178-442: " Pizzagate " is a conspiracy theory that went viral during the 2016 United States presidential election cycle, falsely claiming that the New York City Police Department (NYPD) had discovered a pedophilia ring linked to members of the Democratic Party while searching through Anthony Weiner 's emails. It has been extensively discredited by a wide range of organizations, including the Washington, D.C. police . In March 2016,
356-467: A YouTube video originally posted on April Fools' Day 2018, and a photo which was said to show Huma Abedin wearing a mask had been taken from the website of a Washington D.C. Indian restaurant and portrayed the owner of that establishment. Hundreds of videos on YouTube promoted these false statements, and the claims were still circulating internationally within QAnon groups two years later in 2020. In 2020, as
534-538: A famine , at a time when three million people in the country were suffering from hunger . Conspiracy theories are a significant obstacle to improvements in public health , encouraging opposition to such public health measures as vaccination and water fluoridation . They have been linked to outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases . Other effects of conspiracy theories include reduced trust in scientific evidence , radicalization and ideological reinforcement of extremist groups, and negative consequences for
712-610: A negative connotation , implying that the appeal of a conspiracy theory is based in prejudice, emotional conviction, or insufficient evidence. A conspiracy theory is distinct from a conspiracy ; it refers to a hypothesized conspiracy with specific characteristics, including but not limited to opposition to the mainstream consensus among those who are qualified to evaluate its accuracy, such as scientists or historians . Conspiracy theories tend to be internally consistent and correlate with each other; they are generally designed to resist falsification either by evidence against them or
890-524: A pedophilia ring linked to members of the Democratic Party while searching through Anthony Weiner 's emails. Throughout October and November 2016, WikiLeaks had published John Podesta's emails . Proponents of the conspiracy theory read the emails and alleged they contained code words for pedophilia and human trafficking . Proponents also claimed that Comet Ping Pong , a pizzeria in Washington, D.C.,
1068-477: A scientific theory can be disproven by a single perceived deficiency, even though such events are extremely rare. In addition, both disregarding the claims and attempting to address them will be interpreted as proof of a conspiracy. Other conspiracist arguments may not be scientific; for example, in response to the IPCC Second Assessment Report in 1996, much of the opposition centered on promoting
1246-413: A "crippled epistemology", in which a person encounters or accepts very few relevant sources of information. A conspiracy theory is more likely to appear justified to people with a limited "informational environment" who only encounter misleading information. These people may be " epistemologically isolated" in self-enclosed networks . From the perspective of people within these networks, disconnected from
1424-598: A "satanic cabal of elites" of the New World Order operates international child sex trafficking rings. By June 2020, the conspiracy theory found renewed popularity on TikTok , where videos tagged #Pizzagate were reaching over 80 million views (see relevant section ). In Turkey , the allegations were reported by pro-government newspapers (i.e., those supportive of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ), such as Sabah , A Haber , Yeni Şafak , Akşam and Star . The story appeared on Turkey's Ekşi Sözlük website and on
1602-422: A "shallow" theorist observes an event and asks Cui bono ? ("Who benefits?"), jumping to the conclusion that a posited beneficiary is responsible for covertly influencing events. On the other hand, the "deep" conspiracy theorist begins with a hunch and then seeks out evidence. Rothbard describes this latter activity as a matter of confirming with certain facts one's initial paranoia. Belief in conspiracy theories
1780-432: A "theory", but over time, "conspiracy" and "theory" have become decoupled, as modern conspiracism is often without any kind of theory behind it. Jesse Walker (2013) has identified five kinds of conspiracy theories: Michael Barkun has identified three classifications of conspiracy theory: Murray Rothbard argues in favor of a model that contrasts "deep" conspiracy theories to "shallow" ones. According to Rothbard,
1958-591: A 4-track remix album of Kanye West 's The Life of Pablo titled The Death of Pablo to /mu/, claiming it was based on a recurring dream from one of the board's users. A role-playing game based on Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea , designed with help from the board's users, received coverage from Polygon and Pitchfork . /pol/ (" Politically Incorrect ") is 4chan's political discussion board. A stickied thread on its front page states that
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#17328446798702136-456: A Nice Life . Prominent music critic Anthony Fantano began his career on /mu/ and developed a significant following there. Some artists, like Zeal & Ardor and Conrad Tao , admitted to posting their music anonymously on /mu/ to get honest feedback, as well as find inspiration from the board. In particular, Zeal & Ardor said their sound, which mixes black metal with spirituals , came from suggestions by two users. Andrew W.K. did
2314-428: A Q&A with the board's users in 2011, causing the servers to crash from the increased traffic. Death Grips seeded various clues on /mu/ in 2012 about their then-upcoming albums The Money Store and No Love Deep Web . A rendition of " Royals " by Lorde appeared on /mu/ in 2012 before its official release, although she denied ever writing on the board in 2014. Singer Lauren Mayberry shared on Twitter in 2015
2492-399: A black-and-white world in which good is struggling against evil. The general public is cast as the victim of organised persecution, and the motives of the alleged conspirators often verge on pure maniacal evil. At the very least, the conspirators are said to have an almost inhuman disregard for the basic liberty and well-being of the general population. More grandiose conspiracy theories portray
2670-404: A collection of butterfly knives and a locker full of porn." Wired describes /b/ as "notorious". Each post is assigned a post number. Certain post numbers are sought after with a large amount of posting taking place to "GET" them. A "GET" occurs when a post's number ends in a special number, such as 12345678, 22222222, or every millionth post. A sign of 4chan's scaling, according to Poole,
2848-514: A consequence, the conspiracy becomes a matter of faith rather than something that can be proven or disproven. Studies have linked belief in conspiracy theories to distrust of authority and political cynicism . Some researchers suggest that conspiracist ideation —belief in conspiracy theories—may be psychologically harmful or pathological. Such belief is correlated with psychological projection , paranoia , and Machiavellianism . Psychologists usually attribute belief in conspiracy theories to
3026-402: A correction on its website and Jones said, "I want our viewers and listeners to know that we regret any negative impact our commentaries may have had on Mr. Alefantis, Comet Ping Pong, or its employees. We apologize to the extent our commentaries could be construed as negative statements about Mr. Alefantis or Comet Ping Pong, and we hope that anyone else involved in commenting on Pizzagate will do
3204-515: A fire was started in one of its backrooms. Employees quickly extinguished the blaze and nobody was injured. The perpetrator escaped, but was arrested a few days later while climbing a fence at the Washington Monument and tied to the arson via security footage. He had posted a video referencing QAnon prior to the arson. The conspiracy theory has been widely discredited and debunked. It has been judged to be false after detailed investigation by
3382-501: A generalized dismissal. Conspiracy theory rhetoric exploits several important cognitive biases , including proportionality bias , attribution bias , and confirmation bias . Their arguments often take the form of asking reasonable questions, but without providing an answer based on strong evidence. Conspiracy theories are most successful when proponents can gather followers from the general public, such as in politics, religion and journalism. These proponents may not necessarily believe
3560-534: A headline claiming the Federal Bureau of Investigation had confirmed the conspiracy theory. According to the BBC , the allegations spread to "the mainstream internet" several days before the 2016 U.S. presidential election, after a Reddit user posted a Pizzagate "evidence" document. The original Reddit post, removed some time between November 4 and 21, alleged the involvement of Comet Ping Pong: Everyone associated with
3738-522: A hub of Internet subculture , its community being influential in the formation and popularization of prominent Internet memes , such as lolcats , Rickrolling , rage comics , wojaks , Pepe the Frog , as well as hacktivist and political movements , such as Anonymous and the alt-right . 4chan has often been the subject of media attention as a source of controversies, including the coordination of pranks and harassment against websites and Internet users, and
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#17328446798703916-559: A junior moderation team, called "janitors", who may delete posts or images and suggest that the normal moderation team ban a user, but who cannot post with a capcode. Revealing oneself as a janitor is grounds for immediate dismissal. Gianluca Stringhini, an associate professor at Boston University College of Engineering , said in August 2024, "The only moderation on the platform appears to be for clearly illegal content, such as child pornography . Everything else remains untouched." 4chan has been
4094-402: A lack of evidence for them. They are reinforced by circular reasoning : both evidence against the conspiracy and absence of evidence for it are misinterpreted as evidence of its truth. Stephan Lewandowsky observes "This interpretation relies on the notion that, the stronger the evidence against a conspiracy, the more the conspirators must want people to believe their version of events." As
4272-496: A letter demanding an apology and retraction. Under Texas law, Jones was given a month to comply or be subject to a libel suit. In March 2017, Alex Jones apologized to Alefantis for promulgating the conspiracy theory, saying: "To my knowledge today, neither Mr. Alefantis, nor his restaurant Comet Ping Pong, were involved in any human trafficking as was part of the theories about Pizzagate that were being written about in many media outlets and which we commented upon." InfoWars also issued
4450-597: A link between the Clinton Foundation and human trafficking in Haiti. It speculated she had been murdered in connection with her investigation. According to the activist's former employer, family and friends, her death was in fact a suicide and she was not investigating the Clinton Foundation. By December 14, Infowars had removed two of its three Pizzagate-related videos. In February 2017, Alefantis' lawyers sent Jones
4628-561: A link to a thread on /mu/ about her band 's song " Leave a Trace " to showcase what online misogyny looks like. An alleged unreleased Radiohead song, titled "Putting Ketchup in the Fridge" and "How Do You Sit Still", was initially reported as genuine by NME and Spin until CNN revealed it was a hoax promoted by the board's users. The board has been acknowledged for sharing rare music recordings and unreleased materials, as well as finding albums thought to be lost. Notable examples include
4806-411: A member of Trump's transition team, tweeted: "Until #Pizzagate proven to be false, it'll remain a story. The left seems to forget #PodestaEmails and the many 'coincidences' tied to it." On December 6, 2016, Flynn Jr. was forced out of Trump's transition team . Spokesman Jason Miller did not identify the reason for his dismissal, however, The New York Times reported that other officials had confirmed it
4984-570: A month for their services in 2015. By May 2022, that fee had risen to $ 4,400 a month. The submitted documents also revealed RapeApe lamenting that 4chan was "getting the shaft" over the Buffalo terrorist attack and his attempt to persuade the advertising platform Bid.Glass to reverse their exit from the website. Poole kept his real-life identity hidden until it was revealed on July 9, 2008, in The Wall Street Journal . Prior to that, he had used
5162-480: A number of psychopathological conditions such as paranoia , schizotypy , narcissism , and insecure attachment , or to a form of cognitive bias called " illusory pattern perception ". It has also been linked with the so-called Dark triad personality types, whose common feature is lack of empathy . However, a 2020 review article found that most cognitive scientists view conspiracy theorizing as typically nonpathological, given that unfounded belief in conspiracy
5340-521: A papal visit. 4chan has been labeled as the starting point of the Anonymous meme by The Baltimore City Paper , due to the norm of posts signed with the "Anonymous" moniker. The National Post ' s David George-Cosh said it has been "widely reported" that Anonymous is associated with 4chan and 711chan, as well as numerous Internet Relay Chat (IRC) channels. Through its association with Anonymous, 4chan has become associated with Project Chanology,
5518-500: A popular gathering place for the controversial online incel community. The "beta uprising" or "beta rebellion" meme, the idea of taking revenge against women, jocks and others perceived as the cause of incels' problems, was popularized on the subsection. The perpetrator of the Toronto van attack referenced 4chan and an incel rebellion in a Facebook post he made prior to the attack, while praising self-identified incel Elliot Rodger,
Pizzagate conspiracy theory - Misplaced Pages Continue
5696-458: A procedural objection to the report's creation. Specifically, it was claimed that part of the procedure reflected a conspiracy to silence dissenters, which served as motivation for opponents of the report and successfully redirected a significant amount of the public discussion away from the science. Historically, conspiracy theories have been closely linked to prejudice , witch hunts , wars , and genocides . They are often strongly believed by
5874-484: A proof inspired by the proof from the anonymous 4chan user, both of which are recognized as significant advances to the problem. /v/ is 4chan's video games board. The board has spawned multiple Internet memes, most notably the NPC Wojak in 2016 (derived from the gaming term non-player character to describe those who do not think for themselves or make their own conscious decisions). The "paranormal" board, /x/ ,
6052-404: A reduction in conspiracy beliefs. Other possible strategies to mitigate the effect of conspiracy theories include education, media literacy, and increasing governmental openness and transparency. Due to the relationship between conspiracy theories and political extremism, the academic literature on deradicalization is also important. One approach describes conspiracy theories as resulting from
6230-476: A result of a conspiracy between interested parties; spec. a belief that some covert but influential agency (typically political in motivation and oppressive in intent) is responsible for an unexplained event". It cites a 1909 article in The American Historical Review as the earliest usage example, although it also appeared in print for several decades before. The earliest known usage was by
6408-424: A statement afterwards, saying, "We don't want witchhunts on our site". After the ban on Reddit, the discussion was moved to the v/pizzagate sub on Voat , a now-defunct Reddit clone dedicated to far-right content. Some of Pizzagate's proponents, including David Seaman and Michael G. Flynn ( Michael Flynn 's son), evolved the conspiracy into a broader government conspiracy called "Pedogate". According to this theory,
6586-648: A stigmatized mode of thought that separates them from the masses who believe the official account. Michael Barkun describes a conspiracy theory as a "template imposed upon the world to give the appearance of order to events". Real conspiracies, even very simple ones, are difficult to conceal and routinely experience unexpected problems. In contrast, conspiracy theories suggest that conspiracies are unrealistically successful and that groups of conspirators, such as bureaucracies , can act with near-perfect competence and secrecy. The causes of events or situations are simplified to exclude complex or interacting factors, as well as
6764-417: A study conducted in 2016 found that 10% of Americans think the chemtrail conspiracy theory is "completely true" and 20–30% think it is "somewhat true". This puts "the equivalent of 120 million Americans in the 'chemtrails are real' camp". Belief in conspiracy theories has therefore become a topic of interest for sociologists, psychologists and experts in folklore . Conspiracy theories are widely present on
6942-489: A thread on /x/ created on 12 May 2019, where the users were asked to "post disquieting images that just feel 'off'." There, the first photo depicting the Backrooms was uploaded and another user commented on it with the first story about the Backrooms, claiming that one enters the Backrooms when they " noclip out of reality in the wrong areas". After the 4chan post gained fame, several Internet users wrote horror stories relating to
7120-524: A three-year restraining order and was quoted as follows: "Mr Cheape said he saw 15 to 20 screenshots a day regarding him, his partner, and his business. It was described as a paedophile grooming operation, and the suggestion was made that the children were in the basement of the store, and he described that you were passing information on to his suppliers that he was a paedophile and that there was an international investigation involving Mr Cheape." On January 25, 2019, Comet Ping Pong suffered an arson attack when
7298-469: A video about Bieber's music video and its alleged references to Pizzagate. Rotzank's video gained 3 million views in two days and led "Pizzagate" to become a trending topic on the Spanish-language Twitter . Adherents of the theory also believe that Bieber gave a coded signal admitting as such in a later Instagram Live video, where he touched his hat after being asked to do so in the chat if he
Pizzagate conspiracy theory - Misplaced Pages Continue
7476-637: A worldwide protest against the Church of Scientology held by members of Anonymous. On January 15, 2008, a 4chan user posted to /b/, suggesting participants "do something big" against the Church of Scientology's website. This message resulted in the Church receiving threatening phone calls. It quickly grew into a large real-world protest. Unlike previous Anonymous attacks, this action was characterized by 4chan memes including rickrolls and Guy Fawkes masks . The raid drew criticism from some 4chan users who felt it would bring
7654-424: Is ephemeral , as threads receiving recent replies are " bumped " to the top of their respective board and old threads are deleted as new ones are created. Any nickname may be used when posting, even one that has been previously adopted, such as "Anonymous" or "moot". In place of registration, 4chan has provided tripcodes as an optional form of authenticating a poster's identity. As making a post without filling in
7832-454: Is "most closely associated" with /pol/, although only it features predominant Alt-Right beliefs; /pol/, like other boards, has been prominent in the dissemination of memes, in cases, featuring coordination to disperse Alt-Right sentiments. /pol/ "increasingly became synonymous with 4chan as a whole". The Southern Poverty Law Center regards /pol/'s rhetorical style as widely emulated by white supremacist websites such as The Daily Stormer ;
8010-606: Is "two worlds clashing. People don't trust the mainstream media anymore, but it's true that people shouldn't take the alternative media as truth, either". On December 8, 2016, Hillary Clinton responded to the conspiracy theory, speaking about the dangers of fake news websites. She said, "The epidemic of malicious fake news and fake propaganda that flooded social media over the past year, it's now clear that so-called fake news can have real-world consequences". A poll conducted by Public Policy Polling on December 6–7, 2016, asked 1,224 U.S. registered voters if they thought Hillary Clinton
8188-445: Is a significant overlap between user bases of /mu/ and music site Rate Your Music . The board's culture has inspired many online music communities and meme pages on social media that emulate /mu/'s posting style. Publications such as Pitchfork and Entertainment Weekly noted the board played a significant role in popularizing various music artists, such as Death Grips , Neutral Milk Hotel , Car Seat Headrest , and Have
8366-479: Is a subject of jokes on /b/. Christopher Poole told The New York Times , in a discussion on the moderation of /b/, that "the power lies in the community to dictate its own standards" and that site staff simply provided a framework. The humor of /b/'s many users, who refer to themselves as "/b/tards", is often incomprehensible to newcomers and outsiders, and is characterized by intricate inside jokes and dark comedy . Users often refer to each other, and much of
8544-422: Is associated with biases in reasoning, such as the conjunction fallacy . Clare Birchall at King's College London describes conspiracy theory as a "form of popular knowledge or interpretation". The use of the word 'knowledge' here suggests ways in which conspiracy theory may be considered in relation to legitimate modes of knowing. The relationship between legitimate and illegitimate knowledge, Birchall claims,
8722-510: Is closer than common dismissals of conspiracy theory contend. Theories involving multiple conspirators that are proven to be correct, such as the Watergate scandal , are usually referred to as investigative journalism or historical analysis rather than conspiracy theory. Bjerg (2016) writes: "the way we normally use the term conspiracy theory excludes instances where the theory has been generally accepted as true. The Watergate scandal serves as
8900-418: Is common across both historical and contemporary cultures, and may arise from innate human tendencies towards gossip, group cohesion, and religion. One historical review of conspiracy theories concluded that "Evidence suggests that the aversive feelings that people experience when in crisis—fear, uncertainty, and the feeling of being out of control—stimulate a motivation to make sense of the situation, increasing
9078-459: Is correlated with antigovernmental orientations and a low sense of political efficacy, with conspiracy believers perceiving a governmental threat to individual rights and displaying a deep skepticism that who one votes for really matters. Conspiracy theories are often commonly believed, some even being held by the majority of the population. A broad cross-section of Americans today gives credence to at least some conspiracy theories. For instance,
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#17328446798709256-532: Is dedicated to discussing topics regarding unexplained phenomena , the supernatural , and non-political conspiracy theories . /x/ was initially launched in January 2005 as 4chan's general photography board; in February 2007, it was repurposed as a paranormal-themed board. Many of the earliest creepypastas (Internet horror -related legends) were created on /x/. The idea of the Backrooms gained popularity thanks to
9434-512: Is encouraged by the site's total anonymity and the absence of an archive". Douglas cited Encyclopedia Dramatica 's definition of /b/ as "the asshole of the Internets [ sic ]". Mattathias Schwartz of The New York Times likened /b/ to "a high-school bathroom stall, or an obscene telephone party line ", while Baltimore City Paper wrote that "in the high school of the Internet, /b/ is the kid with
9612-474: Is generally based not on evidence, but in the faith of the believer. Noam Chomsky contrasts conspiracy theory to institutional analysis which focuses mostly on the public, long-term behavior of publicly known institutions, as recorded in, for example, scholarly documents or mainstream media reports. Conspiracy theory conversely posits the existence of secretive coalitions of individuals and speculates on their alleged activities. Belief in conspiracy theories
9790-401: Is generally of low quality. For example, conspiracy theories are often dependent on eyewitness testimony , despite its unreliability, while disregarding objective analyses of the evidence. Conspiracy theories are not able to be falsified and are reinforced by fallacious arguments . In particular, the logical fallacy circular reasoning is used by conspiracy theorists: both evidence against
9968-836: Is much more difficult to convince people who already believe in conspiracy theories. Conspiracist belief systems are not based on external evidence, but instead use circular logic where every belief is supported by other conspiracist beliefs. In addition, conspiracy theories have a "self-sealing" nature, in which the types of arguments used to support them make them resistant to questioning from others. Characteristics of successful strategies for reaching conspiracy theorists have been divided into several broad categories: 1) Arguments can be presented by "trusted messengers", such as people who were formerly members of an extremist group. 2) Since conspiracy theorists think of themselves as people who value critical thinking, this can be affirmed and then redirected to encourage being more critical when analyzing
10146-575: Is not available, except for staff, and users typically post anonymously. As of 2022 , 4chan receives more than 22 million unique monthly visitors, of whom approximately half are from the United States . 4chan was created as an unofficial English-language counterpart to the Japanese imageboard Futaba Channel , also known as 2chan, and its first boards were originally used for posting images and discussion related to anime. The site has been described as
10324-489: Is not simply a conspiracy , which refers to any covert plan involving two or more people. In contrast, the term "conspiracy theory" refers to hypothesized conspiracies that have specific characteristics. For example, conspiracist beliefs invariably oppose the mainstream consensus among those people who are qualified to evaluate their accuracy, such as scientists or historians . Conspiracy theorists see themselves as having privileged access to socially persecuted knowledge or
10502-469: Is to challenge any action or statement from authorities, using even the most tenuous justifications. Responses are then assessed using a double standard, where failing to provide an immediate response to the satisfaction of the conspiracy theorist will be claimed to prove a conspiracy. Any minor errors in the response are heavily emphasized, while deficiencies in the arguments of other proponents are generally excused. In science, conspiracists may suggest that
10680-594: The Black Lives Matter movement. It focuses on an alleged global elite of child sex-traffickers, ranging from politicians to powerful businesspeople and celebrities such as Bill Gates , Tom Hanks , Ellen DeGeneres , Oprah Winfrey and Chrissy Teigen . Justin Bieber 's 2020 song "Yummy" was alleged to be about the conspiracy theory, and rekindled support for the theory during the year. The conspiracy theory gained traction when Venezuelan YouTuber , Dross Rotzank , made
10858-525: The Czech Republic , Cyprus , and Vietnam , and that some of the most frequent retweeters were bots . Members of the Reddit community /r/The_Donald created the /r/pizzagate subreddit to further develop the conspiracy theory. The sub was banned on November 23, 2016, for violating Reddit's anti- doxing policy after users posted personal details of people connected to the alleged conspiracy. Reddit released
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#173284467987011036-588: The Gamergate harassment campaign. Pizzagate-related harassment of businesses extended beyond Comet Ping Pong to include other nearby D.C. businesses such as Besta Pizza, three doors down from Comet; Little Red Fox cafe; bookstore Politics and Prose ; and French bistro, Terasol. These businesses received a high volume of threatening and menacing telephone calls, including death threats , and also experienced online harassment. The co-owners of Little Red Fox and Terasol filed police reports. Brooklyn restaurant Roberta's
11214-567: The Rothschild family , which may have led to effects on discussions about China's currency policy . Conspiracy theories once limited to fringe audiences have become commonplace in mass media , contributing to conspiracism emerging as a cultural phenomenon in the United States of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The general predisposition to believe conspiracy theories cuts across partisan and ideological lines. Conspiratorial thinking
11392-542: The Soviet Union , and Turkey . AIDS denialism by the government of South Africa , motivated by conspiracy theories, caused an estimated 330,000 deaths from AIDS. QAnon and denialism about the 2020 United States presidential election results led to the January 6 United States Capitol attack , and belief in conspiracy theories about genetically modified foods led the government of Zambia to reject food aid during
11570-493: The Stormer ' s editor, Andrew Anglin , concurred. /pol/ was where screenshots of Trayvon Martin 's hacked social media accounts were initially posted. The board's users have started antifeminist , homophobic , transphobic , and anti-Arab Twitter campaigns. Many /pol/ users favored Donald Trump during his 2016 United States presidential campaign. Both Trump and his son, Donald Trump Jr. , appeared to acknowledge
11748-559: The Teach the Controversy campaign to promote intelligent design , which often claims that there is a conspiracy of scientists suppressing their views. If they successfully find a platform to present their views in a debate format, they focus on using rhetorical ad hominems and attacking perceived flaws in the mainstream account, while avoiding any discussion of the shortcomings in their own position. The typical approach of conspiracy theories
11926-673: The University of Tübingen . Butter wrote in 2020 that the CIA document Concerning Criticism of the Warren Report , which proponents of the theory use as evidence of CIA motive and intention, does not contain the phrase "conspiracy theory" in the singular, and only uses the term "conspiracy theories" once, in the sentence: "Conspiracy theories have frequently thrown suspicion on our organisation [ sic ], for example, by falsely alleging that Lee Harvey Oswald worked for us." A conspiracy theory
12104-508: The Web in the form of blogs and YouTube videos, as well as on social media . Whether the Web has increased the prevalence of conspiracy theories or not is an open research question. The presence and representation of conspiracy theories in search engine results has been monitored and studied, showing significant variation across different topics, and a general absence of reputable, high-quality links in
12282-411: The antisemitic conspiracy theories found among political extremists on both the far right and far left . More generally, belief in conspiracy theories is associated with holding extreme and uncompromising viewpoints, and may help people in maintaining those viewpoints. While conspiracy theories are not always present in extremist groups, and do not always lead to violence when they are, they can make
12460-740: The economy . Conspiracy theories once limited to fringe audiences have become commonplace in mass media , the Internet , and social media , emerging as a cultural phenomenon of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. They are widespread around the world and are often commonly believed, some even held by the majority of the population. Interventions to reduce the occurrence of conspiracy beliefs include maintaining an open society , encouraging people to use analytical thinking , and reducing feelings of uncertainty, anxiety, or powerlessness. The Oxford English Dictionary defines conspiracy theory as "the theory that an event or phenomenon occurs as
12638-585: The fact-checking website Snopes.com and The New York Times . Numerous news organizations have debunked it as a conspiracy theory, including: The New York Observer , The Washington Post , The Independent , The Huffington Post , The Washington Times , the Los Angeles Times , Fox News , CNN , and the Miami Herald . The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia characterized
12816-516: The ritual murder of a child. Pizzagate resurged in 2020, mainly due to QAnon. While initially it was spread by only the far-right , it has since been spread by teens on TikTok "who don't otherwise fit a right-wing conspiracy theorist mold: the biggest Pizzagate spreaders on TikTok appear to otherwise be mostly interested in topics of viral dance moves and Black Lives Matter ". The conspiracy theory has developed and become less partisan and political in nature, with less emphasis on Clinton and more on
12994-505: The " rickroll " was born. A link to the YouTube video of Tay Zonday 's song " Chocolate Rain " was posted on /b/ on July 11, 2007, and then subsequently circulated by users, becoming a very popular internet meme. The portion of the song in which Zonday turns away from the microphone, with a caption stating "I move away from the mic to breathe in", became an oft-repeated meme on 4chan and inspired remixes. Fellow YouTuber Boxxy 's popularity
13172-519: The "Name" field causes posts to be attributed to "Anonymous", general understanding on 4chan holds that Anonymous is not a single person but a collective (hive) of users. Moderators generally post without a name even when performing sysop actions. A "capcode" may be used to attribute the post to "Anonymous ## Mod", although moderators often post without the capcode. In a 2011 interview on Nico Nico Douga , Poole explained that there are approximately 20 volunteer moderators active on 4chan. 4chan also has
13350-454: The "early, more childish," humour, as evident by the likes of Project Chanology ; trolling underwent a so-called "golden age" that took aim at American corporate media. In January 2011, Poole announced the deletion of the /r9k/ ("ROBOT9000") and /new/ (News) boards, saying that /new/ had become devoted to racist discussions, and /r9k/ no longer served its original purpose of being a test implementation of xkcd 's ROBOT9000 script. During
13528-487: The '#pizzagate' conspiracy theory involving Comet Ping Pong". On November 2, 2016, Flynn tweeted a link to a story with unfounded accusations and wrote, "U decide – NYPD Blows Whistle on New Hillary Emails: Money Laundering, Sex Crimes w Children, etc ... MUST READ!" The tweet was shared by over 9,000 people, but was deleted from Flynn's account sometime during December 12–13, 2016. After the shooting incident at Comet Ping Pong, Michael Flynn Jr., Michael T. Flynn's son and also
13706-405: The 4chan.net domain, prompting Poole to move the site to its current domain at 4chan.org. On March 1, 2004, Poole announced that he lacked the funds to pay the month's server bill, but was able to continue operations after receiving a swarm of donations from users. In June 2004, 4chan experienced six weeks of downtime due to PayPal suspending 4chan's donations service after receiving complaints about
13884-451: The 4chan.org domain in December 2023 for unknown reasons, and 4channel.org now redirects to 4chan.org. In a 2020 interview with Vice Media, several current or past moderators spoke about what they perceived as racist intent behind the site's management. They alleged that a managing moderator named RapeApe was attempting to use the site as a recruitment tool for the alt-right, and that Nishimura
14062-642: The American author Charles Astor Bristed , in a letter to the editor published in The New York Times on January 11, 1863. He used it to refer to claims that British aristocrats were intentionally weakening the United States during the American Civil War in order to advance their financial interests. England has had quite enough to do in Europe and Asia, without going out of her way to meddle with America. It
14240-591: The Backrooms. Many memes were created and shared across social media, further popularizing the creepypasta. American model Allison Harvard first gained notoriety in 2005 as an Internet meme on the /x/ board where she became known as Creepy Chan. Known for her large eyes and peculiar interests like fascination with blood, photos she posted on her blog were widely circulated on the board. She gained mainstream notoriety in 2009 and again in 2011 by appearing on America's Next Top Model . She would visit /x/ after new episodes of America's Next Top Model would air to see what
14418-460: The English Press and public, which is most readily accounted for on the conspiracy theory . The term is also used as a way to discredit dissenting analyses. Robert Blaskiewicz comments that examples of the term were used as early as the nineteenth century and states that its usage has always been derogatory. According to a study by Andrew McKenzie-McHarg, in contrast, in the nineteenth century
14596-481: The German edition of The Epoch Times , a far-right Falun Gong -associated newspaper. On December 30, as Bogut recovered from a knee injury, members of /r/The Donald community on Reddit promoted a false theory that his injury was connected to his support for Pizzagate. Jonathan Albright, an assistant professor of media analytics at Elon University , said that a disproportionate number of tweets about Pizzagate came from
14774-477: The Western world, with conspirators often alleged to enact their plans via sorcery or witchcraft; one common belief identifies modern technology as itself being a form of sorcery, created with the goal of harming or controlling the people. In China , one widely published conspiracy theory claims that a number of events including the rise of Hitler , the 1997 Asian financial crisis , and climate change were planned by
14952-416: The abusers murder the children to "harvest" the adrenochrome from their blood, which they then use as a drug or as an elixir to remain youthful . A related conspiracy theory known as "Frazzledrip" (sometimes spelled "Frazzled.rip") emerged in 2018, claiming that an "extreme snuff film " was recovered from Anthony Weiner ' s stolen laptop and was circulating on the dark web . According to that story,
15130-404: The alias "moot". In April 2009, Poole was voted the world's most influential person of 2008 by an open Internet poll conducted by Time magazine . The results were questioned even before the poll completed, as automated voting programs and manual ballot stuffing were used to influence the vote. 4chan's interference with the vote seemed increasingly likely, when it was found that reading
15308-528: The alleged worldwide elite of child sex-traffickers. Rumors stirring in the NYPD that Huma 's emails point to a pedophila ring and @HillaryClinton is at the center. #GoHillary #PodestaEmails23 On October 30, 2016, a Twitter account posting white supremacist material which said it was run by a Jewish New York lawyer falsely claimed that the New York City Police Department (NYPD) had discovered
15486-468: The anime The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya in nonchronological order. Shortly after, an anonymous user responded with a mathematical proof that argued viewers would have to watch at least 93,884,313,611 episodes to see all possible orderings. Seven years later, professional mathematicians recognized the mathematical proof as a partial solution to a superpermutations problem that was unsolved for 25 years. Australian mathematician Greg Egan later published
15664-439: The attack by urging them to watch a YouTube video about the conspiracy. He was subsequently charged with two additional offenses, with the grand jury returning an indictment charging him with assault with a dangerous weapon and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. On March 24, 2017, following a plea agreement with prosecutors, Welch pleaded guilty to the federal charge of interstate transport of firearms and
15842-479: The board's intended purpose is "discussion of news, world events, political issues, and other related topics." /pol/ was created in October 2011 as a rebranding of 4chan's news board, /new/, which was deleted that January for a high volume of racist discussion. Although there had previously been a strong left-libertarian contingent to 4chan activists, there was a gradual rightward turn on 4chan's politics board in
16020-464: The broader QAnon movement became an international phenomenon, Pizzagate also gained new traction and became less U.S.-centric in nature, with videos and posts on the topic in Italy, Brazil, Turkey and other countries worldwide each gaining millions of views. This new iteration is less partisan ; the majority of the (mostly teenage) promoters of the #PizzaGate hashtag on TikTok were not right-wing, and support
16198-697: The business is making semi-overt, semi-tongue-in-cheek, and semi-sarcastic inferences towards sex with minors. The artists that work for and with the business also generate nothing but cultish imagery of disembodiment, blood, beheadings, sex, and of course pizza. The story was picked up by other fake news websites like InfoWars , Planet Free Will , and The Vigilant Citizen , and was promoted by alt-right activists such as Mike Cernovich , Brittany Pettibone , and Jack Posobiec . Other promoters included: David Seaman , former writer for TheStreet.com , CBS46 anchor Ben Swann , basketball player Andrew Bogut , and Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson , as well as
16376-414: The conspiracy and an absence of evidence for it are re-interpreted as evidence of its truth, whereby the conspiracy becomes a matter of faith rather than something that can be proved or disproved. The epistemic strategy of conspiracy theories has been called "cascade logic": each time new evidence becomes available, a conspiracy theory is able to dismiss it by claiming that even more people must be part of
16554-463: The conspiracy and fired a rifle inside the restaurant to break the lock on a door to a storage room during his search. Also, the restaurant's owner and staff received death threats from conspiracy theorists. Pizzagate is generally considered a predecessor to the QAnon conspiracy theory. It also generated another offshoot conspiracy theory, called Frazzledrip , which involved Hillary Clinton participating in
16732-511: The conspiracy theory being debunked, it continued to spread on social media, with over one million messages using hashtag #Pizzagate on Twitter in November 2016. Stefanie MacWilliams, who wrote an article promoting the conspiracy on Planet Free Will , was subsequently reported by the Toronto Star as saying, "I really have no regrets and it's honestly really grown our audience". Pizzagate, she said,
16910-521: The conspiracy theory is false, attempting to discredit the source, explaining how the logic is invalid or misleading, and providing links to fact-checking websites. It can also be effective to use these strategies in advance, informing people that they could encounter misleading information in the future, and why the information should be rejected (also called inoculation or prebunking). While it has been suggested that discussing conspiracy theories can raise their profile and make them seem more legitimate to
17088-562: The conspiracy theory. 3) Approaches demonstrate empathy, and are based on building understanding together, which is supported by modeling open-mindedness in order to encourage the conspiracy theorists to do likewise. 4) The conspiracy theories are not attacked with ridicule or aggressive deconstruction, and interactions are not treated like an argument to be won; this approach can work with the general public, but among conspiracy theorists it may simply be rejected. Interventions that reduce feelings of uncertainty, anxiety, or powerlessness result in
17266-458: The conspiracy theory; instead, they may just use it in an attempt to gain public approval. Conspiratorial claims can act as a successful rhetorical strategy to convince a portion of the public via appeal to emotion . Conspiracy theories typically justify themselves by focusing on gaps or ambiguities in knowledge, and then arguing that the true explanation for this must be a conspiracy . In contrast, any evidence that directly supports their claims
17444-444: The conspiracy. Many of the images shown were friends and family who had liked Comet Ping Pong's page on Facebook . In some cases, imagery was taken from unrelated websites and purported to be Alefantis' own. The restaurant's owners and staff were harassed and threatened on social media websites, and the owner received death threats. The restaurant's Yelp page was locked by the site's operators citing reviews that were "motivated more by
17622-510: The conspirators as being Evil Incarnate: of having caused all the ills from which we suffer, committing abominable acts of unthinkable cruelty on a routine basis, and striving ultimately to subvert or destroy everything we hold dear. A conspiracy theory may take any matter as its subject, but certain subjects attract greater interest than others. Favored subjects include famous deaths and assassinations, morally dubious government activities, suppressed technologies, and " false flag " terrorism. Among
17800-414: The controversial Sad Satan video game. "[A] significant and influential element of contemporary internet culture", 4chan is responsible for many early memes and the site has received positive attention for its association with memes. This included " So I herd u liek mudkipz " [ sic ], which involved a phrase based on Pokémon and which generated numerous YouTube tribute videos, and
17978-450: The controversy in the description of their videos. The artist Arrington de Dionyso, who once had painted a mural at the pizzeria that had been painted over several years before the controversy, described the campaign of harassment against him in detail, and said of the attacks in general, "I think it's a very deliberate assault, which will eventually be a coordinated assault on all forms of free expression." The affair has drawn comparisons with
18156-402: The cover-up. Any information that contradicts the conspiracy theory is suggested to be disinformation by the alleged conspiracy. Similarly, the continued lack of evidence directly supporting conspiracist claims is portrayed as confirming the existence of a conspiracy of silence; the fact that other people have not found or exposed any conspiracy is taken as evidence that those people are part of
18334-581: The design of Futaba Channel's Nijiura ("Random") board. It was the first board created, and has been described as 4chan's most popular board, accounting for 30% of site traffic in 2009. Gawker 's Nick Douglas summarized /b/ as a board where "people try to shock, entertain, and coax free porn from each other." /b/ has a "no rules" policy, except for bans on certain illegal content, such as child pornography , invasions of other websites (posting floods of disruptive content), and under-18 viewing, all of which are inherited from site-wide rules. The "no invasions" rule
18512-427: The early days of the website, Poole hosted meetings from 2005 to 2008 in various locations to promote it, such as Otakon , that popularized some of the first 4chan-related memes. Additionally, a lolicon board was created at /l/ (Lolikon), but was disabled following the posting of genuine child pornography and ultimately deleted in October 2004, after threats of legal action. In February 2004, GoDaddy suspended
18690-429: The early-mid 2010s, with the fundamentalist approach to free speech contributing. The board quickly attracted posters with a political persuasion that later would be described with a new term, the alt-right . Media sources have characterized /pol/ as predominantly racist and sexist , with many of its posts taking an explicitly neo-Nazi bent. The site's far-reaching culture of vitriolic and discriminatory content
18868-448: The effects of workplace rumors, which share some characteristics with conspiracy theories and result in both decreased productivity and increased stress. Subsequent effects on managers include reduced profits, reduced trust from employees, and damage to the company's image. Conspiracy theories can divert attention from important social, political, and scientific issues. In addition, they have been used to discredit scientific evidence to
19046-495: The establishments allegedly involved was the Comet Ping Pong pizzeria in Washington, D.C. Members of the alt-right , conservative journalists, and others who had urged Clinton's prosecution over her use of an unrelated private email server spread the conspiracy theory on social media outlets such as 4chan , 8chan , Reddit and Twitter . In response, a man from North Carolina traveled to Comet Ping Pong to investigate
19224-512: The file named "Frazzled.rip" was hidden in a folder called "life insurance" in Weiner's computer: the video contained in that file was said to show Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin raping and murdering a young girl, drinking her adrenochrome -rich blood in a Satanic ritual, and "tak[ing] turns wearing the little girl's face like a mask". Purported frames from the video circulated to back these claims: according to Snopes , some of these images came from
19402-586: The first letter of the first 21 candidates in the poll spelled out a phrase containing two 4chan memes: "mARBLECAKE. ALSO, THE GAME ." On September 12, 2009, Poole gave a talk on why 4chan has a reputation as a "Meme Factory" at the Paraflows Symposium in Vienna, Austria , which was part of the Paraflows 09 festival, themed Urban Hacking . In this talk, Poole mainly attributed this to the anonymous system, and to
19580-462: The first week of December 2016. From the start of 2017 through January of 2020, the average number of weekly PizzaGate mentions, likes and shares on Facebook and Instagram was under 20,000". In August 2020, Facebook temporarily suspended use of the "#savethechildren" hashtag, when used to promote elements of the Pizzagate conspiracy theory and QAnon. The improper use of the hashtag caused protests from
19758-423: The form of a weekly post dedicated to them and a corresponding theme. In 2005, the installment of a word filter which changed "egg" to "duck", and thus "eggroll" to "duckroll", across 4chan led to a bait-and-switch meme in which users deceitfully linked to a picture of a duck on wheels. This was then modified into users linking to the music video for Rick Astley 's 1987 song " Never Gonna Give You Up ". Thus,
19936-710: The general public or in a legal context. Conspiratorial strategies also share characteristics with those used by lawyers who are attempting to discredit expert testimony, such as claiming that the experts have ulterior motives in testifying, or attempting to find someone who will provide statements to imply that expert opinion is more divided than it actually is. It is possible that conspiracy theories may also produce some compensatory benefits to society in certain situations. For example, they may help people identify governmental deceptions, particularly in repressive societies, and encourage government transparency . However, real conspiracies are normally revealed by people working within
20114-709: The government of Zambia to reject food aid during a famine , at a time when 3 million people in the country were suffering from hunger . Conspiracy theories are a significant obstacle to improvements in public health . People who believe in health-related conspiracy theories are less likely to follow medical advice , and more likely to use alternative medicine instead. Conspiratorial anti-vaccination beliefs, such as conspiracy theories about pharmaceutical companies , can result in reduced vaccination rates and have been linked to outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases . Health-related conspiracy theories often inspire resistance to water fluoridation , and contributed to
20292-506: The group more extreme, provide an enemy to direct hatred towards, and isolate members from the rest of society. Conspiracy theories are most likely to inspire violence when they call for urgent action, appeal to prejudices, or demonize and scapegoat enemies. Conspiracy theorizing in the workplace can also have economic consequences. For example, it leads to lower job satisfaction and lower commitment, resulting in workers being more likely to leave their jobs. Comparisons have also been made with
20470-590: The impact of Pizzagate to the Satanic panic of the 1980s: at the time, hundreds of daycare workers were falsely accused of abusing children. After the Comet Ping Pong shooting, Alex Jones of InfoWars backed off from the idea that the D.C. pizzeria was the center of the conspiracy. On December 4, InfoWars uploaded a YouTube video that linked Pizzagate to the November 13 death of a sex-worker-rights activist. The video falsely claimed that she had been investigating
20648-474: The impact of the Lancet MMR autism fraud . Conspiracy theories are a fundamental component of a wide range of radicalized and extremist groups, where they may play an important role in reinforcing the ideology and psychology of their members as well as further radicalizing their beliefs. These conspiracy theories often share common themes, even among groups that would otherwise be fundamentally opposed, such as
20826-489: The information available to the rest of society, believing in conspiracy theories may appear to be justified. In these cases, the solution would be to break the group's informational isolation. Public exposure to conspiracy theories can be reduced by interventions that reduce their ability to spread, such as by encouraging people to reflect before sharing a news story. Researchers Carlos Diaz Ruiz and Tomas Nilsson have proposed technical and rhetorical interventions to counter
21004-523: The kids", and "finish what the other guy didn't". In 2018, the city of Portsmouth, England experienced its own version of Pizzagate when the Scottish owner of a vaping business was targeted in what the Sunday Times called a "xenophobic campaign". This lasted six months. The main culprit — a man called Oliver Redmond — was prosecuted and sentenced to five months in prison. Judge William Mousley QC also imposed
21182-466: The killer behind the 2014 Isla Vista killings . He claims to have talked with both Harper-Mercer and Rodger on Reddit and 4chan and believes that he was part of a "beta uprising", also posting a message on 4chan about his intention the day before his attack. /sci/ is 4chan's science and mathematics board. On September 26, 2011, an anonymous user on /sci/ posted a question regarding the shortest possible way to watch all possible orders of episodes of
21360-561: The lack of data retention on the site ("The site has no memory."). In April 2010, Poole gave evidence in the trial United States of America v. David Kernell as a government witness. As a witness, he explained the terminology used on 4chan to the prosecutor, ranging from "OP" to " lurker ". He also explained to the court the nature of the data given to the FBI as part of the search warrant , including how users can be uniquely identified from site audit logs. The "random" board, /b/ , follows
21538-402: The likelihood of perceiving conspiracies in social situations." Historically, conspiracy theories have been closely linked to prejudice , propaganda , witch hunts , wars , and genocides . They are often strongly believed by the perpetrators of terrorist attacks , and were used as justification by Timothy McVeigh and Anders Breivik , as well as by governments such as Nazi Germany ,
21716-403: The local District of Columbia charge of assault with a dangerous weapon. Welch also agreed to pay $ 5,744.33 for damages to the restaurant. U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson (future Supreme Court Justice ) sentenced Welch to four years in prison on June 22, 2017; at the sentencing hearing, Welch apologized for his conduct and said he had been "foolish and reckless". On March 3, 2020, Welch
21894-475: The longest-standing and most widely recognized conspiracy theories are notions concerning the assassination of John F. Kennedy , the 1969 Apollo Moon landings , and the 9/11 terrorist attacks , as well as numerous theories pertaining to alleged plots for world domination by various groups, both real and imaginary. Conspiracy beliefs are widespread around the world. In rural Africa, common targets of conspiracy theorizing include societal elites, enemy tribes, and
22072-442: The matter as "fictitious". Much of the purported evidence cited by the conspiracy theory's proponents had been taken from entirely different sources and made to appear as if it supported the conspiracy. Images of children of family and friends of the pizzeria's staff were taken from social media sites such as Instagram and claimed to be photos of victims. On December 10, 2016, The New York Times published an article that analyzed
22250-406: The news coverage itself than the reviewer's personal consumer experience". Several bands who had performed at the pizzeria also faced harassment. For example, Amanda Kleinman of Heavy Breathing deleted her Twitter account after receiving negative comments connecting her and her band to the conspiracy theory. Another band, Sex Stains , had closed the comments of their YouTube videos and addressed
22428-427: The online handle "moot". Poole had been a regular participant on Something Awful 's subforum "Anime Death Tentacle Rape Whorehouse" (ADTRW), where many users were familiar with the Japanese imageboard format and Futaba Channel ("2chan.net"). When creating 4chan, Poole obtained Futaba Channel's open source code and translated the Japanese text into English using AltaVista 's Babel Fish online translator. After
22606-416: The outside world, as fags . They are often referred to by outsiders as trolls , who regularly act with the intention of "doing it for the lulz", a corruption of " LOL " used to denote amusement at another's expense . A significant amount of media coverage is in response to /b/'s culture, which has characterised it as adolescent, crude and spiteful, with one publication writing that their "bad behavior
22784-453: The passes to go towards supporting the site. On January 21, 2015, Poole stepped down as the site's administrator, citing stress from controversies such as Gamergate as the reason for his departure. On September 21, 2015, Poole announced that Hiroyuki Nishimura had purchased from him the ownership rights to 4chan, without disclosing the terms of the acquisition. Nishimura was the former administrator of 2channel between 1999 and 2014,
22962-419: The perpetrators of terrorist attacks, and were used as justification by Timothy McVeigh , Anders Breivik and Brenton Tarrant , as well as by governments such as Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union . AIDS denialism by the government of South Africa , motivated by conspiracy theories, caused an estimated 330,000 deaths from AIDS, while belief in conspiracy theories about genetically modified foods led
23140-426: The personal email account of John Podesta , Hillary Clinton 's campaign chair , was hacked in a spear phishing attack. WikiLeaks published his emails in November 2016. Proponents of the Pizzagate conspiracy theory falsely claimed the emails contained coded messages that connected several high-ranking Democratic Party officials and U.S. restaurants with an alleged human trafficking and child sex ring . One of
23318-455: The platform with the #PizzaGate hashtag were "viewed more than 82 million times in recent months", and Google searches for the term also increased in that time. They also reported that "In the first week of June, comments, likes and shares of PizzaGate also spiked to more than 800,000 on Facebook and nearly 600,000 on Instagram, according to data from CrowdTangle ... That compares with 512,000 interactions on Facebook and 93,000 on Instagram during
23496-512: The plot, rather than considering that it may be because no conspiracy exists. This strategy lets conspiracy theories insulate themselves from neutral analyses of the evidence, and makes them resistant to questioning or correction, which is called "epistemic self-insulation". Conspiracy theorists often take advantage of false balance in the media. They may claim to be presenting a legitimate alternative viewpoint that deserves equal time to argue its case; for example, this strategy has been used by
23674-399: The posting of illegal and offensive content as a result of its lax censorship and moderation policies. In 2008, The Guardian summarized the 4chan community as "lunatic, juvenile [...] brilliant, ridiculous and alarming". The majority of posting on 4chan takes place on imageboards , on which users have the ability to share images and create threaded discussions. As of August 2022 ,
23852-532: The public, the discussion can put people on guard instead as long as it is sufficiently persuasive. Other approaches to reduce the appeal of conspiracy theories in general among the public may be based in the emotional and social nature of conspiratorial beliefs. For example, interventions that promote analytical thinking in the general public are likely to be effective. Another approach is to intervene in ways that decrease negative emotions , and specifically to improve feelings of personal hope and empowerment. It
24030-454: The publication that Good Smile obtained partial ownership in the website as compensation. In October 2016, it was reported that the site was facing financial difficulties that could lead to its closure or radical changes. In a post titled "Winter is Coming", Hiroyuki Nishimura explained, "We had tried to keep 4chan as is. But I failed. I am sincerely sorry", citing server costs, infrastructure costs, and network fees. On November 17, 2018, it
24208-620: The restaurant's walls, a desk, and a door. Welch later told police that he had planned to "self-investigate" the conspiracy theory. Welch saw himself as the potential hero of the story—a rescuer of children. He surrendered after officers surrounded the restaurant and was arrested without incident; no one was injured. Welch told police he had read online that the Comet restaurant was harboring child sex slaves and that he wanted to see for himself if they were there. In an interview with The New York Times , Welch later said that he regretted how he had handled
24386-722: The results. One conspiracy theory that propagated through former US President Barack Obama's time in office claimed that he was born in Kenya, instead of Hawaii where he was actually born . Former governor of Arkansas and political opponent of Obama Mike Huckabee made headlines in 2011 when he, among other members of Republican leadership, continued to question Obama's citizenship status. A conspiracy theory can be local or international, focused on single events or covering multiple incidents and entire countries, regions and periods of history. According to Russell Muirhead and Nancy Rosenblum , historically, traditional conspiracism has entailed
24564-571: The role of chance and unintended consequences. Nearly all observations are explained as having been deliberately planned by the alleged conspirators. In conspiracy theories, the conspirators are usually claimed to be acting with extreme malice. As described by Robert Brotherton: The malevolent intent assumed by most conspiracy theories goes far beyond everyday plots borne out of self-interest, corruption, cruelty, and criminality. The postulated conspirators are not merely people with selfish agendas or differing values. Rather, conspiracy theories postulate
24742-544: The same fictional universe . A stand-alone wiki was created in January 2008 on the EditThis wiki hosting service to display the SCP articles. The EditThis website did not have moderators, or the ability to delete articles. Members communicated through individual article talk pages and the /x/ board. /x/ was the first place where the 2015 viral video 11B-X-1371 was posted. The board also contributed to investigating and popularizing
24920-462: The same thing." In the days leading up to the 2016 election, Michael Flynn , then a top surrogate for Trump and later Trump's National Security Advisor , posted multiple tweets on Twitter containing conspiratorial material regarding Hillary Clinton and her staff. They alleged that John Podesta drank the blood and bodily fluids of other humans in Satanic rituals, which Politico says "soon morphed into
25098-543: The same year, the /soc/ board was created in an effort to reduce the number of socialization threads on /b/. /r9k/ was restored on October 23, 2011, along with /hc/ ("Hardcore", previously deleted), /pol/ (a rebranding of /new/) and the new /diy/ board, in addition to an apology by Poole where he recalls how he criticized the deletion of Encyclopedia Dramatica and realized that he had done the same. In 2010, 4chan had implemented reCAPTCHA in an effort to thwart spam arising from JavaScript worms. By November 2011, 4chan made
25276-411: The site's content. Following 4chan's return, several non-anime related boards were introduced, including /k/ (Weapons), /o/ ( Auto ), and /v/ ( Video Games ). In 2008, nine new boards were created, including the sports board at /sp/, the fashion board at /fa/ and the "Japan/General" (the name later changed to " Otaku Culture") board at /jp/. By this point, 4chan's culture had altered, moving away from
25454-460: The site's content. In January 2009, Poole signed a new deal with an advertising company; in February 2009, he was $ 20,000 in debt, and the site was continuing to lose money. The 4chan servers were moved from Texas to California in August 2008, which upgraded the maximum bandwidth throughput of 4chan from 100 Mbit/s to 1 Gbit/s. Unlike most web forums, 4chan does not have a registration system, allowing users to post anonymously . Posting
25632-592: The site's creation, Poole invited users from the ADTRW subforum, many of whom were dissatisfied with the site's moderation, to visit 4chan, which he advertised as an English-language counterpart to Futaba Channel and a place for Western fans to discuss anime and manga. At its founding, the site only hosted one board: /b/ (Anime/Random). Before the end of 2003, several new anime-related boards were added, including /h/ ( Hentai ), /c/ ( Anime/Cute ), /d/ (Hentai/Alternative), /w/ (Wallpapers/Anime), /y/ ( Yaoi ), and /a/ (Anime). In
25810-442: The site's homepage lists 75 imageboards and one Flash animation board. Most boards have their own set of rules and are dedicated to a specific topic, including anime and manga, video games, music, literature, fitness, politics, and sports, among others. Uniquely, the "Random" board—also known as /b/—enforces few rules. 4chan is the Internet's most trafficked imageboard, according to the Los Angeles Times . 4chan's Alexa rank
25988-453: The situation but did not dismiss the conspiracy theory, and rejected the description of it as "fake news". Some conspiracy theorists speculated the shooting was a staged attempt to discredit their investigations . On December 13, 2016, Welch was charged with one count of "interstate transportation of a firearm with intent to commit an offense" (a federal crime ). According to court documents, Welch attempted to recruit friends three days before
26166-442: The spread of conspiracy theories on social media. 4chan 4chan is an anonymous English-language imageboard website. Launched by Christopher "moot" Poole in October 2003, the site hosts boards dedicated to a wide variety of topics, from video games and television to literature , cooking , weapons , music , history , technology , anime , physical fitness , politics , and sports , among others. Registration
26344-436: The standard reference." By contrast, the term "Watergate conspiracy theory" is used to refer to a variety of hypotheses in which those convicted in the conspiracy were in fact the victims of a deeper conspiracy. There are also attempts to analyze the theory of conspiracy theories (conspiracy theory theory) to ensure that the term "conspiracy theory" is used to refer to narratives that have been debunked by experts, rather than as
26522-622: The support by tweeting /pol/-associated memes. Upon his successful election, a /pol/ moderator embedded a pro-Trump video at the top of all of the board's pages. /r9k/ is a board that implements Randall Munroe 's " ROBOT9000 " algorithm, where no exact reposts are permitted. It is credited as the origin of the "greentext" rhetorical style which often center around stories of social interactions and resulting ineptness. By 2012, personal confession stories of self-loathing, depression, and attempted suicide began to supersede /b/-style roleplaying , otaku , and video game discussion. It became
26700-412: The system, such as whistleblowers and journalists , and most of the effort spent by conspiracy theorists is inherently misdirected. The most dangerous conspiracy theories are likely to be those that incite violence, scapegoat disadvantaged groups, or spread misinformation about important societal issues. Strategies to address conspiracy theories have been divided into two categories based on whether
26878-856: The target audience is the conspiracy theorists or the general public. These strategies have been described as reducing either the supply or the demand for conspiracy theories. Both approaches can be used at the same time, although there may be issues of limited resources, or if arguments are used which may appeal to one audience at the expense of the other. People who feel empowered are more resistant to conspiracy theories. Methods to promote empowerment include encouraging people to use analytical thinking , priming people to think of situations where they are in control, and ensuring that decisions by society and government are seen to follow procedural fairness (the use of fair decision-making procedures). Methods of refutation which have shown effectiveness in various circumstances include: providing facts that demonstrate
27056-410: The target of occasional denial of service attacks . For instance, on December 28, 2010, 4chan and other websites went down due to such an attack, following which Poole said on his blog, "We now join the ranks of MasterCard , Visa , PayPal , etc and is an exclusive club!" The site was launched as 4chan.net on October 1, 2003, by Christopher Poole, a then-15-year-old student from New York City using
27234-462: The term conspiracy theory simply "suggests a plausible postulate of a conspiracy" and "did not, at this stage, carry any connotations, either negative or positive", though sometimes a postulate so-labeled was criticized. The author and activist George Monbiot argued that the terms "conspiracy theory" and "conspiracy theorist" are misleading, as conspiracies truly exist and theories are "rational explanations subject to disproof". Instead, he proposed
27412-508: The term " an hero " [ sic ] as a synonym for suicide , after a misspelling in the Myspace online memorial of seventh grader Mitchell Henderson. 4chan and other websites, such as the satirical Encyclopedia Dramatica , have also contributed to the development of significant amounts of leetspeak . A lolcat is an image combining a photograph of a cat with solecistic text intended to contribute humour, widely popularized by 4chan in
27590-476: The term entered everyday language in the United States after 1964, the year in which the Warren Commission published its findings on the assassination of John F. Kennedy , with The New York Times running five stories that year using the term. Whether the CIA was responsible for popularising the term "conspiracy theory" was analyzed by Michael Butter, a Professor of American Literary and Cultural History at
27768-585: The terms "conspiracy fiction" and "conspiracy fantasist". The term "conspiracy theory" is itself the subject of a conspiracy theory, which posits that the term was popularized by the CIA in order to discredit conspiratorial believers, particularly critics of the Warren Commission , by making them a target of ridicule. In his 2013 book Conspiracy Theory in America , the political scientist Lance deHaven-Smith wrote that
27946-466: The theory's believers. The restaurant's owner, James Alefantis , told The New York Times : "From this insane, fabricated conspiracy theory, we've come under constant assault. I've done nothing for days but try to clean this up and protect my staff and friends from being terrorized." Some adherents identified the Instagram account of Alefantis and pointed to some of the photos posted there as evidence of
28124-553: The theory's claims. They emphasized that: No alleged victims have come forward and no physical evidence has been found. In an interview with NPR on November 27, 2016, Comet Ping Pong owner James Alefantis referred to the conspiracy theory as "an insanely complicated, made-up, fictional lie-based story" and a "coordinated political attack". Syndicated columnist Daniel Ruth wrote that the conspiracy theorists' assertions were "dangerous and damaging fake allegations" and that they were "repeatedly debunked, disproved and dismissed". Despite
28302-464: The transition to utilizing Cloudflare following a series of DDoS attacks. The 4chan imageboards were rewritten in valid HTML5 / CSS3 in May 2012 in an effort to improve client-side performance. On September 28, 2012, 4chan introduced a "4chan pass" that, when purchased, "allows users to bypass typing a reCAPTCHA verification when posting and reporting posts on the 4chan image boards"; the money raised from
28480-592: The unrelated NGO Save the Children . The Pizzagate Massacre (originally titled Duncan ), a dark satire film inspired by the Pizzagate conspiracy theory and Edgar Maddison Welch's shooting of Comet Ping Pong, was released on VOD in November 2021. Conspiracy theory A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable. The term generally has
28658-511: The viral news network HaberSelf, where anyone can post content. These forums reposted images and allegations directly from the since-deleted subreddit, which were reprinted in full in the state-controlled press. Efe Sozeri, a columnist for The Daily Dot , suggested Turkish government sources were pushing this story to distract attention from a child abuse scandal there in March 2016. As Pizzagate spread, Comet Ping Pong received hundreds of threats from
28836-503: The website forming the basis for anonymous posting culture which influenced later websites such as Futaba Channel and 4chan; Nishimura lost 2channel's domain after it was seized by his registrar, Jim Watkins due the latter's alleged financial difficulties. Wired later reported that Japanese toy manufacturer Good Smile Company , Japanese telecommunication Dwango , and Nishimura's company Future Search Brazil may have helped facilitate Nishimura's purchase, with anonymous sources telling
29014-496: The works of Duster , D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L by Panchiko , and All Lights Fucked on the Hairy Amp Drooling by Godspeed You! Black Emperor . This was described by NPR as resembling "a secret club of preservationists obsessed with the articulation of a near-dead language". The board has attracted further attention for various projects done by its users. A group called The Pablo Collective posted
29192-720: Was "connected to a child sex ring being run out of a pizzeria in Washington DC". Nine percent of respondents said they believed she was connected, 72% said they did not, and 19% were not sure. A poll of voters conducted on December 17–20 by The Economist / YouGov asked voters if they believed that "Leaked e-mails from the Clinton campaign talked about pedophilia and human trafficking - 'Pizzagate'." The results showed that 17% of Clinton voters responded "true" while 82% responded "not true"; and 46% of Trump voters responded "true" while 53% responded "not true". Academic Roger Lancaster likened
29370-494: Was "hands-off, leaving moderation of the site primarily to RapeApe." Neither Nishimura nor RapeApe responded to these allegations. Far-right extremism has been reported by public authorities, commentators and civil society groups as connected, in part, to 4chan, an association that had arisen by 2015. According to 4chan's filings to the New York Attorney General's Office, 4chan signed an agreement to pay RapeApe $ 3,000
29548-435: Was 853 in March 2022, though it has been as high as 56. It is provided to its users free of charge and consumes a large amount of bandwidth ; as a result, its financing has often been problematic. Poole has acknowledged that donations alone could not keep the site online, and turned to advertising to help make ends meet. However, the explicit content hosted on 4chan has deterred businesses who do not want to be associated with
29726-454: Was a meeting ground for Satanic ritual abuse . Deriving its name from the Watergate scandal , the story was later posted on fake news websites , starting with Your News Wire , which cited a 4chan post from earlier that year. The Your News Wire article was subsequently spread by pro-Trump websites, including SubjectPolitics.com, which added the claim that the NYPD had raided Hillary Clinton 's property. The Conservative Daily Post ran
29904-403: Was a physical and moral impossibility that she could be carrying on a gigantic conspiracy against us. But our masses, having only a rough general knowledge of foreign affairs, and not unnaturally somewhat exaggerating the space which we occupy in the world's eye, do not appreciate the complications which rendered such a conspiracy impossible. They only look at the sudden right-about-face movement of
30082-468: Was a victim of Pizzagate (however, there is no indication that Bieber saw this comment). In April 2020, a documentary promoting Pizzagate, Out of Shadows , was made by a former Hollywood stuntman and released on YouTube. TikTok users began promoting both Out of Shadows and the alleged Bieber association until the #PizzaGate hashtag was banned by the company. The New York Times said in June 2020 that posts on
30260-400: Was added in late 2006, after /b/ users spent most of that summer "invading" Habbo Hotel . The "no rules" policy also applies to actions of administrators and moderators, which means that users may be banned at any time, for any reason, including for no reason at all. Due partially to its anonymous nature, board moderation is not always successful—indeed, the site's anti-child pornography rule
30438-583: Was also pulled into the hoax, receiving harassing phone calls, including a call from an unidentified person telling an employee that she was "going to bleed and be tortured". The restaurant became involved after a since-removed YouTube video used images from their social media accounts to imply they were part of the hoax sex ring. Others then spread the accusations on social media, claiming the " Clinton family loves Roberta's". East Side Pies, in Austin , Texas, saw one of its delivery trucks vandalized with an epithet, and
30616-493: Was announced that the site would be split into two, with the work-safe boards moved to a new domain, 4channel.org, while the NSFW boards would remain on the 4chan.org domain. In a series of posts on the topic, Nishimura explained that the split was due to 4chan being blacklisted by most advertising companies and that the new 4channel domain would allow for the site to receive advertisements by mainstream ad providers. All boards returned to
30794-432: Was being written about her and participated in discussions. The SCP Foundation , a fictional secret organization documented by the collaborative writing wiki project of the same name, originated on /x/ in 2007, when the first SCP file, SCP-173, was posted by an anonymous user. Initially a stand-alone short story, many additional SCP files were created shortly after; these new SCPs copied SCP-173's style and were set within
30972-446: Was due in part to 4chan. In his American incarnation, Pedobear is an anthropomorphic bear child predator that is often used within the community to mock contributors showing a sexual interest in children. Pedobear is one of the most popular memes on non-English imageboards, and has gained recognition across Europe, appearing in offline publications. It has been used as a symbol of pedophilia by Maltese graffiti vandals prior to
31150-451: Was related to the tweet. Pizzagate became a pillar of the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory, which emerged in 2017 and incorporated its beliefs. QAnon, which has been likened in the media to "Pizzagate on steroids", and a "big-budget sequel" to Pizzagate, linked the child trafficking ring to a nefarious worldwide conspiracy. It also developed Pizzagate's claims by adding the concepts that the sexual abuses are part of Satanic rituals and that
31328-658: Was the target of online harassment related to their supposed involvement in Pizzagate, alleged connections to the Central Intelligence Agency , and the Illuminati . The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated Pizzagate-related threats in March 2017 as part of a probe into possible Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections . On December 4, 2016, Edgar Maddison Welch, a 28-year-old man from Salisbury, North Carolina , arrived at Comet Ping Pong and fired three shots from an AR-15 style rifle that struck
31506-490: Was transferred to a Community Corrections Center (CCC); he was released on May 28. On January 12, 2017, Yusif Lee Jones, a 52-year-old man from Shreveport, Louisiana , pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana to making a threatening phone call to Besta Pizza, another pizzeria on the same block as Comet Ping Pong, three days after Welch's attack. He said he threatened Besta to "save
31684-927: Was when GETs lost meaning due to the high post rate resulting in a GET occurring every few weeks. He estimated /b/'s post rate in July 2008 to be 150,000–200,000 posts per day. The music board, /mu/ , is dedicated to the discussion of music artists, albums, genres, and instruments. Described as "4chan's best kept secret" and a "surprisingly artistic side of 4chan", /mu/ is used by users to share their music interests with similar minds and discover "great music they would never have found otherwise" with many moments of insightful candor that can affirm or challenge their own musical tastes. The board has gained notoriety for earnestly focusing upon and promoting challenging and otherwise obscure music. Some common genres discussed on /mu/ include shoegaze , experimental hip hop , witch house , IDM , midwest emo , vaporwave , and K-pop . There
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