Down the rabbit hole: Covid-19 and the golden age of conspiracy theories

You know you are in deep in a Reddit rabbit hole when you start reading a post about how the world ended in 2012. According to this anonymous source, we have been living in a dream-simulation for almost a decade.

Could have fooled me. This past year has felt like one long waking nightmare. If you, like most of the country, have spent the best part of your simulated pandemic scrolling online, you are likely to have stumbled across at least one or two conspiracies.

Forget the bygone theories of yesteryear (Paul McCartney is dead, that the CIA killed Bob Marley or that the Queen is an extra-terrestrial reptile) In the pandemic, a new virus of Covid-related conspiracies has spread from the fringes into the mainstream. Here are some of the worst, followed by explanations from leading academic experts who have studied conspiracy theories and why they spread.

The “Plandemic”

Plandemic is a 26-minute “documentary” created by the discredited scientist Judy Mikovits and her producer, Mikki Willis. Plandemic promotes misinformation about the Covid-19 pandemic. The first part of the viral clip focuses on criticising the expert Dr Anthony Fauci, the face of the White House Covid-19 briefings, claiming he is part of a Covid “cover-up” and that during the AIDS epidemic he worked with doctors to “take credit and make money.” Mikovits then claims that coronavirus was “manipulated” in a lab and was not “naturally occurring.” Other claims in the video state that vaccines are “a money-making enterprise that causes medical harm” and that face masks “activate your own virus” – bad breath?

Bill Gates ‘microchip’

A key theme to many conspiracies is the idea of a “corrupt, elitist overlord” who uses money and status to control swathes of the population. What better target than Microsoft co-founder and billionaire Bill Gates?

Gates is the victim of a myriad of conspiracies, but one of the most popular theories arose from a widely-shared article on biohackinfo.com. The headline read: “Bill Gates will use microchip implants to fight coronavirus”. The piece claims that the coronavirus pandemic is a cover for a plan to implant trackable microchips into vaccine recipients and that Bill Gates is the mastermind behind it. A Facebook post, with 22,000 shares read: “Gates wants us microchipped and Fauci wants us to carry vax certificates.” Even more worryingly, a Yahoo News/YouGov survey found that 28 per cent of US adults believed that Gates was planning on using these microchips to monitor billions of people’s movements. Really? The movement from the kitchen to the bedroom and back again?

 5G causes Covid

When the rapid rollout of 5G networks took place at the same time as the pandemic outbreak, it provided technophobes and anti-vaxxers with a wealth of opportunity. There are several strains of the 5G theory, ranging from the claim that 5G can alter immune systems to the idea that it makes people more susceptible to infection. An even stranger theory claims that the design of the new £20 contains symbols of a “5G tower” and coronavirus. Another branch of the theory connects 5G with the claim that Bill Gates not only used the outbreak to “control people with microchips”, but – dun dun dun – used 5G to do so.

The false information surrounding 5G began to penetrate the mainstream when a range of celebrities with big followings added their unique brand of fuel to the fire. Rapper Wiz Khalifa tweeted: “Corona? 5g? Or both?”. In the UK, several celebrities also fanned the flames of the 5G conspiracy. I wonder if these celebs have ever tried influencing using humble 2G?

As coronavirus spread, so did fear of 5G, resulting in a string of vandalism and arson attacks on tech infrastructure across the globe. In the first ten days of April last year alone, there were 30 incidents in the UK. Abroad, activists set fire to telecommunication towers in Belgium, the Netherlands and South Africa.

QAnon

The cream of the conspiracy crop is QAnon, a loosely organised network of believers in a cabal of Satan-worshipping paedophiles which operates a global child sex-trafficking ring. Members of this all-star clique supposedly include top Democrats; the Clintons and the Obamas, Hollywood celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, even Pope Francis and the Dalai Lama. Just in case ‘Satan-worshipping’ wasn’t sinister enough, QAnon’s followers also believe that this cabal kills and eat their molested victims to extract a life-extending chemical from their blood.

Former President Donald Trump acts, or did, as a messiah-like figure to QAnon followers – the fearlessly brave patriot who was destined to save America from the satanic cabal. Hiding in Mar-a-Lago will be seen as a dereliction of duty.

The QAnon movement started in 2017 as a fringe phenomenon. Nevertheless, it has broken into the mainstream in recent months by circulating misinformation about the Black Lives Matter protests, the 2020 election and now, Covid-19. In the first post on the pandemic, the lynchpin of the theory, “Q”, pushed a conspiracy with racial undertones about how Covid-19 was a “Chinese bioweapon”. The virus was a joint venture between China and the Democrats to stop Trump’s re-election. Other QAnon conspiracies include the “empty hospital” conspiracy, downplaying the pandemic’s severity whilst claiming that death tolls are exaggerated.

Of course, this is not the first time disease-based conspiracy theories have caught on like wildfire. The 1918 influenza pandemic led to a host of theories about the source of the “Spanish flu”. In the US and the UK, it was believed the pandemic was linked to the use of aspirin produced by a German pharmaceutical company. In Brazil, people thought the virus was spread by German submarines.

So, why is it that theories seem to flourish in times of crisis and who is most susceptible?

“Conspiracy theories appeal to people under crisis-like conditions. When there is so much information for people to process, it is easy to find conspiracy theories which offer simple answers, e.g. ‘it’s a hoax, and it’s not happening’.” says Karen Douglas, a professor of Social Psychology at the University of Kent who has a particular interest in the psychology of conspiracy theories. She believes they are most appealing when two critical psychological needs are unsatisfied:

“The first of these needs can be classified as epistemic – people are looking for answers in uncertain circumstances, and conspiracy theories may seem to offer some clarity. The other need is existential – feeling safe and secure in the world and wanting to maintain a positive view of the self and the groups we belong to.”

Yet, in Miami, Professor  Joseph Uscinski, a political scientist and author of books on conspiracy theories, refutes the idea that times of uncertainty provide a breeding ground for conspiracies:

“Having been polling on coronavirus-related conspiracies for the past 11 months, belief in the theories hasn’t changed, only the conditions have. The people who were anti-vaccine a year ago are still anti-vaccine. The people how were anti-technology, are still anti-technology. Neither group liked vaccines or 5G before the pandemic; coronavirus gave them a new reason to amplify their hate even more. It’s the same theories – different nouns.”

Uscinski suggets that people are predisposed to believing in conspiracies and that there aren’t “new” conspiracists, per se, but “new” reasons or conditions to link several events (coronavirus and 5G) and to spin them into a “viable” theory:

“People seek out what they want to find, the beliefs are the products of people’s previous dispositions – just like you have people who tend to be right or left, people tend to conspiracy theorising. Perhaps stress and anxiety can exacerbate that a little, but it’s hardly like Grandma slipped onto a banana and fell into 8chan [a far-right online forum].”

Irrespective of the extent to which conspiracies have seen an upsurge, the simple fact remains; the pandemic has acted as a galvanising force for conspiracy theorists, whose findings pose a risk to truth and public health:

“Conspiracy theories have been linked to terrorism, violence, prejudice and crime,” says Prof Douglas. “They have been associated with political disengagement, climate denial and vaccine hesitancy. They can have a serious negative impact on society and people’s lives.”

It’s no surprise that conspiracies lead to vaccine hesitancy; one need look no further than France to see how the anti-vax movement is hampering progress. A controversial film was released in November called Hold Up which peddled theories about 5G and eugenics, and governments and pharmaceutical companies using the pandemic to control citizen. The film racked up millions of views and reignited fears about mass vaccine scepticism in a country where suspicion of inoculation is already rife. “We could laugh about it if the situation was not so serious,” said Laetitia Avia, a member of Emmanuel Macron’s En Marche party.

So, how should we speak to someone who believes in Covid-19 misinformation and who could pose a health risk as a result? Is there a safe way to persuade them away from their line of thinking?

“It would not be constructive to be hostile or behave in a way that ridicules them and may alienate them further. It is a challenge talking to conspiracy believers as they have often done their homework and know a lot more about the theory than other people do,” says Prof Douglas.

“Although it is difficult to sway someone who strongly believes in a theory, it is a useful strategy to appeal to the value of critical thinking. One could appeal to this value and critically think about their information – where did this come from? Who said it? Is it a credible source? This could then uncover flaws in the theory, and you could challenge them in this way.”

Conspiratorial thinking in a pandemic is a public health risk in and of itself. If people believe that Covid-19 is a hoax, it gives them justification – as they see it – to refuse to abide by restrictions. The pandemic has already claimed over two million people worldwide and dangerous conspiracist narratives will only cause the tally to rise more quickly. To fight the spread of untruths, it is imperative to encourage critical thinking. You may face accusations of being a part-reptilian, part-satanic, part-Illuminati overlord but if that’s what it takes to vaccinate the world against the misinformation pandemic, it seems a small price to pay.