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Rowan Dunne

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Richard Moon: UWindsor Law Professor and conspiracy aficionado

Published On: Sun, Mar 28th, 2021, 5:26PMLast Updated: Wed, Mar 31st, 2021, 3:27PM1.1 min read
By Published On: Sun, Mar 28th, 2021, 5:26PMLast Updated: Wed, Mar 31st, 2021, 3:27PM1.1 min read

by: Rowan Dunne

In a compelling interview regarding conspiracy theories and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic on February 26th, I spoke with Richard Moon. Moon is a Law Professor at the University of Windsor and a renowned author on the subjects of freedom of expression, religious freedom, and conspiracy theories. He is also currently editor-in-chief of the Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice.

 In September last year, Moon published a written piece in the Literary Review of Canada entitled Language Barrier: The life of a conspiracy theory. In this written segment he discussed the psychology behind the prominence of conspiracy theories in society, and stated that “Disinformation now spreads easily and rapidly within social media ecosystems that are liberated from filters and counter-argument.”

His feelings about some of the whacky theories surrounding the pandemic were clearly outlined in my interview with him when he stated that, “The powerlessness of people causes them to search for an explanation, the scientific explanation seems too complicated or too uncertain, and they also desire to see intention or motivation behind whatever unfortunate, dangerous, undesirable actions are occurring and impacting their lives in some significant way.”

Gaining his insight was quite valuable, and I am grateful for having the opportunity to speak with him. To listen to the full audio interview on SoundCloud click here.

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About Rowan Dunne

Journalist for The Lance and fourth-year Digital Journalism major at the University of Windsor