The pattern is always the same. Conspiracy myths often emerge after attacks and terrorism. These often have one goal: to destabilize existing systems. An attack on democracy.

The summary on the topic “Conspiracy myths and the attack on democracy”:

Conspiracy myths on social media often cast doubt on whether the state is capable of acting and criticize it as weak. At the same time, certain strategies distort serious reporting on a topic.

Politically motivated actors have recently recognized social media as a platform on which they can distribute their content. This also creates enemy images that are portrayed as scapegoats.

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But another trick is used: people become irritated through constant repetition and the use of deliberately contradictory information. The goal is that in the end they no longer trust anyone, not even reputable information. Nor the structures of democracy.

We described these processes again in a short conversation with SWR What are conspiracy myths and false reports and why are they an attack on democracy?

More than 50 people were injured in the violent act in Volkmarsen, Hesse, in which a man drove his car into a crowd on February 24, 2020. Photos that appeared on social media platforms shortly after the crime showed a man who was said to be the perpetrator. The police denied this and asked that speculation be refrained from.

Andre Wolf from the Austrian Mimikama Association for the Education of Internet Abuse said in an interview with SWR Aktuell presenter Andreas Böhnisch that the authors of such fake news are trying to destabilize democratic systems.

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This might also be of interest:

In our article “Panic and fear in the age of social media” we explain in more detail which mechanisms operate on social media that cause fear and panic, but also a loss of trust in democracy. At the same time, there is also a call for users to slow down their own information consumption and also to evaluate which content (whether private, from the media or unknown sources) is really relevant.

The entire article HERE.

Article image democracy: Shutterstock / By vladm


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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )