![]() “It’s no surprise to see a reemergence of this decades-old theory, which our research has found to be flourishing across social media,” said Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a think tank. However, much of the recent online conversation about Agenda 21 and the coronavirus goes far beyond legitimate criticism of Big Government and environmental overreach and into the world of outlandish conspiracy. Agenda 21 as erosive of American sovereignty,” and legislators in several states have introduced anti–Agenda 21 bills in the years since. The Republican Party’s 2012 platform said “we strongly reject the U.N. Ted Cruz and commentator Glenn Beck have all referenced Agenda 21 in speeches. Opposition to vaccines is a common theme of posts citing Agenda 21, as is the idea that the novel coronavirus is a plot to crash the economy in order to create the conditions for greater government control of businesses and people’s lives.Īnti-UN sentiment is a common trope on the US right - politicians Newt Gingrich and Sen. ![]() This means that the UN is planning on killing just over 90% of the global population.” One YouTube video, which has been viewed more than 200,000 times since being uploaded by "the Atlantis Report" stated: “Agenda 21 will reduce the human population from almost 8 billion to around 750 million. “It’s not surprising that Agenda 21 would pop up again in that environment.”Īgenda 21 content is rife on YouTube, which has long had an issue with conspiracy theories. “Fears are running rampant in the far right that is some part of a conspiracy, maybe by the Chinese government, other global actors, even George Soros, to do 'something' to conservatives or Americans,” Heidi Beirich, one of the authors of the 2014 report, told BuzzFeed News. "Agenda 21" was a nonbinding UN resolution signed in 1992 that provides an action plan for governments with regard to sustainable development.īut in the 22 years since it was signed, extremists have recast it as a secret plot to impose a totalitarian world government and a nefarious effort to crush freedom in the name of environmentalism, according to a 2014 report by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Many of the theories brought together by Agenda 21 are included in the list above, which has been shared hundreds of times after being posted in a Facebook Group called "Yellow Vests Canada" last week. These posts and videos often link Agenda 21 with other tried-and-tested tropes of anti-government conspiracy theories, including vaccinations, Bill Gates, George Soros, and 5G networks. The coronavirus crisis has brought new life to an old conspiracy theory about a totalitarian world government seeking to kill most of the world’s population as part of a UN plot dating back to 1992.Ī BuzzFeed News analysis of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram shows a sharp uptick in posts mentioning "Agenda 21" in recent weeks as the coronavirus crisis has taken hold around the world, although posts are often removed for breaching the platforms’ rules. ![]()
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