Fake News, dis- and misinformation campaigns are a core concern for current democratic societies. Whereas most academic interventions have focused on the epistemological and political implication, this paper provides an empirically informed analysis of the fake news controversies. Through an empirical analysis of the German fake news controversy, this paper advances two points: It first gives insights into how the fake news controversy unfolded in Germany. The article shows how multiple issues such as racism, social media and the geopolitical threat of Russia were bound together. Second, on a conceptual level, this article argues for analysing security controversies as a valuable tool to understand new security anxieties. In the context of fake news, studying the controversy reveals how anxieties concerning fake news are produced and reinforced by linking them through a multiplicity of issues. (In)security emerges in controversies where threats in and through new media are linked with the problem of fake news. As a result, ‘fake news’ becomes part of the broader security landscape of contemporary societies.
'QAnon and Conspiracy Beliefs' by Professor Brian Schaffner, an Institute for Strategic Dialogue report, states
The findings in this report are based on a survey of 4,057 American adults. The survey was designed to probe the relationship between QAnon and conspiracy belief in the United States. Among the key findings: • Only a small percentage of Americans know a lot about QAnon, and a majority report that they have not heard anything at all about it. • The average American had heard less than one of the four QAnon conspiracy theories we asked about. Surveys that simply ask about belief in conspiracy theories likely overstate how much Americans believe in conspiracies outside of the survey context. • Nevertheless, conspiracy belief is still fairly widespread; 41% of Americans had heard about and believed in at least one of the eight conspiracy theories we asked about. About one-in-five Americans recognized and believed in at least one of the four conspiracy claims that originated from QAnon. • After accounting for the fact that most Americans have not heard of QAnon, only 7% have a favorable view of QAnon and a similar percentage say they can trust QAnon to provide accurate information at least most of the time. • Views towards QAnon should not be taken as synonymous with conspiracy belief. The average respondent who viewed QAnon favorably had heard less than half of the four QAnon conspiracies we asked about and they only believed one of the four. Thus, QAnon supporters do not even know about, much less believe, all of the QAnon conspiracies. • Similarly, conspiracy belief is not limited to QAnon supporters. In fact, 16% of those who did not rate QAnon favorably recognized and believed at least one of QAnon’s conspiracy claims.
