My Family Believes Conspiracy Theories

Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and TikTok are not doing enough to prevent the spread of fake or misleading news.

That came home to me this year when members of my family and their friends warned me that I’d get shot or arrested if I was out past curfew in New York.  They told me a vaccine shot for the coronavirus would change my DNA and that chips would be inserted into my body so that the government could track me. Sounds ridiculous, right? There was a brief curfew last June, but it didn’t come with threats of shooting or arrest.  And common sense should tell you that vaccine scientists just care about the public health.

These conspiracy theories taking root in my family was bad enough. What shocked me more was that they supported President Donald Trump for reelection. We are Latinos, and they opted to reelect someone who has continuously bashed us and other minorities. My twenty-one-year-old twin brother John told me, “[Trump’s} a horrible person, but he is helping out in lots of ways. He has been trying to expose the pedophiles, and they are using the media to turn people against him. Billionaires, and elites beyond the President are involved, and they are the ones controlling news outlets and stories about Trump.”  He is referring to QAnon, a group of conspiracy theorists who believe the world is run by a cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles. They think Trump is a savior.  The FBI labeled the group a potential domestic terrorist threat.

Like John, my family’s loyalty to Trump lies in conspiracy theories and misleading news. That’s what they see in group chats on WhatsApp, which is popular among Dominicans. The myths and fake stories come hot and heavy on their social media, and I often find myself trying to debunk them. My younger cousins, like my brother, also support Trump because they believe he is attempting to expose a human trafficking ring of elite pedophiles that may include Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and others in the Democratic party.

This alarmed me. I had always assumed they shared my opinions and that we thought the same way. I was paying attention to media outlets I knew I could trust, and to find out I was the only one doing that was frightening. Their sources, ranging from independent YouTube channels to Facebook groups full of conspiracy theorists, left me the only person in my Latino family opposing an anti-Latino president in Trump. The wake-up call for me was the issue finally hitting close to home. Or perhaps I was unaware of how those closest to me were already being contaminated with lies and misleading information.

After George Floyd’s death, I actively protested in the streets of downtown Manhattan. Some of my family worried for my safety, while others criticized my decision to march. One of my cousins, Eric Morillo, told me he supported Black Lives Matter “until the protesters started to burn down neighborhoods. They’re on video robbing every store in sight. It isn’t even a protest anymore, just an excuse to steal things.” He’d seen widespread videos on Facebook and WhatsApp pushing anti-BLM agendas. All the protests I joined were peaceful, but because I was the only one in my family who went, only I witnessed that. As news outlets and popular group pages continued to share videos that painted Black Lives Matter as a violent movement, I’ve continued to argue that it’s not.

NYC streets were full of protesters after George Floyd’s death.

But these beliefs are growing in popularity, especially among my generation. The Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma pinpointed the problem and explained why social media platforms need content moderation.

If fake and bizarre news isn’t called out, people who cherry-pick their news sources will continue to incite violence between the political parties. The “Black Lives Matter” movement vs. “Blue Lives Matter” is the perfect example of how dangerous and serious false news can be. There is no clear or easy solution, and it is surely heading in the wrong direction. Spreading awareness about misinformation, biased news, and misleading headlines is the best we can do for now. As I actively continue to attempt to educate my peers and siblings, I encourage everyone to do the same.