Why did QAnon become so widespread? 🔊
Conspiracy theories have marked American politics throughout the nation’s history. The most recent popular conspiracy centres around a shadowy figure who posts online under the pseudonym Q. The conspiracy is known as QAnon, and it poses a challenge for both law...
What is the so-called deep state? 🔊
While President, Donald Trump regularly complained that a deep state was undermining his policies and his decisions. He painted a picture of a conspiracy that unelected government officials were seeking to overthrow his Presidency. What is the so-called deep state?...
Was Phar Lap killed by gangsters? New research shows which conspiracies people believe in and why
By Matthew Marques, James McLennan, John Kerr, Matthew Ling & Matt Williams Research suggests avoiding ridicule, showing empathy, affirming critical thinking and appealing to trusted message sources can help when talking to someone who believes in conspiracy...
Why do people believe or endorse conspiracy theories?
By Danny Osborne “By situating the cause of these events in the hands of a few nefarious actors, conspiracy theorists are able to take the unpredictability out of life and regain a sense of control.” From bushfires to a pandemic that led to nation-wide...
What are the roots of science denialism in the time of COVID-19, and how do we untangle them?
By Fiona Crichton What has become starkly apparent in the age of the SARS CoV-2 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is that the effective communication of science-based health messages is no easy task. What has become starkly apparent in the age of the SARS CoV-2 novel...
Can COVID misinformation cost lives? 🔊
Misinformation is rampant about COVID-19, and in some cases, it has caused death, blindness, emergency health issues, widespread stigma, and social ostracization. Holly Seale and Md. Saiful Islam were part of a team that studied the rumors, conspiracies, and...
Should we be worried about COVID-19 conspiracy theories?
By M Dentith Polls indicate that the public broadly supports the coalition government’s COVID-19 pandemic response, and public condemnation of conspiracy theories about COVID-19 is easy to find. When the Prime Minister, Jacinda Arden, and the Director-General of...
Q+A: Believing the ‘unbelievable’: What are conspiracy theories? How do they flourish?
Post-truth. Alternative facts. Fake news. We are living in a world where conspiracy theories are allowed to flourish. With every mass shooting, terrorist attack, and new political policy announcement, it seems like a new conspiracy theory will be dreamt up somewhere...
How does the media weaponise far-right conspiracy theories?
By Heather Wood & Leslie Hahner Heather Woods and Leslie Hahner discuss how mainstream media helps to weaponize far-right conspiracy theories. Once an anti-Semitic rumor moved from fringe to the mainstream, it took less than two weeks for violence to erupt. The...Subscribe by Email
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