When people believe in conspiracy theories, they are often very worried about something and can feel powerless and alienated. In a conversation with someone who believes in conspiracy theories, it would not be constructive to be hostile, or behave in a way that ridicules them. This dismisses their concerns and might alienate them even further. It is therefore important to hear them out. It is challenging talking to conspiracy believers though because they have often “done their homework” – that is, they usually know a lot more about the conspiracy theory and associated “evidence” than other people do. So when you get into a conversation with someone who believes strongly in a conspiracy theory, it is quite difficult to sway them, or even to keep up with the conversation. However, I think that one useful strategy would be to appeal to the value of critical thinking. Many conspiracy believers also strongly believe that they are critical thinkers who are trying to uncover the truth whereas others are not (they are “sheep”). One strategy therefore might be to appeal to this value and ask the conspiracy believer to critically think about their information – where did it come from? who said it? is this a credible source? This might uncover flaws in the conspiracy theory and you might be able to challenge them this way. This may also prevent a person from automatically believing other conspiracy theories when they come across them.
Prebunking and debunking conspiracy theories
Stopping the spread of conspiracy theories is challenging. There is no one-size-fits-all approach. It depends on the level of exposure (low or high exposure to conspiracy theories). People who firmly believe in conspiracy theories are extremely difficult to reach.
Prebunking – Empowered people are more resilient
- Warn people early on that conspiracy theories exist
- Encourage rational thinking, questioning and fact-checking
- Alert people about the arguments behind the most common COVID-19 conspiracy theories and the key traits of conspiratorial thinking – suspicion of official accounts, immunity to contrary evidence, reinterpreting random events as part of a broader pattern
Debunking – Facts and logic matter
DOs
- Focus on the facts you want to communicate, not the myth you want to debunk
- Choose your target – the author, source or logic behind the conspiracy theory
- Always state clearly that the information is wrong, before quoting a conspiracy theory
- Provide a fact-based alternative explanation
- If possible, use visual aids to back your argument
DON’Ts
- Don’t focus on the conspiracy theory first. Don’t reinforce it
- Don’t overwhelm with information
Critical thinking
- Lots of governments fund specific agencies to fight for the truth and try and counter the spread of conspiracy theories. The US for example, has the Global Engagement Center, which tries to engage with attempts to manipulate opinion on social media by sourcing their origins and in some cases putting out counter-messaging. But the level of information and speed with which it can spread on social media – along with a president who peddles conspiracy theories – has made their mission difficult, to say the least.
- What’s more, conspiracy theories thrive on distrust of the government. As a consequence, these official agencies often struggle to contain the spread of fake news. Finland took a significantly different approach. After seeing the damage done by the fake news spread in neighboring Russia, the Finnish government set up a plan to teach critical thinking in secondary school in 2014. It integrated media literacy into the curriculum and got students to exercise their critical thinking when collecting information on a specific topic. The source is assessed, and so is the content.
- Students are also trained to critically evaluate statistics and numbers. These can be particularly confusing or intimidating to critique – and we naturally tend to give them legitimacy. But the Finnish experience proves that giving citizens the confidence to debunk conspiracy theories themselves is more effective than providing them with the right information.
The complementary role of universal values
- But another challenge is looming – and critical thinking is not enough. Followers of conspiracy theories, whether they believe in QAnon or that the world is flat, are often drawn to the community element of conspiracy theories. They feel like they belong to a select group, which makes them feel unique and special. They believe they have access to exclusive and well-guarded knowledge, which makes them feel distinctive.
- These ideas are at the center of social identity theory in psychology research. This is the idea that our perception of ourselves as individuals is driven by the groups we belong to and the identity that they have. A group of conspiracy theorists is attractive because it is seen as holding a superior truth against others – effectively, a knowledge high ground.
- Finnish authorities understood this. Their secondary school program also focused on reminding pupils of the important universal values upheld by Finnish society. These include fairness, the rule of law, respect for others’ differences, openness and freedom. Together, these are a powerful lens to exercise their critical thinking – students are called to make sense of information with these values in mind.
- Ultimately, students are reminded of all the good things about being Finnish and that they already belong to group with a positive identity. This throws the identity benefits of believing in conspiracy theories into question. Plus, their Finnish identity becomes more salient as they question and identify fake news. Critical thinking and countering misinformation is what makes them part of a group they can be proud of.
- Of course, this is difficult to measure but the evidence so far suggests Finland’s approach is working. A 2019 study found that Finnish pupils are much better at identifying fake news than their US counterparts. But the real benefits will take years to study, not least because Finland’s program only really ramped up in the last couple of years.
- The spread of conspiracy theories will not be stopped by simply giving younger generations the right training to engage in fact-checking, or collect evidence-based information. The reality of conspiracy theory groups is that they represent fragmented parts of our society – their very existence is made possible by social exclusion. So we must teach critical thinking alongside ensuring people feel part of a broader community.
