Usually when a COVID-19 conspiracy theorist slides into my email, it's abusive.

I am sworn at and told to 'do my research,' and chastised for continuing to share informative articles and news stories about the current state of COVID-19 in our country.

I, like millions of other law-abiding citizens, have watched on horrified as thousands of Australians pour onto the streets in protest, or share misinformation on social media platforms followed by eye-watering amounts of people.

While they are in the minority, their voices are loud, and I have found myself furiously mulling over two questions of late:Where are they getting their information? How have they got this so wrong?

Watch: How to talk to anti-vaxxers. Post continues after video.

So when I opened my inbox this week to a polite email from a conspiracy theorist offering me links to his research I thought, fantastic! Convince me.

I proceeded to watch every single thing he sent over.

Here's what I learnt.

There's truth mixed into the lies.

This is why misinformation is such a stubborn beast. It so hard to pull apart because it's a clusterf*** trying to separate the lies from the nuggets of truth. It requires a lot of "well, yes that's true. But that's not."

I want to focus on one link I was sent in particular, a video (from America) claiming to show children collapsing and dying from the vaccine in Australia.

On August 18 an online program (that won't be named here), shared a report that claimed: “2 Kids DEAD After 24,000 Children Herded Into Stadium for JAB!"

In the video, NSW Health branding is visible on attendants’ clothing as they tend to someone on the ground. It's blurry and the nurses quickly put up a shield to protect the person's privacy while telling the person filming to stop recording.

As the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has told AAP FactCheck they have "not received any reports of death occurring after vaccination in an individual aged 18 years or under."

But what about the people on the ground?? And the uniforms??

Well, as US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will tell you, fainting after vaccination is a known side-effect likely triggered by pain or anxiety.

In fact,Mamamia'sown Lucy Neville fainted after her COVID-19 jab. Not because of the vaccine - she's just prone to fainting.

"When I'm at the doctor's office, I always lay down and listen to music through headphones. I have an autoimmune disease so I have to get lots of needles and blood tests, and that's been really helpful. So for my second vaxx, they advised me to let the nurse know on arrival that I am prone to fainting, and they took me over to a recliner in the recovery area and did my vaccine there! No fainting. No discomfort. And they also assured me that fainting is more common than you might think," she told me.

This story is the perfect example of taking one truthful fact and creating an entire false narrative around it.

We saw the same thing happen with Thomas Van Dijk, a Year 12 pupil at St Pius X College in Sydney, who died after suffering a cardiac arrest while swimming with his family.

Dozens of social media users proceeded to mindlessly, insensitively parrot a rumour that Thomas had died after receiving a COVID-19 injection.

Thomas, as confirmed by his grieving parents and principal, never received a vaccination. Conspiracy theorists hijacked his death to feed their narrative.

This should be a moment to mourn Year 12 boy Thomas Van Dijk, to celebrate his life. Instead, his family has had to work to combat lies about his death. https://t.co/dLHJtHRvF4

— Mamamia (@Mamamia)

When you step back even further, it gets even trickier. Because therehavebeen some Australians who have died from vaccine complications, the youngest of whom was 34. However, many more people have died from COVID, and the risk of the virus far outweighs the risk of the vaccine. But once again, conspiracy theories have a truth to cling to that they build their narrative around.

Their claims against the government are the hardest to unfurl. Because there's a lot our government has subjectively done wrong. Theydohave questionable policies in place when it comes to sexual harassment in the workplace. Theyaren'tdoing enough for climate change despite warnings from experts and theyhave stuffed up some of the settings when it comes to lockdowns and restrictions as they try to balance medical advice with economic ramifications.

However. You can hold the government to account and prove them wrong on certain topics and measures, and believe in other measures being put in place by the same group of people. The reason most of us are following the rules when it comes to lockdowns and restrictions and vaccines is not because of Scott Morrison or our local politician. It's because we're listening to the scientists and epidemiologists and doctors who are advising said politicians.

Here, listen to an expert. Professor Mary Louise McLaws had a big long chat with Mia Freedman on No Filter. Post continues after video.

Their 'sources' look legit at first glance.

One source I was sent touted itself as a 'monthly magazine on health and medicine' and it looked like an actual news website. It's got the right branding, it's got a flashing ad at the top which makes it looks like it has been commercialised, (the ad is for the website itself, however), and the landing page has all the right headings and add-ons.

The headlines of the articles are along the vein of, 'viruses aren't the cause of any disease' and 'why the magnetism in vaccines is real.' Once again, that's a headline that's constructed to read like any normal news headline. AtMamamia, we've written articles like 'Is Delta dangerous for children? Here's what we know.' It's that same inquisitive title that promises to explain something to you.

But once you click into these articles they say things like "it's not a hoax, but something that is real and verified. Officially it has no explanation, so vaccinologists and so called 'verifiers' have chosen to deny the fact itself."

They are telling their reader something is fake or a 'hoax' but they don't have an explanation or proof as to why.

Another website I clicked on which warned me that "it was never about my health" was full of long videos featuring a man telling me that I should "question everything" in this "inverted reality." When I tried to search for the qualifications of the sole man behind the website, I could only find his first name. He did link me to plenty more 'sources' however that claimed to provide a "comprehensive investigation into the alleged COVID-19 pandemic."

I was taken to a 'research paper' that had things like a table of contents and an introduction and conclusion that made it look like a proper paper. But then I read who it was researched by.

"I am neither a legal nor a health expert, but as a citizen of good conscience and one who has a degree in Computer Science and someone who currently works in education, has the ability to carry out research and understand the majority of what I read, I feel duty-bound to present this evidence to you."

Look. I have a degree in Journalism, and I also have the ability to carry out research. However, you'll notice I never write anything about science or medicine that doesn't quote a professional. Only scientists and doctors have the expertise to comment on such topics, and no, Computer Science doesn't count.

He goes on to claim that "there are many people like myself who consider that government officials and personnel have broken the law." He sites two independently established 'Judicial Review' challenges that are currently in progress that have "barely been publicised" because "this fact alone illustrates that the mainstream media primarily report what fits with the required narrative."

One of the said judicial reviews was pursued by Simon Dolan, who is a British businessman who made his fortune in accountancy. Said review was thrown out of court.

Now I am sure that this man is bloody great at accountancy, but he doesn't have much sway when it comes to public health measures and the complex decisions government makes based off health advice. The media