Beloved Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling recently ranted on Twitter about an article published by Express UK that discussed themes related to the well-known “Illuminati” conspiracy theory. Rowling’s tweet suggested that the article was potentially dangerous considering the recent incidents of conspiracy theorists resorting to real-world violence due to conspiracy theories they’ve read online.
UK journalist Jon Austin titled the article ‘ILLUMINATI LEADERS? Now Angela Merkel makes 'that sign' with royals Kate and William.” The article brought to its readers’ attention the fact that German Chancellor Angela Merkel formed her hands into a diamond-shaped hand gesture, one that is often associated with the “Illuminati,’ while meeting with other world leaders.
The "Illuminati" conspiracy theory describes a secret government organization that controls everything around the world. As Austin points out in the article, there are different versions of the theory out there, some claiming that the organization is a satanic one.
Austin’s article does not outright come out and say that he personally believes that Merkel is part of the Illuminati or anything like that. But considering what we know about his beliefs, it’s likely that this article was trying to promote these sorts of conspiracy theories.
Austin’s Express UK profile describes him as an “online science reporter” who also covers topics such as UFOs and other conspiracy theories.
Many would likely argue that Rowling’s critique of the Express UK article is a reasonable one considering incidents like the ‘Pizzagate’ shooting that occurred earlier this year, where a young man went and shot up a Washington pizzeria after reading about a conspiracy theory online claiming that the building was hosting a secret child sex-slave ring.
Rowling’s tweet has received largely positive reception from her followers. As of the writing of this article, the tweet has a total of 1,124 retweets and 8, 558 likes. Rowling posted the tweet one week ago.
