#FilmYourHospital 运动鼓励人们在看似空虚或不太拥挤的医院录制自己的视频，以证明这一流行病是一个骗局。
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This article by [AUTHOR NAME(S)] is republished here with permission from The Conversation. This content is shared here because the topic may interest Snopes readers; it does not, however, represent the work of Snopes fact-checkers or editors.
It’s widely believed that social media conspiracy theories are driven by malicious and anonymous “bots” set up by shadowy third parties. But my new research – which examined an extremely successful COVID-19 conspiracy theory – has shown that ordinary citizen accounts can be just as culpable when it comes to spreading dangerous lies and misinformation.
The pandemic has fuelled at least ten conspiracy theories this year. Some linked the spread of the disease to the 5G network, leading to phone masts being vandalised. Others argued that COVID-19 was a biological weapon. Research has shown that conspiracy theories could contribute to people ignoring social distancing rules.
And other research highlights that explaining flawed arguments and describing scientific consensus may help reduce the effect of misinformation.. Sadly, no matter what procedures and steps are put in place, there will always be people who will believe in conspiracies. The onus must be on the platforms to make sure these theories are not so easily spread.
Wasim Ahmed, Lecturer in Digital Business, Newcastle University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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