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Opinion: People can spot fake news. So why do conspiracy theories thrive on social media? | The San Diego Union-Tribune

A new conspiracy theory is gaining traction: Omicron is a variant invented by the Democrats in order to help them in the midterm elections. Pete Hegseth, a Fox News commentator, suggested that you could “count on a variant about every October, every two years.” It’s natural to wonder who would believe ridiculous conspiracy theories like these. Maybe it’s not necessarily a sudden widespread belief in the accuracy of conspiracies, but rather a new digital world that is allowing them to spread and prosper.

This digital world is led by social media, which is the main perpetrator in causing an increasing support for conspiracy theories by driving inaccurate sharing and causing the processing of information to remain at the surface level.

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Source: Opinion: People can spot fake news. So why do conspiracy theories thrive on social media? | The San Diego Union-Tribune