ONLINE CONSPIRACY THEORIES, UNRAVELED

摘要

CONSPIRACY THEORIES ARE an accident of human neurobiol-ogy: The same pattern-matching prowess that allows you to spot a snake lurking in the leaf litter can misfire and create meaning in randomness-a phenomenon called apophenia. Dubious (and sometimes dangerous) theories have flourished online, where the culture revolves around late-night rabbit holes and citizen sleuthing, the distinction between conviction and parody is blurred, and bots can amplify a malcontent's whisper into a global roar. And as it's become easier to manipulate video and images, the digital landscape has gotten even loopier. Using message boards, bots, and deepfake videos, conspiracy theorists are spinning their tangled webs of red string wider than ever before.