A friend asked me at a party: is it true that Jordan Peterson spouts conspiracy theories?
For those who don’t know about Jordan Peterson, he’s a controversial retired Canadian professor who is infamous for stoking culture wars—and twisting the truth.
I said as much to my friend and asked why he wanted to know. Someone else at the party had told him the same thing, but he couldn’t believe it. He’d watched one YouTube video of Peterson and what he heard resonated with him. He was shocked to learn there was more to the story.
In fact, the Ontario College of Psychologists deemed Peterson’s public comments to be so controversial, it ordered Peterson to take a mandatory rehabilitation program or risk losing his license to practice. He challenged the order in court, lost, and moved to the U.S.
As I explained some of this history to my friend, I saw a confused look on his face: that cross between I’m not sure what to believe and you’re someone whose opinion I trust (cognitive dissonance: “psychological conflict resulting from incongruous beliefs…held simultaneously,” Merriam Webster Dictionary.)
Perhaps you’ve found yourself in a similar situation.
We are bombarded with online misinformation—much of which is no longer subject to basic fact checking. Elon Musk started that trend when he bought Twitter, renamed it X, and drove that social media channel into a hellish dystopian descent.
Mark Zuckerberg followed suit by announcing Meta (Facebook/Instagram) will no longer be fact checking posts on those channels. This after Facebook banned Canadian news from its feed in retaliation for a federal law that would compel Meta to pay a fee that would go to Canadian legacy media outlets struggling in the face of social media. (To its credit, Google is doing its part under this new law, paying $100 million in funds to Canadian journalism).
Reader, be warned: our social media news feeds aren’t reliable. Algorithms are used to bombard people with outlandish far-right misinformation—maybe you’ve noticed weird videos popping up on YouTube.
A Harvard/Kennedy School study that examines the comment section of COVID-19 news videos found that conspiracy theories flourished on YouTube during the pandemic—especially in the comments section. The study said conspiracy theories ranged from the usual ‘Bill Gates is billionaire with a hidden agenda’ all the way to how 5G cell towers can be used to activate the vaccine to do harm.
Misinformation is polarizing us
Propaganda has always been with us. From the “snake oil salesman” who would gallop on horseback into town in the wild west era, to the rise of sensationalism (known as yellow journalism) in the late 19th century, to outright falsehoods polluting our social media news feeds.
But is social media disconnecting us from reality? From our own ability to spot fact from fiction?
On January 20, 2025—the day Donald Trump was inaugurated as president of the U.S.—Elon Musk gave a speech that ended with a passionate pounding of the chest and an extension of his arm; a gesture historically known as the Nazi salute, used by white supremacists.
Within minutes, the video of Musk was making the rounds on social media, with people sowing seeds of doubt: did Musk really mean it as a Nazi salute? They cited his alleged autism, his alleged record of speaking out on behalf of Jewish people, his alleged calls for free speech. Maybe he didn’t mean it this way, many claimed.
Musk himself dismissed critics as using “dirty tricks”.
“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”—George Orwell, 1984.
It was surreal to watch this unfold in real time. And it reminded me of an important and eye-opening 2024 report, Disruptions on the Horizon, by Policy Horizons Canada. It identified 35 potential disruptions to Canadian stability.
Number one among the top potential disruptions: People cannot tell what is true and what is not.
Top 10 disruptions
- People cannot tell what is true and what is not.
- Lost biodiversity and ecosystem collapse.
- Overwhelmed emergency response.
- Cyberattacks disable critical infrastructure.
- Billionaires run the world.
- Artificial intelligence runs wild.
- Vital natural resources become scarce.
- Downward social mobility becomes the norm.
- Health care systems collapse.
- Democratic systems break down.
In 2025, those predictions are at once prescient and frightening. How can we live in a world where people can no longer tell what is true and what is not?
The report warns:
“More powerful generative AI tools, declining trust in traditional knowledge sources, and algorithms designed for emotional engagement rather than factual reporting could increase distrust and social fragmentation.
“More people may live in separate realities shaped by their personalized media and information ecosystems. These realities could become hotbeds of disinformation, be characterized by incompatible and competing narratives, and form the basis of fault lines in society.”
You might be experiencing the polarizing effects of social media conspiracy theories in your own life. A friend told me former acquaintances message her on social media with alt-right videos—raging rants about conspiracy theories on social media. She doesn’t respond. It feels too weighty. Like too much work for someone she barely knows.
What can we do? Do we exit social media altogether? Leaving X/Twitter has certainly been a relief. I metaphorically lost 10 pounds the day I left my account.
Paris Marx, who is based in Canada, has been criticizing the tech bros in his blog Disconnect. In January, Marx declared 2025 the year of the luddite:
“I want us to make 2025 a year when the luddite ethos is resurgent,” Marx wrote. “Technology and the industry behind it is not inherently positive or progressive—and we need to be ready to challenge tech that doesn’t serve the collective interest.”
If we disconnect, though, how will we get the news of the world? How will we make informed decisions?
Do we go back to legacy media outlets? Many of them are now owned by right-wing corporate interests, so we still need to be critical of what we read, see and hear. CBC still fills a void, but a Conservative Pierre Poilievre government promises to defund it. That would only worsen the news desert crisis in Canada, where entire communities no longer have local media outlets. Especially as the private broadcasting market is collapsing, we should be investing in more public broadcasting services. It’s essential to democracy.
Last, but not least, we need to educate ourselves and each other. In Finland, students are being taught how to spot fake news, fake social media profiles, half truths, and manipulated videos and images.
As CNN reported, “Finland has faced down Kremlin-backed propaganda campaigns ever since it declared independence from Russia 101 years ago. But in 2014, after Moscow annexed Crimea and backed rebels in eastern Ukraine, it became obvious that the battlefield had shifted: information warfare was moving online.”
Now Finland’s education system emphasizes critical thinking. Canada should move quickly to do the same. Without it, our very democracy is at risk.
