Not everything you read on the internet is true. It’s a part of our human nature to always try to make sense of our world. The more challenging our world becomes, the more we struggle to make sense of it.
Sometimes, trying so hard to understand the world can lead to irrational thinking in the form of denial, catastrophizing, victim-blaming, or finger-pointing. Conspiracy theories are created by people’s irrational thinking but take on an air of legitimacy when they’re repeated by multiple sources, from your friends and family to the media and other online sources.
Most of the time, a conspiracy theory is presented to you as a fact only because it has already been published and distributed by seemingly reliable sources. The same thing happened is happening with COVID-19. From the moment coronavirus was reported as an outbreak, people around the world have been trying to understand it and make sense of it, which has left us to believe all the conspiracy theories, and they are many.
Additionally, more than 130 websites have been spreading verifiably false information about coronavirus, according to NewsGuard, which rates the credibility of news and information sites. Don’t get me wrong, no one’s judging you for believing or wanting to believe. However, we encourage people to look at all the facts before jumping to a conclusion, as well as taking all the necessary precautions to protect yourselves and others from coronavirus.
Read on and find a selection of the major COVID-19 conspiracy theories.
