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Summary List PlacementAnthony Quinn Warner, who the FBI says was responsible for the suicide bombing that hit Nashville on Christmas Day, may have been motivated by 5G conspiracy theories to carry out the attack, as local NBC affiliate, WSMV, reported.  Although the federal investigation is ongoing, a source told the Daily Mail that investigators theorize Warner believed that 5G was responsible for his father's...

Summary List Placement Canada and the UK will work with Facebook, Google, and Twitter on ways to stop misinformation about the coronavirus vaccine from spreading online.  British fact checking charity Full Fact will coordinate the effort. Fact checking websites based in India, Argentina, and Spain will convene alongside the tech companies and federal representatives from the UK and Canada.  Facebook will fund the effort...

Summary List PlacementSouth Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem on Sunday sparred with ABC News journalist George Stephanopoulos over the results of the presidential election, with the governor saying that "illegal activities" may have aided President-elect Joe Biden at the ballot box. On ABC's "This Week," Stephanopoulos began the conversation by asking Noem if she would work with Biden to fight against the coronavirus in her...

Summary List PlacementDuring Thursday night's town hall, NBC News host Savannah Guthrie challenged President Donald Trump's decision to retweet a baseless conspiracy theory that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden may have had Navy SEALS killed to cover up 9/11 architect Osama bin Laden's faked death. Guthrie noted that earlier in the week Trump retweeted two messages promoting the bizarre QAnon-linked conspiracy theory that bin...

The coronavirus pandemic has prompted the spread of several conspiracy theories about the virus, like that it is being overblown, that the introduction of new 5G technology caused it, and even that Bill Gates is behind it. Gates recently negated a conspiracy theory that said that he wants to use the coronavirus vaccine to implant people with microchips. Nearly a third of Americans believe...

Dr. Eric van Rongen is vice chair at the International Commission on Non‐Ionizing Radiation Protection, which sets the global guidelines for phone makers and telecommunications companies on how much radiation is safe for humans. Contrary to many 5G conspiracy theories, phone radiation heats the human body the equivalent of having a cup of hot tea every two hours, he says. He also added that...

Researchers at King's College London surveyed over 2,000 people in the UK to study how likely people are to believe conspiracy theories about the coronavirus. People who got their news primarily from social media were more likely to believe conspiracy theories, and the researchers found consuming information on YouTube had the strongest correlation with believing them. People who got their news from social media...

Trump and his allies have been particularly on fire this week spreading baseless conspiracy theories.  They might be turning up the heat because after three and a half years of his presidency, his critics are harder to outrage and his base is harder to excite.  Or it's possible that Trump's failures in responding to the coronavirus pandemic have left us all so exhausted that...

An hour-long video filled with COVID-19 conspiracy theories has been watched more than half a million times on Facebook and YouTube – prompting both firms to take it down.  The 67-minute clip, which focuses on lockdown in Ireland, features a conversation between right-wing vlogger Dave Cullen and anti-EU activist Dolores Cahill.  Throughout the interview, Cahill claims lockdown is unnecessary, touts the "miracle drug" hydroxychloroquine...

The top US health officials leading the response to the coronavirus pandemic shot down the numerous conspiracy theories about how the mortality rates were being misrepresented. In recent days, several influential figures have floated theories that the US had been inflating its statistics on deaths attributed to the coronavirus. "They are nothing but distractions," Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the US's National Institute...

The impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump has officially moved into its public phase, and witnesses are beginning to testify in open session before the House Intelligence Committee. But the hearings have also provided Republican lawmakers and committee counsel with platforms to repeat many baseless conspiracy theories about Democrats and alleged Ukrainian election interference. The entire impeachment inquiry centers around the false claim that Hunter Biden committed...

Almost 2 million people joined a Facebook event dedicated to storming the Area 51 US Air Force Base in Nevada. Instead of a raid, about 1,500 people joined celebratory encampments near the military base on Friday.  It's the latest example of Americans' fascination with conspiracy theories about alien visitors. America's first UFO conspiracy began when a rancher found the debris of a small aircraft...

A growing number of people believe that Jeffrey Epstein was murdered in his cell while awaiting trail on sex-trafficking and conspiracy charges. New York's chief medical officer deemed that the manner of Epstein's death was "suicide," pointing to multiple broken bones in his neck. The cause of death was deemed "hanging." The chief medical officer ruled out foul play in Epstein's death. But people...