Abbie Richards (born 1996) is a misinformation educator and environmental activist whose conspiracy theory charts went viral on Twitter in 2020 and 2021.
Abbie Richards | |
---|---|
Personal information | |
Born | 1996 (age 27–28) |
Nationality | American |
Occupations |
|
Website | www |
Instagram information | |
Page |
|
Genres |
|
Richards was born in 1996 and grew up in Newton, Massachusetts.[1][2] She graduated from Colorado College with a degree in environmental science, and in 2022 she graduated with a masters in climate studies from Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands.[1][2][3]
After graduating from Colorado College, Richards moved to Melbourne to work in standup comedy.[2]
Richards has written articles for the Global Network on Extremism and Technology,[4] Media Matters for America,[5] and Newsweek.[6] Her written work often focuses on correcting online misinformation or discussing TikTok culture or trends.
On May 30, 2020, she posted a video showing a protester at a racial justice march during the George Floyd protests talking to an emotional police officer, which received 6 million views.[7] By July 2020, views of her TikTok posts had dropped to under 9000 each in what Screen Rant called an apparent case of shadow banning, either intentional or due to a faulty algorithm.[7] She also was restricted from live streaming on TikTok without explanation.[7]
Richards began posting criticism of golf and golf courses on TikTok after running past a golf course in the spring of 2020 and noticing the course's "no trespassing" signs.[1][2] She told The Daily Dot that "the privatization of green spaces, especially during a pandemic when people need to maximize their distance from one another, made me furious."[2] She posted to TikTok a video "about running for president to make golf illegal" which went viral.[1] Her posts focus on concerns about environmental impact and social inequality, but she also includes among her criticisms that the game is boring and "the clothes are ugly".[1][2][7][8] According to Richards her posts "started as a joke, and 100 percent is not a joke anymore" as her concerns became more serious as she did more research.[1][2]
ESPN commenter Kenny Mayne referenced the anti-golf content in a tweet, saying "The producers think the TikTok Golf hater girl @abbieasr is too avant-garde for a full SportsCenter segment".[1][7]
In January 2021, Richards published an op-ed about golf on Euronews Living entitled "Golf is a giant board game damaging the planet: Time for it to go."[9]
Richards is a member of EcoTok, a TikTok collective which focuses on creating environmentalist content.[10][11]
In 2020, Richards created "The Conspiracy Chart", an inverted pyramid assessing various conspiracy theories on a spectrum from "Grounded in Reality" to "Detached from Reality", which according to New Zealand journalist David Farrier "went bonkers on Twitter".[12][13][14] In 2021, Richards created an updated version of the chart that went viral.[15][16][17]
Richards has created TikToks on and spoken to news outlets about misinformation and conspiracy theories on the app,[18] such as videos promoting QAnon and other antisemitic conspiracy theories,[19][20] or misleading videos of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[21][22][23]
Richards has conducted research on TikTok and its algorithm.[24] One of her reports describes pervasive white supremacist content on the app.[25][26]
Richards was included on Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2023, in the category of Consumer Technology.[11]
As of February 2022[update], Richards resides in Boston.[17]