Conspiracy Watch publishes today its first annual report. Based on more than 10 years of experience on this subject, our editorial describes an uncompromising picture of various manifestations of conspiracy theories and Holocaust denial during 2018. Several recommendations aimed at limiting the impact of the imaginary conspiracy theories are brought up for discussion.
The annual report on conspiracy for 2018 provides an overview of the various conspiracy phenomena over the past year, analysing the sources, their dissemination and their impact. The report includes the following: conspiracy theories within the yellow vest movement, conspiracy during terrorist attacks or mass murders, the theme of the “Jewish Conspiracy”, conspiracy in international relations, misinformation about vaccines, responsibility of the major media and digital platforms …
In order to develop the debate and continue the actions already taken in combating the misinformation and expansion of conspiracy theories, the Conspiracy Report proposes to examine several ways, such as training for all primary and secondary school teachers on communication and the expansion of history studies. The report also suggests to find a technical instrument enabling to block temporarily the access to sites that contain conspiracy theories, Holocaust denial or incitement to terrorism as well as the creation of a professional regulatory body aimed at increasing surveillance of conspiratorial content, and the continued development of constructive dialogue with digital platforms to encourage them to install more aggressive measures in order to fight against the manipulation of information.
