WSU: Fastest-spreading COVID conspiracy theories focused on QAnon, 5G networks, Bill Gates

PULLMAN, Wash. — A study done by Washington State University says that the most popular and widely spread COVID-19 conspiracy theories focused on evil, perceived bad actors, and government secrets.

Nearly 400,000 posts on Twitter were analyzed to gather the data

In the study, researchers identified common traits in five of the most popular conspiracy theories – those related to:

• Bill Gates
• 5G Networks
• Vaccinations
• QAnon
• Agenda 21.

Each theory seems to have a different subject, but the social media narratives often overlapped, said WSU associate professor Porismita Borah.

“The conspiracy theories might be using different strategies, but the narratives are often connected,” said Borah.

These theories have a lot in common in that they try to make the stories part of a bigger conspiracy so that if people believe in one conspiracy, then they tend to believe in the other.

The researchers collected Twitter posts about the five conspiracy theories from the first half of 2020, then narrowed those down to the top ten most linked-to URLs on a weekly basis. This allowed them to have a qualitative and quantitative study.

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They say their research found that posts about evil and secrecy got the highest social media engagement. The least likely posts to be shared or engaged with were “those that attempted to provide some sort of authentication or sources for these conspiracies.”

The researchers say they were surprised by how quickly existing theories were tied into the pandemic.

“Prior to the pandemic, there was a relatively minor conspiracy theory that 5G cellular technology could harm human health, but once COVID-19 hit, the theory expanded by falsely claiming that 5G towers were responsible for its spread worldwide,” the study’s press release said.

The study states that COVID-19’s meshing into false narratives was “particularly true” of the mega-theories QAnon and Agenda21. Per the researchers, “QAnon contains the outlandish idea that the world is run by a cabal of cannibalistic pedophiles. Agenda 21 is a twisted take on a real United Nations climate change initiative, claiming it is instead a secret plan to depopulate the world.”

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“When you have overarching theories as big as QAnon and Agenda21, they can really fit anything into them,” said Ital Himelboim, study first author and an associate professor at University of Georgia.

Immediately, the pandemic fits into the existing conspiratorial way to explain the world — and of course, there’s a villain.

Researchers say the most popular conspiracy theory ‘villain’ was Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Some posts said Gates was behind the creation of the disease, wanted to depopulate the world, or would benefit from the vaccine.

“There are many ways you might explain the focus on Bill Gates, but when something people can’t control is happening, sometimes they need someone to blame, so they look for that villain in a conspiracy theory,” said Himelboim. “Somehow Bill Gates became that invented villain.”

The report’s authors called for further research to understand the psychological attraction of conspiracy theories that focus on evil and secrecy, as well as finding strategies to counter the misinformation.

“To combat these conspiracy theories, we have to keep in mind how the content is created, what people believe and what they share,” said Borah. “It’s a very complex situation, but it is important to understand the content to be able to counter it. You need to know what you are fighting.”