Stopping the Steal: The Ecology of Conspiracy in a Politically Polarized Nation

Abstract

The spread of recent conspiracy theories in the United States has been responsible for general social disorder, and an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on 6 January 2021. The specific conspiracy theory responsible for the 6 January events suggested that the 2000 election was stolen from then-President Trump and given to Joe Biden. On social media, the conspiracy theory was represented by the hashtag #StopTheSteal. This research analyzes the spatial distribution of #StopTheSteal activity on Twitter during November 2020, the month it was most widely used as related to the 2020 election. A model is constructed to explore demographic, economic, and social connections to #StopTheSteal activity at the state level. The relationships between multiple variables and #StopTheSteal are discussed, and the results suggest that political polarization leads to more extremist behavior.

阴谋论在美国的传播, 导致了社会混乱和2021年1月6日美国国会大厦暴动。1月6日事件的阴谋论认为, 2000年总统选举窃取了时任总统特朗普的成果并转交给拜登。在社交媒体上, 阴谋论以#StopTheSteal为话题。本文分析了2020年11月#StopTheSteal推特活动的空间分布（11月是最广泛使用的关于2020年大选的月份）。本文构建了一个模型, 来探索#StopTheSteal活动的州级人口、经济和社会联系。讨论了多个变量与#StopTheSteal的关系, 表明了政治两极分化会导致更多的极端主义行为。

La difusión en los Estados Unidos de recientes teorías conspirativas es la responsable del desorden social generalizado y de la insurrección contra el Capitolio de los EE.UU. el 6 de enero de 2021. La teoría conspirativa específica responsable de los eventos del 6 de enero sugería el robo de las elecciones del 2000 al entonces presidente Trump, y la entrega del triunfo a Joe Biden. En los medios sociales, la teoría conspirativa se representó con el hashtag #StoptheSteal [#DetenganelRobo]. Esta investigación analiza la distribución espacial de la actividad del #StoptheSteal en Twitter en noviembre de 20020, mes durante el cual fue ampliamente usada en relación con las elecciones del 2020. Se construyó un modelo para explorar las conexiones demográficas, económicas y sociales con la actividad del #StoptheSteal, a nivel de estado. Se discuten las relaciones entre múltiples variables y el #StoptheSteal. Los resultados sugieren que la polarización política conduce a comportamientos con un mayor grado de extremismo.

Key Words:

• conspiracy theory
• extremism
• GIS
• misinformation
• social media
• social order

关键词:

• 阴谋论
• 极端主义
• 地理信息系统
• 虚假信息
• 社交媒体
• 社会秩序

Palabras clave:

• desinformación
• extremismo
• medios sociales
• orden social
• SIG
• teoría conspirativa

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Marco Lorenzo Allain

MARCO LORENZO ALLAIN is a Doctoral Candidate in the Department of Geography, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include environmental justice, green space, climate change, GIScience, and bias.

Asmita Bhattarai

ASMITA BHATTARAI is a PhD Student in the Department of Geography, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research interests include geospatial big data, geocomputation, GIScience, environmental disasters, disaster recovery, and public perceptions.

Phoebe McNeally

PHOEBE McNEALLY is a Research Professor in the Department of Geography, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research interests include GIScience, spatial decision support systems, geographic visualization, and snow science and avalanche forecasting.

Richard M. Medina

RICHARD M. MEDINA is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include hate and bias, terrorism, GIScience, and cultural geographies.