The Twitter origins and evolution of the COVID-19 plandemic conspiracy theory Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • Tweets about plandemic (e.g., #plandemic) the notion that the COVID-19 pandemic was planned or fraudulent helped to spread several distinct conspiracy theories related to COVID-19. But the terms catchy nature attracted attention from anti-vaccine activist filmmakers who ultimately created Plandemic the 26-minute documentary. Plandemic falsely attacks NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, among others, and an eventual coronavirus vaccine. The film, which has since been widely discredited, appeared to at least temporarily shift Twitter communications to different topics and organizations, fueling the flow of conspiracy theories and misinformation itself with specific public figures to demonize.

published proceedings

  • HKS misinformation review

altmetric score

  • 38.5

author list (cited authors)

  • Kearney, M. D., Chiang, S. C., & Massey, P. M.

citation count

  • 47

complete list of authors

  • Kearney, Matthew D||Chiang, Shawn C||Massey, Philip M

publication date

  • October 2020