a conspiracy theory is not 'something that has been proven to not be true'
Snowden's leak is a good example of something that proved a lot of conspiracy theories to be true
Snowden's leak is a good example of something that proved a lot of conspiracy theories to be true
At that stage it was 'just a theory', with little support.
That some people then went a step further and mislabeled it is mostly their problem, they should have realized that the standard of proof required to shift it one way or the other wasn't available. Snowden gave us that proof.
Your average conspiracy theory is trying to make claims that go against available evidence to try to come up with some kind of alternate history of what must be true. Typically these involve privileged knowledge, powerful people and internally inconsistent claims.
The NSA could be listening in on a lot more than they are letting on theory never had any of those problems.
The NSA engaged in a conspiracy, which was to "hoover up everything in sight". There was a theory (which was largely dismissed) that the NSA was in fact doing this.
It was therefore a conspiracy theory that the NSA was doing what it was doing. That is the point: please use the phrase correctly.
You've taken the phrase and made up a new definition for it. I'm saying that the phrase already has a definite meaning. Feel free to make up your own phrase though...so long as it's unique.