PROVISION, RI (AP) – Daniel Roberts had not had a vaccination since he was six. No boosters, no tetanus injections. His parents taught him that vaccinations were dangerous, and when the coronavirus arrived, they called it a hoax. The vaccine, they said, was the real threat.
So when the 29-year-old Tennessee man got his COVID-19 shot at his local Walmart last month, it felt like an achievement. A break with his past.
“Five hundred thousand people died in this country. That’s not a hoax, ”said Roberts, speaking of the conspiracy theories being embraced by family and friends. ‘I don’t know why I didn’t believe it all myself. I think I chose to believe the facts. “
As the world struggles to break the grip of COVID-19, psychologists and disinformation experts are investigating why the pandemic has spawned so many conspiracy theories that have led people to shun masks, social distance and vaccines.
They see links between beliefs in COVID-19 falsehoods and dependence on social media as a source of news and information.
And they conclude that COVID-19 conspiracy theories persist by giving a false sense of empowerment. By making hidden or secret statements, they give the believer a sense of control in a situation that otherwise seems arbitrary or frightening.
The findings have implications not only for the response to a pandemic, but also for the next “ infodemic, ” a term used to describe the crisis of misinformation about COVID-19.
“We need to learn from what happened to make sure we can prevent it next time,” said former US surgeon general Richard Carmona, who served in the George W. Bush administration. Masks become a symbol of your political party. People say vaccines are useless. The average person is confused: who do I believe? “
According to a Pew Research Center, about 1 in 4 Americans said they believe the pandemic “definitely” or “probably” was deliberate. June survey. Other conspiracy theories focus on economic restrictions and vaccine safety. These baseless claims are increasingly causing real problems.
In January, anti-vaccine activists forced a vaccination clinic at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles to close for a dayDozens of cell towers burned down in Europe because of bizarre claims that 5G wireless signals caused the infection. Elsewhere, a pharmacist destroyed vaccine doses, medical workers were attacked and hundreds died after consuming toxins touted as remedies – all because of COVID-19 falsehoods.
The most popular conspiracy theories often help people explain complicated, tumultuous events, when the truth may be too troubling to accept, said Helen Lee Bouygues, founder and president of the Paris-based Reboot Foundation, which researches and advances critical thinking on the Internet . age.
Such theories often emerge after important or frightening moments in history: the moon landing, the September 11 attacks or the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, when many found it difficult to accept that a lonely, deranged gunman could kill the president. Major conspiracies involving the CIA, the Mafia, or others are easier to digest.
“People need big explanations for big problems, for big world events,” said John Cook, a cognitive scientist and conspiracy theory expert at Monash University in Australia. “Random explanations – like bats or wet markets – are just psychologically unsatisfactory.”
This drive is so strong, Cook said, that people often believe conflicting conspiracy theories. Roberts said his parents, for example, initially thought COVID-19 was linked to cell towers, before deciding the virus was actually a hoax. The only statements that didn’t entertain them, he said, were those from medical experts.
Distrust of science, institutions and traditional news sources are strongly associated with stronger beliefs in conspiracy theories, as well as support for pseudoscience
Trust in US institutions has been further eroded by false statements from leaders like President Donald Trump, who repeatedly downplayed the threat of the virus, suggested bleach as a treatment, and undermined the own experts of his administration.
An analysis Cornell University has determined that Trump is the biggest driver of false claims about the coronavirus. Studies also show conservatives are more likely to believe conspiracy theories or share misinformation about COVID-19
Carmona said he recently addressed a group of executives about the coronavirus when a man stated that the pandemic was caused by the Chinese government and Democrats to damage Trump’s reelection bid.
“When people start believing their own facts and rejecting everything the other side says, we’re really in trouble,” he said.
A shared mistrust of US institutions has helped unite several groups behind the banner of COVID-19 conspiracy theories. These include far-right groups angry about lockdowns and mask mandates, anti-vaccine activists and supporters from QAnon, who believe Trump is waging a secret war against a powerful cabal of satanic cannibals.
In addition to gaining insight into COVID-19 conspiracy theories, researchers are looking for possible solutions to the broader problem of online disinformation. They include stronger efforts from social media companies and new regulations.
Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms have long been criticized for allowing misinformation to flourish. They have reacted more aggressively about COVID-19 misinformation, suggesting the platforms could do more to curb misinformation on other topics, such as climate change, Cook said.
“It shows that it is a matter of will and not technical innovation,” said Cook.
It may be more challenging to address our species’ appeal to conspiracy theories. Teaching critical thinking and media literacy in schools is essential, experts said, as the Internet will only grow as a source of news.
In recent years an idea called inoculation theory has gained prominence. It is about the use of online games or tutorials to train people to think more critically about information.
An example: researchers at Cambridge University have the online game Go Viral!, which teaches players by letting them create their own deceptive content.
Studies show the games increase resistance to online misinformation, but as with many vaccines, the effects are temporary, leading researchers to wonder, as Cook said, “How do you give them the booster shot?”
One day these games could be posted as advertisements for online videos, or promoted with prizes, as a way to regularly vaccinate the public against misinformation.
“The real solution is education,” said Bouygues. “COVID has shown us how dangerous misinformation and conspiracy theories can be, and that we still have a lot of work to do.”