The Satanic Cult Conspiracy: How online conspiracy theory discourses construct moral panic

The Satanic cult conspiracy theory alleges the existence of evil, secret, Satan-worshipping cults that seek to morally subvert society. From the Middle Ages to the late 20th century, its accusations have ebbed and flowed – peaking in the form of periodic ‘moral panics’ whereby Satanism becomes depicted as an urgent moral threat to society. These panics have consistently led to the identification and persecutions, including murders, of innocent individuals accused of Satanic cult activity. The last decade has seen a concerning resurgence of Satanic cult conspiracy theories online, however currently there is no research that analyses the overall breadth of themes found within this discourse today. This thesis evidences and presents a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the content of contemporary Satanic cult conspiracy theory discourse across Twitter/X, Instagram, and TikTok, with the aim of determining whether it indicates a new wave of Satanic moral panic. Highlighting the differences between interest-group and grassroots moral panics, it also pays attention to exploring how this notion of a ‘Satanic moral panic’ can even be identified, and why accurately identifying it matters in the first place. Research is currently limited in its understanding of the exact relationship between conspiracy theories and moral panics. To address this, I then also develop and present in this thesis a new research framework for identifying when conspiracy theory discourses are indicative of moral panics, and when they are not.