Twitch, YouTube Debaters Are Talking People Out of Dangerous Conspiracy Theories – By Oscar Gonzalez (CNET) / June 27, 2022
They are changing minds one stream at a time.
Hunter Avallone makes a living arguing politics with strangers on Twitch and YouTube. Last August, he was taken aback when one person sent him an outlandish message about the COVID-19 vaccines.
“Once someone takes it, they lose their soul,” David Argenti, who grew up in Canada’s Bible Belt, told Avallone in a message he shared with his streaming audience. “Nothing has led me to believe otherwise.”
For more than a half-hour, the two argued back and forth in a debate that was as biblical as it was scientific. Avallone threw out facts and dissected the meaning of biblical passages Argenti presented him with. The debate ended amicably, and a week later, Argenti got vaccinated.
These debate streamers are having success converting people, like Argenti, by employing logic, humor and compassion to create connections with people holding extreme views. Debaters like Avallone spend hours each day discussing politics and current events, often pulling their viewers from the brink of the misinformation abyss. They’ve become an informal part of an alliance of fact-checkers and researchers who are fighting to promote facts about COVID-19, election security and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
