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News Articles: conspiracy theories

A voter fills out her ballot for the Michigan primary election in Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich., Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024.

Tagged as: 

  • News

Election officials are fighting a tsunami of voting conspiracy theories

With less than two weeks before Election Day, a resurgence of misinformation and conspiracy theories about voting is forcing state and local election officials to spend their time debunking rumors and explaining how elections are run.

October 24, 2024
|
By:
  • Associated Press
News anchors work at Newsmax's booth during the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The network has settled with voting-tech company Smartmatic, which accused it of defamation following the 2020 presidential election.

Tagged as: 

  • Media

Voting-tech company settles with right-wing network over false election claims

Smartmatic sued Newsmax for defamation over false claims related to the 2020 presidential election. The trial was supposed to begin next week.

September 26, 2024
|
By:
  • Maddy Lauria and
  • David Folkenflik
Former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, speaks to reporters after the presidential debate with Vice President Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, on Sept. 10 in Philadelphia.

Tagged as: 

  • Elections

How Trump is relying on a racist conspiracy theory to question election results

Donald Trump has echoed a new iteration of a conspiracy theory that has taken root in the GOP that falsely claims there is a plan to bring nonwhite immigrants to the U.S. to replace white voters.

September 16, 2024
|
By:
  • Jude Joffe-Block and
  • Odette Yousef
Residents look on after a cargo ship ran into and collapsed the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, 2024 in Baltimore. Conspiracy theorists online quickly spread narratives to millions online that the accident was part of a nefarious scheme.

Tagged as: 

  • Technology

The Baltimore bridge collapse gave conspiracy theorists a chance to boost themselves

One researcher says it has become "standard" for any unexpected event "to be run through a filter of conspiracy theories based on the personal brand of the person spreading the theory."

March 27, 2024
|
By:
  • Shannon Bond
Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs celebrates with Taylor Swift after a 17-10 victory against the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship Game on Jan. 28, 2024 in Baltimore.

Tagged as: 

  • Politics

Here's why conspiracy theories about Taylor Swift and the Super Bowl are spreading

Swift's popularity is being twisted into a threat by a contingent of far-right, Donald Trump-supporting conservatives. "Is Swift a front for a covert political agenda?" asked a Fox News host.

February 02, 2024
|
By:
  • Shannon Bond
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley participates in fourth Republican Presidential Primary Debate on on December 6, 2023 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Tagged as: 

  • Elections

Bringing birther back, Donald Trump questions Nikki Haley's right to be president

The former governor of South Carolina, Haley was born in the southern state. But as she surges in Republican polls, Trump is elevating false conspiracy theories about her citizenship on social media.

January 10, 2024
|
By:
  • Franco Ordoñez
A picture of Jeffrey Epstein from July 8, 2019, when federal prosecutors charged the financier with sex trafficking of minors. Epstein died later that year by suicide while in federal custody.

Tagged as: 

  • National

The new Jeffrey Epstein files have set off a fresh round of conspiracy theories

Epstein, who died by suicide while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges, is a favorite of conspiracists because of his ties to the wealthy and powerful and speculation about his death.

January 06, 2024
|
By:
  • Lisa Hagen
An aerial image taken on Aug. 10, 2023 shows destroyed homes and buildings burned to the ground in Lahaina in the aftermath of wildfires in western Maui, Hawaii. Rumors and conspiracy theories quickly flourished after the fire, hampering relief efforts.

Tagged as: 

  • National

How rumors and conspiracy theories got in the way of Maui's fire recovery

Some of the rumors and conspiracy theories were driven by the island's history, but others were pushed by social media influencers and foreign governments.

September 28, 2023
|
By:
  • Pien Huang and
  • Huo Jingnan
Mira Sorvino and Tim Ballard attend the premiere of <em>Sound of Freedom</em> on June 28 in Vineyard, Utah. Ballard is a former federal agent who went on to found the controversial anti-human trafficking organization depicted in the film.

Tagged as: 

  • Politics

QAnon supporters are promoting 'Sound of Freedom.' Here's why

The movie is being criticized as a vehicle for conspiracy theories and misleading depictions of human trafficking — landing it in the middle of the country's politically polarized culture wars.

July 19, 2023
|
By:
  • Shannon Bond
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the latest member of the Kennedy dynasty to run for president, regularly shares a dizzying range of falsehoods and conspiracy theories.

Tagged as: 

  • Politics

RFK Jr. is building a presidential campaign around conspiracy theories

The latest member of the Kennedy dynasty to run for president regularly shares a dizzying range of falsehoods and conspiracy theories on podcasts and at other campaign appearances.

July 13, 2023
|
By:
  • Shannon Bond
Photo prints of the late Guru Jagat for sale at the RA MA Santa Monica yoga studio.

Tagged as: 

  • National

She was a popular yoga guru. Then she embraced QAnon conspiracy theories

Themes like everything is connected, nothing happens without a purpose, and nothing is what it seems are central to both yoga philosophy and conspiratorial thinking.

January 03, 2023
|
By:
  • Emily Guerin
Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen on a screen set at Red Square in Moscow on Sept. 30, as he addresses a rally marking the annexation of four regions of Ukraine occupied by Russian troops: Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

Tagged as: 

  • World

'Golden billion,' Putin's favorite conspiracy, explains his worldview and strategy

The conspiracy theory claims global elites plot to hoard the world's wealth and resources, leaving the rest of the planet to starve — and it's gaining traction in Moscow amid the Ukraine war.

November 21, 2022
|
By:
  • Charles Maynes
A jury has ordered conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay millions of dollars for spreading lies about the Sandy Hook school massacre. But his influence in right-wing media and politics remains strong.

Tagged as: 

  • National

How Alex Jones helped mainstream conspiracy theories become part of American life

Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones must pay millions in damages for spreading lies about the Sandy Hook school massacre. But even if the penalties shut down Infowars, his influence will remain.

August 06, 2022
|
By:
  • Shannon Bond
InfoWars host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has been ordered to pay just under $50 million in damages to a pair of parents whose son was killed in the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary.

Tagged as: 

  • Law

A jury tags Alex Jones with $45.2 million in punitive damages for 2 Sandy Hook parents

Jones, the creator and face of the conspiracy-peddling website InfoWars, is on the hook for a total of $49.3 million for spreading falsehoods about the 2012 mass shooting at an elementary school.

August 06, 2022
|
By:
  • Dustin Jones and
  • Jason DeRose
Infowars founder Alex Jones listens to a supporter at the Texas State Capital building on April 18, 2020 in Austin, Texas.

Tagged as: 

  • Law

A jury says InfoWars' Alex Jones must pay 2 Sandy Hook parents more than $4 million

The InfoWars host and creator will have to pay $4.1 million to two parents whose 6-year-old son was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012. Jones spent years claiming the mass shooting as a hoax.

August 04, 2022
|
By:
  • John Burnett and
  • Dustin Jones
  • Load More

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