The key to understanding online conspiracy theorists is to understand how the line between fantasy and reality can become blurred.
Arizona election officials released this image as one example of armed people watching ballot drop boxes.
Maricopa County Recorder's Office via CBS News
What deep-dive polls reveal at the political landscape of America as the 2022 midterm election approaches.
Many of the protestors who stormed the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 are said to believe evil forces were at work in Donald Trump’s removal from office.
Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA
Religious belief in the devil may have declined, but western demons are alive and well in popular culture and contemporary politics.
When politicians swear we might think they’re simply overcome with emotion. But there’s often more going on behind the language they use.
(Shutterstock)
Politicians dropping the f-bomb tend to be seen as acting out of emotion, but the way we use taboo language is often about what we can accomplish by violating rules.
A man holds a QAnon sign outside the White House. Even if most people don’t act on their conspiratorial beliefs, such theories can still pose very real dangers.
(Shutterstock)
Many of those who believe conspiracy theories do not necessarily act on those beliefs. Nevertheless, conspiracy theories can still spread dangerous misinformation that can cause harm.
QAnon members participate in a protest against the counting of electoral votes in Washington, DC, which affirmed President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
Romana Didulo and her followers are seeking to replace legitimate governments via their sovereign citizenship movement. Their claims are outrageous and baseless, but they must not be ignored.
An image of a mock gallows on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is shown as the House select committee holds hearings in June 2022 into the attack.
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
It’s easy to consider the erosion of democratic norms in the U.S. as purely political, but it poses serious risks to the country’s economic order. Is democracy in the gallows?
Social media is being used all over the world to express hatred of Jews.
Urupong/ iStock / Getty Images Plus
Antisemitism today does not always appear in the form of traditional hate speech. It manifests in GIFs, memes, vlogs, comments and reactions on social media platforms.
Proud Boy Dominic Pezzola is filmed smashing Capitol building window on Jan. 6.
(U.S. Federal court documents)
Performance crime is the act of filming while engaging in criminal activity. During the Jan. 6 capitol riots, insurrectionists uploaded performance crime videos and photos, incriminating themselves.
A protester holds a Q sign as he waits to enter a campaign rally with then-President Donald Trump in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., in August 2018.
AP Photo/Matt Rourke
The latest season of Stranger Things features a town in the grip of a ‘Satanic Panic’. This reflects the very fears that existed in 1980s America, which still exist in different forms today.
The investigation into the January 6 Capitol riots asks: is the nation’s well-being ensured by allegiance to its laws or its leaders? The founding fathers chose the former – could we say the same for Trump’s inner circle?
Tyson ‘Freedom George’ Billings, a prominent figure in the ‘freedom convoy,’ leaves the Ottawa courthouse after being released on June 15, 2022.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Patrick Doyle
The ‘freedom convoy’ provides a way to express the emotional self-interest of Canadians — mostly white men — who feel they are losing their rightful place in Canadian society.
Romana Didulo salutes in a photo on her Telegram page.
(Antihate.ca/Telegram)
Romana Didulo has declared herself the Queen of Canada. Thousands of people follow her and her outlandish conspiracy theories, and here’s why that’s so dangerous.
Why do people believe conspiracies like flat-Earth theory? An expert explains.
Nine of the 48 candidates for Alaska’s lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives participate in a debate on May 12, 2022, at the Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center in Anchorage.
Loren Holmes / ADN
The number of candidates running in party primaries has ballooned since 2010. That may result in extreme, inexperienced or controversial nominees who do not represent a majority of voters.
Alexander Ermochenko / Reuters / Alamy stock photo
New Zealand has a high concentration of extremist alt-right groups relative to similar countries. The challenge now is to head off hate crime and violence.
Many people are led to conspiracy theories and extremist views from less extreme positions.
AP Photo/Ted S. Warren