Screen Time: Battle for Reality S2E1 — Freedom, Baby, Freedom

January 10, 2024

When the pandemic hit in 2020, it suddenly seemed like conspiracy theories were everywhere. But where did those ideas come from? And why did so many people believe them?

Selena Paley, the co-founder of an alternative media outlet called Freedom Central, explains her anti-vaccine views and talks about her experience as part of the Freedom Convoy in 2022. Journalist Justin Ling then tells the story of the Freedom Convoy from an outside perspective.

Journalist Anna Merlan explains why and how people believe conspiracy theories. And national security expert Stephanie Carvin explains how the forces of online misinformation and conspiracy thinking are at work in Canada.