Reuters vi Haaretz
REUTERS-
A bipartisan pair of U.S. congressmen last Tuesday introduced a resolution condemning the fringe movement and calling on law enforcement to block criminal activity by its adherents
QAnon followers espouse an intertwined series of beliefs, based on anonymous web postings from “Q,” who claims to have insider knowledge of the Trump administration.
A core tenet of the conspiracy theory is that U.S. President Donald Trump is secretly fighting a cabal of child-sex predators that includes prominent Democrats, Hollywood elites and “deep state” allies.
QAnon, which borrows some elements from the bogus “pizzagate” theory about a pedophile ring run out of a Washington restaurant, has become a “big tent” conspiracy theory encompassing misinformation about topics ranging from alien landings to vaccine safety.
Followers of QAnon say a so-called Great Awakening is coming to bring salvation.
HOW HAS IT SPREAD ONLINE?
The ‘Q’ posts, which started in 2017 on the message board 4chan, are now posted on 8kun, a rebranded version of the shuttered web board 8chan. QAnon has been amplified on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, the video streaming service of Alphabet Inc’s Google.
Media investigations have shown that social media recommendation algorithms can drive people who show an interest in conspiracy theories towards more material.
A report by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) found that the number of users engaging in discussion of QAnon on Twitter and Facebook have surged this year, with membership of QAnon groups on Facebook growing 120 percent in March.
Researchers say that Russian government-supported organizations are playing a small but increasing role amplifying the conspiracy theories.
QAnon backers helped to organize real-life protests against child trafficking in August and were involved in a pro-police demonstration in Portland, Oregon.
QAnon also looks poised to gain a toehold in the U.S. House of Representatives, with at least one Republican candidate who espouses its beliefs on track to win in the November elections.
Project Syndicate@ProSynThere is no easy solution to the problem posed by #conspiracy theories; yet according to @Helmut_Anheier and @andrearoemmele of @thehertieschool, much more could be done. bit.ly/3hkTGPl
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