Conspiracy theories in digital environments: Moving the research field forward

Abstract

In the past few years, the discussion of conspiracy theories has embroiled researchers, politicians and the public alike. During the COVID-19 pandemic in particular, the term ‘conspiracy theory’ became a buzzword in the news media, public communication and everyday discussions. The pandemic also demonstrated that conspiratorial narratives disseminated online are not benign, obscure and eventually harmless ideas, but can mislead policy making, hinder crisis relief and public health efforts, or undermine trust in institutions and science. Factors contributing to the prevalence of conspiracy theories are complex and include psychological as well as socio-political factors. This special issue focuses specifically on the role of digital media and how they shape the dissemination and mitigation of, as well as research on, conspiracy theories. The special issue includes 13 research articles by authors from 11 countries and regions, which provide timely insights into the phenomenon of conspiracy theories with cross-cultural and cross-platform advances.

Teorías de la conspiración y crisis globales: retos para la teoría sociológica

“…El locus natural de las TdC son los entornos online donde falsedades, medias verdades, bulos y fake news prosperan sin control (Molina et al, 2021). Estos autores ponen el foco en cómo las narrativas conspirativas se transmiten en Internet y en el papel de los medios digitales en su difusión (Schwaiger et al, 2022;Zeng et al, 2022). Siguiendo esta idea, la creencia en que las TdC han prevalecido a lo largo de la historia de la humanidad topan con la visibilidad, ubicuidad y popularidad de la que gozan ahora.…”

Communicating for Sustainability in the Digital Age: Toward a New Paradigm of Literacy

“…This fact fuels a complex array of interrelated social problems that, at minimum, include the proliferation of misinformation [21], fake news [22], conspiracy theories [23], affective polarization [24], political tribalism [25], cultural fragmentation [26], authoritarianism [27], social alienation [28], cyberbullying [29], interpersonal incompetence [30], malignant narcissism [31], and varying psychological problems ranging from loneliness and depression to anxiety and compulsiveness [32,33]. All these concerns potentially impede efforts to solve larger social problems.…”

“…It arises as a consequence of two closely related features: computing efficiency and the elimination of "information float", the time a message is in transit [81] (pp. [22][23]. The history of digital technologies is really the history of the microprocessor, which performs the mathematical calculations that allow computers to work.…”

“…It is the logic of the "link", which according to Dennis Cali, alters how people think about and process information [86] (p. 397). While associational reasoning helps us to navigate the sea of information that defines our digital environment, it also fuels the spread of conspiracy theories [23].…”

Recommending instead of taking down: YouTube hyperpartisan content promotion amid the Brazilian general elections

“…YouTube's content monetization and possible demonetization are based on an ad‐revenue‐sharing arrangement with video creators funded through programmatic advertising (Caplan & Gillespie, 2020). YouTube has claimed a commitment to demonetizing conspiracy theory‐related videos, but some creators have managed to stay in the platform's system and still receive ad revenue (Zeng et al, 2022). Despite their ability to shape the overall online environment and to clearly benefit economically from this socio‐technological arrangement, tech companies are commonly seen as neutral and open, instead of private and profit‐driven, building upon the lack of transparency and regulation (Gillespie, 2018).…”