"A COVID-19 conspiracy theorist sent me links to all of his 'sources.' So I looked into them."

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. 

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's own Lucy Neville fainted after her COVID-19 jab. Not because of the vaccine - she's just prone to fainting. 

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. 

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 did in fact report on him, but his case was thrown out. What more was there to say?

Another website I was led to promised me more reliable expertise. 

German-American lawyer Dr Reiner Fuellmich was the first person quoted. This is where it all gets super muddy, because Mr Fuellmich does have relevant qualifications as a lawyer. However his facts have been debunked time and time again (click here for a full debunking), and just because he has a law degree doesn't mean he is qualified to comment on medicine and science. Yet he delivers statements in a matter-of-fact way, without a shred of supporting evidence. He'll say things like, "let’s take a look at the current actual situation regarding the virus’s danger, the complete uselessness of PCR tests for the detection of infections, and the lockdowns based on non-existent infections."

As Dr Robert Turner explains, "His use of the word 'actual' indicates your perception of reality has been flawed and he is about to set you straight. PCR testing is trashed without a shred of supporting evidence and next, he suggests there aren’t any infections....These statements on their own don’t look dramatic and we are therefore inclined not to seek validation for them, but they begin to paint a picture in the reader’s mind and thus lend credibility to the rest of the narrative. The author uses this tactic remorselessly throughout, building on it as he progresses. Small lies and falsehoods, interspersed with facts to lend credence."

This is why it's tricky, because not all experts are created equal. Just like not all journalists, painters, plumbers, politicians and accountants are created equal. There are bad eggs in every industry who will use their title to exploit a situation. 

Once they fall down the hole, there's no getting out. 

I think this is actually the scariest finding. I knew that the social media algorithm is fed by what you click on, but experiencing it in real-time this week has been really eye-opening.

Because I have watched a bunch of conspiracy theorist videos and read a heap of articles, my Instagram, TikTok and Facebook now thinks I want to see....more. 

It's subtle too, because I am 'new' to the world. So I will have five videos about dancing and comedy and then one will slip in about someone refusing to wear a mask or someone ranting about 'their body their choice.' Then it's gone again, buried by another ten twerking videos. 

Before this week, the COVID-19 content I was fed on my socials was nurses with pleas to stay home, scientists debunking information and political comedy. I was in a safe little bubble of like-minded people. 

I can see why it would be so easy to slip into this world, and that's terrifying. It's why your brother, parent, and best friend have already fallen in. It's not them - it's their social media. And while the platforms we use have started to crack down on misinformation by removing videos and posting banners over the top of them telling you they're false, there's plenty more falling through the cracks. Once someone's in too deep, they then get off mainstream platforms altogether and find themselves on un-verified websites and one-man-band blogs or YouTube accounts. 

It's a wild world of misinformation out there, but having dug deep into it myself here's my advice: check the source of the content you're consuming and remember that experts train for years in their field for a reason. Seek them out, listen to them, tell them your fears and have them help you debunk them. 

Everyone has an opinion, but not everyone’s opinion is of equal value when it comes to COVID-19. 

For more from Gemma Bath, keep up to date with her articles here, or follow her on Instagram.

Read more:

How to have a conversation with someone who is vaccine hesitant.

"I'm a doctor, and here are the 6 questions I get asked most about the COVID vaccine - answered."

"It’s not really about you”: I’m a nurse on the frontline. And I just want you to know this".

Feature image: Mamamia.