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We used a modified Delphi method to elicit and synthesize experts’ views on disinformation, misinformation, and malign influence (DMMI). In a three-part process, experts first independently generated a range of effective strategies for combatting DMMI, identified the most impactful barriers to combatting DMMI, and proposed areas for future research.

Social scientists, journalists, and policymakers are increasingly interested in methods to mitigate or reverse the public’s beliefs in conspiracy theories, particularly those associated with negative social consequences, including violence. We contribute to this field of research using an artificial intelligence (AI) intervention that prompts individuals to reflect on the uncertainties in their conspiracy theory beliefs.

The climate lockdown conspiracies claim that a clandestine group of elites are planning to use climate change as a justification to enact widespread lockdowns and curtail freedoms. This conspiracy draws on a wide range of unconnected real-world events and suggests that their possibility of happening again is all the proof required.

The spread of conspiracy theories is expected to have an increasing impact on the vitality of Western democracies and their political culture. Drawing on a 2022 survey from 10 European countries (with n = 20,449), this study uses narratives about immigration and COVID-19 to examine their relation to individual democratic attitudes and preferred forms of political participation.

Recent instances of political violence have prompted concerns over the relationship between conspiracy theory beliefs and violence. Here, we examine the relationships between beliefs in various conspiracy theories and three operationalizations of violence—support for political violence, self-reported engagement in political violence, and engagement in non-political conflict.

Are climate change conspiracy theories widespread across the world, or do we find climate change conspiracy beliefs more so in some countries than in others? This research note explores the prevalence of conspiracy beliefs that identify climate change as a hoax across eight geographically and culturally diverse countries.

Throughout human history, political leaders, oppositional forces, and businesspeople have frequently coordinated in secret for their own benefit and the public’s disadvantage. In these cases, conspiracy theories are capable of accurately describing our environment. However, the vast majority of research today operationalizes conspiracy theories as irrational beliefs that contradict our everyday knowledge.

While conspiracy theories have long been tied to race, ethnicity, and religion, understanding this relationship is increasingly important in countries where White identity has become politically charged. This study finds that those high in White consciousness are more likely to 1) engage in generalized conspiracy thinking, 2) endorse the racist “great replacement” conspiracy theory, and 3) move from generalized conspiracy thinking to endorsing specific, non-racial conspiracy theories.

Conspiracy theories have transitioned from fringe phenomena to central forces shaping public opinion and political discourse worldwide. Driven by the digital transformation of information, conspiracy beliefs increasingly pose a challenge across the world. Recent research has sought to unravel the psychological, social, and political dimensions of conspiracy beliefs, recognizing their potential to polarize societies, incite political violence, and undermine civic trust.