A Bestiary of COVID Conspiracies

Abstract

An infodemic of false information and conspiracy theories has followed closely in the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, exacerbating the public health disaster. In order to curb their spread and counter their effects, conspiratorial beliefs must be catalogued and understood. Drawing on examples from social media video and audio sharing platforms, we provide a non-exhaustive list of conspiratorial beliefs related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and categorize them into three groups: A) beliefs concerning the motivation of the conspirators, including bringing down a rival nation-state, bringing about planetary depopulation, and/or imposing global tyranny; B) beliefs concerning the nature of the COVID-19 disease, including that the disease is made-up, that its impact is exaggerated, that it is caused by a bioengineered virus, and/or that it is caused by a non-viral agent; and C) beliefs concerning the public health response, including that masks and vaccines are harmful to health, and/or that vaccination is an insidious way to track and control the population. We conclude by reflecting on the necessity of tracking and understanding the continuously evolving epistemic ecosystem of pandemic-related conspiracist beliefs in order to implement effective strategies to “quarantine” harmful conspiracy theories and “vaccinate” individuals against conspiracism.