Lamp, Helle Laanes and Ave Eesmaa have come together in a new nonprofit called Vox Rationis, or the voice of reason, the goal of which is to stand up to human stupidity.

"I work as a caretaker in a hospital. When the coronavirus came, I saw what was happening on the internet and I also saw real life in the hospital, and my two worlds clashed, and I thought that people had thoroughly lost their minds," said Lamp. "That is when I decided I needed to find like-minded people and started the social media group."

She said that the purpose of the NGO is to keep people who have doubts from falling victim to conspiracy theories.

"We call ourselves the sheep as that is what the other side dubbed us, thinking that we believe everything the government tells us," medical student Ave Eesmaa said. "Instead, we put our trust in science and its authority."

Schoolteacher Laanes noted that it is easier to fight windmills as a group as you just get tired going at it alone.

The Facebook group has over 2,000 members, while the NGO brings together over 50.

"Conspiracy theories seek to propose very simple solutions to very complicated problems where the affected person is never to blame. It amounts to taking away people's responsibility," Eesmaa said.

Once something becomes too complicated for people to understand, it's easier to cling to something you seemingly can grasp, Laanes suggested.

Lamp said that one reason for conspiracy theories is that life has become too easy in welfare societies. "Our future wish is for woo-woo lectors not to be funded or given the floor."

Because of the NGO's activities, Lamp has been the target of ridicule. "I've been mocked on Facebook, which was unpleasant, but I also receive letters of thanks for doing what I'm doing. We do not mock people, we talk about the facts without attacking anyone," Lamp said.

Members of the group use fake Facebook accounts to collect information.

"Last summer, there was a case where a small child had been dehydrated and had a high fever for days, while their mother was asking people on social media what type of granules to give the child. Members of our group contacted the police, social services and child protectors, and the child was flown from Saaremaa to Tallinn in a helicopter because their condition had become critical by then," Laanes recalled.

"One of the things we want to do is put together a knowledge-based database of more common conspiracy theories, the people spreading them as well as those who style themselves therapists but do not have relevant education," Eesmaa added.

Lamp characterized it as a facts-based database free of judgments.

"People spreading woo-woo information are not doing it for free. They want to get paid for their services, sell products, organize trainings and workshops. It is a sector unto itself. My biggest fear is that people who systematically spread false information start landing decisive positions in local governments, the parliament and the national government. We already have examples," Eesmaa said.

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