Ultimately, a North Carolina man was arrested when he attacked a Washington, DC, pizza restaurant to rescue children supposedly being held there. An even better example is “Pizzagate.” In 2016, stories rapidly spread on the internet that some restaurants were fronts for child prostitution rings, with variations including accusations of human sacrifice and satanic rituals. For instance, if one stumbled upon a site that suggested the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 were faked, many similar sites were recommended. Prior to 2019, search engines and other platforms such as YouTube would recommend additional resources like ones that people had searched for. Facing widespread criticism and threats of losing certain legal protections, social media platforms and search engines changed how they recommended sites to their users. Perhaps the most significant factor is changes in policies and algorithms of search engines and internet platforms that began in 2019. These conspiracy theories probably offer a larger potential market of gullible people to prey upon than flat-earth conspiracies do.
As I’ve commented previously, coronavirus has provided many opportunities for people to explore different conspiracy theories about COVID-19. Another factor is that, with their inclination toward grand conspiracy theories, many flat-earthers have turned much of their attention elsewhere.
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