The covid-19 does not exist and pandemic it is a plan of the global elites to subjugate humanity. This is one of the many and varied conspiracy theories that in the last two years have become popular in different corners of the world. The spread of these hoaxes – marginal but with important social impact – has been articulated through a network of groups organized on web pages and channels on social networks such as Telegram. An activity increasingly financed through cryptocurrencies.
This is pointed out by a research made by the non-profit organization EU Disinfo Lab and published this Wednesday. “Crypto financing is becoming an alternative way to obtain funds,” she says. The study has detected up to 17 web portals in countries of the European Union (EU) and in the United States that keep their activity afloat thanks to the donations they receive from their followers through digital currencies such as BitcoinEthereum or Cardano, increasingly popular.
The study suggests that the use of cryptocurrencies to finance these conspiracy pages may be due mainly to three factors. The first is the confidentiality and anonymity provided by the payment system through technology. blockchain, something desired by some authors of these portals. The second is the perception that these currencies are an anti-system alternative. “The unconventional and even fashionable appeal of cryptocurrencies reinforces the identity of the group of followers and their fight against the system that includes the dominant information,” says the text, prepared by researcher Ana Romero-Vicente.
The third factor is that cryptocurrencies are an alternative that allows avoiding the supposed censorship of electronic payment methods such as PayPal, Stripe or Patreon. Some of these pages have turned to virtual currencies upon seeing that both payment platforms and broadcast spaces closed the door to their content for violating their regulations. In September, for example, Youtube announced the ban on anti-vaccine videos. Without that source of operational funding, cryptocurrencies are gaining weight.
Great misinformers in Spain
Among the portals analyzed there are two that operate in Spain. One is ‘Doctors for Truth’, an international organization spread over up to 10 countries in which it pours content deniers of the pandemic, as well as promoting the use of pseudoscience. To defray the costs of their activity, as well as the payment of lawsuits and judicial investigations, they have resorted to donations from their believers through the PayPal electronic payment method, but also up to three cryptocurrencies. Through Bitcoin, Ethereum and Cardano they would have collected about 14,385 euros.
The second case is that of ‘El Investigador’, an “extremely active” portal in the dissemination of anti-vaccine messages that sell the covid-19 pandemic as an evil plan orchestrated by the elites to impose a specific political agenda. This group would have raised at least 6,058 euros through donations in Bitcoin and Ethereum.
However, the largest case detected by this study is in Italy. This is ‘Salto Quantico’, a website on the black list of Italian verifiers for having spread conspiracies with a long historical tradition such as those about the existence of aliens or about the chemtrails left by airplanes, as well as anti-scientific hoaxes related to the coronavirus. The page has raised more than 2.10 million euros by accepting donations with up to 21 different types of cryptocurrencies.
It is followed by the German ‘KEN FM-APOLUT’ and ‘Oval Media’ with 213,431 and 57,262 euros respectively and the American ‘SOTT’, with 41,797 euros raised. “Most of the operations have been carried out in the last two years,” the investigation points out. “The outbreak of the pandemic has become the main trigger of disinformation for these junk sites.”
conspiracy thinking
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All the analyzed pages share the same marginal conspiracy thinking, in which a small group believes they have been enlightened by a truth that remains hidden from the vast majority of an ignorant population. This logic of resistance to a plan orchestrated by an all-powerful and malevolent enemy is the basis of a wide range of theories without empirical basis, such as denying the existence of Holocaust or say that the 9/11 attack, the climate change or covid are a montage. “The reasons for misinformation are many, from political objectives to purely financial ones, taking advantage of sensitive periods such as elections or international crises to sow mistrust, unleash disorder, confuse or manipulate readers,” the report states.
The authors clarify that the limited number of cases analyzed “does not allow us to draw general conclusions about whether cryptocurrencies are a viable way to finance disinformation.” They also warn that this method may be increasing and that, with it, it will be increasingly necessary to monitor how these groups operate.