Conspiracy Theories in Digital Environments (Cluster D)

Cluster D deals with the influence of digitalization on the dynamics of conspiracy theory communication in the digital space, with the connections between digitally influenced conspiracy theories and non-digital actions and social dynamics, and with the relationship between religion, digitality and conspiracy theories from the perspective of religious studies, linguistics and ethics.

We examine the connection between conspiracy theories and religion in online environments, but also their repercussions in offline environments, and the ethical challenges associated with them. In addition to the interdisciplinary theoretical debate, the cluster aims to empirically investigate conspiracy theories in digital media contexts and their social roots.

There is analysis of data from field research as well as text-based (e.g. comments in online newspapers or forums) and multimodal (e.g. memes or videos) sources. To this end, we use a range of different methods, including hybrid field research, semi-structured interviews, qualitative hermeneutic and ethical analysis, and corpus-based linguistic methods.

The aim of the cluster is to provide both non-normative basic research perspectives and normative ethical guidelines on how responsible religious online communication can be distinguished from irresponsible conspiracy theories. We are also focusing on creating attractive formats for public relations work– such as an online glossary on the topics of digitality, religion and conspiracy theories (link to follow).