PROVIDENCE, RI (AP) – Daniel Roberts had not been vaccinated since he was 6 years old. No boosters, no tetanus shots. His parents taught him that vaccinations are 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 was shot COVID-19 at Walmart last month, it felt like an achievement. A break with his past.
“Five hundred thousand people have died in this country. It’s not a hoax, “said Roberts, talking about conspiracy theories embraced by family and friends. “I do not know why I did not believe everything. I think I chose to believe the facts. ”
As the world struggles to break the grip of COVID-19, psychologists and misinformation experts are studying why the pandemic gave rise to so many conspiracy theories that have led people to avoid masks, social distancing and vaccines.
They see links between false beliefs in COVID-19 and dependence on social media as a source of news and information.
And he concludes that the COVID-19 conspiracy theories persist by providing a false sense of empowerment. By offering hidden or secret explanations, it gives the believer a sense of control in a situation that would otherwise seem accidental or frightening.
The findings have implications not only for the pandemic response, but also for the next “infodemic”, a term used to describe the COVID-19 disinformation crisis.
“We need to learn from what happened to make sure we can prevent it from happening 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. An ordinary person is confused: who do I believe? ”
About 1 in 4 Americans say they believe the pandemic was “definitely” or “probably” intentionally created, according to a Pew research center. June poll. Other conspiracy theories focus on economic restrictions and vaccine safety. Increasingly, these unfounded claims are causing real-world problems.
In January, anti-vaccine activists forced a vaccination clinic at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles to close for a day. Dozens of cell towers have burned down in Europe due to bizarre claims that 5G wireless signals triggered the infection. Elsewhere, a pharmacist destroyed the vaccine doses, medical workers were attacked and hundreds died after the consumption of toxins sustained as remedies – all because of the falsities COVID-19.
The most popular conspiracy theories often help people explain complicated, tumultuous events when the truth may be too disturbing to accept, according to Helen Lee Bouygues, founder and president of the Reboot Foundation in Paris, which researches and promotes critical thinking on Internet. age.
Such theories often appear after significant or frightening moments in history: the landing of the month, the 9/11 attacks, or the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, when many found it difficult to accept that a lone, disturbed gunman could kill president. Extensive conspiracies involving the CIA, mafia or others are easier to digest.
“People need great explanations for big problems, for big events in the world,” said John Cook, a cognitive scientist and expert in conspiracy theory at Monash University in Australia. “Random explanations – such as bats or wet markets – are only psychologically unsatisfactory.”
This action is so powerful, Cook said, that people often believe contradictory conspiracy theories. Roberts said his parents, for example, initially believed that COVID-19 was linked to cell towers, before deciding that the virus was actually a hoax. The only explanations they didn’t have fun with, he said, were those from medical experts.
Distrust of science, traditional institutions and news sources are strongly associated with stronger beliefs in conspiracy theories, as well as support for pseudoscience.
Confidence in American institutions has been further eroded by the false statements of leaders such as President Donald Trump, who have repeatedly downplayed virus threat, suggested bleaching as a treatment and undermined experts of his administration.
An analysis by researchers at Cornell University, Trump determined Trump to be the biggest driver of claims about the fake coronavirus. Studies also show that conservatives are more likely to believe conspiracy theories or to share the misinformation of COVID-19.
Carmona said she was recently addressing a group of executives on the coronavirus when a man said the pandemic was created by the Chinese government and Democrats to hurt Trump’s re-election bid.
“When people start believing their own deeds and rejecting what the other party says, we have real problems,” he said.
A common distrust of American institutions has contributed to the unification of several groups behind the flag of COVID-19 conspiracy theories. These include far-right groups bothered by blockades and mask warrants, anti-vaccine activists and adherents. from QAnon, who believe Trump is waging a secret war against a powerful cabal of satanic cannibals.
In addition to obtaining information about COVID-19 conspiracy theories, researchers are finding possible solutions to the broader problem of online misinformation. These include stronger efforts by social media companies and new regulations.
Facebook, Twitter and other platforms have long been criticized for allowing misinformation to flourish. They acted more aggressively about misinforming COVID-19, suggesting that the platforms could do more to limit misinformation about other topics, such as climate change, Cook said.
“It looks like it’s a matter of will and not a matter of technical innovation,” Cook said.
Approaching the attraction of our species to conspiracy theories may be more difficult. Teaching critical thinking and media literacy in schools is essential, experts said, because the Internet will only grow as a source of news.
In recent years, an idea called the theory of inoculation gained prominence. It involves the use of online games or tutorials to train people to think more critically about information.
An example: Cambridge University researchers created the online game Go Viral!, which teaches players to create their own deceptive content.
Studies show that games increase resistance to online misinformation, but like many vaccines, the effects are temporary, prompting researchers to ask, as Cook said, “How do you give them an incentive?”
One day, these games could be placed as commercials before online videos or promoted with prizes, as a way to regularly vaccinate the public against misinformation.
“The real remedy is education,” Bouygues said. “COVID has shown us how dangerous theories of misinformation and conspiracy can be and that we have a lot of work to do.”