Key Concepts
What global event caused fear and uncertainty leading to conspiracy theories?
COVID-19
What technology is commonly linked to COVID-19 conspiracy theories in the article?
5G
Which group believed COVID-19 was a sign of the End Times?
evangelicals
What is a crisis that signals major change or a new world order called?
apocalypse
In the article, conspiracists believed that vaccines contained what?
microchips
Which political group viewed COVID-19 as a globalist or communist plot?
the far-right
What belief involves a new world order after a crisis?
millennialism
Many COVID conspiracies thrived because people distrusted these groups, who were seen as controlling public health measures.
government/authorities
Which group saw the pandemic as an opportunity for social or economic change?
the radical left
What term describes distrust of official explanations and the spread of conspiracies like a virus?
contagious conspiracism
According to the article, these two European countries adapted global COVID conspiracy theories to fit their local political and cultural contexts.
the UK and Germany
According to right-wing conspiracies, this international organization was often blamed for creating or exploiting COVID-19 to push globalism.
What allowed COVID conspiracies to reach global audiences quickly?
no geographic boundaries and the internet
Scholars compare the worldwide spread of COVID conspiracies to this kind of systemic phenomenon, emphasizing speed, reach, and interconnectedness.
global contagion
This conspiracy figure claimed COVID-19 was a "globalist scheme" to create a communist one-world government.
Alex Jones