During the 2016 US election campaign, a conspiracy theory known as #Pizzagate went viral on rightwing websites.
The theory, which claimed that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was involved in a child sex ring run from a Washington pizza restaurant, seemed laughable. Until a #Pizzagate believer used an assault rifle to fire at the restaurant.
Thankfully, nobody was hurt. But the episode raised two questions that remain pertinent four years on amid continued political polarisation: why do conspiracy theories proliferate? And is there a way to counter them effectively?
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