Conspiracy Theories?

Abstract

This chapter examines what, if anything, governments in Western liberal democratic societies should do to reduce rates of acceptance of unwarranted conspiracy theories. It begins by addressing three concerns. One is that it is unclear what counts as a conspiracy theory. A second is that it might be supposed that the acceptance of unwarranted conspiracy theories is not harmful. And if the acceptance of unwarranted conspiracy theories is not harmful then it is unclear why governments should be trying to reduce their rates of acceptance. A third concern is that it is unclear that we should be encouraging governments to undertake the project of reducing the popularity of unwarranted conspiracy theories, given that sometimes governments themselves have been known to mislead us about conspiracy theories. The chapter then looks at short-term and long-term strategies to reduce the popularity of unwarranted conspiracy theories. Long-term strategies include promoting critical reasoning skills through schooling and other forms of public education; promoting knowledge of the media and how it works; and making government operations more transparent and accountable.