education, and corrections workers.On 9 November 2021, VFF organised an anti-vaccine mandate march in Invercargill, which attracted between 150 and 300 participants. Protesters marched from the Invercargill War Memorial to Labour List MP Liz Craig's electorate office.
On 10 December 2021, several Voices for Freedom protesters participated in a protest march in Auckland alongside those holding flags of the United Tribes of New Zealand and those opposing the Chinese Communist Party. After gathering in the Auckland Domain for speeches, participants marched to Government House, the Auckland residence of the Governor-General of New Zealand.
On 8 January 2022, the VFF organised an anti-vaccination and anti-lockdown rally in Whanganui. National Party Member of Parliament Harete Hipango attended the protest and posted a social media photo of herself at the rally alongside a second post criticising the label 'anti-vaxer' and 'misinformer'. Following a discussion with National Party leader Christopher Luxon, Hipango deleted the post, and Luxon issued a statement that the group's views did not align with the National Party's position on COVID-19 issues.
Voices for Freedom participated in the 2022 Wellington protests. On 16 February 2022, Stuff journalist Glenn McConnell reported that the group's merchandise was frequently seen at the protest camp outside the New Zealand Parliament.
On 23 February, several VFF protesters heckled Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern during her visit to Westport.