Conspiracy Theories and the Manufacture of Dissent: QAnon, the ‘Big Lie’, Covid-19, and the Rise of Rightwing Propaganda

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of partisanship, rightwing media, and social media on attitudes about contemporary conspiracy theories. Mainstream scholarly views that ‘both sides’ of the political aisle indulge routinely in such theories are challenged. I adopt a Gramscian hegemonic framework that examines rising rightwing conspiracy theories as a manifestation of mass false consciousness in service of a political-economic system that serves upper-class interests. Issues examined include the QAnon movement, ‘big lie’ voter fraud conspiracism, and Covid-19 conspiracy theories, and the way they related to partisanship, rightwing media, and social media. I provide evidence that Republican partisanship, rightwing media consumption, and social media consumption are all significant statistical predictors of acceptance of modern conspiracy theories.

How Anti-Social Personality Traits and Anti-Establishment Views Promote Beliefs in Election Fraud, QAnon, and COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories and Misinformation

“…Our dependent variables include beliefs in CTM regarding COVID-19, QAnon, and voter fraud, each of which have received considerable attention from scholars (e.g., Arceneaux & Truex, 2022; Armaly et al, 2022; Berlinski et al, 2021; DiMaggio, 2022; Pennycook & Rand, 2021). In Table 1 we display the percentage of American adults who either “agree” or “strongly agree” with 17 CTM items across four categories (COVID-19 misinformation beliefs; and COVID-19, QAnon, and voter fraud conspiracy theory beliefs).…”

“…We argue that political behavior research, in its focus on mainstream political elites (Zaller, 1992), mainstream parties and ideologies (Campbell et al, 1960;Converse, 1964), and the differences between those parties that promote (or are promoted by) sorting and polarization (Mason, 2018), cannot fully account for the aforementioned beliefs in CTM. To be sure, traditional left-right political orientations play a role in fomenting tensions and activating non-normative beliefs (DiMaggio, 2022) and tendencies (Kalmoe & Mason, 2022).…”

“…We argue that political behavior research, in its focus on mainstream political elites (Zaller, 1992), mainstream parties and ideologies (Campbell et al, 1960; Converse, 1964), and the differences between those parties that promote (or are promoted by) sorting and polarization (Mason, 2018), cannot fully account for the aforementioned beliefs in CTM. To be sure, traditional left-right political orientations play a role in fomenting tensions and activating non-normative beliefs (DiMaggio, 2022) and tendencies (Kalmoe & Mason, 2022). Likewise, partisan motivated reasoning (Miller et al, 2016; Pasek et al, 2014) and partisan elite cueing (Merkley & Stecula, 2018; Uscinski et al, 2020) are both key mechanisms by which some individuals come to believe in CTM––neither of which is new to our understanding of mass opinion, and both of which are driven by parties.…”

FALSE: Fake News Automatic and Lightweight Solution

“…We saw that in the "alt-right" and the "QAnon" cult like mentality where people are fed falsehood and caught in a vicious feedback loop of misinformation, making false information indistinguishable from truth. This was evident during the current Covid-19 pandemic and vaccines misinformation campaigns [11].…”

“I Would Give Anything to Talk about Aliens Now”: QAnon Conspiracy Theories and the Creation of Cognitive Deviance

“…There is evidence to suggest that the theory has radicalized people more swiftly than other conspiracy theories (Garry et al 2021). Although several recent studies attempt to explain the attraction and spread of QAnon and conspiracy theories more generally (Conner and MacMurray 2021; DiMaggio 2022; Morelock and Narita 2022), there is more that can be uncovered.…”