Covid conspiracy theories fuel unrest in Europe
As public backlash to reimposed Covid-19 restrictions in Austria and the Netherlands intensify, so too has the spread of misinformation.
With infection rates rising and government restrictions returning, misinformation and conspiracy theories are flourishing once again across Europe, fuelling protests and political backlash.
The driving fear among anti-vaxxers is generally focused on government abuse of power. New research carried out in Austria indicates that low trust in vaccines is strongly linked with low trust in authority overall.
But that mistrust is increasingly being co-opted by the far-right through an adoption of baseless theories that vaccines are deadly or part of a sinister global plot, which social media has exacerbated by playing to negativity biases around public health messages.
In the face of governments clamping down to curb the virus, thousands have taken to the streets to demonstrate against Covid restrictions in Austria, Netherlands, Italy, Croatia and Switzerland.
https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/covid-conspiracy-theories-fuel-unrest-in-europe-52180
Last week, the World Health Organization described the challenge faced by Europe as ?very serious,? with almost 4,200 deaths a day recorded compared to 2,100 a day back in September.
As public backlash to reimposed Covid-19 restrictions in Austria and the Netherlands intensify, so too has the spread of misinformation.
With infection rates rising and government restrictions returning, misinformation and conspiracy theories are flourishing once again across Europe, fuelling protests and political backlash.
The driving fear among anti-vaxxers is generally focused on government abuse of power. New research carried out in Austria indicates that low trust in vaccines is strongly linked with low trust in authority overall.
But that mistrust is increasingly being co-opted by the far-right through an adoption of baseless theories that vaccines are deadly or part of a sinister global plot, which social media has exacerbated by playing to negativity biases around public health messages.
In the face of governments clamping down to curb the virus, thousands have taken to the streets to demonstrate against Covid restrictions in Austria, Netherlands, Italy, Croatia and Switzerland.
https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/covid-conspiracy-theories-fuel-unrest-in-europe-52180
Last week, the World Health Organization described the challenge faced by Europe as ?very serious,? with almost 4,200 deaths a day recorded compared to 2,100 a day back in September.