In this seminar we focus on the hybridization of conspiracy theories, misinformation and extremism, which is a recent trend that both Danish and international intelligence services have a particular focus on in their threat assessments of extremist online environments.

In this new digital landscape, conspiracy theories, misinformation and ideological extremes coalesce in the use of digital practices such as memes and the use of popular culture. The insurrection against the US Capitol on January 6th 2021 marked a culmination of online conspiracy theories, including PizzaGate and QAnon, and different strands of misinformation about election results, COVID-19 vaccines, and climate change, persistently circulating on social media. Significantly, insurrectionists did not come together under the banner of a single ideological cause. Instead, today’s landscape of extremism is shaped by what researchers and intelligence services variably call ‘salad bar extremism’, ‘fused extremism’, ‘DIY extremism’ or ‘hybridized extremism’. The algorithmic and transmedial infrastructure of social media plays a significant role in the development and spread of many conspiratorial and extremist narratives online and enables them to enter the mainstream public discourse, accelerated by intense news reporting in legacy media. Under these conditions, seemingly everything can be adopted into conspiracy narratives which cater to both nationalist right-wing extremists, religious fundamentalists, New Age bohemians and anti-authorities skeptics across the political spectrum.

The seminar is part of the ongoing Horizon Europe-project (2023-2026) SMIDGE: Social Media Narratives: Addressing Extremism in Middle Age led by UCPH and De Montfort University, Leicester.