<nettime> Julia Ebner: Stop the online conspiracy theorists before they break democracy (Guardian)

[Patrice Riemens <patrice@xs4all.nl>]

Original to:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/18/online-conspiracy-theorists-democracy

Opinion - Technology
Stop the online conspiracy theorists before they break democracy
Julia Ebner

Cannibals, aliens and clandestine lizard overlords: thanks to 
algorithms, such ideas threaten the future of Europe

The Guardian, Mon 18 Feb 2019


Organised conspiracy theorist networks have launched an all-out 
information war across Europe. At the heart of this is the QAnon 
movement. It expanded from the US to Europe and the UK at rapid speed, 
hijacking political debates on social media as well as mass protests in 
the streets in recent months. Our new analysis at the Institute for 
Strategic Dialogue shows that European conspiracy theorists run 
increasingly sophisticated campaigns around critical junctions in 
national, regional and global politics. They even carried out social 
media operations to influence voters in German state elections, 
including the 2018 election in Bavaria.

The QAnon community, which began on the message-board site 4chan, 
strongly overlaps with the support networks of far-right movements such 
as the EDL and Pegida. Most recently, it co-opted yellow vest 
demonstrations and boosted hardline Brexit campaigns and Tommy Robinson 
protests. By injecting conspiratorial narratives into these movements, 
its members can leverage existing networks and alter their political 
direction. A commonly used tactic is to combine conspiricist hashtags 
with those of viral campaigns and trending topics. The scale this 
generates is disproportional enough to distort public perception: In 
2018, ISD identified close to 30m uses of the word “QAnon” across 
Twitter, YouTube and forums such as Reddit and 4chan.
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Ahead of the European parliamentary elections this May, the virality of 
conspiracy theories about the EU and the political establishment 
provides a fertile playground for populist parties. Groups such as Q 
Europe, Q Britannia and Q Deutschland are already gearing up to 
influence voting behaviour in a crucial election that will determine the 
future of the European project.

QAnon adherents organise themselves on encrypted apps such as Discord 
and Telegram, linking the American-centred conspiracy theory to local 
contexts. Emotionally manipulative and tightly organised campaigns have 
allowed them to gather tens of thousands of supporters across Europe. 
They produce videos, disinformation databases and run trainings on meme 
creation and psychological warfare. QAnon even has its own currency 
called “Initiative Q”, which its founders want to turn into “the next 
bitcoin”.

Across Europe, conspiracy theories that mix old antisemitic tropes with 
new ones that demonise migrants and Muslims have gained huge traction 
since the refugee crisis in 2015. A recent study showed that a stunning 
60% of Brits believe in at least one conspiracy theory. The ideas that a 
cabal of global elites run the world, that there is a plot to replace 
white English natives with Muslim migrants and that the authorities are 
covering up immigration numbers are among the most commonly held.

In QAnon forums, it is hard to overlook the holy mess of logical 
fallacies and contradictions. Its adherents link the MI6, Facebook and 
the Rothschilds to the Vatican, Hollywood, the Nazis, the Illuminati and 
aliens in order to explain that climate change is a hoax, the Holocaust 
never happened, the world is run by paedophiles, Satanists and cannibals 
and that the Queen is a direct descendent of prophet Mohammed. And yet 
this virtual cosmos of absurd stories can inspire real-world incidents: 
just last month, a QAnon supporter killed his brother, whom he thought 
was a lizard. “Can me and my pals Raid MI6 DVD & GO2 Offices in London 
ourselves please”, another QAnon believer suggested in a private 
messaging app.

Beyond inspiring attacks on perceived enemies, the spread of conspiracy 
theories can, in the long-term, sow societal divisions and undermine 
confidence in democratic processes, institutions and representatives. At 
a time when distrust in the political establishment runs exceptionally 
high, it is easy to tap into existing suspicions and fill information 
gaps with fabricated news and distorted statistics.

The architecture of social media platforms plays into the hands of 
extreme fringe groups by pushing users towards sensationalist content. 
The tech firms’ business models and algorithms are geared to maximise 
the time users spend on their platforms. Governments and big tech firms 
are slowly starting to push back against the systematic diffusion of 
disinformation. Last month, YouTube announced that it would change its 
algorithms to stop recommending so many conspiracy theory videos. 
Meanwhile, the NGO OpenAI decided that it would not release its 
“deepfakes for text” tool because its researchers feared misuse. And the 
release on Monday of the UK parliament’s DCMS select committee report 
demonstrates just how seriously the problems are being taken.

But solutions to these problems need to be identified. Policies should 
require greater algorithmic transparency and accountability from tech 
firms in order to protect future elections. Instead of focusing 
exclusively on the removal of extreme content and accounts, it will be 
necessary to regulate against harmful infrastructures and malicious 
behaviours. As early adopters of new technologies, extremists will 
otherwise continue to exploit the latest innovations of cyberspace.

• Julia Ebner, an Austrian journalist, is a researcher at the 
London-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue
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