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Published VersionCC BY V4.0, Open Access
Magazine article
Why conspiracy theories and misinformation spread in the long wait for Cyclone Alfred
The Conversation, Vol.11 March 2025
2025
Appears in The Conversation
Abstract
Last Monday, March 3, the Bureau of Meteorology warned residents of Queensland and New South Wales that Tropical Cyclone Alfred was coming their way. The storm was expected to hit the coast on Thursday or Friday.
By Wednesday, landfall was expected on Thursday night, and residents braced for impact. And then the waiting began.
The storm stalled, dithered and eventually weakened before reaching land early on Saturday morning. But alongside punishing winds, rain and flooding, another kind of damage spread during the long wait: conspiracy theories and misinformation were rife on social media.
They were part of a growing worldwide trend. As climate change ramps up, extreme weather proliferates and trust in authorities declines. Every large natural disaster triggers a wave of conspiracy theorising.
Details
- Title
- Why conspiracy theories and misinformation spread in the long wait for Cyclone Alfred
- Authors
- Naomi Smith - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Law and Society
- Publication details
- The Conversation, Vol.11 March 2025
- Publisher
- Conversation Media Group
- Date published
- 2025
- DOI
- 10.64628/AA.upxunemjk
- ISSN
- 2201-5639
- Copyright note
- © The Conversation Media Group. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
- Organisation Unit
- School of Law and Society
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991113051002621
- Output Type
- Magazine article
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