Is the web dead, consumed by synthetic content? This notion represents the dead internet theory, a provocative idea that, at its extremes, looks as nonsensical as some of the most outrageous conspiracy theories. However, the general concept is also attracting less conspiratorial minds concerned about the web’s future.

Like many modern conspiracy theories, the dead internet theory (DIT) sprouted on an anonymous internet forum. A post on the Agora Road forum in 2021 claimed that the real internet died around 2016 and that most of its content and personas are synthetic, created by bots and AI on behalf of shadowy forces controlling our information culture. Like the best conspiracy theories, there are some tangibles that vaguely support some of these ideas. Bots are a known problem in social media. More than 15% of users on Twitter are thought to be bots. LinkedIn regularly deletes millions of fake accounts. In 2022, Facebook removed 5.8 billion fake accounts.