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Covid conspiracy theories in global perspective

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In January 2020, reports of a novel and concerning coronavirus began to emerge from Wuhan in China. By February, it became clear that the outbreak was seri ous and was spreading around the world. From the outset, even before Covid-19 was designated as a pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the world faced an “infodemic” – an epidemic of fake news, misinformation, and conspiracy theories that was potentially as damaging as the SARS-CoV-2 virus itself (Ghebreyesus 2020). During the course of the pandemic, conspiracy theories had become a prominent feature of public discourse in many countries around the world. The virus has caused great alarm, but so too has the viral spread of conspiracy theories. Many of same conspiracy narratives were shared around the world, often spread via social media that has an increasingly global reach. However, just as the consequences of the pandemic were felt unevenly around the world, so too have conspiracy theories about the global health crisis functioned differently in each country and region. There is often a depressing similarity in the content of the conspiracy theories in these different locations. Yet, who spreads these conspiracy theories varies considerably around the world. In many Western countries where conspiracy theories are stigmatized, they are articulated by alternative media outlets and populist voices from the fringes; by contrast, in other countries where conspiracy theories are still considered a legiti mate form of knowledge, for example, in Eastern Europe or in the Arab world, it is often government officials and established news channels that voice them. Accordingly, the nature, meaning and political uses to which conspiracy theories have been put also do not follow the same pattern everywhere. This volume of essays provides an overview of how these narratives played out in a range of case studies from around the world

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Detail Information

Series Title

Conspiracy theories

Call Number

362.19624144 BUT c

Publisher

New York : Routledge, New York, NY., 2023

Collation

1 online resource

Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

9781003330769

Classification

362.19624144

Content Type

-

Media Type

-

Carrier Type

-

Edition

1 Edition.

Subject(s)

Fear
Conspiracy theories
Culture conflict
Social media and society
COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-2023

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Statement of Responsibility

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