ABSTRACT
Misinformation and conspiracy theories are powerful rhetorical weapons in public battles for truth and authority as they sweepingly discard both content and author from legitimate political debate. While such conspiracy theories live on in the rhetoric of Islamophobic Eurabia theories and in Russian and Eastern European conspiratorial fears of a progressive West endangering traditional values, many contemporary conspiracy theories focus on the workings of our own societal institutions. Just as in the fight against misinformation, the most dominant mitigation strategy is debunking or fact-checking: showing the public that conspiracy theories are flawed understandings of reality would result in their no longer believing and trafficking in them. Research on conspiracy theories is mostly rather serious business. Conspiracy culture is full of playful references to popular culture, and conspiracy memes are a staple ingredient of today’s memetic culture online. It is about time that academics take seriously the playful sides of conspiracy theories as well.
