Really good news - Lenny Pozner won his case against #SandyHook conspiracy theorists who insist his son (the youngest victim of the atrocity) never existed. I write about these ghouls in #TheIrrationalApe, so here's a short thread on why it matters (1/n)
theguardian.com/us-news/2019/o…
theguardian.com/us-news/2019/o…
..to recap, the 14th of December 2012 turned Sandy Hook into the epicentre of a conspiracy windmill, when 20 children between the ages of 6-7 and 6 staff members of the local elementary school were gunned down in cold blood. As I explain in the book... (2/n) 
..the massacre captured the world's attention, and you'd be forgiven for thinking that compassion for the victims and their families would be natural. But alas, no - immediately, a vicious cohort emerged who claimed Sandy Hook was a conspiracy designed to take their guns (3/n)
They were absolutely vicious - many showed up in the town, harassing survivors, insulting their dead family members. They were especially rancid to Lenny, whose son Noah was only 6 when he was killed. Here's just a taste of how vicious (4/n)
Can you just imagine the heartbreak of losing your child to a unfathomable murder, and then having to deal with the most vicious and deranged of abuse? To Sandy Hook hoaxers, the parents were 'fair game', 'crisis actors' who deserved the abuse. Here's a typical meme.. (5/n)
..conspiracy theory and pusher of ridiculous supplements Alex Jones was of course at the forefront of all this, directing abuse to the families of victims across his disgusting Infowars hub. Families, tired of abuse, have finally taken legal action (6/n) mediamatters.org/alex-jones/san…
Today's ruling is really important - it's part of a fightback against conspiracy theorists, and the damage they do. But it's also a reminder that online, absolutely horrific beliefs can reach the critical mass to become endemic, and do serious harm, as I write here (7/n)
As grotesque as this behaviour is, one has to understand that is occurs in all sorts of fringe forums. Anti-vaccine groups, for example, use similarly odious tactics against critics. Racist groups too stir toxic fictions. Conspiratorial beliefs are endemic. But why? (8/n)
There are lots of reasons people become conspiracy theorists. Reliance on anecdote over data, aversion to the randomness, faulty pattern recognition, over-reliance on simplistic narratives. I delve into all these in book, but do you know I think is the strongest motivator? (9/n)
Ego. Pure and simple. Subscribing to a conspiracy theory makes one feel like they have special knowledge. It doesn't matter experts disagree. You "know" more than those sheeple; your knowledge is entirely illusory but you'll get praised for it, and feel special. For example; 10/n
You'll see conspiracy theorists position themselves as brave truth tellers, when in reality they're just shallow hucksters. And no matter what the topic is, they do ample damage. They're also frequently ignorant on the topics they opine upon - the Dunning-Kruger effect (11/n)
There are a lot of other reasons why conspiracy theorists do damage, but it's important to be aware their nonsense is not harmless. Conspiracy theorists harangue people, and undermine public understanding deliberately. They are toxic, & ought be treated as such (12/n)
..we ought be mindful that their mendacity knows no bounds. Please, when you stumble upon outlandish beliefs, recall that these people have no commitment to objective reality, and do a lot of damage. Disinformation is a massive scale problem; do not let them away with it (13/n)
Anyway, I've ranted enough. I'm delighted that the Pozner's have had some vindication today. But my heart breaks they had to go through so much, and that others still will. If you want to know more, feel free to check out my book here (14/14, n = 14)
