Apocalypse, survivalism, occultism and esotericism communities on Brazilian Telegram: when faith is used to sell quantum courses and open doors to harmful conspiracy theories

TL;DR

This study analyzes Brazilian Telegram communities involved in conspiracy theories, occultism, and survivalism, revealing how these groups promote apocalyptic narratives, scientific disinformation, and expand conspiracy networks during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic.

Contribution

It provides a detailed characterization of Brazilian conspiracy communities on Telegram, highlighting the role of occultism and survivalism in spreading disinformation and conspiracy theories.

Findings

Occult and esoteric groups act as gateways to apocalyptic theories.

Conspiracies about the New World Order are amplified by apocalyptic discussions.

Survivalist narratives increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract

Brazilian communities on Telegram have increasingly turned to apocalyptic and survivalist theories, especially in times of crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic, where narratives of occultism and esotericism find fertile ground. Therefore, this study aims to address the research question: how are Brazilian conspiracy theory communities on apocalypse, survivalism, occultism and esotericism topics characterized and articulated on Telegram? It is worth noting that this study is part of a series of seven studies whose main objective is to understand and characterize Brazilian conspiracy theory communities on Telegram. This series of seven studies is openly and originally available on arXiv at Cornell University, applying a mirrored method across the seven studies, changing only the thematic object of analysis and providing investigation replicability, including with proprietary and authored codes, adding to the culture of free and open-source software. Regarding the main findings of this study, the following were observed: Occult and esoteric communities function as gateways to apocalypse theories; Conspiracies about the New World Order are amplified by apocalyptic discussions; Survivalist narratives grew significantly during the Pandemic; Occultism and esotericism are sources of invitations to off-label drug communities, reinforcing scientific disinformation; Discussions about the apocalypse serve as a start for other conspiracy theories, expanding their reach.