On May 14, an 18-year old white man drove across New York state to a largely Black neighborhood, where he shot and killed 10 Black people at a grocery store. According to documents and messages the suspected shooter left behind, he had become radicalized into believing white supremacist conspiracy theories, and premeditated a racist attack.
A conspiracy theory is a belief that a covert effort, like a secret plan or an influential group, is responsible for a particular event or circumstance, rejecting established and accepted narratives. As I wrote about in my book, True or False: A CIA Analyst's Guide to Spotting Fake News, conspiracy theories have existed throughout history, and have been used to justify violence against people from historically marginalized groups, such as people of color, Jewish people, and immigrants. Despite their existence across time, and while research suggests that belief in these ideas spikes during times of turmoil (like a global pandemic, there's another factor at play that's influenced current belief in conspiracy theories: In recent years, politicians, public figures, and growing online conspiracy communities around the world, such as QAnon, have made the belief in harmful conspiracies more mainstream.
Indeed, we are being inundated with conspiracy theories like never before on social media platforms, like TikTok and Snapchat; streaming platforms, like Twitch; and on communication platforms, like Discord. For example, TikTok videos...
Why Is World Liberty’s Dolomite Borrowing Under Scrutiny? World Liberty Financial co-founder Zak Folkman defended the project’s roughly $75 million borrowing position on Dolomite Markets, saying t...