Social Media Conspiracy Theories
by Len Geller –
In view of the fake news epidemic on social media and the larger debate surrounding fake news in our democratic society, it is important that citizens protect themselves against this corrosive influence. Since we live in an open society with free speech protection, citizens cannot rely on the government or social media to restrict and censor fake news. Instead we must follow the dictum “caveat emptor” and rely on our own critical thinking skills for protection.
Social media conspiracy theories have become one of the most influential and dangerous forms of fake news, and we need to know how to combat them. Please keep in mind that not all conspiracy theories are fake news. The Watergate break-in, the Iran-Contra scandal, the 9-11 attacks, and Russian attempts to destabilize and influence the 2016 election involved real conspiracies that were uncovered and documented. Since some conspiracy theories may be true or have some kernel of truth, they cannot be dismissed out of hand; however, when it comes to conspiracy theories on social media and the rest of the internet, most if not all are fake news with a clear political ax to grind. In what follows we will look at two debunked high-profile conspiracy theories that have received a lot of traction on the internet and social media. Since these cases bring into stark relief the lack of any critical thinking, they will help us understand how to combat this kind of fake news in the future.
PizzaGate Conspiracy
The PizzaGate conspiracy began in late October and early November of 2016, just days before the election, when 4chan trolls were looking for dirt in the Russian-hacked emails of Hillary Clinton and John Podesta, her campaign manager. Finding some references to Comet Ping Pong, a pizza shop that had been used occasionally for Democratic National Committee (DNC) fundraising and whose owner James Alefantis had prominent Democratic friends, the trolls noticed the mention of “cheese pizza” in several of Podesta’s emails that sent alarm bells ringing. Since “cheese pizza” was a code phrase for child pornography on 4chan, the trolls concluded that Podesta, Clinton, and Alefantis were major players in a clandestine pedophile ring operating out of the basement of Comet Ping Pong. Once the conspiracy theory got a foothold on 4chan, it spread quickly to Reddit and then began trending on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
As the theory went viral on social media and the internet, Alex Jones, the alt-right guru of conspiracy theories, lent his support to PizzaGate on InfoWars by suggesting that since it may be true, readers ought to investigate for themselves, never imagining that someone might take this suggestion literally. But that’s exactly what Edgar Welch did on December 4, 2016. Driving 350 miles from his home in North Carolina to see for himself if the pedophile ring allegations were true, and if they were, to rescue any children involved, Welch, the father of two and with no criminal history, burst into Comet Ping Pong and started shooting up the place with an AR-15 assault rifle. When he didn’t find any children or pedophile ring, he surrendered to police, not realizing that PizzaGate was a hoax. Even though no one was shot or injured, Welch pleaded guilty to two weapons charges and was sentenced to a four-year prison sentence and three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to reimburse Comet Ping Pong $5,744 for the property damage.
Before the advent of the Internet and social media, conspiracy theories did not gain much traction in the U.S. because they were confined to very small media outlets on the far-right and far-left and never reached many people. But with the arrival of the internet and social media, those restrictions have vanished, and conspiracy theories now emerge in much greater numbers, spread and evolve faster, and reach far more people and gather far more followers than ever before.
This is what happened with PizzaGate, and what needs to be explained is why, despite its bizarre and fantastic claims, the conspiracy gained such traction and influence on social media and the rest of the internet. There are a number of factors that probably played a role in its viral spread. One is certainly the widespread distrust and dislike of establishment politicians like Hillary Clinton, especially in light of her private email scandal. Another is the shocking revelations over the last twenty years concerning the widespread sexual abuse of children by the Catholic Church and other institutions like the Boy Scouts. If a trusted authority like a priest or scout leader can be a clandestine pedophile, then so can Hillary Clinton whose public reputation is far less sacrosanct. Another factor is the herd instinct or the phenomenon of groupthink: the strong human tendency to conform to the beliefs of your peer group, or in this case, to accept your online community’s version of truth.
There may be other psychological factors involved as well. One of the appeals of conspiracy theories, apart from any political consideration, is that it attracts individuals who see themselves as rebels and heroes fighting for truth and justice against a corrupt and evil establishment. Another psychological appeal of such theories is that they make a person feel special and increase his or her self-worth by being part of something important that is known only to a select few. The last and possibly most important factor is an obvious political one: a strong desire by the far-right to discredit Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party and bring white nationalism to power. Many on the far-right who supported and spread the theory did so not out of a concern for the truth but to further their political agenda. This is not to say that there was a far-right conspiracy to discredit Hillary Clinton. All you need for a meme to spread on the internet and social media is a virtual community of hundreds if not thousands of anonymous individuals with similar values, psychological makeup, and political leanings who have little to lose and much to gain in spreading the theory.
Seth Rich Murder Conspiracy
Another equally vile conspiracy theory directed against Hillary Clinton involved the murder of Seth Rich in Washington D.C. on July 10. 2016. Rich, a staff member of the DNC, was walking home late at night after spending the evening at a local sports pub when he was accosted by an assailant who shot and killed him when he apparently resisted the attack. The police concluded that it was likely an attempted robbery gone bad, since there had been seven documented armed robberies in the same neighborhood in the prior six weeks. Several days after the killing, an article appeared on the website whatdoesitmean.com, whose source was “Russian intelligence,” alleging that Seth Rich was murdered by a contract killer hired by Hillary Clinton because he was about to talk to the FBI about corruption involving Hillary Clinton. Like PizzaGate, the Seth Rich Conspiracy Theory (SRCT) started in the shadows of the internet and moved quickly to far-right virtual communities on 4chat and 8chat, then to far-right websites liked Breitbart and InfoWars, and finally to the more mainstream but conservative Fox News where it was embellished further by reports created and fueled by Russian trolls that Seth Rich was responsible for leaking the DNC emails to Wikileaks and had been in email contact with WikiLeaks just the day before he was murdered. Sean Hannity and others at Fox News took this to mean that Seth Rich was probably murdered because of these leaked emails. In one of his broadcasts, Hannity accused Hillary Clinton and her co-conspirators of a systematic cover-up, calling it “the single biggest fraud, lies, perpetrated on the American people by the media and the Democrats in our history.”
The real purpose of these new revelations was not to disclose the truth but to absolve the Russians of any interference in our election. The argument was simple: If the plundered DNC emails were really the work of Seth Rich and not the Russians, then the Russians did not interfere in the 2016 election, and the repeated statements by Putin and Trump denying such interference were true. But there was one problem: none of this speculation was true. Not only was there no evidence showing that Seth Rich leaked DNC emails to WikiLeaks or emailed WikiLeaks just prior to his death, but there was overwhelming evidence gathered by the FBI and intelligence community that Russian hackers were responsible for the stolen emails. Strictly speaking, the DNC emails were hacked not leaked. Within days of these reports about leaked emails and Rich’s alleged contact with WikiLeaks, Fox News retracted both stories and removed them from their website, admitting that it had not done an adequate job in identifying and confirming the source of its information. For an item by item refutation and debunking of the SRCT, the reader should go to RationalWiki.org., a site committed to critical thinking and the pursuit of truth.
In July of this year, Michael Isikoff, an investigative reporter for Yahoo News, dropped a bombshell on the SRCT investigation by providing compelling evidence that Russia was both the source of the conspiracy and a major actor in championing the theory on social media well beyond the 2016 election. On the same day that the alleged conspiracy appeared on whatdoesitmean.com, Russia’s foreign intelligence service (SVR) had circulated the conspiracy in a phony intelligence report. The timing was not a coincidence. Once whatdoesitmean.com got hold of it from Russian intelligence, the theory acquired an internet foothold, and rest is history.
Isikoff’s report shows that Russia used the SRCT as a weapon not only in its 2016 disinformation operation to influence the presidential election against Hillary Clinton and in favor of Donald Trump, but in 2017 and beyond to vindicate itself from the charge of election interference. According to Isikoff, the SRCT was broadcast repeatedly on Russian government-owned radio and TV stations (like RT), while the Internet Research Agency, the Russian troll farm responsible for attacking social media during the 2016 election, tweeted about Seth Rich more than 2,000 times on Twitter. Not only was the SRCT being pushed by both alt-right and Russian trolls, but the American supporters of the conspiracy had been duped and used by Russian intelligence. The irony is obvious. When it came to a real conspiracy, the conspiracy-mongers and their supporters on the far-right were unable or unwilling to see one right in front of their eyes. For more details on Russian involvement in the SRCT, please go to news@yahoo.com and Google “Seth Rich conspiracy theory.”
Strategies for recognizing potential Conspiracy Theories
We have focused on these two conspiracy theories not because they were directed at Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party, but because they give us valuable insights into how fake news of this kind originates and spreads online. As critical thinkers, how can we recognize and avoid believing in fake news?
Before critically examining any particular conspiracy theory, we should always assume that the burden of proof is on the supporters and not the doubters of the theory. The default position should always be one of skepticism until proven otherwise. The reason for this is obvious. Since most conspiracy theories contradict the apparent or official version of events and turn out to be false, the onus is always on the defenders of a particular theory to provide compelling or at least reasonable evidence to overcome this initial skepticism.
In assessing the theory, we should always ask the following questions and be on guard for certain red flags that should only deepen our skepticism. The first question is: What is the source of the conspiracy theory? If the source is Russia or any other hostile foreign power, or any website or online community with strong political and ideological leanings and a political ax to grind, then it is almost certain that the alleged conspiracy is fabricated and untrue. Another red flag concerns the content of the theory. If the alleged conspiracy has a clear political bias, especially if it attacks a political figure or group, this is a clear warning that it is probably a hit job and fake news. Both PizzaGate and the SRCT are prime examples of this kind of political weaponizing. We need to constantly remind ourselves that the creators and purveyors of most online conspiracies are concerned not with truth but with power and influence.
The third question to ask is really the most important: what is the evidence for the theory? Most conspiracy theories begin not with hard evidence or a smoking gun but with circumstantial evidence that has probably been cherry-picked. Of course, a false theory will never provide that smoking gun. And this is where it becomes messy and difficult. How should we assess the circumstantial evidence? Again, there are certain red flags to look for. One of the major strategies of conspiracy theorists is to try and punch holes in the official version of events. Supporters of the SRCT used the fact that nothing was stolen from the victim in an armed robbery gone bad to cast doubt on the police version, failing to mention that it is not uncommon for a perp to panic and flee prematurely when an armed robbery goes bad. Similar strategies have been used in high-profile conspiracy theories involving the JFK assassination in 1963 and the 9-11 attacks in 2001. When such a strategy is employed, we need to ask two questions. First, is there a problem with the official version of events? And if there is, can the anomaly be explained by factors other than a secret conspiracy? What we will usually find is that the anomaly can be explained without resorting to a fantasy-prone conspiracy theory. If it can’t be explained, leaping to a conspiracy explanation based on one or two anomalous events is simply not warranted when weighed against the preponderance of evidence supporting the official theory.
Another common strategy used by conspiracy theorists is to allege that the conspirators are using code words or phrases or real-world hints and clues to communicate with one another. This is a huge red flag because the alleged code words and clues are always open to multiple interpretations and can never be confirmed or disconfirmed. Again, PizzaGate is a prime example. Another example is the far-right pro-Trump conspiracy theory known as QAnon, but with an unusual twist. In QAnon the alleged code words, hints, and leads come not from the conspirators but from an anonymous “leaker” named “QAnon,” allegedly someone inside the government with a national security clearance, who is trying to expose the efforts of the Trump administration to “clean the swamp” and root out the “deep state.” As QAnon’s posts have moved from specific leaks, claims, and predictions, many of which have been falsified and none of which have been verified, to vague hints and esoteric clues that allow more room for interpretation and speculation, QAnon’s followers and virtual communities have expanded the conspiracy theory to once again include Hillary Clinton and the Democratic party as part of a world-wide pedophilia ring. PizzaGate just won’t go away. For more information on the different and evolving versions of this conspiracy theory, please check out QAnon on Wikipedia.org and RationalWiki.org.
Another huge red flag surrounding conspiracy theories is why, if so many people are involved in the conspiracy and cover-up, no one has come forward as an anonymous leaker, and why the mainstream media with its many resources for investigative reporting has not been able to expose the conspiracy. A common reply from conspiracy supporters, especially alt-right believers in the “deep state,” is that the reason the mainstream media has not exposed the conspiracy is because they are part of it. By expanding the conspiracy to include the mainstream media, this paranoid view adds even more unsubstantiated and false claims to those at the core of the theory, making it even more implausible.
In the months leading up to the 2020 election, it is a sure bet that far-right and Russian trolls and websites will be pushing QAnon and other conspiracy theories in an effort to demonize the Democratic Party and its nominee and ensure that Trump is re-elected. In fact, they’ve already started with Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide. It will be our job to resist their influence, and if your common sense and this article aren’t enough to persuade you that these theories are not just false but deranged, then please check out the following websites committed to critical thinking and the debunking of false conspiracy theories: RationalWiki.org, Salon.com, Snopes.com, Politifact.com, Quackwatch.org, and Skeptoid.com.
I leave you with the following questions: Who thinks that conspiracy theories are basically harmless? Who thinks that the Russians didn’t interfere in our 2016 elections and will not try to do the same in 2020? Who thinks that the “deep state” conspiracy pushed by Trump and his alt-right supporters is true? Who thinks that the mainstream media is part of this conspiracy and a constant purveyor of fake news?
It ain’t me.