Social Media Consumption and Beliefs in Conspiracy Theories: Lithuania and Finland in Comparative Perspective

Many studies find a relationship between social media consumption and beliefs in conspiracy theories. Those findings are often presented as evidence that social media causally endorses beliefs in conspiracy theories. In this paper, we argue that the association between social media and beliefs in conspiracy theories is conditional on both individual and country-level factors.

Based on European Social Survey (2020) data from Lithuania and Finland, the paper examines the indicators that impact beliefs in conspiracy theories and considers possible solutions to mitigate conspiratorial beliefs in the context of Lithuania and Finland.

The paper concludes that three groups of citizens (believers, undecided, and non-believers) may be identified according to their levels of belief in conspiracy theories. These groups significantly differ by socioeconomic status, social media consumption, individual values, interpersonal trust, and attitudes to media freedom and inequality within a country. We also find that these relationships are conditional on evaluations of media freedom; social media consumption becomes more strongly associated with conspiracy beliefs as the more pessimistic assessment of media freedom intensifies.

The findings also demonstrate that inferences about the correlates of conspiracy beliefs are highly contingent on the specific conspiracy theories researchers employ. We argue that improved media literacy may be part of a strategy to mitigate conspiracy beliefs. Still, each identified group requires different media literacy measures to address its needs.