Conspiracy Theorists Exploited COVID-19 Science – Here’s How

By Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, November 6, 2021

Conspirators have used the preliminary nature of science to portray scientists as evil actors.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, conspiracy theorists have exploited the contingent nature of science and questioned the trustworthiness and motives of federal agencies and officials to portray scientists and health authorities as evil actors.

In a commentary published Nov. 1, 2021 in the journal Nature Human Behavior, science communication scientist Kathleen Hall Jamieson analyzes the ways conspirators do this and suggests steps health authorities, journalists and scientists can take to reduce the likelihood that their work will be used. to fuel new conspiracy theories.

Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania and professor of communications at Penn’s Annenberg School for Communication, states that:

“By taking advantage of the preliminary nature of scientific knowledge, its inevitable updating, and the realities of scientific funding structures, conspirators have gained the confidence of some sensitive individuals in the recommendations of public health authorities on life-saving behaviors, including mask wearing and vaccination, hollowed out. Their success in doing so made community immunity, and thus an end to the pandemic, more elusive.”

Read the full commentary “How Conspirators Exploited COVID-19 Science” in Nature Human Behavior.

Reference: “How conspiracists exploited COVID-19 science” by Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Nov 1, 2021, Nature Human Behavior.
DOI: 10.1038/s41562-021-01217-2

The Annenberg Public Policy Center was established in 1993 to educate the public and policymakers about the role of communication in advancing public understanding of political, scientific, and health issues at the local, state, and federal levels