The new rumour mill: how conspiracy theories spread online

It’s pretty typical for most of us online. Scroll, scroll, scroll. Stop for a few seconds to watch an influencer talking about a new health trend, interpreting the latest news event or spilling some great celeb tea. You don’t think much about it. Until you see another creator telling a similar story. Then another. Then another. Different accounts. Same ideas. More convincing each time.

That’s often how conspiracy theories spread online nowadays. Not all at once and not entirely obvious. Subtly, video by video, comment by comment. According to recent research from Media Ecosystem Observatory (MEO), a collaboration between the University of Toronto and McGill University, our social feeds in Canada are full of conspiracy theory content.

While most people recognize a conspiracy theory when they see one, prolonged and repeated exposure can compromise trust in government and social institutions. It’s important to remind ourselves, and our kids, that not everything you see online is true and learn how to tell fact from fiction.

What is a conspiracy theory?

According to verywellmind, a conspiracy theory, “rejects the standard explanation for an event and instead credits a covert group or organization with carrying out a secret plot.”

Research identifies five key characteristics of a conspiracy theory:

• Assumes that people or events are interconnected or form a pattern
• Actions are intentional
• A group working together toward a goal, usually covertly harmful in some way
• Threat of harm to others
• An element of secrecy, which makes it difficult to uncover evidence

Conspiracy theories typically take hold during a crisis, when there’s a lot of uncertainty, and people feel anxious or unsettled. Even though the information can seem farfetched, people grasp for any clear explanation that can help them make sense of complex events.

MEO research highlights

MEO surveyed close to 1,200 English-speaking Canadians and analyzed 14 million posts between 2023 and 2025 from relevant accounts in Canada on X, TikTok, Instagram and Bluesky.

Researchers were curious about several conspiracies that have flooded our feeds including:

• Public health threats exaggerated to expand government control (Covid19 being the most recent and impactful example)
• Schools indoctrinating kids with radical gender ideology
• Canadian media outlets conspiring with political elites to manipulate public opinion
• Vote counts faked during Canadian elections (this is a big one in the U.S. as well)
• Digital IDs used by the government to secretly control Canadians
• Intentional setting of wildfires to advance an environmental agenda
• Fake environmental data on climate change to expand government control

Some of the research’s key findings include:

• 87% of conspiracy-related posts come from social media influencers, and those influencers receive the most engagement (89% of views and 87% of likes)
• Canadians are most aware of the following conspiracies: exaggeration of public health threats (63%), gender ideology indoctrination (54%) and media elite collusion (47%)
• Posts about media/elite collusion got the most views with 2.57 billion
• Canadians engage with conspiratorial content on X the most, with 70% of total likes among the four platforms studied (TikTok had 20% and Instagram had 9%)

While exposure and awareness of conspiracy theories on social media is high, Canadians are still hesitant to fully buy in. The most believed conspiracy theory is gender indoctrination, with only 21% of respondents indicating they think it’s true. It’s also interesting to note that much of the conspiracy content (68%) comes from just 100 accounts that generate 90% of views and 80% of likes.

Separating fact from fiction

Considering that 44% of Canadians get their news from social media (and look to Elon Musk, Joe Rogan, Tucker Carlson, Brian Tyler Cohen and Donald Trump as sources of news), critical thinking is more important now than ever.

• Understand the algorithms: social media platforms want to keep you engaged. Once you click on something, like a post or engage with an account, you’ll start to see more and more of the same information in your feed. This can put you or your kids squarely in the centre of an echo chamber. Talk about the algorithms, how they work and strategies for not getting stuck in an echo chamber.
• Purge your follows: if you or your kids find that you’re being inundated with questionable content, go through who you’re following and remove the offending accounts. You can’t see the content if you aren’t following them.
• Hone your pre-bunking skills: as conspiracies and misinformation multiply, pre-bunking has become an important digital literacy skill. By recognizing how creators try to get you to believe their ideas, beliefs or perspectives, you’ll be less likely to fall for the fake. Typically, conspiracies rely on emotional manipulation, false experts or fake proof to get people to buy in and reshare those ideas.

Conspiracy theories have been around forever, but social media speeds up their spread and reach. While it’s so easy to scroll mindlessly and like or share randomly, taking a pause is the first step to slowing the spread. Ask yourself: what is this person really saying? Is it true? Is there evidence? I wonder what mom, dad, my grandparents, my teacher, my best friend thinks? Questioning intentionally rather than scrolling mindlessly is a great habit that can help you and your kids build resilience against the misinformation and conspiracies that spread online.