Netherlands banned well-known conspiracy theorist David Icke from entering the European Union.
The Dutch authorities justify the entry ban by referring to possible riots, the division of society, the fact that Icke spreads conspiracy theories and the resulting threat of terrorism.
Dutch authorities have directly linked the spread of conspiracy theories to the threat of terrorism.
In relation to this case, I would like to mention again that the term “conspiracy theory” is usually left undefined or given an extraordinarily loose definition when decrying conspiracy theories.
I have truthfully written before that the USA considers only those conspiracy theories to be conspiracy theories that are about the USA itself.
Later, Caitlin Johnstone made the same observation in one of her essays (see also my comment).
I have also quipped that a conspiracy theorist is simply a person who doubts government-promoted conspiracy theories.
Now it is appropriate to ask why the Netherlands does not issue an entry ban (and into the entire European Union!) to all those terrorist conspiracy theorists from the United Kingdom and the United States who, without providing convincing evidence, preach such conspiracy theories as, for example:
- Russian agents poisoned the Skripals in England with the military nerve agent Novichok;
- Russian agents poisoned dissident Navalny with Novichok;
- The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus escaped from a biolab in Wuhan, China, causing a pandemic;
- Russia itself blew up its Kerch bridge and its Nord Stream gas pipelines;
- Russia plans to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine.
And if conspiracy theories against prominent figures are bad, as the Dutch authorities claim, isn’t Putin a prominent figure?
Perhaps the medieval Europe of the 21st century should take a developmental leap and accept that it is not conspiracy theories themselves that are inherently evil but certain types of conspiracy theories.
However, they have never distinguished between these types of conspiracy theories (although some philosophers have tried to do so).
Based on what criteria could they then say that Icke’s conspiracy theories are bad, but the conspiracy theories they themselves spread are not?
For example, there is no way the Dutch authorities could announce publicly that Icke’s fault is that he is not talking about Russian conspiracies but about Jewish conspiracies (he is talking about green aliens and Jews and world rulers).
However, would it be conceivable that some country in the medieval Europe of the XXI century would have banned entry to Galileo Galilei — because of his conspiracy theory that the Earth moves; or to Giordano Bruno — because of his conspiracy theory that outside the Solar system, there are other civilizations and intelligent beings?
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