“White masks,” anti-vaxxers, COVID skeptics, anti-5G… supporters of the European conspiracy sphere have taken to the streets multiple times during the recent lockdowns.
The latest being protest marches against the strict measures announced by the government to boost the vaccination campaign in response to the exponential rise in positive cases due to the Delta variant.
Among them, you find all sorts: anti-vaxxers, QAnon followers, right-wing populists, denunciators of a “global Deep State,” defenders of natural medicines, business owners, the unemployed. Their common ground: skepticism towards the official narrative on the COVID-19 pandemic and a certain permeability with far-right groups.
In the background: the weakening of the socio-economic fabric, digital platforms quick to disseminate these protest ideas, and upcoming electoral deadlines. A heterogeneous assembly whose rise and potential for violent action concern European intelligence services. Their theories, now mainstream, viral, and unifying, also raise fears of destabilization of democracy in France.
