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This study places the role of social media affordances in facilitating the spread of conspiracy beliefs at the center of its enquiry. We examine the relationship between platform use and conspiracy theory beliefs related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Relying on the concept of technological affordances, we theorize that variation across key features make some platforms more fertile places for conspiracy beliefs than others. Using data from a crossnational dataset based on a two-wave online survey conducted in 17 countries before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we show that Twitter has a negative effect on conspiracy beliefs\u2014as opposed to all other platforms under examination which are found to have a positive effect.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/14614448211045666","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,10]],"date-time":"2021-10-10T22:31:18Z","timestamp":1633905078000},"page":"3412-3437","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":100,"title":["Does the platform matter? 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