Combating Misinformation When A Loved One Is Caught In A Web Of Conspiracies

Many Americans are feeling like they’ve lost loved ones to a web of conspiracy theories and false information circulating online.

Sarah Gonzales for NPR

On Jan. 6, Hilary Izatt was watching TV when she began to worry.

“My husband and I are both political scientists; we’re kind of nerdy; we watch C-SPAN a lot,” Izatt says. “And when we were watching C-SPAN is when the rioters started breaking into the Capitol.”

Izatt, 39, is a doctoral student in political science at the University of Michigan. She says her dad, who lives in Utah, had told her he was traveling to Washington, D.C., to join the massive pro-Trump rally planned for that day.