QAnon is a right wing conspiracy theory that claims that dozens of Satan-worshiping politicians and A-list celebrities work in tandem with governments around the globe to engage in child sex abuse. The group also peddles in conspiracies about COVID-19 and mass shootings. None of the fan fiction is grounded in reality. Followers also believe there is a “deep state” effort to annihilate Trump. Lawmakers drafted a bipartisan resolution in the US House to condemn the organization.
The FBI determined the online cabal to be a potential source of domestic terrorism, the first time the agency had so rated a fringe conspiracy theory. In the age of the pandemic this has become an online form of a cult. A memo issued on May 30, 2019 by the FBI said, “These conspiracy theories very likely will emerge, spread, and evolve in the modern information marketplace, occasionally driving both groups and individual extremists to carry out criminal or violent acts.” West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center reported, “Though less organized than jihadi or far-right extremists, QAnon represents a novel challenge to public security,” it said, “QAnon also represents a militant and anti-establishment ideology rooted in an apocalyptic desire to destroy the existing, corrupt world to usher in a promised golden age,”
Trump had amplified QAnon messaging at least 216 times by retweeting or mentioned 129 Q Anon-affiliated Twitter accounts, sometimes multiple times a day. When asked directly, Trump praised its followers for supporting him and shrugging off its outlandish conspiracies. Trump responded, “I have heard that it’s gaining in popularity,” He followed with, “I don’t know much about the movement, other than I understand they like me very much. Which I appreciate.”
The campaign of Democratic nominee Joe Biden responded to Trump’s comments, accusing the President of “giving voice to violence.” QAnon has been connected to several incidents of violence or threatened violence.
In April 2020, an Illinois woman was arrested in New York City for driving onto a pier with a car full of knives in an apparent attempt to reach a Navy hospital ship housing COVID-19 patients. In a live stream of her travels, the woman threatened to kill Joe Biden over claims of sex trafficking. In June 2020, a Massachusetts man led police on a chase through Massachusetts and New Hampshire with his five children in the car. In a live-stream Facebook video of the event, the man discussed QAnon conspiracies. An Arizona man harassed and publicly broadcasting private or identifying information about locals he suspected of participating in the child sex trafficking ring at the heart of the conspiracy theory; and a Nevada man at the Hoover Dam whose truck was found to contain rifles and other ammunition, who was later discovered to have sent letters to President Trump containing references to the movement.
There have also been violent incidents related to a Pizzagate conspiracy theory, which claimed a pizza shop was running a child sex trafficking ring run by Hillary Clinton and other Democratic officials. One armed man entered a Washington pizzeria in 2016 to investigate the baseless theory; another man motivated by the conspiracy theory started a fire at the same pizza joint in 2019.
Mary Ann Mendoza an activist who was scheduled to speak at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday night August 25, 2020 was abruptly yanked off the program after it was reported that she had shared an anti-Semitic QAnon conspiracy theory on social media hours ahead of her scheduled appearance.
Facebook on Wednesday August 26, 2020 banned about 900 pages and groups and 1,500 ads tied to the pro-Trump conspiracy theory QAnon, part of a sweeping action that also restricted the reach of over 10,000 Instagram pages and almost 2,000 Facebook groups pushing the baseless conspiracy theory that has spawned real-world violence. The trouble is that policing on social media is difficult because the informaton can be shared in other less obvious pages and groups.
YouTube’s recommended videos algorithm, which offers content similar to what you’re currently watching, has also been identified as a radicalizing force for many who harbor extremist views, easily allowing users to go down a rabbit hole of misinformation by “slowly introducing you to ideas that are outside the norm.”
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told the Daily Dot, “I mean, the allowance of misinformation and disinformation to be widespread and frankly the Republican encouragement of that, has now kind of created this ecosystem that they no longer feel they have control of.” She listed other deep-standing issues as “the fundamental lack of trust in institutions, lack of trust in money and power that creates this very fertile ground for conspiracy theories to grow.” She added: “I think that we see how the president is weaponizing it. It’s very clear that he has identified this as an asset to him.” Simply put, the conspiracy theory helps Donald Trump’s goal of sewing division and his attacks on truth.