Exposed government infiltration would strengthen rather than weaken conspiracism

Evidence

Today, like-minded people who create and spread conspiracist ideas form networks transformed by the revolution in communications technology. They are not groups in the sense of face-to-face associations, in contrast to the Montana militia, for instance, but are networks digitally dispersed across the world. Anyone is free to participate in the online discussions. But were the government to infiltrate such discussions (and we now see that this has indeed been done, including by a hostile foreign government, using a variety of camouflages), the effort would sooner or later be exposed. The result would be to fertilize and presumptively justify the very conspiracism it intends to combat. — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 343

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Documented government abuses are extrapolated into boundless suspicion of state capacities — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 183; Weak suppression evidence reinforces rather than weakens conspiracy belief. — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic…, 433; Transparency efforts can amplify rather than dispel conspiracism — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 318 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Transparency efforts can amplify rather than dispel conspiracism #corroborates (0.92) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 318