"Widely debunked" is a phrase used by people on the left, particularly in politics or the media, to imply that a "conspiracy theory" has been thoroughly investigated and been proven to be false. In reality this is rarely the case and the phrase is used to give the false impression that something has been debunked so that shallow thinking people accept that the so-called conspiracy theory is false without further thought or investigation.
Part of the debunking process involves taking the parts of the theory that are easiest to ridicule, and making them sound worse, while ignoring the very feasible parts of the claim. By repeating this process throughout mainstream media and creating an echo-chamber, the "conspiracy theory" quickly becomes nothing more than a "damaging lie" pushed by "right wing extremists".
Part of the debunking process involves taking the parts of the theory that are easiest to ridicule, and making them sound worse, while ignoring the very feasible parts of the claim. By repeating this process throughout mainstream media and creating an echo-chamber, the "conspiracy theory" quickly becomes nothing more than a "damaging lie" pushed by "right wing extremists".
"Pizzagate/vaccine dangers/great reset theory/any other non-left wing story was widely debunked. Nobody has actually proved that there wasn't some truth behind it, but because we say it is widely debunked, it was widely debunked. So stop asking questions about it and go away."
by I Hate Political Correctness May 24, 2022