How anti-vax conspiracists are blending with the far right

Keep going, nothing’s changed – we stop the vaccines and protect our children,” reads a post sent to a thousands-strong Telegram channel for conspiracy theorists. It was posted on 24 February, as all remaining legal Covid restrictions were removed in England. But for many people in broad coalitions of anti-lockdown and anti-vax activists, the battle is not over. What started for some as genuine concern about the unprecedented restrictions imposed in March 2020 – then fear over rapidly-developed vaccines – has morphed into a far wider distrust of the government, media and the perceived “elites”.

Experts say that Covid effectively opened a Pandora’s box of conspiracy theories, many of which feed into extremist viewpoints and are resulting in threats, intimidation and violence. The subject matter varies but the common denominator is a distrust of governments, the health authorities, pharmaceutical companies and – importantly – the “mainstream media”.

Many Covid conspiracy theorists go beyond undermining the “official narrative” to create stories of hostile groups actively conspiring to harm wide sections of the public, for aims ranging from profit to genocide.