Antivax and off-label medication communities on brazilian Telegram: between esotericism as a gateway and the monetization of false miraculous cures

TL;DR

This study analyzes Brazilian conspiracy communities on Telegram, revealing how esoteric beliefs and global control theories facilitate anti-vaccine and off-label medication misinformation, especially during COVID-19.

Contribution

It provides a detailed characterization of conspiracy communities, highlighting the interconnectedness of esoteric beliefs and anti-vaccine narratives, with a replicable methodology and open-source tools.

Findings

Themes like New World Order act as gateways to anti-vaccine narratives.

Anti-vaccine discussions increased by 290% during COVID-19.

Esoteric beliefs strongly connect to off-label medication promotion.

Abstract

Conspiracy theories, particularly those focused on anti-vaccine narratives and the promotion of off-label medications such as MMS and CDS, have proliferated on Telegram, including in Brazil, finding fertile ground among communities that share esoteric beliefs and distrust towards scientific institutions. In this context, this study seeks to answer how Brazilian conspiracy theory communities on Telegram are characterized and articulated concerning anti-vaccine themes and off-label medications? It is important to highlight that this study is part of a series of seven studies aimed at understanding and characterizing Brazilian conspiracy theory communities on Telegram. This series of seven studies is openly and originally available on the arXiv of Cornell University, applying a mirrored method across all studies, changing only the thematic object of analysis and providing replicable research, including proprietary and original codes developed, contributing to the culture of free and open-source software. Regarding the main findings of this study, it was observed: Themes such as the New World Order and Apocalypse and Survivalism act as significant gateways to anti-vaccine narratives, connecting them to theories of global control; Globalism and New World Order stand out as the main communities receiving invitations from anti-vaccine communities; Occultism and Esotericism emerge as the largest sources of invitations to off-label medication communities, creating a strong connection between esoteric beliefs and the promotion of non-scientific treatments; Anti-vaccine narratives experienced a 290% increase during the COVID-19 pandemic, evidencing a growing interconnectedness with other conspiracy theories; The overlap of themes between anti-vaccine and other conspiracy theories creates an interdependent disinformation network, where different narratives mutually reinforce each other.