Victorian Senator Ralph Babet has refused to back down after coming under fire for spreading a bizarre conspiracy theory claiming the world is controlled by Satanic paedophiles.
The United Australia Party senator posted a tweet on his X feed that simply read: “The world is run by satanic paedophiles.”
Senator Babet told Daily Mail Australia he stood by this claim and a number of other provocative social media posts.
These include sharing the theory that the attempted assassination of Donald Trump was an “inside job” organised by bodyguards.
Senator Babet insisted that his tweets reflected his genuine beliefs.
However, Andrea Carson, a professor of political communication at La Trobe, believes the tweets are part of a “cynical” strategy to raise his profile.
“We have an example of an accidental politician in the person of Babet, who polled 4,500 votes to secure the second seat to represent Victoria,” Professor Carson said.
‘When you have minor politicians with relatively low profiles in terms of their portfolio responsibilities, they try to pull their weight by drawing attention to themselves on social media.’
Senator Ralph Babet of the United Australia Party has stood firm in a series of incendiary tweets
Senator Babet is advocating a bizarre conspiracy theory he shared on social media that claims Satanic pedophiles rule the world.
The tweet “Satanic paedophiles” garnered 1.2 million views, proving the value of Professor Carson’s observation that “co-opting or appropriating international content” was helping the local senator’s cause.
“In a global information environment, politicians like Babet try to use whatever they can to get as much attention as possible,” he said.
“However, when it is limited to local content it does not get much reach or audience, so the more sensational and controversial the opinions are and the more they can fit into global narratives, the more attention it will receive.”
When asked by the Daily Mail Australia about the wild allegations, Senator Babet doubled down on his message about satanic paedophiles.
“We are in a spiritual battle, it’s good versus evil, there is no other way to describe this,” said Senator Babet.
The UAP representative did not specify who the Satanic pedophiles ruling the world are, but ruled out leaders of Australia’s major political parties.
“Is Peter Dutton a Satanic paedophile? Absolutely not,” he said.
“Is Mr. Albanese a satanic pedophile? No, he is not, but these people don’t rule the world, do they?”
‘They are puppets. Albanese is a puppet, Peter Dutton is a puppet, both are beholden to globalist special interests behind the scenes.
Senator Babet is pictured with controversial American commentator Tucker Carlson
“The political elite, which prefers to suck on the teat of its wealthy masters in Davos than represent the people who elected them, is stuffing itself with uncontrolled mass migration,” he said.
‘I could name entire suburbs in Sydney or Melbourne where you can walk down the street and imagine you’re in a foreign country.’
Professor Carson described Senator Babet as a “niche politician” whose electoral prospects can be enhanced by building a small but dedicated following, and who does not have to speak to broader audiences.
“They[niche politicians]are using the grand narratives of the US and the UK to try to increase their algorithmic reach and ultimately their personal profiles,” he said.
‘They don’t get the normal platforms, they’re not out there, they’re in serious ministerial portfolios where they get attention for their political initiatives.
‘So how does he get the kind of attention and spotlight he craves to get re-elected? He does it by using algorithmic spreading of sensational content on social media, and that’s what we’re seeing here.
Andrea Carson, professor of political communication at La Trobe, believes the tweets are part of a “cynical” strategy to raise her profile.
‘He’ll comment on anything about how to get traffic that fits with the worldview of being a maverick politician.
“The more sensational the content, the more emotions it will provoke and the more likely it is to spread, particularly fear, anger and hatred.”
Professor Carson said Senator Babet’s tweets were “disappointing” in “a global information environment that has low-quality information and high-quality information”.
“When we look at the problems of disinformation and misinformation, one way to mitigate them is to increase high-quality information,” he said.
‘It’s disappointing to see elites not exercising responsible freedom of speech and this is an example of that, where he is contributing to low-quality reporting and the public is aware of it.
‘Politicians are there to be leaders and generators of common sense, not to contribute to a contaminated information system.
‘I find it ironic that in one of his clips he talks about the degradation of political institutions, but with these acts he is contributing to reducing public trust in institutions and politicians by spreading inflammatory content.’
