Michael Butter
 Michael Butter    | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 26. May, 1977 |
| Nationality | German |
| Alma mater | University of Freiburg, Bonn University |
| Founder of | COMPACT - Comparative Analysis of Conspiracy Theories |
Professsor in conspiracy theories | |
Michael Butter is a professor of America studies and the leader of COMPACT, an EU project to combat conspiracy theories and leading go-to expert for corporate media in Germany on the subject.
Butter managed in an interview with the newspaper Die Zeit to separate "Freedom of Speech" and "Freedom to Spread" and thus legitimzie censorship via search engines and social media platforms:[1]. Everyone should be able to say what they want as long as nobody can hear them.[2]
In January 2021, he gave Die Zeit a tip on how television could reduce vaccination skepticism: “That's not exactly my job, but maybe you just have to give Christian Drosten, Sandra Ciesek and other experts 30 minutes on all channels at 8:15 p.m. and let them explain how the vaccinations work". As Professor in Media Michael Meyen commented: "The only thing missing is that nobody can turn off their 'telescreen' and we are right in the middle of George Orwell's 1984.[2]
Opinions
He claimed that conspiracy theories are always false: "never before" has "a conspiracy theory turned out to be true in retrospect".[3]
References
- ↑ Michael Butter: »Die Corona-Impfung ist ein Traum für Verschwörungstheoretiker«. In: Die Zeit 23. Januar 2021
- ↑ a b https://multipolar-magazin.de/artikel/das-neue-wahrheitsregime
- ↑ Michael Butter: »Nichts ist, wie es scheint«. Über Verschwörungstheorien. Berlin: Suhrkamp 2018, S. 37
