INVESTIGATINGMedia & PropagandaA 2026 research study by the Commission into Countering Online Conspiracies found that between 2024 and 2025, the proportion of parents reporting their children raised conspiracy theories with them jumped dramatically. The findings suggest conspiratorial thinking is becoming mainstream culture.
“A 2026 research study by the Commission into Countering Online Conspiracies found that between 2024 and 2025, the proportion of parents reporting their children raised conspiracy theories with them jumped dramatically. The findings suggest conspiratorial thinking is becoming mainstream culture.”
Between 2024 and 2025, the proportion of parents who reported that their children raised conspiracy theories with them jumped dramatically. This isn't fringe — it's the mainstream now.
Public First, working with the Commission into Countering Online Conspiracies, published their 2026 research insights showing a significant year-over-year increase in children discussing conspiracy theories with parents. The implication is clear: conspiratorial thinking isn't confined to dark corners of the internet anymore. It's at the dinner table.
The report frames this as a problem to be solved. But consider the alternative reading: children are growing up in a world where the Epstein files proved elite impunity, where Snowden proved mass surveillance, where lab leak went from "misinformation" to "plausible," and where military officials are testifying about UFO cover-ups before Congress. Maybe children are simply paying attention.
Notice the language: "countering" conspiracies, not "investigating" them. The institutional response to increased conspiracy belief is always to treat it as a disease to be cured, never as a rational response to demonstrated institutional dishonesty.
No one's said anything yet. Be the first to drop your take.
