An EarthwormExpress Special

By Eben van Tonder, Friday, 27 July 2025

Dedicated to Armin:
Thank you for introducing a fascinating discussion and for your dedication to critical thinking. You, like Siegmar, Lauren, Chris, Shannon, and Tristan, challenge us on many levels.

Introduction

Conspiracy theories are as old as humanity itself. Wherever fear and uncertainty exist, stories of hidden forces and secret elites arise to explain the chaos. What has changed over time is not the human appetite for these stories but the power of the tools used to spread them. The printing press allowed the Tsarist forgery of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion to reach a global audience, radio magnified Nazi propaganda to a fever pitch, and today social media propels falsehoods into the minds of millions within seconds.

The weaponisation of conspiracy theory is one of the oldest forms of psychological influence, but in the modern era, with mass communication and digital networks, it has become a force capable of shaking the foundations of democracy, public trust, and even life itself. From the myths surrounding the Bavarian Illuminati and Freemasonry, to the Nazi and Soviet propaganda machines, and now to the tidal wave of COVID-19 disinformation, the assault on truth has evolved but never disappeared.

The Bavarian Illuminati, Origins, Values, and Misrepresentation

The Bavarian Illuminati were founded on 1 May 1776 in Ingolstadt by Adam Weishaupt, a professor of canon law and a sharp critic of superstition, tyranny, and the unchallenged dominance of church and monarchy. Weishaupt’s order, the Orden der Illuminaten, was built on values of reason, intellectual freedom, meritocracy, and moral improvement. At its heart, the group promoted equality and freedom of thought, supporting ideals that would influence movements such as the abolition of slavery and the call for universal human dignity.

The Illuminati grew by infiltrating Masonic lodges, which already had widespread influence and networks across Europe. This connection is why the Illuminati became permanently linked to Freemasonry in the popular imagination, despite being separate entities. By the early 1780s, the Illuminati had several hundred members, including influential intellectuals and nobles. Their structure was secretive, hierarchical, and disciplined, qualities that made them efficient but also drew suspicion.

In 1785, Elector Karl Theodor of Bavaria, alarmed by the order’s radical ideals and secretive nature, outlawed the Illuminati. Their seized papers were published, fuelling public curiosity and fear. Authors like Augustin Barruel and John Robison transformed the Illuminati’s real goals into allegations of vast, hidden conspiracies, claiming they had orchestrated the French Revolution. Though these claims were baseless, the narrative of an all-powerful Illuminati pulling the strings of history was born, and it survives, recycled endlessly, into the age of the internet.

The Illuminati did not create the conditions for the later Tsarist forgery of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, but their story illustrates something fundamental, throughout history, powerful entities have exploited the fear of hidden elites and shadowy networks to shape public opinion for their own ends. The tools and mediums have evolved, but the impulse to create narratives of “invisible control” is as old as humanity itself.

Freemasonry, Medieval Roots and Social Reform

Freemasonry, often unfairly tangled with the Illuminati, has its roots in the stonemason guilds of medieval England and Scotland. Over centuries, it developed into a fraternity centred on moral philosophy, brotherhood, and symbolic lessons drawn from architecture and geometry. Freemasons valued liberty, equality, charity, and intellectual freedom, which naturally aligned them with Enlightenment movements.

Freemasonry played a prominent role in progressive causes, including the abolition of slavery and early human rights campaigns. Lodges provided safe spaces for debate and reform, and their values contributed to both the American and French Revolutions. Today, Freemasonry remains a global institution, with the Prince of Wales serving as its Grand Master in England, though each country maintains its own independent structure.

The secrecy of Freemasonry, while symbolic and largely ceremonial, made it a convenient target for conspiracy theorists who saw its networks as proof of clandestine influence. Anti-Masonic movements in the 19th century, including the formation of the Anti-Masonic Party in the United States, cemented this perception.

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Forgery and Impact

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, forged by Russia’s Tsarist secret police, the Okhrana, around 1902 to 1903, is the most infamous conspiracy text of modern times. Likely authored by Matvei Golovinski, the Protocols claimed to document a Jewish plan for world domination. It was first published in 1903 in the Russian newspaper Znamya and later popularised by Sergey Nilus.

Despite being debunked, including a famous 1921 exposé by The Times journalist Philip Graves, the Protocols achieved immense global influence. Adolf Hitler cited it in Mein Kampf, and Nazi propaganda machinery used it as a cornerstone of their antisemitic worldview. Its message was spread through radio, print, and mass rallies, demonstrating how technological advances, from the printing press to modern broadcasting, could turn falsehoods into weapons of devastating power.

Nazi Propaganda and the Industrialisation of Conspiracy

Nazi Germany turned conspiracy theory into a state-sponsored art form. Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi propaganda minister, understood that controlling the narrative was as important as controlling the battlefield. The Nazis exploited the Protocols of Zion, framing the Jewish people as the masterminds behind all of Germany’s troubles. They merged these antisemitic claims with the Dolchstoßlegende, or “stab-in-the-back” myth, which falsely alleged that Germany’s defeat in World War I was due to betrayal by Jews, communists, and democrats rather than military failure.

The Nazis used every modern medium of their time, print, film, and especially radio, to propagate these ideas, creating an alternate reality in which Hitler’s regime was cast as the only defence against a vast, hidden enemy. The consequences were catastrophic, conspiracy theories were not mere stories, but justifications for persecution, war, and genocide.

Soviet Active Measures and the Cold War

The Soviet Union inherited the tools of propaganda and refined them into a sophisticated global strategy. Known as “active measures”, these operations involved planting disinformation in credible outlets to destabilise Western societies and weaken trust in institutions.

One of the most notorious Cold War examples was Operation Denver, or INFEKTION, launched in 1983. The KGB planted a false story in the Indian newspaper The Patriot, claiming AIDS was a U.S. biological weapon. The lie spread rapidly and, according to some analysts, contributed to the scepticism of South African President Thabo Mbeki in the late 1990s, when he questioned the very existence of HIV/AIDS and rejected mainstream treatment protocols. The cost in human lives was immeasurable.

The KGB also exploited the assassination of John F. Kennedy, planting narratives that the CIA was behind his death. Though unsupported by evidence, these claims entered the mainstream, proving how conspiracy theories can become untouchable once they have been seeded in the public mind.

COVID-19, The Digital Frontline of Disinformation

The COVID-19 pandemic became the perfect storm for disinformation in the age of social media. Conspiracy theories claiming that vaccines were lethal, contained microchips, or were part of a “plandemic” orchestrated by global elites spread like wildfire on platforms like Facebook, X, and TikTok. Despite exhaustive debunking by scientists, these narratives persisted, amplified by the algorithms that reward outrage and sensationalism.

Evidence points to a combination of foreign and domestic actors. Russian and Chinese disinformation campaigns aim to weaken Western trust in science and governance while promoting their own agendas. At the same time, domestic anti-vaccine influencers, pseudo-scientific grifters, and fringe political groups profit from spreading fear, selling alternative “cures”, or gaining political traction.

Just as the printing press amplified the Protocols and radio amplified Nazi propaganda, social media amplifies today’s conspiracy theories to a degree unprecedented in history. The principles are the same, but the scale and speed of dissemination have become staggering.

The Assault on Truth

Conspiracy theories are often mistaken for critical thinking, but they are its opposite. Real critical thinking requires evidence, a willingness to revise beliefs, and the ability to distinguish credible information from manipulation. Conspiracy narratives, by contrast, are self-reinforcing, every attempt to disprove them is twisted into proof of the conspiracy’s reach.

The result is not only widespread misinformation but also a deep erosion of trust in all institutions, governments, science, journalism, and even the shared sense of reality that binds societies together. This erosion benefits those who thrive in division and chaos, from authoritarian regimes to opportunistic extremists.

A Lineage of Lies

From the secret societies of Enlightenment Europe to the Okhrana’s forgeries, from the Nazis’ industrialised propaganda to the KGB’s Cold War operations, and now to social media disinformation campaigns about COVID-19, the history of conspiracy theory is a history of tools wielded to manipulate the public mind. The technologies have changed, but the strategy remains constant, exploit fear, sow division, and erode trust.

The lesson is clear. Truth is fragile and must be actively defended. It requires not only factual corrections but the cultivation of a society that values evidence-based reasoning, historical understanding, and the courage to see through manipulation. To live in a world of unexamined fear and falsehood is not freedom, it is submission to those who would control us.

Truth as Freedom’s Last Defence

The values that the Enlightenment brought to the world, the insistence on reason, evidence, and equality, remain our best defence against the descent into superstition and blind fear. Critical thinking is not optional in the modern age, it is the foundation of freedom itself. When we abandon truth for convenient lies, we surrender to those who benefit from chaos and division.

History has shown us how the printing press spread the Tsarist forgery of the Protocols, how radio magnified Nazi propaganda, and how social media now fuels global disinformation campaigns. The mediums may have changed, but the pattern is ancient, those who seek power will always use narrative to shape reality. The challenge for us today is whether we will allow truth to be drowned out by fear, or whether we will choose to defend it, with clarity, with evidence, and with courage.

References

• Barkun, M. (2013). A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America. University of California Press.
• Boghardt, T. (2009). Soviet Bloc Intelligence and Its AIDS Disinformation Campaign. Studies in Intelligence, 53(4).
• Cohn, N. (1967). Warrant for Genocide: The Myth of the Jewish World-Conspiracy and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Secker & Warburg.
• Holland, M. (2007). The Lie that Linked the CIA to the Kennedy Assassination. Studies in Intelligence, 51(4).
• Kershaw, I. (1998). Hitler: 1889–1936 Hubris. Penguin.
• Rid, T. (2020). Active Measures: The Secret History of Disinformation and Political Warfare. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
• Robison, J. (1797). Proofs of a Conspiracy Against All the Religions and Governments of Europe. London.