Conspiracy theories and conspiracy stories: The corona crisis has turned the lives of countless people upside down practically overnight and created a climate of uncertainty and, according to a survey, one in five Germans believes in a conspiracy regarding Ukraine. In search of quick explanations, more and more people have become involved in false reports and conspiracy stories on the Internet.
Conspiracy theories and conspiracy stories
Years ago we were only confronted with rather harmless stories about chemtrails , reptilians or imperial flying discs .
These stories could be clearly identified as unrealistic narratives without causing much outcry. But today things are different. With the pandemic and war as a catalyst, conspiracy theories have had a renaissance. Almost half of people have trouble identifying conspiracy theories.
The Guide: Counter Conspiracy Narratives!
The “Action Alliance Against Violence, Right-Wing Extremism and Xenophobia” has now published a guide entitled “Countering conspiracy narratives!” and offers practical tips for dealing with anti-democratic positions.
Since the beginning of the corona pandemic, conspiracy stories have experienced a new rise. Last but not least, such stories are intended to provide simple explanations for complex relationships. Connections that can often – as in the case of a pandemic – have an unsettling effect.
The conspiracy stories are diverse: some deny Corona completely, others use the pandemic to name culprits. Many of these stories are at least compatible with inhumane, right-wing extremist, racist or anti-Semitic ideologies. In everyday life we are often helpless when faced with such positions. Because if everything is a conspiracy, there are no longer any facts that we could use to argue with our counterpart.
The Aktionsbündnis Brandenburg guide identifies identifying features of right-wing conspiracy narratives and addresses eight core themes that the extreme right relies on.
These eight topics are:
- Depiction of the pandemic as the result of a conspiracy
- Recurring terms: “lying press”, “New World Order” or “The Great Exchange”
- Incitement against the media
- Contempt for parliamentary democracy
- Delegitimization of science
- Relativizing National Socialism and creating false contexts
- Anti-Semitic narrative
- Anti-feminist dimension
Each of the right-wing conspiracy narratives presented is followed by a suggestion for a counter-argument.
But even a guide cannot offer a suitable answer for every situation. Therefore, when dealing with anti-democratic to right-wing extremist conspiracy narratives, what is most important is attitude. Nevertheless, dealing with argumentation patterns can strengthen us in finding our own options for action and no longer being speechless in the face of anti-democratic positions.
The Brandenburg Action Alliance is a civil society association of organizations, local alliances and personalities from the state of Brandenburg. Since 1997 it has advocated civil society mobilization against violence, right-wing extremism and racism. More about this: www.aktionsbuendnis-brandenburg.de
In keeping with the topic: Conspiracy Worlds – The Trilogy with Mimikama on TV
If you enjoyed this post and value the importance of well-founded information, become part of the exclusive Mimikama Club! Support our work and help us promote awareness and combat misinformation. As a club member you receive:
📬 Special Weekly Newsletter: Get exclusive content straight to your inbox.
🎥 Exclusive video* “Fact Checker Basic Course”: Learn from Andre Wolf how to recognize and combat misinformation.
📅 Early access to in-depth articles and fact checks: always be one step ahead.
📄 Bonus articles, just for you: Discover content you won't find anywhere else.
📝 Participation in webinars and workshops : Join us live or watch the recordings.
✔️ Quality exchange: Discuss safely in our comment function without trolls and bots.
Join us and become part of a community that stands for truth and clarity. Together we can make the world a little better!
* In this special course, Andre Wolf will teach you how to recognize and effectively combat misinformation. After completing the video, you have the opportunity to join our research team and actively participate in the education - an opportunity that is exclusively reserved for our club members!
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 )

