The (In)effectiveness of Conspiracy Theories in the Arab World

Abstract

ABSTRACT 1 This article explores the spread of conspiracy theories in the Arab world, specifically in the Arabic speaking countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), through a state-security prism. It downplays the common assumption that Arab culture is more prone than others to accepting conspiracy theories and instead establishes a link between the level of Arab states’ roles in policing information and the (in)effectiveness of conspiracy theories. The article argues that, through a top-down dissemination of information, Arab states have played a key role in spreading conspiracy theories to advance their agenda. Inversely, they have also successfully muted conspiracy theories that did not serve their agenda. To illustrate the salient role of Arab states in either spreading and/or muting conspiracies, this article explores three cases. The first case examines the success of Arab states in spreading conspiracy narratives centered on Israel as part of their response to their defeats in the 1948 and 1967 wars. The second case examines the success of some Arab states in muting COVID-19 conspiracy theories, focusing on regimes assessed by Freedom House as “not free” on Internet freedom. The third case focuses on Arab states assessed by Freedom House as “partly free” and shows that they fared just as poorly as their Western counterparts in overcoming vaccine hesitancy.