What is Qanon?
By: Martina Aucejo
A couple of days ago, I saw “Qanon” in my newsfeed once again. From Twitter to the New York Times, Qanon seems to be everywhere nowadays. But what is Qanon exactly? Is it a group? An idea? A conspiracy?
To define it most simply: Qanon is a conspiracy theory that according to BBC, claims that U.S. President Donald Trump is waging a war against “elite Satan-worshipping pedophiles in government, business and the media”. To be even more specific, the theory claims that famous figures such as Hillary Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, and the Dalai Lama (mainly Democratic leaders and celebrities) are plotting against Trump while simultaneously holding a child sex-trafficking ring. The theory also claims that Trump was hired by top-ranking military officers to run for president in 2016 to expose the trafficking ring, and that the group of people running the ring are killing and eating children to maintain their youthfulness. Supporters of the Qanon theory are hoping that this fight against these celebrities will lead to a day of reckoning, where the pedophiles will be tried and executed.
The conspiracy has gained a decent amount of traction among Trump supporters and the far-right as it circulated on social media platforms such as Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Reddit, more recently under the hashtag #SaveTheChildren. The theory has gained so much popularity in fact that many Trump supporters are going to rallies holding up pro-Qanon signs (back when Trump was running for the election). Even President Trump has spread ideas about the theory, retweeting and promoting pro-Qanon accounts and tweets. Eric Trump, President Trump’s son, has also spread Qanon’s message through Instagram posts, most notably before a Trump rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The theory originated in 2017 on 4chan, an online message board, where a random account called “Q Clearance Patriot” claimed to be an intelligence officer with access to information about Trump’s plan to take down this ring. What’s notable here is that the person who made the post claimed an important (supposed) fact about themselves with no evidence, which is a pattern we can see among the claims that “Q” makes/posts. What’s more, the Qanon movement began on 4chan, a notably toxic messaging platform, known for leaking nude pictures of female celebrities and for convincing iPhone owners to microwave their phones; it’s not exactly the most trustworthy or well-intentioned site.
Qanon, simply put, is dangerous. The theory is weaponizing misinformation– Qanon and its supporters are claiming that many Democratic leaders (who are notably often against Trump, the very person the conspiracy claims is our savior to society) are satan-worshipping child eaters, installing fear and distrust of the Democratic party into Qanon’s typically far-right supporters. What’s more, the theory doesn’t seem to be supported by any evidence, yet it’s convincing more and more people of its false truth. In short, Qanon is encouraging its supporters to be afraid and mistrustful of the Democratic party, causing an even larger political divide between the right and the left– all the while doing so with claims that have little to no evidence whatsoever.
Another horrifying reality of the theory is that many Qanon supporters are ensuing violence, committing crimes in the name of Qanon. For example, back in 2018, a man known as Matthew Wright was heavily armed and blocking a bridge near the Hoover Dam. He used his car to block traffic and also fled from law enforcement. Wright ultimately pleaded guilty to making a terrorist threat. While in jail, Wright wrote a letter explaining that his act of terrorism was actually inspired by a feeling of patriotism, quoting “for where we go one, we go all”, a quote that often circulated among Qanon message boards and supporters. Essentially, Wright put potentially hundreds of people in danger for the sake of an extremely dangerous and divisive conspiracy theory–a key example of how spreading misinformation can be extremely harmful and dangerous.
The main takeaway that I want you, as the reader, to take away from this is to always do your own research and to be wary of misinformation– while news articles can be good in spreading truth, social media can overturn that tide, as seen by what’s happening with Qanon. If you see something on social media that claims something about a large political issue, but you don’t see any sources linked to it, do some reading on your own! Always, always, always read about political issues or news from different (and reliable) sources, and always fact check! I’ve included my sources below, as well as other articles if you want to do more research—enjoy, be wary, and stay safe!
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/article/what-is-qanon.html?auth=login-google1tap&login=google1tap
https://www.bbc.com/news/53498434
https://apnews.com/article/4a977b1627374e541d5173d4a3d6d987
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/12/trump-tweeting-qanon-followers-357238
Additional articles/resources:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-is-the-qanon-conspiracy-theory/
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/11/16/5-facts-about-the-qanon-conspiracy-theories/
https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-is-qanon-what-we-know-about-the-conspiracy-theory-11597694801