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QAnon

QAnon flag featuring an American flag defaced with the Q logo alongside the slogan "Where we go one, we go all", at a Second Amendment rally in Richmond, 2020

QAnon[a] (/ˈkjuːənɒn/ CUE-ə-non) is a far-right American political conspiracy theory and political movement that originated in 2017.[1][2] QAnon centers on fabricated claims made by an anonymous individual or individuals known as "Q". Those claims have been relayed and developed by online communities and influencers. Their core belief is that a cabal of Satanic,[3][4][5] cannibalistic child molesters is operating a global child sex trafficking ring that conspired against President Donald Trump.[9] QAnon has direct roots in Pizzagate, an Internet conspiracy theory that appeared one year earlier, but also incorporates elements of many different conspiracy theories and unifies them into a larger interconnected conspiracy theory.[10] QAnon has been described as a cult.[10][11]

Followers believe the Trump administration secretly fought the cabal of pedophiles, and would conduct arrests and executions of thousands of cabal members on a day known as "the Storm" or "the Event".[12] QAnon conspiracy believers have named Democratic politicians, Hollywood actors, high-ranking government officials, business tycoons, and medical experts as members of the cabal.[13] QAnon has also claimed that Trump stimulated the conspiracy of Russian interference in the 2016 United States presidential election to enlist Robert Mueller to join him in exposing the sex trafficking ring, and to prevent a coup d'état by Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and George Soros.[14][15] QAnon is described as antisemitic or rooted in antisemitic tropes, due to its fixation on Jewish financier Soros and conspiracy theories about the Rothschild family, a frequent target of antisemites.[16][17]

Although it has its origins in older conspiracy theories, the first post by Q was in October 2017 on the website 4chan. Q claimed to be a high-level government official with Q clearance, with access to classified information about the Trump administration and its opponents.[18] Q soon moved to 8chan, making it QAnon's online home.[19] Q's often cryptic posts became known as "drops", and were collected by aggregator apps and websites. QAnon became a viral phenomenon beyond the internet and turned into a political movement. QAnon followers began to appear at Trump campaign rallies in August 2018,[20] and Trump amplified QAnon accounts on Twitter.[21] QAnon's conspiracy theories have also been relayed by Russian and Chinese state-backed media, social media troll accounts,[26][22][27] and the far-right Falun Gong–associated Epoch Media Group.[33]

Since its emergence in American politics, QAnon spawned movements around the world. The exact number of QAnon adherents is unclear.[5][34] After increased scrutiny of the movement, social media platforms such as Twitter[35] and Facebook[36] began taking action to stop the spread of the conspiracy theory. QAnon followers have perpetrated acts of violence.[37] Members of the movement took part in the 2020 United States presidential election, during which they supported Trump's campaign and waged information warfare to influence voters.[38][39] After Joe Biden won, they were involved in efforts to overturn the results of the election. Associates of Trump, such as Michael Flynn,[43] Lin Wood[48] and Sidney Powell,[54] have promoted QAnon-derived conspiracy theories. When these tactics failed, Trump supporters – many of them QAnon followers – attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. The Capitol attack led to a further, more sustained social media crackdown on the movement and its claims.[55][56]


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ Martineau, Paris (December 19, 2017). "The Storm Is the New Pizzagate – Only Worse". New York. ISSN 0028-7369. Archived from the original on March 25, 2018. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  2. ^ Wendling, Mike (July 22, 2020). "QAnon: What is it and where did it come from?". BBC News. Archived from the original on January 11, 2021. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference far-right conspiracy theory was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Bracewell, Lorna (January 21, 2021). "Gender, Populism, and the QAnon Conspiracy Movement". Frontiers in Sociology. 5. Cardiff, UK: Frontiers Media: 615727. doi:10.3389/fsoc.2020.615727. ISSN 2297-7775. PMC 8022489. PMID 33869533. S2CID 231654586.
  5. ^ a b c Crossley, James (September 2021). "The Apocalypse and Political Discourse in an Age of COVID". Journal for the Study of the New Testament. 44 (1). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications: 93–111. doi:10.1177/0142064X211025464. ISSN 1745-5294. S2CID 237329082.
  6. ^ Kunzelman, Michael; Slevin, Colleen (February 9, 2020). "'QAnon' conspiracy theory creeps into mainstream politics". Associated Press. Archived from the original on August 19, 2021. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  7. ^ "QAnon: The conspiracy theory embraced by Trump, several politicians, and some American moms". Vox. October 9, 2020. Archived from the original on October 14, 2020. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  8. ^ Zuckerman, Ethan (July 2019). "QAnon and the Emergence of the Unreal" (PDF). Journal of Design and Science (6). London: Taylor & Francis: 1–5. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 9, 2020. Retrieved February 14, 2022.
  9. ^ Multiple sources:[4][5][6][7][8]
  10. ^ a b Roose, Kevin (September 3, 2021). "What Is QAnon, the Viral Pro-Trump Conspiracy Theory?". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 22, 2020. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  11. ^ Description of QAnon as a cult:
  12. ^ Rothschild 2021, pp. 9, 28, 175.
  13. ^ Rothschild 2021, p. 21.
  14. ^ Laviola, Erin (August 1, 2018). "QAnon Conspiracy: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Heavy. Archived from the original on December 10, 2019. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  15. ^ Stanley-Becker, Isaac (August 1, 2018). "'We are Q': A deranged conspiracy cult leaps from the Internet to the crowd at Trump's 'MAGA' tour". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 9, 2020. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference :7 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Griffin, Andrew (August 24, 2020). "What is Qanon? The Origins of the Bizarre Conspiracy Theory Spreading Online". The Independent. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
  19. ^ Thomas, Elise (February 17, 2020). "Qanon Deploys 'Information Warfare' to Influence the 2020 Election". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Archived from the original on September 11, 2020. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  20. ^ Bank, Justin; Stack, Liam; Victor, Daniel (August 1, 2018). "What Is QAnon: Explaining the Internet Conspiracy Theory That Showed Up at a Trump Rally". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on August 1, 2018. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference Polit20200712 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  22. ^ a b Menn, Joseph (August 24, 2020). "Russian-backed organizations amplifying QAnon conspiracy theories, researchers say". Reuters. Archived from the original on August 17, 2021. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference russian troll was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  24. ^ Menn, Joseph (November 2, 2020). "QAnon received earlier boost from Russian accounts on Twitter, archives show". Reuters. Archived from the original on January 15, 2021. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  25. ^ "Congressman Krishnamoorthi Requests Information From DNI Ratcliffe On Russian Use QAnon In Disinformation Efforts" (Press release). Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi. October 19, 2020. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  26. ^ Multiple sources:[22][23][24][25]
  27. ^ Cohen, Zachary (April 19, 2021). "China and Russia 'weaponized' QAnon conspiracy around time of US Capitol attack, report says". CNN. Archived from the original on November 2, 2021. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
  28. ^ Zuylen-Wood, Simon van (January 13, 2021). "MAGA-land's Favorite Newspaper". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on November 15, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  29. ^ Alba, Davey (March 9, 2021). "Epoch Media Casts Wider Net to Spread Its Message Online". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 28, 2021. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  30. ^ Zadrozny, Brandy; Collins, Ben (August 20, 2019). "Trump, QAnon and an impending judgment day: Behind the Facebook-fueled rise of The Epoch Times". NBC News. Archived from the original on August 23, 2019. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  31. ^ Callery, James; Goddard, Jacqui (August 23, 2021). "Most-clicked link on Facebook spread doubt about Covid vaccine". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on September 29, 2022. Retrieved February 13, 2022. Facebook's data on the first quarter of this year shows that one of its most popular pages was an article by The Epoch Times, a far-right newspaper that has promoted QAnon conspiracy theories and misleading claims of voter fraud related to the 2020 US election.
  32. ^ Perrone, Alessio; Loucaides, Darren (March 10, 2022). "A key source for Covid-skeptic movements, the Epoch Times yearns for a global audience". Coda Media. Archived from the original on March 13, 2022. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
  33. ^ Multiple sources:[28][29][30][31][32]
  34. ^ Shanahan, James (March 5, 2021). "Support for QAnon is hard to measure – and polls may overestimate it". The Conversation. Archived from the original on April 17, 2021. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  35. ^ Conger, Kate (July 21, 2020). "Twitter Takedown Targets QAnon Accounts". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 22, 2020. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  36. ^ O'Sullivan, Donie (October 6, 2020). "Three years later, Facebook says it will ban QAnon". CNN. Archived from the original on January 6, 2021. Retrieved October 6, 2020.
  37. ^ Cite error: The named reference violence-timeline was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  38. ^ Tollefson, Jeff (February 4, 2021). "Tracking QAnon: how Trump turned conspiracy-theory research upside down" (PDF). Nature. Vol. 590. pp. 192–193. doi:10.1038/d41586-021-00257-y. ISSN 1476-4687. LCCN 12037118. PMID 33542489. S2CID 231818589. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 27, 2021. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  39. ^ Thomas, Elise (February 17, 2020). "Qanon Deploys 'Information Warfare' to Influence the 2020 Election". Wired. Archived from the original on September 11, 2020. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  40. ^ Cohen, Marshall (July 7, 2020). "Michael Flynn posts video featuring QAnon slogans". CNN. Archived from the original on July 13, 2020. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  41. ^ Robins-Early, Nick (February 21, 2021). "Michael Flynn's Wild Ride Into The Heart Of QAnon". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on March 9, 2021. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
  42. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference VicePatriotRoundup was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  43. ^ Multiple sources:[40][41][42]
  44. ^ Cite error: The named reference LinWood-1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  45. ^ Cite error: The named reference LinWood-2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  46. ^ Cite error: The named reference LinWood-3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  47. ^ Cite error: The named reference LinWood-4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  48. ^ Multiple sources:[44][45][46][47][42]
  49. ^ Cite error: The named reference Powell-1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  50. ^ Cite error: The named reference Powell-2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  51. ^ Cite error: The named reference Powell-3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  52. ^ Cite error: The named reference Powell-4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  53. ^ Cite error: The named reference Powell-5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  54. ^ Multiple sources:[49][50][51][52][53]
  55. ^ "Twitter blocks 70,000 QAnon accounts after US Capitol riot". Associated Press. January 12, 2021. Archived from the original on January 13, 2021. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  56. ^ Roose, Kevin (January 17, 2021). "A QAnon 'Digital Soldier' Marches On, Undeterred by Theory's Unraveling". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 17, 2021. Retrieved April 19, 2021.

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