The last few months have been a difficult time for society. Social moods are on the edge and we can observe what social frustration is transforming into. One of the consequences of the epidemic is the accumulation of new conspiracy theories. In social networks, we are witnessing an avalanche of conspiracy theories and fake news about the coronavirus.
Research conducted by clinical psychologists from Oxford University and published on May in medical journal „Psychological Medicine” indicates that a very large number of British people reject scientific and international authorities' official position on the coronavirus pandemic:
- 60% of adults believe to some extent that the government is misleading the public about the cause of the virus
- 40% believe the spread of the virus is a deliberate attempt by powerful people to gain control
- 20% believe the virus is a hoaxSource: OCEANSThese are the results of a survey conducted by the Oxford Coronavirus Explanations. The survey contains many crazy theses, but as you can see there are many followers of these theories:
In addition to these theories, there is another very popular one lately - that the virus is caused by 5G transmitters. So, from time to time we may hear that the 5g transmitter is burning somewhere.
According to The Guardian, unidentified people devastated at least 20 cell towers in the UK in the first days of April. As we can notice conspiracy theories can be dangerous and can cause losses when they are uncontrollable, but how to fight them? Should we restrict freedom of speech? Social media platforms(Facebook, YouTube, Tweeter) have just started fighting the spread of fake messages and indicate the danger of misinformation:
Conspiracy theories give access to 'hidden truth' that is satisfying for those who receive the message, so it's a simple way to explain complicated issues.
Perhaps each of us believes in some unconfirmed theory created by the conspirators. I would like to present some of the most popular:
- Moon landing hoax. According to the theory film director Stanley Kubrick helped NASA fake the historic footage of its six successful Moon landings
- Pizzagate - well-known politicians are involved here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizzagate_conspiracy_theory
- Illuminati as a secret society that rules the world: https://youtu.be/z2SYR7ZEMvo
- GMO conspiracy theories - theories about hidden data indicating that GMOs cause damage to human health.
- 9/11 conspiracy theories. One of the most popular - very extensive and multi-threaded theory
- Chemtrails - also known as SLAP (Secret Large-scale Atmospheric Program). Theory maintains that the streaks from an airplane are made up of poisonous chemicals:
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ReplyDeleteYou've listed all the conspiracy theories I know, I have nothing to add! I have heard of many of them, and I don't think that they were real, unfortunately many people believe in it. These theories refer to many facts, combine them in a very interesting way and add unbelievable conclusions. That's why people follows them. That's why they are dangerous.I think social media should be even more involved in combating fake news.
ReplyDeleteSuch interesting theorie I have heard is that Marina Abramowic organizes a "spirit cooking" - ritual, where she acquires a drug of youth or something. Have you heard about it? It's ridiculous 😂
Yes, I once heard that Marina Abramović is a dangerous Satanist associated with the environment of influential people and she eats little children! : D Thanks for reminding me - this is also very popular CT :)
Deletehahaha Marina is pure evil! 😸 Do you have any articles about it? My fav conspiracy theorie! 😂
DeleteHere you can read the article about this whole affair:
Deletehttps://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/21/arts/design/marina-abramovic-satanist-conspiracy-theory.html :)
Do you know any interesting, but false theory that I missed?
ReplyDeleteI think it's a book-long answer. Rather that picking up some ridiculous stories I would share IMO interesting explanation about why some people are so into conspiracy theories - from what I recently read it's a psychological fact that people who somehow don't succeed in life, are low educated and pushed to the social margins are easily willing to emphasize with the idea that they're in the posses of some unknown truth that most society is too "blinded" to be aware of.
Do you believe that any of the conspiracy theories I mentioned is the real version of events and one day it could be proved?
I'm really careful with statements because in most cases I'm almost sure that some of theories are total BS but at the other hand there is plenty of stuff where I could imagine that might be truth - like some radical actions taken just to gain some economical power.
Do you agree that social media platforms should rigorously combat not credible information or is it too restrictive?
I don't know if it's possible to combat fake news successfully with no interactions of right to free share of thoughts. One day someone who will find right way to filter information might become one of most powerful man in the world but here is another threat that he might not (and I assume he won't) use it properly for long period of time :(
Jakub I think you are rignt - this poor people likes "theories" and gossips. And it helps them feel better somehow...
DeleteJakub, could you give me the title of the book which contains the psychological fact you mentioned? Sounds interesting and I would like to explore this issue
DeleteI don’t know about any other conspiracy theories because I simply ignore them. I don’t believe in such theories because simply for me it’s a waste of time. I’ve never heard that such a theory would become very helpful and worth any engagement. I don’t say that every theory is useless but I don’t pay too much attention to them until it becomes true. I don’t think that social media should rigorously combat not credible information. Firstly I think that it’s almost impossible and secondly, I think that increased monitoring of that information and people reacting would be enough.
ReplyDelete1. It is very good that you brought it up! Recently I've been listening to a podcast which topic was false data and content that affects us to use the clickbaits. This are contents on Internet whose main purpose is to attract attention and encourage visitors to click on a link to a particular web page. It's often false information, as we can call it - fake news.
ReplyDelete2. I rather try to choose sources of information that are reliable and proven. I realize that most of the content and theories provided to us are full of false information. However, each of us has a choice and can reach for what we think is right and true. There are many people in the world who want to support others in their own right and manipulate a group of people, but each of us should still have his own opinion.
3. I don't think that fighting with fake news will be effective, because there will always be a person or a plateform on which such content will be placed. In today's data flow this is almost impossible.
We, as young people, can easily detect what fake news is, but I'm afraid for older people. I raised this issue because I recently noticed that there're older people around who read and watch conspiracy theories and they are really scared. Unfortunately, it is not easy to convince them that they are victims of manipulation.
Delete1. In Poland and in the world there are more and more people who believe in conspiracy theories. A pandemic is conducive to this type of social phenomenon. Especially vulnerable to such theories are the most influential and rich people on Earth. Bill Gates is one example. He has always aroused strong emotions, but in recent years Gates was rather an example of a billionaire who tried to use his fortune, time, knowledge and opportunities for the good of humanity. And yet, the loudest and probably the most popular conspiracy theory about Bill Gates and the coronavirus assumes that the billionaire is somehow behind "realese" the disease and creat a pandemic, because he wants to get rich by creating a vaccine. It is argued by the fact that his foundation is an investor in medical and biotechnology companies which are looking for a vaccine to protect because of COVID-19.
ReplyDelete2. Poles are fans of conspiracy theories, i.e. unscientific explanations of various problems. When we are dealing with a shocking revelation, we like to believe that there was a higher sense in it, which usually comes down to asking questions like "who paid off?" or "who made money on it," which leads straight to conspiracy thinking. However, in my opinion 99% of conspiracy theories are so-called fake news that have nothing to do with truth and reality. Why does most theory not make sense? Because there are usually several versions that are mutually exclusive.
3. The development of modern technologies and the digital environment enables obtaining information, access to many sources of knowledge and sharing it on an unprecedented scale. Along with the speed at which information spread, there was the possibility of manipulating the message, distorting the content, and even creating false messages. Therefore, social networking sites should focus on limiting fake news as much as possible. In order to fight such information, companies must first and foremost learn to locate it effectively. After detecting such information, enterprises should skillfully manage their impact and report it to site or social media administrators as "questioned by an external fact controller."
I agree with you - Bill Gates recently has been the greatest enemy of the "conspirators". This is really fascinating how quickly people can create a public enemy no.1 when their knowledge is based mainly on youtube fake videos.
DeleteDo you think the system of detecting false information that you mentioned would be enthusiastically accepted by social media users? I'm afraid this solution would cause public protests.
I think it would cause a big confusion :)
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ReplyDeleteI've got to admit that I very much enjoy very conspiracy theories, as this phenomenon assures me there's still a place for myths and fantasy in the rational, modern world. People believed in dragons and mermaids in the past and now we have reptilians in government and establishment:D
ReplyDeleteThe difference is that nowadays we actually try to prove those theories with 'scientific' methods and use 'rational' arguments.
I have few favorite conspiracy theories, the one that I recently discovered is the opening ceremony of the Gotthard base tunnel in Switzerland, which was a very strange performance witnessed by leaders of European countries that was commented in the media as satanic ritual with lots of hidden symbols.
Next to conspiracy theories I also find interesting all the post-truth like Lekhs Empire propagated by pseudo-historian Janusz Bieszk. According to him Poland was an empire before Christianization and its history was erased by the church and Germans. It's amusing to read this nonsense, but accumulation of those theories becomes disturbing.
I used to follow controversies linked to 9/11 after watching the Michel Moore's documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11" but then I've never decided which version to believe in, as the more I read the more it become vague and confusing. Like you wrote, there's so many theories and strange threads connected to this attack.
I become convinced that social media should impose some verification on the credibility of the content or maybe conduct some movement to inform users to check the source of information posted on those platforms. It's so easy to forward any information by this media and we all absorb this information, but it's less and less reliable.
Your observation is very interesting - conspiracy theories really resemble modern myths :) Perhaps that's why I'm also fascinated by this topic as a social phenomenon.
DeleteThe main theory, which says that the land is flat, but governments hide it - I can't say why, because I deny such stupidity.
ReplyDeleteRecently, the theory that coronated to be used as bioliogical weapon is popular.
I believe that filters should be introduced to verify the accuracy of information - belief in such false information and what people can do with it can be dangerous. Nobody wants to take responsibility for the content published by Internet users, but someone must be answered - I think it should be the owner of the page, in the shortcut such information appears.
OMG Flat Earth Theory is probably the most extreme of all conspiracy theories! I can't believe I missed it! :)
DeleteI don't know what they have in their heads - you can not believe a few people, but to think that someone has a purpose in manipulating satellite and other photos taken from space?
DeleteThere is a secret organization that processes all photos and makes sure that no one in the whole world publishes a scientific book in which he would write the truth that the earth is really flat.
You can laugh out loud :D
I try to use my intellect and treat such information as literary fiction. I don't remember any conspiracy theories. Reading such content is very tiring.. When it comes to social media, you should be able to report things that are offensive straight to you.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that you are not susceptible to manipulation:) Lucky you!
DeleteKinga, when it comes to conspiracy there is no need to use intellect 😂
DeleteI have been made aware of many conspiracy theories.
ReplyDeleteUsually the way they work is to take adavantage of people
fear, to which they add a great deal of suspicious.
For me the most worth looking into was the moon landing.
Some of the arguments seem convincing like the fact that
there are not stars visible on the photos.This is easy
explainable as the surface of the moon reflects the light
and a quick-exposure camera was not able to capture it.
Also the waving flag was cause of dispute, as the there
is no wind in space, but actaully it was standing on a
partially-extended rod.
Other well-known conspirational theories include JFK
association, many do not believe that Lee Harvey Oswald
acted on his own. Do goverments hide the existence of
UFO ?
The most recent consipirition theries now concern the
corona virus, which affects all of that. Well, the idea
that someone in China eats an uncooked bat and then people
on the other side of the world are affects seems pretty
implausible. The first explanation is that the virus
escaped from a lab.This rumour had come to life because
in Wuhan China’s only Level-4 bio-laboratories are located,
where reasearchers have actually been studying several
kind of coronaviruses. This view is largely supported by
Donald Trump, who popularized the theory.
It is also not easy to believe that a wide spread global
health crisis could have begun so easily. And scientific
evidence has appeared, proving that the virus has spread
to people from an animal.
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DeleteI agree with you that the theory related to the moon landing was fascinating especially at times when it was not easy to verify the facts :) I was very involved in it a long time ago! Currently, all false theories in this topic are disproved on the Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_landing_conspiracy_theories
DeleteTo be honest, you probably listed most of the stories I know in this article. It seems to me that in most conspiracy theories there is a small grain of truth. Sometimes, after many years, it turns out that some part of the conspiracy theory is true. That's why I think that there may be some or a lot of truth in the theories you mentioned. In my opinion, the internet and social platforms should be in a place of freedom (assuming, of course, that individual freedom ends where another person's freedom begins). That is why we have brains to verify information and information sources.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the internet is a place that should be a bastion of freedom. In my opinion it's fine to mark conspiracy theories as untrue and link users to a reliable source,
ReplyDeletebut removing this kind of content from social media seems to be too authoritative
I know many conspiracy theories, more and less popular, because I used to watch a lot of vlogs about them. I think one of the most famous are flat Earth, Reptilians or the theory of frozen Walt Disney.
ReplyDeleteFreemasons movement seems very mysterious to me. I became interested in this subject after reading one of Dan Brown's books. Did you know that there were also masonic lodges in Poland? The first (1721) of these was la Confrérie Rouge - The Red Brotherhood from Warsaw.
Controlling information on social media is very difficult. The fight against conspiracy theories could be seen as a restriction of freedom of speech. It's difficult, because many conspiracy theories fanatics can directly harm other people.
In my opinion one of the best fake theories is a flat earth theory. It is quite funny how many people support this weird idea.
ReplyDeleteThere is also a thing about The Greys, which is quite hilarious as well ( as I think The Greys and The Reptilians hijack people). What is more there are some similarities to Satan.
In my opinion the most known conspiracy among polish people is one about airplane crash (Smolensk).
I believe that there are theories that have some tiny part of facts, but it is really hard to catch.
These days it is so hard to find an honest information. So yes, I think social media should fight with fake news and conspiracy theories. What is more, I think not only social media should fight them.
Unfortunately, I don't know any more conspiracy theories. I didn't even know half of those you mentioned in the article, although they are very interesting.
ReplyDeleteAs they say, there is a grain of truth in every conspiracy theory. Perhaps for some of them, it turns out that they were not completely unfounded.
I believe that freedom of speech is an extremely important value, and we should not so easily agree to the censorship under the cover of combat with fake news. Let's remember that social media have enormous opinion-forming power, and thus can be easily abused.
I've heard about conspiracy theories on a variety of subjects, but I've never gone into the subject. It seems to me that this is because in the age of the Internet the range of information is unlimited. In these times, it's hard to stop this kind of fake news. They can appear anywhere. Maybe the social media platforms can at least manage it to some extent. I keep my fingers crossed. 🤞🏼
ReplyDeleteDo you know any interesting, but false theory that I missed?
ReplyDeleteOne of my most favorite conspiracy theories of all time Is the theory that some advanced alien civilizations contacted humanity on several different occasions during the whole history. It is believed, that they helped us build many monumental ancient buildings like for example The Great Pyramid of Giza. The most popular book about this theory is called “Fingerprints of the Gods: The Evidence of Earth's Lost Civilization” by Graham Hancock.
Do you believe that any of the conspiracy theories I mentioned is the real version of events and one day it could be proved?
I don’t really believe in any of those theories, but if I were to choose I’d say that there may be some kinds of secret societies gathering very powerful people similar to the Illuminati.
Do you agree that social media platforms should rigorously combat not credible information or is it too restrictive?
In my opinion, it is a very complicated topic. On the one hand, the freedom of speech and belief is one of the most important rights in today's society and social media platforms are constantly breaking it. On the other hand, some content should be banned from the social debate because it may cause harm to many people. For example, I don’t think we should ban people believing that the earth is flat as it is rather harmless, but some anti-vaccines theories might lead to the outbreak of a new epidemy and those should be banned.
I've never heard of Graham Hancock books, but he seems to create similar theories to Erich von Däniken who created the 'concept of alien influences on human culture'. His pseudo-scientific theories were used in Ridley Scott's sci-fi films
DeleteI don't know many conspiracy theories, but theory about flat earth is very funny for me. Vision of disc spinning in space can be just ridiculous. It's hard to say if any of theories will turn up to be a truth, but also never say never. Maybe one day someone will die because of falling down from the edge of Earth. I don't know if it is a good idea to use any filters to censor fake informations from clips. Internet should as free as it is possible. If we agree that we should ban all fake news materials, maybe one day all objections, for example against government, will be treated as a fake news.
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ReplyDeleteActually I try to ignore that theories because I’m not interested in that and don’t believe in such things. The last thing that I heard it is a theory about coronavirus, and I don’t understand people that trust in this theory. On the other hand for some people it is just easier to believe in conspiracy theories than to face reality, so I can judge them. To be honest, I think that social media cannot filter information about conspiracy theories, and if it will be possible, we all would see new conspiracy theory that social media try to hide information from us all over the internet one day.
ReplyDeleteThis topic is so interesting, I have to say! Well I’ve heard about “Tupac is alive” conspiracy theory which states that the American rapper Tupac Shakur who died on 13 September 1996 in assassination is still alive and he’s hiding somewhere in Central America. I don’t believe it’s true, and I also do not believe that any of the conspiracy theories you mentioned is real or true, that’s why I think social media platforms should fight with all fake news and misinformation right away.
ReplyDeleteI think that you might have missed theory about coronavirus and it's China impact on global market which have been recently very popular on mass media.
ReplyDeleteOne thing is that I love reading about conspiracy theories but the other thing is that I don't like to talk about them in public, same this as with politics. So in that case I will leave to myself.
I think this is the biggest problem of modern media. There are too many fake news shared by "info" pages. People are getting fake information all the time. The best case is with current situation with BLM situation in US. A lot of pages which are very subjective are trying to show their own facts with some cherry picking which can prove their theories which are presented as facts, what often leads to fake news and disorientation. I think that in that case, some media sources should take responsibility of chaos they're partially responsible for.
I have to be honest, I have been really into conspiracy theories for a while. The internet is a powerfull device which have huge influence on people, speccialy young ones. Although I belive that majority of those "informations" are false and misleading (Flatearthers come on..) I think that we cannot say in 100% that none of this hadn't happened, the world is a great mystery.
ReplyDelete