How to have conversations with COVID-19 conspiracy theorists

CALGARY (CityNews) – We may not be able to meet in person, but those family Zoom calls may see you facing your uncles’ wild theories, and understanding where he’s coming from could help you change his views.

Timothy Caulfield with the University of Alberta said protests defying COVID-19 restrictions have been a common scene in the province but conspiracy theorists are everywhere.

“There’s been research that has shown individuals of particular ideological leanings, particularity to the right, are more likely to believe conspiracy theories.”

“I would love to try to map anti-mask protesters onto an area where there’s been a lot resistance to teaching evolution in the school because I think they’d fit together fairly well,” added Sociology professor at the University of Alberta, Amy Kaler.

Kaler said if it feels like the conspiracy theorists are getting louder, that’s because more information on the virus is coming out.

“The more we learn, the more information is out there, correct information, which means there’s more material for conspiracy theorists to work with, to warp and misinterpret and play around with.”

So now you know why your uncle refuses to wear a mask or calls the vaccine a hoax but Caulfied said you should be careful.

“It also becomes more difficult to change someone’s mind when it has become part of their personal identity, it’s become part of their ideological package.”

That means the solution isn’t as easy as telling someone to get off YouTube and watch the news.

“Mainstream media coverage is not the sort of thing that makes the difference between a few cranks writing long screens on the internet that nobody reads and 1,000 people showing up to a demonstration,” said Kaler.

“Canadians want to be accurate; they don’t have some nefarious agenda,” added Caulfield. “They really do want to be accurate and to share good content so we just need to make it easier for Canadians to do that.”