The QAnon conspiracy theory first emerged in November on the message board 4chan in a post titled "The Calm Before the Storm," a phrase Trump wryly tossed out without explanation during a photo-op with senior military staff last October.
Since then "Q" has dropped random clues on 4chan and 8chan known as "bread crumbs" his followers believe are linked to top secret information that reveals Trump's efforts to end a complex ring of human trafficking and child abuse that they say Democrats and Hollywood celebrities have attempted to cover up. Supporters also believe Trump is not being investigated by special counsel Robert Mueller. Instead, they think Trump only acted as though he engaged in a conspiracy with Russia in order to get Mueller appointed, so the two could secretly work together to take down this supposed cabal of criminals.
The QAnon conspiracy theory is unusual in many ways, but according to University of Miami professor Joseph Uscinski, one of the most interesting ways it stands out is that typically conspiracy theories are for losers in a fight.
It's easy to understand why the conspiracy theory is appealing to Trump supporters; it offers a counter-narrative at a time the special counsel's investigation over Russia's cyber attacks during the presidential election campaign is heating up. An important part of the QAnon conspiracy theory is the belief that many of these accused pedophiles and deep-state murderers have already been arrested, and are forced to wear ankle monitors as they await judgment.
It's the main reason so many QAnon posts involve a close examination of the ankles of political and public figures. Among the most vocal is former Phillies pitcher Curt Schilling, who has promoted "Q" on many occasions on social media and his Breitbart podcast. But who's behind the posts is anybody's guess. Others believe it's Mr. Trump himself. Another theory is that John F. Kennedy Jr. Q did not post for the next week, raising suspicions about a possible connection.
QAnon spread from its fringe beginnings on 4chan and 8chan to larger social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. These platforms have faced increasing pressure to crack down on these accounts and groups, but have found it difficult to do so. Only starting in the summer and fall of have the larger platforms — Facebook , Twitter , and YouTube — taken stronger action, removing groups and banning accounts.
Still, Patterson says, these platforms provide little information beyond numbers of accounts affected. As the QAnon movement migrated to more mainstream social media platforms, it developed new conspiracy theories that have helped subsume more followers. Many QAnon supporters believe that President Kennedy was set to reveal the existence of the secret government when he was assassinated. They also believe President Reagan was shot on the deep state's orders, and that all the presidents since he left office — with the exception of President Trump — have been deep state agents.
Different QAnon followers identify with different conspiracies, though they all latch onto the central conspiracy of child sex trafficking rings perpetrated by members of the Democratic party. Followers also started staging "Save Our Children" demonstrations, which attracted more attention and potential support. The group organized a number of "Save the Children" rallies ahead of the election.
The issue really tugs at the hearts of anybody. But they're linking it to their conspiracy theories, which are crazy and very dangerous. According to political science professor Joe Uscinski, who studies conspiracy theories , "The beliefs themselves are almost an incitement to violence. I mean, there isn't anything worse you can say about your political competitors than that they are satanic sex traffickers who molest and eat children.
QAnon supporters used similar trends in Peloton communities , Instagram comments , and with yoga and wellness groups. Dapper Gander, a site that tracks QAnon and other conspiracies, writes that sanitized trends like "Save the Children" are a recruitment tactic designed to hook and convert a mainstream audience — a "sales funnel" to draw people in.
Fredrick Brennan , founder of 8chan who split from the site and became a prominent critic of QAnon, expects that the conspiracy will continue to evolve using similar tactics. At least 19 House Republican candidates who support or have elevated the QAnon movement were on the November ballot , according to tracking by Media Matters.
QAnon influencers recently started using the phrase " There is no QAnon ," insisting that the conspiracy was invented by the media. The trend began on October 17, when the infamous user "Q" updated the message board 8kun with a post that read:.
The ploy is an attempt to gaslight the public into believing that QAnon was invented by the media and that its supporters are nonviolent peaceful patriots, author and conspiracy expert Mike Rothschild explained. Q used it in dozens of posts, and it's all over their merchandise and iconography. Pretending they never used it is a form of gaslighting. That audience then started to head to 8chan to check out the original source and interact directly with the posts. On your imageboard. Meanwhile, Diaz kept making videos, racking up hundreds of thousands of views.
Over the next several months, Diaz and the two moderators picked up tens of thousands of followers on Reddit and YouTube and added even more moderators to their 8chan and Reddit boards. They also began to break into what might be considered the mainstream of the conspiracy world.
Conspiracy theorist Dr. Furber had already been booted from the site for allegedly threatening to reveal the personal details of another user, and was pushed out of the private Q discussion groups he had helped form.
By then, Pamphlet Anon, whose real name is Coleman Rogers, had developed grander plans. Those photos show him to be the same person who appears on YouTube as Pamphlet Anon.
Kicked off Reddit, Rogers hatched a new plan. The channel is, in effect, a broadcast of a Discord chatroom with constant audio commentary from a rotating cast of volunteers and moderators with sporadic appearances by Rogers and Urso. Rogers and Urso use their channel to call for donations that are accepted through PayPal, cryptocurrencies or mail.
It was a natural progression for Rogers. Following another message from a reporter informing him that NBC News had archived his page, he deleted his Facebook account entirely.
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