An analysis of the mechanism behind the creation and spread of absurd conspiracy theories, using the "Biden-Cyborg" meme as an example. How does chaos from 4chan seep into the mainstream?
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“Joe Biden was executed in 2020. What you see are clones, body doubles, and robotic, soulless entities.” This quote, from a post on the Truth Social platform shared by Donald Trump, sounds like a line from a B-movie science fiction script. And yet, it became part of the real political debate in the United States. This absurd statement is the perfect starting point for an analysis, not of the theory itself, but of the mechanism of its creation and spread – from anonymous, ironic jokes in the depths of the internet to headlines in major media.
With today’s article, I want to take you into the basement regions, to a place populated by internet “sweatlords,” to perform an autopsy on the modern disinformation that underlies rumors and conspiracy theories. We will examine how absurdity has become a powerful tool in information warfare and how ideas that would have died in a forgotten forum thread a decade ago now shape political reality.
The Roots of Chaos: The Conspiracy Culture of the 4chan and Digg Patriots Era
Before absurd memes about politicians made their way into the mainstream, they had to originate somewhere. Their natural habitat was anonymous forums and early social media, where the lines between truth, humor, and deliberate disinformation were intentionally blurred.
As early as 2010-2011, on the Digg platform, the predecessor to Reddit, we observed the phenomenon of the “Digg Patriots”. This was an organized group of conservative users who coordinated their actions to promote content aligned with their worldview and to mass “bury” (downvote) content they disagreed with. This is one of the first documented cases of organized information manipulation on social media on a large scale. It shows that the roots of today’s troll farms and influence operations run deeper than one might think.
The Digg Patriots were not just a spontaneous phenomenon. According to 2010 documentation, the group consisted of about 100 active members who coordinated their activities through a private Yahoo Group. Their strategy was simple but effective: every day, they chose articles to promote and downvote, acting like a decentralized newsroom with a clear political agenda.
Crucially, a user with the pseudonym “novenator,” who was part of the team that exposed this activity, noted in the 2011 archives: “As a member of the investigation team that exposed these "Digg Patriots" (ultra-conservative christian nationalists actually), it seems there is a varying degree of participation by them on Reddit. They are a danger wherever they go however, seriously damaged the now defunct Propeller, and have completely overrun the new social media platform OldDogg.” This shows that the Digg Patriots were not an isolated incident. On the contrary, they were part of a broader pattern of migrating manipulative tactics between platforms.
The real laboratory of chaos, however, turned out to be anonymous imageboards like 4chan. In this crucible, where anonymity mixed with a lack of moderation, a culture of “lols” and ironic trolling was born. Users tested the most outrageous and absurd ideas, creating memes and narratives for the lulz that were primarily meant to shock and entertain. This is where a key tactic emerged: cloaking radical views in a mantle of irony, which allowed them to be freely expressed without consequence.
The Propagation Model: From Collapsing Layers to the Hybrid Role of X
To understand how a meme from 4chan reaches the White House, it’s useful to use the classic three-layer model of disinformation flow. However, it is crucial to consider its modern evolution – the immense acceleration and “collapse” of these layers, mainly due to the platform X (formerly Twitter).
The classic model was as follows:
- Incubation Layer (4chan, rdrama, niche forums): Generating “raw,” ironic content in a closed, anonymous group. Testing which narratives have potential.
- Amplification Layer (Twitter, Reddit, Facebook): Influencers pick up the narrative. The content is “sanitized” – extreme elements are removed, and the framing is changed to “just asking questions.”
- Legitimization Layer (Media, politicians): The theory is presented as a “controversy” or the “voice of the people,” which gives it a semblance of credibility.
Today, this process has been compressed. Under its new leadership, the X platform is no longer just an amplifier. It has become a hybrid incubator and amplifier. A user with a large following can now test an absurd thesis directly on an audience of millions. A cycle that once took months can now be completed in a few hours. Anonymous forums are still needed to “produce” the most radical ideas, but X has become the main highway for their rapid distribution.
The Algorithm as a Weapon
But it’s not just about speed. The fundamental difference between the Digg Patriots and the modern disinformation ecosystem lies in the platform architecture.
Digg (2010): Coordination against the algorithm. Users had to manually vote, create mailing lists, and synchronize their actions. The platform didn’t help – it had to be hacked.
X/Truth Social (2025): Coordination with the algorithm. Engagement-based rankings automatically promote content that evokes the strongest emotions – outrage, shock, absurdity. You no longer need to organize a group of 100 people. One post that generates enough reactions is all it takes, and the algorithm does the rest.
This is not so much an evolution as a change in the class of tools. Modern platforms like X, owned by Elon Musk, operate on a completely different logic. On one hand, the media reports on his problems with ketamine; on the other, his company designs algorithms that directly favor chaos. It’s hard to tell where coincidence ends and a cynical business strategy begins. One thing is certain: chaos generates engagement, and engagement generates… advertising revenue and concrete political effects, like Donald Trump’s victory.
Case Study: The Chronology of Absurdity, or How Biden Became a Cyborg
Phase 1 – Incubation (January-May 2025) After a series of public stumbles by Biden, memes comparing him to a robot begin to appear on niche forums (4chan, Truth Social, X). This is classic remix culture – GIFs, slowed-down videos, “analysis” of body movements. Pseudoscientific analyses in the convention of a meme.
Phase 2 – Amplification (June 1, 2025, Saturday) Donald Trump shares a post from a small account on Truth Social: “There is no Joe Biden – executed in 2020. Biden clones, doubles and robotic engineered soulless, mindless entities are what you see.”
Trump adds no comment of his own. He simply shares the link. This ambiguity is key – he neither confirms nor denies.
Phase 3 – Legitimization (June 2-3, 2025)
- June 2: Fox News publishes an article: “Trump shares post saying Biden was executed, replaced with clones” (9:44 AM EDT)
- June 3: Jimmy Kimmel on “Late Night”: “How is this not on the front page of everything? The president of the United States is spreading deranged stories about his predecessor being a robot.”
- June 3: Jon Stewart on “The Daily Show”: “You’re saying that the Joe Biden who doesn’t even know where he is, is actually an incredibly advanced cloned robot?”
The entire cycle, from a niche forum to national television, took less than 48 hours.
Phase 4 – Escalation (post-June 3) The MAGA world embarks on a hunt for “proof.” Raven Harrison, a congressional candidate from Florida, analyzes “CIA masks.” Users compare Biden’s earlobes, his eye color, and his height. Yahoo News publishes an article: “MAGA Launches Bonkers Hunt to ‘Prove’ Biden Is a Robot Clone”.
The narrative splits: for some, it’s proof of a conspiracy; for others, it’s proof of Trump’s madness. But everyone is talking about it. The goal has been achieved: the information zone has been flooded.
The Functions of Absurdity: Why It Works and Why It’s Dangerous
The question remains: doesn’t spreading such absurd theses make their authors look ridiculous? The answer is no, because ridicule is not the problem here; absurdity is a deliberate strategy.
1. Dehumanization and Delegitimization
Reducing an opponent to the level of a robot, clone, or puppet is the ultimate form of dehumanization. You don’t debate a cyborg – you turn it off. This removes the opponent from the framework of human, substantive discussion.
Moreover, the cyborg narrative is primarily about delegitimizing institutions. The logic is simple:
- “Biden is not a real person”
- → “Biden was not a real president”
- → “His decisions are invalid”
- → “Resistance is justified”
This is more dangerous than dehumanization alone because it attacks the foundations of democratic legitimacy. If the president can be a robot, then any authority can be faked.
The Architecture of Propagation: The SEO Pyramid Model
A key role in this process is played by a multi-level structure that can be compared to the pyramid known from SEO tactics. This is not a simple bridge, but an entire system of filtering and amplification. A specific disinformation pipeline that I, as an editor, will delve into more deeply soon on Dadalo.pl.
Level 3 (Base of the Pyramid): At the very bottom, there is a huge number of anonymous accounts, bots, and so-called sock puppets. Importantly, these are not just newly created accounts. Often, they are profiles that have been taken over or built up for months, gaining trust and reach by publishing neutral content like cat pictures or inspirational quotes. Once they achieve sufficient reputation, they suddenly start “injecting” disinformation into their regular posts. This is a tactic used, among others, by the Russian disinformation network “Doppelgänger”. Their job is to generate massive “noise” and raw ideas – throwing thousands of memes and theories at the wall to see what sticks.
Level 2 (Middle of the Pyramid): Higher up are the “chaos aggregators” – controversial but already recognizable influencers. They monitor the base of the pyramid, pick up the most catchy narratives, repackage them, and test them on their much larger audience. They act as a selection filter.
Level 1 (Top of the Pyramid): At the very top are the main amplifiers – figures with enormous authority and reach, like Donald Trump or Elon Musk. They no longer need to filter anything. They wait for a signal from Level 2. When they see that a theory has already gained momentum, a single share from them acts as a detonator that pushes the narrative into the mainstream.
2. Flooding the Zone
This strategy, attributed to Steve Bannon, involves introducing such a large amount of disinformation, lies, and absurdities into circulation that society becomes disoriented and exhausted. When people stop believing in anything, it becomes easier to impose any “truth” on them.
3. The Erosion of Reality
Is it not the case that when a political leader can suggest without consequence that his rival is a robot, the fundamental trust in reality itself is undermined? If everything can be a conspiracy, then nothing is true.
4. The Shield of Irony and the “JAQing off” Tactic
The ambiguity between a “serious thesis” and “just a joke” is key. It allows for testing the public’s reaction. If the idea is met with condemnation, one can always say, “it was just a meme, don’t you have a sense of humor?” If it catches on, it becomes a serious argument.
Inextricably linked to this is another powerful disinformation technique known as JAQing off (from Just Asking Questions). It involves adopting the guise of an innocent, curious ignoramus who, in the name of democratic freedom of speech, is “just asking questions.” These questions, however, are deliberately constructed to sow doubt and promote an absurd thesis, e.g., “Are we sure that Biden is alive and hasn’t been replaced by a robot? I’m just asking.” The burden of proof is thus shifted to the other side, and the author of the thesis hides behind a facade of supposed inquisitiveness. I have analyzed this tactic more broadly using the example of the Civic Affairs Institute’s columns in the article Conspiracy theories as civic narrative.
Conclusion: Ad Absurdum to Ruin Everything - The New Religion of Accelerationists
I remember watching the film “Romper Stomper” in high school, which depicted a group of skinheads from the suburbs of Melbourne. In one of the brutal beating scenes, the leader says: “We came to wreck everything and ruin your life. God sent us.” Today, I get the impression that these subcultures, living on the absolute fringe, are entering the mainstream with their brutal language. These are accelerationists who want to burn the house down, supposedly to rebuild it better.
The story of “Biden-Cyborg” is much more than an internet curiosity. It is a moment where we can see what the end of a shared reality looks like. It’s not that anyone truly believes that Joe Biden is a robot. It’s that the statement “Joe Biden is a robot” and “Joe Biden is 82 years old” cease to belong to different categories of truth. Truth becomes fluid, simultaneously forming a stream that we are unable to grasp. This is when accelerationists act, for example, by implementing policy through faits accomplis.
From the Digg Patriots in 2010, through the back alleys of 4chan, to Trump’s Truth Social in 2025 - we have come a long way. But this was not a path of technological progress or emerging from a stuffy basement. It was a path of erosion: from manipulating votes on a forum, through ironic memes “for the lulz,” to the moment when a former US president can say that the election was rigged and his predecessor was “executed and replaced with clones,” and no one asks anymore, “is that true?” All that matters is the reach of that information.
Elon Musk designs algorithms that promote chaos while struggling with the consequences of ketamine abuse. Donald Trump shares theories about cyborgs while the media debates whether it’s “strategy” or “madness.” But this is a false dichotomy. It is neither. It is simply the new standard.
There is no simple defense against this. You can’t fact-check absurdity – fact-checking only strengthens it by giving it more airtime. You can’t educate society on media literacy when the media itself is part of the economy of chaos. You can’t “reform” algorithms when chaos is the business model, not a bug in the system.
So what can we do? Perhaps start with something simple but difficult: stop treating all information as equivalent. “Biden is a robot” and “Biden has health problems” are not “two theories” that require balance. Not everything deserves a debate. Not every absurdity requires a response.
The most important thing is to understand that you are the target. The point is not to convince you that Biden is a cyborg. The point is to exhaust you. To make you a cynic who shrugs and says, “who knows, maybe there’s something to it.” Because cynicism is the fuel that the system of chaos runs on. When you stop believing in anything, you will believe any narrative that is loud enough.
The next time you see an absurd meme about a politician – stop. Don’t share it. Don’t comment. Just see it for what it is: not a joke, not the truth, but a tool. A weapon designed precisely to steal your time, your attention, and your trust in reality.
And then move on. Because the best response to chaos is not more chaos. It is the refusal to participate.
Sources
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-shares-post-saying-biden-executed-replaced-clones https://www.yahoo.com/news/maga-launches-bonkers-hunt-prove-221415872.html https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/03/arts/television/late-night-trump-biden-robot-conspiracy.html https://old.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/dry3y/twentyeight_almost_all_known_members_of_the/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digg_Patriots https://rdrama.net/post/344340/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_(slang)#Trolling,_identity,_and_anonymity
