A Golden Age: Conspiracy Theories' Relationship with Misinformation Outlets, News Media, and the Wider Internet

TL;DR

This study investigates the proliferation of conspiracy theories online, their connections to news media, and how misinformation outlets significantly contribute to their spread, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of QAnon.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of conspiracy theory websites, their shared link networks, and the increasing hyperlinking from misinformation sources over time.

Findings

Conspiracy theory websites often link to the same external domains.

Misinformation outlets hyperlink to conspiracy sites more than authentic news.

Hyperlinking from misinformation sources increased notably from 2018 to 2021.

Abstract

Do we live in a "Golden Age of Conspiracy Theories?" In the last few decades, conspiracy theories have proliferated on the Internet with some having dangerous real-world consequences. A large contingent of those who participated in the January 6th attack on the US Capitol fervently believed in the QAnon conspiracy theory. In this work, we study the relationships amongst five prominent conspiracy theories (QAnon, COVID, UFO/Aliens, 9/11, and Flat-Earth) and each of their respective relationships to the news media, both authentic news and misinformation. Identifying and publishing a set of 755 different conspiracy theory websites dedicated to our five conspiracy theories, we find that each set often hyperlinks to the same external domains, with COVID and QAnon conspiracy theory websites having the largest amount of shared connections. Examining the role of news media, we further find that not only do outlets known for spreading misinformation hyperlink to our set of conspiracy theory websites more often than authentic news websites but also that this hyperlinking increased dramatically between 2018 and 2021, with the advent of QAnon and the start of COVID-19 pandemic. Using partial Granger-causality, we uncover several positive correlative relationships between the hyperlinks from misinformation websites and the popularity of conspiracy theory websites, suggesting the prominent role that misinformation news outlets play in popularizing many conspiracy theories.