If there’s one thing we’ve had enough of, it’s conspiracy theories, and now The Atlantic is looking at how conspiracy theories have sparked a 21st-century moral panic of an imagined epidemic of child sex trafficking. They’re good enough to allow that those raising awareness of this nonexistent problem are well-meaning, at least, but they’re misinformed.
Across the United States, well-meaning citizens are raising awareness about a child-sex-trafficking epidemic that doesn’t exist. @kait_tiffany unpacks how an internet conspiracy theory birthed a 21st-century moral panic: https://t.co/YDKLhT6wH2
— The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic) December 9, 2021
Ratio
— World Champion Braves Fan (@NotSayi663) December 9, 2021
From the pages of The Atlantic:
Hmmm pic.twitter.com/bT9kHZL0vc
— Creamy (@revcarth) December 9, 2021
Also from the pages of The Atlantic:https://twitter.com/Crapplefratz/status/1468996141219987460
Say what pic.twitter.com/64qneGr6Eh
— Creamy (@revcarth) December 9, 2021
This is you tho correct? https://t.co/tOUWyx1cvc pic.twitter.com/H2drIVOmcu
— Eliza (@elizableu) December 9, 2021
It LITERALLY does exist.
Stop trying to downplay a serious problem, perverts.
— Horst De Wermer, DVM, MD, PhD, GED, DDS, MOUSE (@Crapplefratz) December 9, 2021
This is an interesting lie. We do not believe you. At all. The question is what is your motivation?
— Code of Vets ™ (@codeofvets) December 9, 2021
Damn. What’s your connection with Epstein and co?
— Pete (@peteybells) December 9, 2021
This is just shameful to do right during the Maxwell trial. Wonder if the boss-man over there was a guest on the Epstein plane
— HFSP Capital (@0x_Doyle) December 9, 2021
Recommended
They must have CEOs in the log books
— James Johnson (@BagOfOrphans) December 9, 2021
Did @kait_tiffany fly on the Epstein jet?
— Carl Laird (@syckatic) December 9, 2021
Did Ghislane Maxwell write this?
— (((🤘🏻))) (@RaggedyAndjew) December 9, 2021
Such disrespect to the poor kids who have been through these living nightmares. I hope you can learn a valuable lesson before it’s too late.
— 2oo 2all (@2oo2all) December 9, 2021
And what does this ultimately do? Damage efforts that are, in fact, needed periodically.
— (((Maggie))) (@maggieogs) December 9, 2021
Journalism 2021🤡
— Kate Austin (@KateAus1976) December 9, 2021
— Irishjay (@irishjay) December 9, 2021
There is a huge rise of this in my city in Oregon, younger girls and boys being brought into this life as runaways or homeless youth. It is real…
— Awe&Wonder (@Chrissercdp) December 9, 2021
doing the literal work of the devil good job guys
— eoj (@thatsheady) December 9, 2021
Wow! And you are a verified account!? pic.twitter.com/wjIHchGaWP
— InquisitiveMuse (@InqstvMuse) December 9, 2021
This is a super-bad take. You're dead wrong. pic.twitter.com/7tnYtlnoMU
— PastorDrNurse (@Pastor_Dr_Nurse) December 9, 2021
This is an awful article. It’s completely myopic and ignorant to focus on the conspiracy and miss the reality.
— Lesser Obstacle (@lesser_obstacle) December 9, 2021
You’re better than this
— C. Cogburn, MD (@chet_chesterr) December 9, 2021
— Derpzilla (@JDerpzilla) December 9, 2021
@TheAtlantic deems child sex trafficking as “mostly peaceful”
— Serial State Line Hopper (@state_line_hop) December 9, 2021
Same energy 🖕🏼 pic.twitter.com/tre4EZhIS5
— Kikuchiyo (@Turtlesilikeya) December 9, 2021
You are absolutely wrong and for you to deny it is a great disservice to children everywhere. You should shut your doors immediately.
— Indie Wrestling Life (@indiewrestlLIFE) December 9, 2021
Y’all are ghouls. There’s just no two ways about it.
— decommissioned pie bot (@upcuntrydegen) December 9, 2021
At this point if the mainstream media calls it a moral panic I assume it’s real
— anosognosic classic (@anonsognosic) December 9, 2021
I would suggest that the jokers replying here actually read the article. Nowhere does the author say trafficking does not happen. She actually states the opposite. But like voter fraud, when people say it's rare, you clowns hear that it doesn't exist!
— T-Mo (@Redwingtom) December 9, 2021
She lampoons it, associates it with the far right. People involved in child protection are not so associated, so it is dismissive of their impulses to protect. Tech media moguls are unusually accepting of proliferating sexual boundary, pedophile problems.
— Jeffrey Churchill (@chilljat) December 9, 2021
because admitting reality means admitting the conspiracy theory was right and if it was right, what else could these theorists be right about….
— tav (@tavernwave) December 9, 2021
Maybe a better headline would be “How misinformation clouds real efforts to combat child trafficking and makes millions doing it.”
But then you wouldn’t be tripping that outrage meter and getting all the clicks, comments, reads and forwards.— SB (@sandyjbyko) December 9, 2021
Related:
The Atlantic addresses the question of whether it’s safe to hang out with the ‘unboosted’ this winter https://t.co/2WLsilvngE
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) December 7, 2021