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Mapping Conspiracy Theories in the European Online Information Environment

Knight, Peter ; Birchall, Clare ; Blanuša, Nebojša ; Butter, Michael ; Drazkiewicz, Elzbieta LU orcid ; Hardos, Pavol ; Jerbic, Vedran ; Madisson, Mari-Liis ; Menise, Tatjana and Milosovic,, Jasna , et al. (2026) p.80-115
Abstract
This chapter provides a bird's-eye view of the online conspiracist landscape across Europe. Using a variety of data methods and visualisations, it conducts a comparative analysis of the REDACT project's datasets of conspiracy theory discourse (c. 6 million posts) from a variety of mainstream social media platforms in our four case study regions and countries: Western Europe (represented by the UK, Germany, Austria and Switzerland); Central Europe (Poland and Slovakia); the Baltics (Estonia and Latvia); and the Balkans (Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina). This chapter examines in each region the key themes, influencers and platforms; the changes in the online conspiracist environment in the period of data gathering (2019–24); and the... (More)
This chapter provides a bird's-eye view of the online conspiracist landscape across Europe. Using a variety of data methods and visualisations, it conducts a comparative analysis of the REDACT project's datasets of conspiracy theory discourse (c. 6 million posts) from a variety of mainstream social media platforms in our four case study regions and countries: Western Europe (represented by the UK, Germany, Austria and Switzerland); Central Europe (Poland and Slovakia); the Baltics (Estonia and Latvia); and the Balkans (Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina). This chapter examines in each region the key themes, influencers and platforms; the changes in the online conspiracist environment in the period of data gathering (2019–24); and the social dynamics of online conspiracy discourse. It focuses in particular on the direction of flow of conspiracy theories, analysing the extent to which they are imported and adapted from elsewhere or are home-grown. In sum, it provides a high-level overview of the conspiracy theory digital landscape, making the case that, while there are similarities with the kinds of conspiracism that are familiar from studies of the US, there are significant differences within and between the case study countries and regions considered by the REDACT project. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
conspiracy theories, great replacement, migration, europe, ukraine
host publication
Conspiracy theories in the European Digital Sphere
editor
Birchal, Clare ; Blanusa, Nebojsa ; Butter, Michael ; Drazkiewicz, Elzbieta ; Knight, Peter and Madisson, Marii-Lis
pages
36 pages
publisher
Routledge
external identifiers
  • scopus:105047311611
ISBN
9781003667223
9781041129141
DOI
10.4324/9781003667223-4
project
Researching Europe, Digitalisation and Conspiracy Theories
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
5ec773a2-4b36-46ee-bf93-ba13e3621dbe
date added to LUP
2026-08-06 10:24:16
date last changed
2026-09-07 04:54:02
@inbook{5ec773a2-4b36-46ee-bf93-ba13e3621dbe,
  abstract     = {{This chapter provides a bird's-eye view of the online conspiracist landscape across Europe. Using a variety of data methods and visualisations, it conducts a comparative analysis of the REDACT project's datasets of conspiracy theory discourse (c. 6 million posts) from a variety of mainstream social media platforms in our four case study regions and countries: Western Europe (represented by the UK, Germany, Austria and Switzerland); Central Europe (Poland and Slovakia); the Baltics (Estonia and Latvia); and the Balkans (Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina). This chapter examines in each region the key themes, influencers and platforms; the changes in the online conspiracist environment in the period of data gathering (2019–24); and the social dynamics of online conspiracy discourse. It focuses in particular on the direction of flow of conspiracy theories, analysing the extent to which they are imported and adapted from elsewhere or are home-grown. In sum, it provides a high-level overview of the conspiracy theory digital landscape, making the case that, while there are similarities with the kinds of conspiracism that are familiar from studies of the US, there are significant differences within and between the case study countries and regions considered by the REDACT project.}},
  author       = {{Knight, Peter and Birchall, Clare and Blanuša, Nebojša and Butter, Michael and Drazkiewicz, Elzbieta and Hardos, Pavol and Jerbic, Vedran and Madisson, Mari-Liis and Menise, Tatjana and Milosovic,, Jasna and Pelling, Benjamin and Precoma, Mara and Schilk, Felix and Turjacanin, Vladimir}},
  booktitle    = {{Conspiracy theories in the European Digital Sphere}},
  editor       = {{Birchal, Clare and Blanusa, Nebojsa and Butter, Michael and Drazkiewicz, Elzbieta and Knight, Peter and Madisson, Marii-Lis}},
  isbn         = {{9781003667223}},
  keywords     = {{conspiracy theories; great replacement; migration; europe; ukraine}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{80--115}},
  publisher    = {{Routledge}},
  title        = {{Mapping Conspiracy Theories in the European Online Information Environment}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/257324263/Mapping_Conspiracy_Theories_in_the_European_Online_Information_Environment_26_08_06_10_23_19.pdf}},
  doi          = {{10.4324/9781003667223-4}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}