QAnon is conspiratorial, dangerous, and growing. And we're talking about it all wrong.

CNN Business ^ | 14 August 2020 | Brian Stelter

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

QAnon is a virtual cult that celebrates President Trump and casts Democratic politicians and other elites as evil child abusers. Aspects of the cult are downright delusional. Last year an FBI office warned that Q adherents are a domestic terrorism threat. Despite all of that, or maybe because of all that, this dangerous nonsense seems to be spreading. It is cropping up in congressional races and national news coverage. In recent weeks many observers of the online information ecosystem have written, with growing concern, about the mainstreaming of QAnon. Reporters like Kevin Roose of The New York Times and Ben Collins of NBC have said that the conspiracy theory is in much wider circulation than polite society wants to admit.

Much of the conspiracy conversation happens in the social media shadows, in private groups. Earlier this week NBC's Ari Sen and Brandy Zadrozny reported that "an internal investigation by Facebook has uncovered thousands of groups and pages, with millions of members and followers, that support the QAnon conspiracy theory." The source? Internal Facebook documents. The company is weighing taking action against its QAnon community. Twitter recently made similar moves.

SNIP

So I asked her to elaborate. Here's what she wrote to me: "QAnon offers its adherents an addictive alternative reality that requires their participation and, through this participation, draws them into the elaborate architecture of the conspiracy. It exploits the sense that something is broken in our society. But rather than focus on understanding these social fractures and healing them, QAnon instead fixates on the pursuit of enemies and villains described in such extreme terms that any action — either by adherents or by identified champions like President Trump —becomes justifiable. By drawing on the culture and value system, Q adherents have justified violent attacks."

[arthurus]

Many are at least defending themselves when the rioters try to storm the suburbs. The police there fight back and the residents confront the reds with guns.

[Migraine]

Molly McKew, a camel-haired hippo posing as a disinformation expert, spews this: “QAnon offers its adherents an addictive alternative reality that requires their participation and, through this participation, draws them into the elaborate architecture of the conspiracy.”

Psychobabble. These people love to project. It’s all they know.

[arthurus]

The statement is likely factual but unmentionable, like children’s underwear.

[JPG]

OK, Tater, whatever.

[foldspace]

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"The choice [of information] has always been yours."
The choice [of information] has always been yours.
"Free thought" is a philosophical viewpoint which holds that
positions regarding truth should be formed on the basis of logic,
reason, and empiricism, rather than authority, tradition, revelation,
or dogma.
Information warfare.
Q
Jul 19 2020 - Q 4602

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>Decide for yourself (be free from outside opinion).
>Decide for yourself (be objective in your conclusions).
>Decide for yourself (be true in your own beliefs).
>Decide for yourself (be open to following the facts).
>Decide for yourself (be strong in defending your beliefs).
>Decide for yourself (be resistant to blindly accepting fact-less statements).
Those who attack you.
Those who mock you.
Those who cull you.
Those who control you.
Those who label you.
Do they represent you?
Or, do they represent themselves (in some form)?
Mental Enslavement.

The choice is yours, and yours alone.
Trust and put faith in yourself.
You are not alone and you are not in the minority.
Difficult truths will soon see the light of day.
WWG1WGA!!!
Q
Mar 28 2020 - Q 3906

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The choice to know will be yours.
Jul 27 2018 - Q 1879

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The choice to know will ultimately be yours.
Aug 14 2018 - Q 1735

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The choice has always been yours.
Jun 30 2018 - Q 1646

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The choice, to know, will be yours.
Apr 20 2018 - Q 1209

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The correct description of a QAnon, is a RESEARCHER of Q statements, NOT a person who tries to warp Q communiques' into their own religion, sex, creed, political party or butthurt. We are not followers, we are researchers; many honed by decades of intelligent queries, research, posits, and yes, even disappointment on this very forum.

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Nothing can stop what is coming.

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Watch what happens next.

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WRWY

[NFHale]

Brian Stelter clearly has an overdose of Estrogen, doesn’t he.

[tinyowl]

"These beliefs are driving the organization of armed movements and attacks, hampering coronavirus response, interacting with us already in so many ways we don't want to believe. It is a dangerous, fully immersive alternative reality that is inspiring its followers to plan domestic terrorist attacks. It is, in other words, a system of radicalization. "

The left writes an accurate cult biography, comes within a millimeter of committing journalism, except that it turns out to be an autobiography. Each projection gets clearer and clearer as a reflection of themselves ... and yet more and more unconscious. They think they are looking out a window but they are looking in a mirror.

[mkmensinger]

“QAnon is a virtual cult that celebrates President Trump and casts Democratic politicians and other elites as evil child abusers.”

If that were true, it would be the most incompetent cult in history. Nobody knows who the leader is, it NEVER asks for money, and it encourages, in fact demands that people do their own research.

[pbear8]

As I said, I wonder what gives.

Perhaps they want to raise awareness and then send out a mass shooter who will have invented ties to QAnon.

[twoputt]

Noah was considered a conspiracy theorist.

Until the rain started.

[TribalPrincess2U]

(QAnon is a virtual cult that celebrates President Trump and casts Democratic politicians and other elites as evil child abusers. )

OK, that’s enough right there. They hate the truth!

[mrsmith]

So, it’s the mirror image of the media, except the media isn’t growing.
And like the media it has extremists who won’t listen to any balance....

Though it does encourage people to question the media’s narratives it doesn’t give much help to do so.
Overall a wash.

[mrsmith]

Hilariously ironic to see the author is Brian Stelter!
That’s perfect.

[RKV]

What gives? EZ. There WAS a conspiracy. For all we know it is still going. Reid, Brennan, Comey, McCabe, Clapper, Yates etc. (and really including Obama, Biden and Hillary) should be hung by the neck until dead. Is that simple enough?

[RKV]

Yup.

[foldspace]

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Nothing can stop what is coming.


WRWY

[Robert DeLong]

Yeah I see them out there rioting and burning down structures, and killing people by the dozens, oh wait those aren’t the Q ANON followers, they are BLM and Antifa Marxists running free.

[Trump Girl Kit Cat]

Q is over the target they protest to much!!!