Satanic panic conspiracy theories about the Astroworld Festival are going viral on TikTok

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Olivia Little
@OliviaLittle
NEW from me + @abbieasr: Satanic panic misinformation about the Astroworld Festival is gaining tens of millions of views on TikTok. But it's not new.

This is just another example of TikTok's negligent moderation pushing users down far-right rabbit holes:

Satanic panic conspiracy theories about the Astroworld Festival are going viral on TikTok
mediamatters.org
10:53 AM · Nov 9, 2021

https://www.mediamatters.org/tiktok/satanic-panic-conspiracy-theories-about-astroworld-festival-are-going-viral-tiktok

Videos promoting baseless satanic panic conspiracy theories are quickly gaining unprecedented virality on TikTok in the wake of the massive Astroworld Festival tragedy that resulted in at least eight deaths and multiple injuries.

Though they have been thoroughly debunked, satanic panic conspiracy theories have wreaked havoc on the American public for decades — polarizing the public, capitalizing on fear, and often promoting racist and antisemitic tropes. “Satanic panic” refers to a conspiratorial panic over supposed ritual abuse and child sacrifice that began in the 1980s in the U.S., eventually contributing to the evolution of antisemitic conspiracy theories such as QAnon.

Last week's Astroworld Festival, a music festival in Houston headlined by rapper Travis Scott, turned deadly when fans abruptly surged toward the stage, crushing and trampling concertgoers. According to NPR, “seventeen people were taken to hospitals, including 11 who were in cardiac arrest.” Officials are still looking for the cause of the surge; questions have been raised about whether inadequate security and medical staffing may have played a role in the response to events.

Thousands of attendees captured the horrific scene on camera, and videos of the traumatic events are widely circulating on TikTok, receiving millions of views. While many of these videos accurately depict the seriousness of the tragedy, misleading conspiracy theories claiming something “satanic” or “demonic” is to blame are also going viral. These conspiracy theories argue that the event was some sort of satanic ritual.

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