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Late last week, when #wayfair started trending on Twitter, one would have been forgiven for assuming that the hashtag was started by a medium-to-high-end household decor enthusiast. Yet the roots of the trend were much darker than that. In fact, it alluded to a conspiracy theory which began on Reddit’s r/conspiracy subreddit, according to NBC News’ Ben Collins, speculating that Wayfair was covertly using its cabinets as shipping containers for a secret child trafficking ring. The “evidence” for this theory was prices of between $12,699.99 and $14,499.99 for some of its cabinets,...

To the tune of “Pew Pew Pew” by Auntie Hammy, a woman in scrubs dances as the words flash on screen: “People that were never tested are added to coronavirus death toll,” and “the virus is nowhere near as deadly as experts predicted.” Another TikTok features her in a leopard-print bikini, with the caption “Google the number us6506148b2,” a reference to a so-called “mind control” patent often referred to by conspiracy theorists, that has most recently been coopted by the anti-vaccine movement to preemptively attack a Covid-19 vaccine.

These...