Modern flat Earth belief originated with the English writer Samuel Rowbotham (1816–1884). It was not until the 19th century that the Flat Earth concept had a resurgence. Earth's sphericity has been widely accepted in the Western world since at least the Hellenistic period (323 BCE–31 BCE). There is a popular yet false belief that the Earth was generally believed to be flat until a few hundred years ago. Many believers make use of social media to spread their views.

Through the use of social media, flat Earth theories have been increasingly espoused and promoted by individuals unaffiliated with larger groups. Those who are serious are often motivated by religion or conspiracy theories. įlat Earth groups of the modern era date from the middle of the 20th century some adherents are serious and some are not. Flat Earth advocates are classified by experts in philosophy and physics as science deniers. Flat Earth beliefs are pseudoscience the hypotheses and assertions are not based on scientific knowledge. Modern flat Earth beliefs are promoted by organizations and individuals advocating that the Earth is flat while denying the Earth's sphericity, contrary to over two millennia of scientific consensus. The observable, contemporary scientific view of the Earth as a rotating spherical globe, which flat Earth believers contest.

Twenty-two images of the Earth taken from space by the DSCOVR satellite. Projections of the sphere like the azimuthal equidistant projection have been co-opted as images of the flat Earth model depicting Antarctica as an ice wall surrounding a disk-shaped Earth. For similar topics, see Flat Earth (disambiguation). This article is about modern-day beliefs that the Earth is flat.

Flat-earth society