News Today: How mainstream media helps weaponize far-right conspiracy theories
Why do people believe absurd lies about George Soros? The answer depends on the platforms you use, the media influencers you follow and the memes you see. Once an anti-Semitic rumor moved from fringe to the mainstream, it took less than two weeks for violence to erupt. The false allegation that liberal philanthropist George Soros was funding or supporting a caravan of Honduran refugees heading to the U.S. spread wildly from a single tweet posted on Oct. 14. Along with far-right memes , that allegation helped motivate both an alleged mail-bomber and a mass shooter at a Pittsburgh synagogue. The way these messages traveled across the internet in this short time span is just one example of how extremist messages and memes circulate with incredible speed across mainstream social media platforms. From our vantage point as researchers of visual and digital communication , memes – short, often image-based forms of communication – are powerful engines of persuasion, even thou...