ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to navigate through the form and function of online network topologies in the context of a rising tide of misinformation and disinformation campaigns. It explains how network effects regulate the lifecycle of conspiracy theories. The E.U. membership referendum in the UK and the election of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the USA, both in 2016, put the debates about the ‘real-world’ impact of Web-mediated disinformation campaigns in the limelight. The topology of the online meta-network turns it into a fitting environment for the global spread of rumours, falsehoods and conspiracy theories. A concise social network analysis of the ‘pizzagate’ conspiracy theory evidences a clear distribution of positions and roles within the whole network across the three sampled windows of observation. Powered by online technical and social structures, echo-chamber dynamics find far-reaching avenues of expression and new audiences to captivate – showing a capacity of adaptation that can go through phases of entrenchment, encroachment and retrenchment.
