Top 10 Government Conspiracy Theories That Turned Out To Be True (4 of 6)

6. Tech Espionage (a.k.a. Data Requests & Brokers)

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has long flagged how governments request user data from big tech in the tens of thousands. Meanwhile, data brokers buy and sell our clicks, purchases, and movements like they’re common Pokémon trading cards. Apple, Google, Meta—you name it—all of them file official requests daily without even blinking an eye. And then all those conspiracy theory junkies living in the middle of the woods, yelling “They’re watching us through our apps!” landed uncomfortably close to reality.

7. COINTELPRO

Not rumor, not exaggeration: the FBI’s counterintelligence program infiltrated and disrupted groups deemed “subversive,” from civil-rights leaders to anti-war activists. Tactics included wiretaps, harassment, planted stories, and attempts to discredit targets personally. Even Martin Luther King Jr. had his phone tapped as officials tried to undermine his credibility.