2024: The year of conspiracy theories

Illustration of a shadowy figure overseeing the world, with tentacles wrapping around the planet — Inside the conspiracy theories that defined the past 12 months

(Image credit: Illustration by Stephen Kelly / Getty Images)

For as long as the world has been a complex and confusing place, human beings have tried to make sense of the chaos. Whether through science, religion, mythology, or imaginative speculation, it is human nature to attempt to analyze events well beyond our understanding. When no satisfying explanation can be found, however, some people turn to conspiracy theories.

Fueled by a historically contentious election in the U.S. and conflicts across Eastern Europe, the Middle East and beyond, unsupported theories flourished in 2024. Whether culled from the misinformative depths of social media or trumpeted by public figures to their enormous audiences, conspiracy theories both large and small shaped the last 12 months and set the stage for even more confusion and discord in the year to come.

Conspiracy theories now 'define elections once defined by their winners'

Disinformation narratives were "seeded and spread" across multiple social media platforms in the "build up" to November's presidential election, Wired said. The election denial movement, which initially flexed its muscles at the end of now-President-elect Donald Trump's first administration, "never left" — and this year was "bigger than ever." In particular, the "onslaught of high-stakes political upheaval" of the past year — from President Joe Biden's decision to end his reelection campaign to the two assassination attempts on Donald Trump — helped create a fertile ground for conspiracy theorists, said National Public Radio. Moreover, there's "little downside" for public figures who push questionable narratives in an age where social media is a major source for news, since compelling explanations for major events "can boost an influencer’s profile whether or not their claims pan out."

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Political conspiracy theories have grown so much in this past election cycle that they now help "define elections once defined by their winners," The Washington Post said. Whether originating "from the right or the left," election-based conspiracies flourished during this year's fraught election, leaving experts "concerned about the lasting damage," said CBS News.

'Scale and speed' beyond conspiracy theories of the past

While electoral politics dominated — and in some cases, informed — other vectors of this past year's tranche of conspiracy theories, they were not the only flavor to make their presence felt. After being propelled into the national spotlight this year following Donald Trump's presidential victory, figures such as Tulsi Gabbard and RFK Jr. had their own longstanding conspiracy theories on vaccine efficacy and the Ukraine-Russia war thrust back into the public eye. These theories were granted new legitimacy thanks to their purveyors' newly elevated profiles and looming Senate confirmation scrutiny.

Last year's Oct. 7 attack on Israel was also subject to growing conspiracy theories this year, as anger over the ensuing war in Gaza has prompted false narratives about one of the "most well-documented" terrorist attacks in History, The Washington Post said. Although "seeded on social media," Oct. 7 denialism spent much of the early part of this year "bleeding into the real world" as well.

Even natural phenomena like the weather was not spared conspiratorial speculation. Disinformation over this summer's back-to-back hurricanes, Helene and Milton, proliferated at a "speed and scale" beyond "many of the frenzies" studied in the past, said BBC disinformation correspondent Marianna Spring.

Still, for as much as conspiracy theories and their proponents may have helped define this past year, so have attempts to neutralize their disruptive impacts. In particular, the efforts of satirical publication The Onion to purchase the remains of major disinformation figure Alex Jones' InfoWars empire was "nothing but karmic justice," said Everytown for Gun Safety president John Feinblatt to Variety. Earlier this month, however, a judge rejected The Onion's purchase, and the project is now in legal limbo. While there are complicated reasons for the court's decision, it's likely that conspiracy theorists will come up with some alternate explanations themselves.

Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.