At least half of Australians and New Zealanders in a recent study believed in one major conspiracy theory.
QAnon demonstrators protest during a rally to reopen California and against stay-at-home directives on May 1, 2020, in San Diego.
Photo by Sandy Huffaker/AFP via Getty Images
The followers of QAnon gained national notoriety for their support of former President Donald Trump. But QAnon members are influencing the GOP at the state and local levels, too.
Many of those arrested in the U.S. Capitol siege on Jan. 6, 2021, were QAnon believers.
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A professor of religious studies argues that describing QAnon followers as brainwashed overlooks their role in accepting and spreading potentially dangerous beliefs.
It’s not clear exactly how many people believe or follow QAnon.
AP Photo/Matt Rourke
Long overlooked in the West, the Byzantine Empire has recently picked up interest among far-right and conspiracist circles. A historian of medieval culture explains what white supremacists get wrong.
The big question looming over QAnon: What happens after March 4?
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Donald Trump didn’t make a triumphant return on Jan. 20 and is unlikely to on March 4. How a 19th-century religion dealt with a similar disappointment may give clues on how QAnon supporters may react.
Google, Facebook, TikTok and Twitter have all agreed to a voluntary code of conduct targeting misinformation. But the only real commitment is to appear as though they’re taking action.
A woman places painted rocks at a memorial to those killed in the 2018 Parkland, Florida, school shooting.
AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee
When many people believe the government is trying to take away their guns, events that make guns look bad can be misinterpreted as part of that nonexistent plan.
People who believe aliens have visited Earth are less likely to trust the 2020 election results.
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Americans who believe aliens have visited Earth are more likely than disbelievers to say that Joe Biden is not the legitimate winner of the 2020 presidential election.
A replica of Noah’s Ark from the biblical tale at the Ark Encounter theme park in Kentucky.
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An inevitable part of the internet age, some conspiracy theories appear and then fade, but in the US particularly, creationism seems firmly embedded in religion, education and pseudoscience.
Theories that antibodies affect the placenta are completely unfounded.
Influencers and women without huge numbers of followers are more effective than others at debunking conspiracy theories on Chinese social media.
AP Photo/Ng Han Guan
The type and amount of misinformation closely tracks tensions in US-China relations. Effectively countering the misinformation comes down to who does the debunking.
Far-right groups like the Proud Boys, seen here marching in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 12, are increasingly organizing their activities on messaging services like Telegram.
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Prominent ‘danger’ signs are needed online to warn people about misinformation.
Protesters who claimed to be members of the far-right Proud Boys gather with other Trump supporters outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
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Millions of supporters of Donald Trump flocked to the far-right social media platform, where hate speech and calls for violence thrive. The US Capitol insurrection could be the platform’s undoing.