James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

He would know. A year ago, Ed Coper warned Sydney Morning Herald readers about the evils of digital astroturfing, whereby an organisation is passed off as grassroots and its true origin or agenda is obscured. Surely that Ed Coper couldn't be the author of a despicable, ugly astroturfing campaign aimed at blaming the Morrison government over hospital funding at the time of rising COVID admissions? But hang on! In his book Facts and Other Lies, this Ed Coper described Labor's federal 2016 digital campaign, which falsely claimed the coalition would privatise Medicare. In that same breath, he admits to being the one serving them all those 'Mediscare' ads. Because—guess what, Mr Acting Deputy President and those listening at home?—Mr Coper was also director of campaigns at GetUp, an organisation renowned for its dishonest campaigning, and the scratchy voice of Ed Coper, the crusader against disinformation, sounds identical to the voicemail recording of Ed Coper, the 'We love our hospitals' astroturfer. So Ed Coper, the crusader against disinformation, needs to set the record straight.

Mr Coper is currently a director and co-owner of Populares—you might have heard about them—where he heads the firm's disinformation practice, leading a team of digital brand damage and narrative-building experts. In March, Populares was outed as a Labor and GetUp staff campaign house responsible for the digital campaigns of the Mr Simon Holmes a Court backed teal Independents.