Washington – Some social media users suggest this rising fuel prices in the US they are not the result The Russian invasion of Ukraineincreased consumption or supply chain problems as daily life resumes after two years of stagnation the coronavirus pandemic.
Instead, a flurry of Facebook and Twitter say, without proof, that a nefarious plan is being carried out: the administration of President Joe Biden is intentionally raising the price of gasoline to get more American drivers to be in the steering wheel of electric cars.
“$ 6.00 a gallon of gas is how people get to buy electric cars,” says a popular meme, which has been shared thousands of times on Facebook and Instagram since Tuesday.
The latest fabrication of the Internet shows that Americans’ obsession with conspiracy theories continues to play a disproportionate role in the way they interpret political decision-making, even in times of war.
“Right now, conspiracy theories have become deeply ingrained in people’s psyches, and because of social media, they’ve spread like wildfire,” said Mia Bloom, a professor at State University. Georgia recently wrote a book examining QAnon conspiracy theory. “If it’s not this conspiracy theory this week, it will be another one next week.”
Memos, Twitter posts, and conspiracy theory-laden videos began to spin when the average price of regular gasoline broke $ 4 a gallon for the first time in almost 14 years. Publication of publications increased on Tuesday after Mr Biden announced one ban on Russian oil importsa measure he warned would almost certainly further increase U.S. gas prices, but it would deal a “blow” to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s offensive in Ukraine.
The allegations about electric vehicles echo the central themes at the heart of various conspiracy theories placed at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic by supporters of QAnon, a conspiracy theory that turned the then President Donald Trump as a hero fighting an elite clique that operates child sex trafficking networks. Many QAnon social media accounts propelled false conspiracy theories that the government would try to microchip people with a vaccine or that the shortage of coins during the pandemic was a conspiracy to push Americans into a cashless society that would be easier to control for the federal government.
The electric vehicle seems to be the latest reiteration of these conspiracy theories.
Some social media posts have suggested that the government wants to push people to use electric vehicles so they can shut down the driver’s car at will.
“I don’t know who should hear this, but high gasoline prices will drive more people to electric cars that can be frozen just like your bank account,” says a fake post circulating on social media platforms.
Contrary to this claim, electric vehicles operate in a similar way to gas vehicles; the government cannot close individual vehicles at will. With electric cars, drivers can use public or private domestic charging stations to recharge. In fact, 80% of electric vehicle charging is done from the driver’s home, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
Such conspiracy theories are popular in times of crisis, such as when a pandemic closes much of the world or during a war, because they give people an explanation for the inexplicable, Bloom said.
“Conspiracy theories provide so much comfort during such stressful times,” he said. “Having an explanation, even if someone is pulling the strings is, for whatever reason, less distressing” for some people. “If there’s a conspiracy behind it all, ‘Okay, it makes sense. Now I get it.'”
Mentions of “electric cars” and “government” have risen 400 percent in the past four days on public social media accounts, news websites and television news, according to an analysis by the intelligence firm. Labs Zignal Labs for The Associated Press.
The rise of the conversation was also fueled by conservative social media accounts that took advantage of comments made Monday by Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg during an event with Vice President Kamala Harris. The couple promoted federal government funding for public transportation and electric vehicles in accordance with Mr Biden’s infrastructure law passed last year.
“Last month, we announced $ 5 billion to build a national electric vehicle charging network so that people in rural, suburban and urban communities can benefit from the gas savings of driving an electric vehicle,” he said. dir Buttigieg.
But misleading posts on social media took Buttigieg’s comments out of context, suggesting he was directly responding to the recent jump in gas prices by telling people to buy electric vehicles. Some publications claimed that Buttigieg’s response to rising gasoline prices was for Americans to buy a “$ 50,000 electric car.”
“Pete Buttigieg says that if we don’t like gasoline prices, we should change vehicles,” he said, posting thousands of times on Facebook and Instagram.
Buttigieg, apparently responding to the allegations, shared a link to the website listing electric car prices ranging from $ 27,400 to $ 181,450 on Twitter.
“See some weird statements about electric vehicle prices,” Buttigieg wrote in a tweet.
- In:
- conspiracy theories
- gas prices
- electric cars
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