Scott Radnitz, Associate Professor in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies and Director of the Ellison Center for Russian, East European, and Central Asian Studies at the University of Washington, examines the analogy between the spread of disease and the “virality” of conspiracy theories in his article, “Why conspiracy theories spread faster than coronavirus.”
“But the reach of any conspiracy theory will depend in part on who sees political advantage in spreading it – and how much influence those people have. As the coronavirus spreads to new countries, governments have resorted to conspiracy theories to distract from their own failures or to pre-empt criticism.”
