Abbie Richards (born 1996) is a misinformation educator and environmental activist whose
conspiracy theory charts went viral on
Twitter in 2020 and 2021.
After graduating from Colorado College, Richards moved to
Melbourne to work in standup comedy.[2]
Social media career
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]
Environmental activism
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]
Misinformation education
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]
TikTok research
Richards has conducted research on TikTok and its algorithm.[24] One of her reports describes pervasive
white supremacist content on the app.[25][26]
Recognition
Richards was included on
Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2023, in the category of Consumer Technology.[11]