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To fight disinformation, learn from the Flat Earthers
They hold the clues to why fact-checking falls flat in fighting conspiracy theories.
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The writer says that when conspiracy theories are part of someone's value system or worldview, it is difficult to challenge them.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Carlos Diaz Ruiz
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Around the world, and against all scientific evidence, a segment of the population believes that Earth's round shape is either an unproven theory or an elaborate hoax. Polls by YouGov America in 2018 and Fairleigh Dickinson University in 2022 found that as many as 11 per cent of Americans believe the Earth might be flat.
While it is tempting to dismiss "Flat Earthers" as mildly amusing, we ignore their arguments at our peril. Polling shows that there is an overlap between conspiracy theories, some of which can act as gateways for radicalisation. QAnon and the Great Replacement Theory, for example, have proven deadly more than once.
