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Andrea Austria

Research/Study Research/Study

Agenda 2030 and New World Order conspiracy theories garner tens of millions of views on Spanish-language TikTok

Media Matters found nearly 100 posts pushing fringe conspiracy theories in Spanish, earning over 70 millions views total

Written by Leo Fernandez

Published

A Media Matters review of Spanish-language TikTok found 90 posts spreading right-wing conspiracy theories about a globalist elite establishing a “New World Order” and transforming society under the guise of the United Nations’ Agenda 2030 campaign, despite the platform’s policies designed to impede the flow of misinformation and conspiracy theories.

Our findings include:

  • At least 37 posts on TikTok included Spanish-language promotions of the New World Order conspiracy theory.
  • These New World Order conspiracy theory posts together earned over 41 million total views.
  • We found 53 posts on TikTok that included Spanish-language discussions of the Agenda 2030 conspiracy theory.
  • These Agenda 2030 conspiracy theory posts earned nearly 29 million views in total.
  • The claims in the posts varied widely, but they consistently revolved around Agenda 2030, the New World Order, and the Illuminati.
  • Posts included references to politics, pop culture, and international organizations like the United Nations.
  • Of the posts found in our review, 32 had view counts over 100,000, while 20 had over 1 million views.

For posterity, we have compiled all the posts below in a single video file at the beginning of each section, and included links to the original videos in the following citations.

Select a Section

  • Spanish-language TikTok videos spread conspiracy theories

  • Many of the Spanish-language TikTok posts in Media Matters' review claim that a nebulous “New World Order” will strip individuals of their rights and autonomy. They often suggest that a powerful ruling class has manufactured various political and economic crises — such as the war in Ukraine or the coronavirus pandemic — natural disasters, and diseases as a means of destroying the existing world system and replacing it with a new one.

    Although the specific elements of the New World Order are fluid and the conspiracy theory is often adapted to different current events or news stories, there were several identifiable motifs that appeared in our review. Different clusters of posts from our review variously predicted a satanic cultural revolution, an imminent false flag alien invasion that would be used to unite humanity under one government, and old-fashioned fire and brimstone.

    We found that these narratives often overlapped with false claims about the United Nations’ Agenda 2030 campaign, which sets a series of sustainable development goals for the year 2030 including combating climate change and achieving gender equality. The TikToks on these two sweeping conspiracy theories purport to expose an elitist — and often Jewish — plot to subdue humanity. 

    Spanish-speaking conservative pundits have used the highly adaptable New World Order and Agenda 2030 conspiracy theories to spread fear over whatever issues they wish to incite audiences about, from immigration to reproductive rights to the LGBTQ community, claiming that any and all changes to the world or viewers’ individual lives are part of a sinister plot to remake human civilization in the vision of a few elites. Despite TikTok’s guidelines prohibiting “inaccurate, misleading, or false content that may cause significant harm to individuals or society, regardless of intent,” the conspiracy theories continue to proliferate on the platform.

    Media Matters has reported on how similar conspiracy theories are being used to push Spanish-language climate misinformation on TikTok, even after prohibiting “climate change misinformation that undermines well-established scientific consensus.” Although TikTok removed the majority of the videos flagged in that report, that action has only scratched the surface of the issue — as this newest review found, Spanish-language misinformation remains rampant on the platform.

    Latino engagement with Spanish-language social media has been shown to heighten the risk of buying into misinformation, which could impact voting behavior. TikTok’s growth also presents a comparison to YouTube, a platform popular with Latinos that was a hotbed of Spanish-language misinformation during and after the 2020 and 2022 election cycles. With 1.1 billion monthly active users, and with one in five TikTok users being Hispanic, the platform could become an even greater vector of Spanish-language misinformation during the 2024 election cycle than YouTube was in 2020.

  • Agenda 2030 conspiracy theories

    • A March video used a clip of far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni criticizing “gender ideology” to attack Agenda 2030 while adding conspiracy theory hashtags such as “#STOPAGENDA2030” and “#newworldorder.” [TikTok, 3/7/23, shown at 0:01 in the supercut video above]
    • A June video fearmongered about Agenda 2030’s sustainable development goals, posting a series of images designed to look like the U.N. graphics associated with the campaign, such as an image of a fetus and a knife accompanied by the text “abortion and birth control.” [TikTok, 6/29/23, 1:41]
    • A January video fearmongered about the World Economic Forum's call to reduce private vehicles and linked it to Agenda 2030, along with the hashtags "#communism" and "#newworldorder." [TikTok, 1/6/23, 2:19]
    • A June video used a clip of Valentina Muñoz, a Chilean youth activist appointed to advocate for the sustainable development goals, to fearmonger about the U.N.’s Agenda 2030. [TikTok, 6/30/23, 2:35]
    • A January video made claims that Agenda 2030 is being implemented by “social engineering” to empower globalist elites and “destabilize nations,” and promote “the hatred of our Christian culture” and societies to usher in a new world. [TikTok, 1/26/23, 4:09]
    • There was a video posted in July which falsely linked Agenda 2030 to depopulation, pedophilia, other controversial issues using doctored graphics made to look like the widely circulated original sustainable development goals' graphics. The video was tagged “#agenda2030.” [TikTok, 7/6/23, 5:34]
    • A March video tagged with “#Agenda2030” pushed false claims about Agenda 2030 and its supposed ties to vaccines, emphasizing rare side effects and claiming that vaccines are a component of a supposed “genetic modification” plot. [TikTok, 3/11/23, 6:38]
    • A March video claimed that Agenda 2030 is a “declaration of war” that is designed to impoverish and steal resources from regular people, and that it is only being masked as a sustainability program. [TikTok, 3/12/23, 9:32]
    • An April video said that Agenda 2030 is being pushed by Israelis and aims to “destroy our conception of families” and to endanger children. [TikTok, 4/27/23, 12:07]
    • A February video falsely claimed that Agenda 2030 is driving taxation on private property and luxury items to “take everything from the people, leave them destitute, and prevent any development.” [TikTok, 2/25/23, 12:52]
    • A February video claimed that Agenda 2030 aims to inhibit the free movement of people in Europe through the implementation of “15-minute cities,” which the creator claims “violates the right” to freedom of movement. [TikTok, 2/21/23, 15:25]
    • An April video seemingly fearmongered about child abuse with a video of a child and an adult singing Gotye's “Somebody That I Used To Know” overlayed with the text “new normalization” and with hashtags linking Agenda 2030 to satanism. [TikTok, 4/13/23, 17:11]
    • A May video implied that Agenda 2030 is behind an Argentinian law that it claims pushes “gender ideology" to steal children's innocence and teach masturbation in schools. [TikTok, 5/17/23, 18:03]
    • A video from June calls Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador a “traitor” for supporting the sustainable development goals and added an "#agenda2030satanic" hashtag. [TikTok, 6/29/23, 19:13]
    • A May video featured parts of an episode of The Simpsons about chemtrails to fearmonger about the popular conspiracy theory claiming that the government is putting chemicals in the air, which the video connects to Agenda 2030. [TikTok, 5/25/23, 20:31]
    • A July video of Vice President Kamala Harris fearmongered about depopulation, one of the alleged tenets of the Agenda 2030 conspiracy theory. The video referenced Agenda 2030 in the hashtags. [TikTok, 7/17/23, 21:47]
    • A June video made false claims that Agenda 2030 aims to destroy agriculture. [TikTok, 6/16/23, 22:13]
    • A July video claimed that Agenda 2030’s sustainable development goals are part of a satanic agenda to dominate the world. [TikTok, 7/8/23, 23:11]
    • An August video pushed misinformation about the fires in Hawaii, claiming that they were being used to steal the land from the people who lived there and to promote the existence of climate change. The post uses text and images superimposed over the video to claim that the fires were a NATO terrorist attack connected to Agenda 2030. [TikTok, 8/18/23, 24:47] 
    • A February video claimed that the World Economic Forum and Agenda 2030 are planning to create a "Hunger Games"-like situation in which people are stripped of their property and “enclosed in barrios,” supposedly in order to reduce emissions. [TikTok, 2/21/23, 28:41]
    • A June video with an Agenda 2030 hashtag fearmongered about heavy metals in cereals. [TikTok, 6/8/23, 31:25]
    • An August video from a TikTok influencer spread conspiracy theories about Agenda 2030, Bill Gates, vaccines, and climate change, and claimed that the fires in Hawaii were started by planes with lasers. [TikTok, 8/17/23, 32:55]
    • A February video pushed claims that Agenda 2030 will strip people of private property and their right to procreate, forcing them to eat worms and insects. [TikTok, 2/18/23, 36:38]
    • An April video showed an image of the Agenda 2030 graphic with a hammer and sickle in the middle and called Agenda 2030 “The Great Communist Reset.” The video was tagged "#agenda2030" and "#communism." [TikTok, 4/23/23, 37:20]
    • A February video pushed claims that Agenda 2030 will force people to eat insects and restrict travel under the guise of combating climate change. [TikTok, 2/24/23, 37:36]
    • An August 2022 video from Epoch Times Español attacked Greenpeace and claimed that the organization had been compromised and taken over by leftists pushing climate misinformation. The TikTok also contained a caption over the video claiming that Agenda 2030 had been exposed. [TikTok, 8/22/23, 38:35]
    • A July video made claims that the fine print of Agenda 2030 is pushing “gender ideology” in classrooms, abortion, and diminishing national sovereignty. [TikTok, 7/4/23, 48:36]
    • A video from July featured a trailer for Sound of Freedom, a film that has been criticized for being a vehicle for conspiracy theories, along with an Agenda 2030 hashtag. [TikTok, 7/15/23, 50:08]
    • A June video of far-right Spanish politician Jorge Buxadé was used to push claims that Agenda 2030 will lead to the enslavement of people living “under a regime of ideological terror.” [TikTok, 6/25/23, 52:16]
    • A video from June claimed that Agenda 2030 is coming for South America’s natural resources and will be forcing people to eat insects instead of beef. [TikTok, 6/25/23, 53:37]
    • An August video sensationalized Agenda 2030’s sustainability goals, claiming that its “real objectives” are to depopulate the planet, monopolize food, push abortions, and indoctrinate children in schools. It also made claims that Agenda 2030 seeks to promote “transexuality and pedophilia,” geoengineer the climate, and create a New World Order, among other claims. [TikTok, 8/10/23, 54:40]
    • A June video sensationalized Agenda 2030 and claimed that its objective is to create a New World Order, a process that it claims has already been initiated through the creation of lab-grown meat and genetically modified food. [TikTok, 6/24/23, 55:44]
    • A June video with an Agenda 2030 hashtag claimed that “they” are trying to normalize pedophilia. [TikTok, 6/25/23, 57:30]
    • A July video added commentary to a clip promoting the LGBTQ community in Mexico in order to claim that the people of Mexico are being disrespected and treated like “idiots.” The video also featured several hashtags, including "#agenda2030," "#agenda2030satanic," "#agenda2030trash," "#agenda2030disastrous," "#bidensocialist," and "#communism." [TikTok, 7/23/23, 58:14]
    • A May video labeled “Agenda Mundial 2030” featured claims that “the government wants you to be stupid … because it's easier to manipulate you.” [TikTok, 5/16/23, 59:07]
    • A May video pushed conspiracy theories about Agenda 2030 and the so-called New World Order, saying that the Bible has already prophesized the rise of a monolithic government in rebellion against God. [TikTok, 5/26/23, 59:34]
    • A March video claimed that “Netflix is a tool of Agenda 2030,” tying the streaming service to George Soros and Barack Obama, and saying it is pushing “counter culture and woke ideology.” [TikTok, 3/26/23, 1:06:50]
    • A June video praising Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “Don't Say Gay” bill was hashtagged with "#agenda2030." [TikTok, 6/11/23, 1:07:12]
    • A June video featured a man commentating over a recording of nurses throwing their scrubs at police officers supposedly in protest of the “genocidal vaccine” and adding the hashtag "#agenda2030." [TikTok, 6/19/23, 1:08:14]
    • An August video with an "#agenda2030" hashtag claimed that images in pop culture depicting horned people like Angelina Jolie in Maleficent are references to paganism and satanism. The commentator also claimed that this is part of a larger scheme to indoctrinate and sexualize children. [TikTok, 8/2/23, 1:10:11]
    • A July video spread misinformation about Agenda 2030, claiming that “it promotes and glorifies gender dysphoria … obesity … and the treatment of children as adults.” [TikTok, 7/12/23, 1:13:10]
    • A July video with Agenda 2030 hashtags claimed that the New World Order will seize control by introducing an “alien” enemy to unite the nations of the world under one government. [TikTok, 7/5/23 1:18:50]
    • A July video with text about Agenda 2030, globalists, and “submitting to China” used a clip of Vice President Kamala Harris making comments about sustainability to fearmonger about reducing population. [TikTok, 7/16/23, 1:21:01]
    • A June video featured a clip of a child addressing why he was sent home for wearing a shirt that said “there are only two genders” with hashtags referencing Agenda 2030, communism, and satanism. [TikTok, 6/4/23, 1:21:20]
    • A July 2023 video detailing the “levels” of a supposed Matrix that people are caught in included the following hashtags: "#corruptglobalists," "#agenda2030," "#agendacommunist2030," "#bidensocialist," and "#bidencommunist." [TikTok, 7/15/23, 1:24:05]
    • A July video with an Agenda 2030 hashtag sensationalized the presence of atrazine in tap water, a chemical in pesticides known to cause hermaphroditism in frogs. [TikTok, 7/26/23, 1:31:30; Environmental Health Perspectives, 1/24/06]
    • A video from June with text superimposed over the video saying “No to Agenda 2030” called Mexican politicians who support Agenda 2030 “traitors to their country.” [TikTok, 6/28/23, 1:32:57]
    • A September video with the hashtag "#agenda2030" pushed claims that a new pandemic will occur in October because the governments of the world want to enact another lockdown by December. [TikTok, 9/2/23, 1:34:25]
    • An April video claimed that “transhumanism is part of Agenda 2030” and used footage from a fashion show to claim that “they are trying to degrade the human form.” [TikTok, 4/14/23, 1:36:39]
    • In a September video, the speaker implied that people in China were covering their roofs with blue tarps in anticipation of a laser attack. The post included hashtags referencing a “New World Order” and “Agenda 2030”: "#newworldorder," "#agenda2030," "#awakeningofconsciousness," "#spiritualawakening," "#laserweapon," and "#blueroofs." [TikTok, 9/1/23, 1:36:51]
    • An April video claimed that Barnes & Noble selling LGBTQ childrens’ books is “evidence of how governments are colluding with the diabolical globalist Agenda 2030.” [TikTok, 4/7/23, 1:37:09]
    • A June video with the Agenda 2030 logo and a skull featured a clip of a man claiming that the audience is the last generation who will be born by accident and that future generations will be “designed.” [TikTok, 6/30/23, 1:38:49]
    • A June video with the hashtag "#agenda2030" used a clip of musician Lil Nas X joking about the satanic worshiping practices of the so-called “gay agenda” to imply that satanists are hiding in plain sight. [TikTok, 6/9/23, 1:39:01]

  •  New World Order conspiracy theories

    • A January video of Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, seemingly talking about elites who control Hollywood has been tagged with New World Order hashtags. [TikTok, 1/4/23, 0:01]
    • A May 2022 video pushes New World Order conspiracy theories about a one world religion being established and fearmongered about the World Economic Forum and transhumanism, a philosophical and intellectual movement in which humans are transformed by technology that has become a target for conspiracy theories. [TikTok, 5/15/22, 0:38; Reuters, 10/21/21]
    • A video about Elon Musk’s comments that he might be assassinated was uploaded along with conspiracy theory hashtags like “#thenewworldorder” in December 2022. [TikTok, 12/5/22, 2:52]
    • A March 2022 video used an out-of-context clip of President Joe Biden to support claims of a New World Order being organized in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. [TikTok, 3/23/22, 3:07]
    • A July video with a hashtag of "#newworldorder" featured a Mexican public intellectual discussing the “fall of the G7” countries and the rise of BRICS nations -- a group of major emerging economies including Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa -- to suggest a new “multipolar” world order. [TikTok, 7/15/23, 5:14]
    • A March video with a hashtag of "#newworldorder" pushed conspiracy theories about central bank digital currency having “the mark of the beast,” referencing the biblical end times prophecy about the Antichrist, indicating imminent financial collapse. [TikTok, 3/21/23, 8:15]
    • An April 2022 video with a hashtag of "#newworldorder" spread conspiracy theories and antisemitic tropes about the Rothschild family and other families supposedly in control of the world. [TikTok, 4/29/22, 9:57]
    • A July video of President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele calling for the unification of Central American countries into one nation pushed the New World Order conspiracy theory. [TikTok, 7/23/23, 10:50]
    • A May video spread conspiracy theories from a book called The New World Order, which claims that the population will undergo mass delusion, poisoning, and infertility. [TikTok, 5/5/23, 12:19]
    • A March video pushed conspiracy theories claiming that a false flag event with “projected holographic alien warships” hiding “real military crafts within the holograms” will be used to unify the world against a false common enemy to implement a “one world government,” creating the New World Order. [TikTok, 3/8/23, 15:14]
    • Another March video claimed that the New World Order will commence with the digitization of currency, and called for people to “save gold, have food, have chickens at home” in order to protect themselves from the government’s control. [TikTok, 3/1/23, 18:19]
    • A June 2022 video of burning crops included narration which suggested that there is an ongoing effort to depopulate the planet. The commentator also added that “for those who weren’t killed by the famous virus will now be killed by hunger.” The video included a "#newworldorder" hashtag. [TikTok, 6/6/22, 19:26] 
    • An August 2021 video referenced one of the supposed 10 commandments of the New World Order, claiming that there is a goal “to keep the human population under 500,000,000” and that a genocide is underway. [TikTok, 8/7/21, 19:45]
    • A March 2022 video made claims that the New World Order will be a global economic restructuring in which Russia and China will become the dominant superpowers. [TikTok, 3/12/22, 20:04]
    • A May video with New World Order hashtags advised viewers not to seek medical attention in the future, to pull children out of schools, and then added a video about transhumanism, which according to testimony from an unknown source is being implemented by the New World Order. [TikTok, 5/2/23, 23:10]
    • A January video with the hashtag "#newworldorder" spread vaccine misinformation, falsely claiming that the toxic chemical graphene oxide is present in COVID-19 vaccines. [TikTok, 1/21/23, 29:44]
    • A June 2022 video also spread Project Blue Beam conspiracy theories, claiming that holograms will be used to project religious figures in the sky and lead to a one world religion under the New World Order. [TikTok, 6/29/22, 31:59]
    • A March video linked celebrities to satanism and used the hashtags "#newworldorder," "#mkultra," and "#illuminati," among others. [TikTok, 3/11/23, 32:54]
    • An April video claimed that the New World Order is “imminent” after the World Economic Forum released a video about the “great reset,” a term used by the WEF to describe action against climate change that conspiracy theorists have misinterpreted as a dog whistle for the New World Order. The video also suggested that the climate crisis, war in Ukraine, pandemic, and the cultural war between “nationalists and globalists'' are part of this larger scheme. [TikTok, 4/30/23, 33:18]
    • A November 2021 video with New World Order hashtags showed a needle penetrating a surface and injecting a chip with subtitles that says, “This is the new system after the shutdown.” [TikTok, 11/8/21, 33:57]
    • A June video of synthetic meat being produced by machines warned of the New World Order. [TikTok, 6/23/23, 34:14]
    • An August video claimed that a “new pandemic” is underway and that mask mandates will be put in place in October. The video included a "#newworldorder" hashtag. [TikTok, 8/23/23, 35:14]
    • A February video claimed that a “new religion of the Antichrist” is forming and will become the official religion of the New World Order. [TikTok, 2/19/23, 36:14]
    • A June video fearmongered about the production of synthetic meat, calling it “the meat of the New World Order.” [TikTok, 6/23/23, 39:06]
    • A January video pushed New World Order conspiracy theories using Shakira as an example of a celebrity corrupted by satanism, highlighting images of her that supposedly expose satanic symbolism. [TikTok, 1/20/23, 39:49]
    • A September 2022 video claimed that the New World Order’s economic restructuring will not happen suddenly but already has gradually begun, pointing to the 2008 financial crisis as evidence. [TikTok, 9/23/22, 45:49]
    • A January video with New World Order hashtags fearmongered about vaccines and made false claims that graphene oxide is one of the ingredients. [TikTok, 1/18/23, 48:55]
    • A March 2022 video spread New World Order conspiracy theories, describing the subjugation of the human population through media, poison, and manufactured infertility. [TikTok, 3/22/22, 52:19]
    • A November 2022 video featured statements dubiously attributed to David Rockefeller in 1994, when he supposedly said “all that we need is a right major crisis and nations will accept the New World Order.” [TikTok, 11/24/22, 55:14]
    • A July 2022 video showing footage of a fire in the Netherlands suggested that Bill Gates is setting fires to food producing facilities for the New World Order. [TikTok, 7/10/22, 55:20]
    • A July 2022 video claimed that Lady Gaga is in the Illuminati and is regularly using satanic imagery in her performances. [TikTok, 7/31/22, 56:35]
    • A February video spread New World Order conspiracy theories about Project Blue Beam, which it claims will be used to subjugate humanity through mass deception, weather control, holograms, and “bidirectional electronic telepathic communication.” [TikTok, 2/21/23, 57:43] 
    • A May video predicted that the New World Order will be supplanting reality and causing unrest around the world with AI-generated videos and deepfakes. [TikTok, 5/12/23, 1:04:20]
    • An August 2022 video compared Rosalia’s dancing to an Illuminati rite, with New World Order hashtags. [TikTok, 8/6/22, 1:09:26]
    • A March video claimed that the New World Order has begun and was announced by the World Economic Forum in 2020. It used post-apocalyptic imagery to fearmonger about this supposed future. [TikTok, 3/28/23, 1:09:49]
    • An April 2022 video claimed that the New World Order has begun and will be leading the world into an economic decline. [TikTok, 4/13/22, 1:10:25]
    • A July video superimposed satanic images and the text “New World Order” over a clip of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele calling for Central America to unite. [TikTok, 7/17/23, 1:11:26]

  • Methodology

  • Media Matters searched TikTok for posts using Spanish keywords and hashtag searches, including “nuevo orden mundial” (or “new world order”), “Agenda 2030 satanica” (or Agenda 2030 satanic), “illuminati,” “satanismo” (or “satanism”), “NOM” (or “NWO”), and “gobierno mundial” (or “One World Government”). The search yielded 92 TikTok posts pushing conspiracy theories in Spanish with view counts ranging from the low hundreds to 8.5 million. 

    We included posts that distorted the U.N.’s Agenda 2030 campaign or pushed the New World Order conspiracy theory, which included discussions about secret elite societies or suggested a global collapse was underway, and sometimes suggested that this collapse was orchestrated to usher in one world government. We then divided the posts into those that primarily focused on Agenda 2030 and those that revolve around New World Order conspiracy theories.

    We defined discussions of “New World Order” conspiracy theories as explicit statements about a new world government, elites attempting to establish a new world government, or a new economic order to be established by elites. The terms “NWO,” an acronym that stands for New World Order, and “one world government” are often used interchangeably with “New World Order.”

    We defined discussions of Agenda 2030 conspiracy theories as misinformative statements about the U.N. campaign, including claims that it is connected to the New World Order, satanism, or the Illuminati, as well as claims that Agenda 2030 is designed to weaken national security, control populations, indoctrinate children, or strip citizens of their rights and property.