Podcast: Die "Wahrheit" in Zeiten von Corona (in English: The truth in times of corona) https://www.bpb.de/gesellschaft/medien-und-sport/306942/corona-und-verschwoerungstheorien
Hello everybody,
This week I am in charge of the “Fake News” section of this blog.
For the last couple of weeks, the girls have shown you multiple fake news stories, accounts and explained how you can identify them and what purpose they serve. This week I thought I would do something slightly different. Fake news is by definition (of the Cambridge dictionary) “false stories that appear to be news, spread on the internet or using other media, usually created to influence political views or as a joke”. These stories are therefore a way of manipulation. A classic example is from 2017, when Trump faked the number of viewers at his inauguration speech. When I thought about misinformation that tries to manipulate our beliefs, thoughts and behavior, the notion of conspiracy theories popped into my head. To compare the two concepts, I looked up the definition for the Cambridge dictionary for conspiracy theories. It reads the following: “Conspiracy theory is a belief that an event or situation is the result of a secret plan made by powerful people”. In my interpretation it is a form of fake news that is supposed to create suspicion against a certain group of people. During my research for this blog post I came across the German podcast „Die Wahrheit in Zeiten von Corona, Verschwörungstheorien und Mythen rund um das Virus” that is directly explaining the phenomena of conspiracy theories arising during the time of crisis, like for example the pandemic right now. The podcast was initiated by Axel Schröder for the “Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung” (centre of political education in Germany). Therefore, it is a trustworthy source, which is important as you all know by now. In the podcast it is explained that conspiracy theories have been around since forever. However, due to social media, they are spread easier and more thoroughly because they are translated quicker and have a better chance to go around the world with only one click. Especially in times of crisis, people come up with the wildest ideas about reasons and backgrounds of the source of the problem. Jan Rathje was interviewed in the podcast and he explains the abundance of conspiracy theories during the crisis with the feeling of losing control. In times of crisis, people do not have control over the situation. Let’s take corona as an example. People are urged to stay home and avoid social contact. We cannot just walk out and declare war to corona because it is a pandemic. Duh. (Although to be fair, there are some geniuses across the globe who actually believe that demonstrations for the right to go out are the right thing to do. They simply do not realize that staying in is a suggestion to save them and not to exploit them). Anyway, because we are not Doctor Strange and can magically make this virus disappear again, we feel helpless in the sense. Some people stay at home and see the economy collapse and wonder if they will still have a job once this is all over. Because we have no control about what happens next, we try to find a reason. We are desperately looking for the person or group of people responsible. Who is responsible that I am stuck at home for weeks, having to look after my children and on top of it keep up with my work online home office? Jan Rethje says that it is a coping mechanism. Another reason he sees in the complex to be a hero. I have to be the one who finds the truth behind all of this. I have to be the hero that finds the reason and therefore makes it possible to end this horror again. This makes all of us in times like these particularly predisposed to believe those sometimes actually ridiculous theories. But this is dangerous, because conspiracy theories are always pointing fingers at certain groups of people. In the past centuries, antisemitism was particularly high during and after a crisis. When we have a closer look at the current circumstances, I remember when things got serious in Germany in the beginning and mid-March, especially Asian-looking people were facing high waves of racism, because Wuhan (China) was the first epicenter. At our university we had a crisis meeting right after they announced that we will switch to online teaching and one guy mentioned his concerns about the growing racism he is facing in public transports and on the streets and he said that he was in fact afraid. Honestly guys, we should know better by now, don’t you think? In the podcast it was said that the origins of the conspiracy theories oftentimes are the extreme-right wing. Historically a fitting example is the crash on the Wall street in 1929. Later it was said that the Jews are responsible for it and we all hopefully were this theory in Germany led to; a catastrophe for humankind. If you say that it was so long ago and people have learnt to not blindly trust those accusations I have to burst your bubble. One conspiracy theory for the origins of COVID-19 is the 5G broadband system because it supposedly changes our immune system and makes us more delicate to viruses. In Britain that actually led to acts of destruction where people set the 5G towers on fire. See, the 5G system has definitely not changed our DNA so that we are not less influenced by false information or accusations (a little joke, for everybody that has not understood it). Therefore, I want to urge you all to properly think about what you hear. Think critically about the things the internet, your peers or some odd Facebook account or weird dude on YouTube says. Do not just follow blindly the words or facts anybody presents but question them. Even if they are in a position of authority or “superiority”. Anybody can make mistakes. Ask where they got the information from. And when the source is un-trackable or ambiguous then simply do not rely on it. Be smart. Albert Einstein said that “education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think''. And I think he is right. But I do not want to say all of these things, seeming like I have figured it all out. Even for me critically thinking is still a challenge and it is a skill I am working on every day. And the best motivation is literally hearing those stories about the effects of all of the rumors, fake news and conspiracy theory that have become more or less normal to us. They are not and we should work on a world where people do not get attention for spreading lies but for telling the truth. Let’s make it our challenge for this week to attentionally check the things we hear and to not obviously follow empty words.
Thank you very much for reading this post. Stay healthy and safe or get better soon.
Paulina
If you want to get more information, here is an article and the podcast that I have used for this blog post. Obviously, the podcast is in German but maybe some of you understand it or they can practise their German.
-podcast: Die “Wahrheit” in Zeiten von Corona https://www.bpb.de/gesellschaft/medien-und-sport/306942/corona-und-verschwoerungstheorien
-article: “Coronavirus conspiracy theories are dangerous- here is how to stop them spreading” https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-conspiracy-theories-are-dangerous-heres-how-to-stop-them-spreading-136564