Political scientists say growing acceptance of unfounded conspiracy theories is fueling disengagement and distrust in democratic institutions, an effect that is trickling down to local politics.
While false conspiracies aren’t new, experts say their reach is spreading – accelerated by social media, encouraged by former President Trump, and weaponized in a way that is unprecedented.
With disinformation spreading on an unprecedented scale, experts in cult deprogramming are turning their focus to those who have fallen down the rabbit hole of conspiracy theories.
While removing former President Trump from social media has led to a significant decrease in election-related disinformation, online falsehoods about the election and vaccines continue to flourish.
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area.
He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit.
Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.
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