Beliefs are in the eye of the beholder, and everyone is entitled to their own beliefs. Beliefs only become a problem for society if those beliefs cause harm to the holder or others. Conspiracy theories are one type of belief system, and they are sometimes so extreme they can, and do harm society.
There can be narrow or broad definitions of a conspiracy theory but in general terms, a conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy when other explanations are more probable.
Atheists would argue religion is a broad type of conspiracy theory because of its core belief. However, the focus here is on the narrower definition of conspiracy theories the average person would consider outside the bounds of possibility.
QAnon is one of the most publicised and extreme conspiracy theories, mostly associated with the US but also present in Australia. Their overarching core belief is that there are politically active people who are cannibalistic child molesters operating a global child sex trafficking system who want to control politics and the media! QAnon were active in the invasion of the US Congress on 6 January 2021. They believe President Trump is the saviour who is going to clean up this ‘mess’! Interestingly, President Trump has in the past supported at least some of the QAnon beliefs and released all 6 January perpetrators when he became president again this year.
Conspiracy theories that believe organisations, people, and government are in secret cahoots to take control are referred to as ‘deep state’ and there are multiple theories along these lines. The New World Order is a less extreme ‘deep state’ conspiracy theory to QAnon that elites are seeking to control society.
In Australia, the New World Order appears to be more widely believed than QAnon. These types of conspiracy theories gained traction during the Covid era and included anti-vaccine beliefs that hidden forces were manipulating health measures such as by using 5G technology to track anyone who was vaccinated.
Sometimes the conspiracy theories can easily be proven to be false, such as the flat earth believers. But often, 100 per cent proof that the belief is false is impossible. Take, for example, the tunnel conspiracy theory, an extension of QAnon’s core beliefs, that the world’s elite are connected by a tunnel under the earth where they can meet in secret and refine their dastardly plans. While this certainly lacks credibility, especially when one considers the cost of undergrounding something simple like electricity transmission lines, it is conceptually possible. And there are people in Australia who believe this to be true! Worryingly, this must affect the way they think and react in our society.
The internet has facilitated the growth of conspiracy theories because the easy access to social media, like Facebook and YouTube, allows these beliefs to be articulated and spread. The beliefs gain traction as they are disseminated to friends and family and, these days, sometimes even pop up as evidence in answers to Google type searches. Social media groups often have exclusive membership from people who seek out these conspiracy type beliefs. This results in their beliefs being constantly reinforced with no dissenting opinions as dissenters are expelled. YouTube is also full of mind-bending conspiracy theory beliefs that anyone can access, even children.
Are conspiracy theories a problem for our society?
There is no concern with conspiracy theories like Elvis Presley is still alive, but others can be of concern if they change people’s behaviour in ways that harm society. There are multiple health-related conspiracy theories that are a risk to public health and, for example, have been one cause of the fall in vaccination rates in Australia and overseas. Some conspiracy theories encourage violence to ‘fix the problem’, as with the murder of the two police officers in Queensland’s Western Downs in 2022. Others promote socially divisive attitudes, including about race and religion which should have no place in our society.
As conspiracy theories can be damaging to society, most people would accept and expect some sensible action. We certainly don’t want the more perverse and damaging conspiracy theories gaining traction in Australia.
Getting the balance right won’t be easy and is made harder by some issues, that started out as conspiracy theories and ended up being proven correct, as has sometimes happened throughout the world!
The Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2024 seeks to regulate false information on digital platforms.
This type of regulation would necessarily require someone to decide what is not the ‘truth’ in situations where, as mentioned earlier, many conspiracy theories are not able to be 100 per cent proven as false. But other than maths, death, and taxes, almost everything else in society is based on probabilities anyway, even quantum physics. We often hear court cases being decided on ‘the balance of probabilities’. It isn’t much of a stretch to think there could be a process for saying the QAnon type beliefs are so unlikely they should be on an ‘unbelievable list’ with reasons why.
Many conspiracy theorists will see such regulation as reinforcing their ‘deep state’ beliefs that the government is seeking control for nefarious purposes. Other more sensible citizens will complain it conflicts with freedom of speech principles and argue the onus rests with individuals to work out what is and is not credible.
But at least an ‘unbelievable list’ would inform the rest of the community that you have to take extreme, society-damaging conspiracy theory beliefs with a grain of salt. Maybe humour too!
From my perspective, a key concern is conspiracy theories can cause the community to lose faith in scientists and other experts. This applies to health especially but also to any area where the experts advice should inform society of a problem and directions for a solution. If we can’t trust the scientists and other experts, who do we trust when there are difficult matters for society to address?
Maybe the best protection against worrying conspiracy theories is for society to be sufficiently informed to be able to exercise sound commonsense.
♦ Ken Clarke worked as a researcher and policy analyst in Canberra, Port Moresby, London and Darwin, mostly in the public sector. This included advising the NT Government as under treasurer on social, fiscal, and economic issues.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
