Ziggy Alberts has taken to social media to offer a complete non-apology for comparing mask-wearing to communist dictatorships.
In case you missed it, Ziggy posted an Instagram story last night, in which he appeared to liken the new Victorian rule regarding mask-wearing to the atrocities committed by Nazi or communist dictators. However, it’s worth noting that he asserts that he didn’t draw this comparison, but a “gossip magazine” did.
Throughout the lengthy post he asserted that he doesn’t support the new rule because “all it does is strips Australians of their basic human rights in what is supposed to be a free society.” You can make of the post what you will.
https://twitter.com/forghandi/status/1284812386793172992
After being understandably rinsed by fans, fellow musicians and Australians as a whole, Ziggy has taken to social media to release a statement (note: not an apology).
“My foremost concern, which I raised yesterday and today via my social media, is in regards to the *mandate* of face masks or lockdowns,” he began the lengthy post, which notably does not include the word “sorry”.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CC2yOvUJ8Ds/
Throughout the statement, he claims he is “not giving any medical advice and is certainly not in a position to do so.” However, he seemingly ignores the fact that he has a platform with over 200,000 followers, and therefore has a responsibility not to contribute to the spread of misinformation regarding medical advice.
It’s worth noting that he has clarified that he is not a medical professional and wasn’t intending to give any medical advice, which is some sort of silver lining to the situation. But considering the stories are still live at the time that this article is published, he seemingly doesn’t see the issue with his original post.
“In closing, I want to reiterate again that I am NOT in opposition to face masks or self-isolation – I’m just in opposition to the mandating of the same. Like you all, I am scared of the uncertainty we face as a country during this time. My intent was not to alarm or offend people; it was an honest statement of my position in relation to these new mandates,” he wrote.
Despite acknowledging that he didn’t intend to offend people, Alberts offered no actual apology to anyone who has genuinely had their human rights taken away by a dictator, or by anyone else.
After almost 24 hours to think about how his words impacted others and come up with a response, Alberts has failed to take accountability for the fact that anyone with this sort of platform has a responsibility not to spread misinformation, or show any remorse for the hurt the post may have caused.
