What you should know about QAnon

By Gabe Korngold ‘23

What is QAnon?

QAnon is a baseless pro-Trump conspiracy theory founded in 2017. It alleges that many prominent Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, and George Soros, are Satan-worshipping pedophiles. Additionally, the theory claims that they are members of an underground cabal in which they molest, kill, and eat children.

Former President Trump is claimed to have been recruited by military leaders to find and eliminate this supposed underground organization. Furthermore, QAnon followers await two major events known as the Storm and the Great Awakening. The former is the day when many elite Democrats will be arrested and either imprisoned or executed, and the latter is when the world realizes that the theory was correct all along.

Where did it come from?

In October 2017, a user on the infamous message board 4chan, who claimed to have a “Q clearance” security level in the U.S. government, began posting a series of cryptic messages. As time went on, they became known as Q, and their posts became known as “Q drops.”

Two 4chan moderators and a YouTuber uncovered the mysterious posts and formed an entire mythology based around them. This was the start of QAnon.

While this wasn’t the first conspiracy theory founded on 4chan, it spread much more quickly thanks to its founder’s YouTube origins. The theory became popular among supporters of former President Trump, and spread to other platforms like 8chan and Reddit. 

Additionally, most media platforms initially didn't see QAnon as a threat, and took little action against accounts and communities associated with it. Reddit was the one major exception to this, as they removed most QAnon content as early as 2018.

The COVID-19 pandemic also created a perfect opportunity for many conspiracy theories to spread like wildfire, as they offer a simplicity not seen in science or politics. An Oregonian article published in February 2021 outlines some of the other ideas that have been promoted during the pandemic, such as the common theory that the virus was engineered in a lab.

Who believes it?

Although it’s hard to say exactly how many people believe QAnon, it is certainly a large number. 

A poll conducted by NPR and Ipsos in late 2020 surveyed 1,115 American adults, and found that 17% believed a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who run a child sex ring are controlling our politics and media.

QAnon also has a place on social media. The New York Times reports that before Facebook moved to take down affiliated communities, some had hundreds of thousands of followers.

Similarly, Twitter also took action against QAnon. In the days and weeks following the Capitol riot, over 70,000 accounts were barred due to their promotion of QAnon-related content.

The conspiracy theory also has a platform in the U.S. government. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who represents Georgia’s 14th congressional district, has promoted QAnon consistently. Donald Trump’s son Eric also posted an image containing the message “Where we go one we go all,” a slogan used by the QAnon community.

Marjorie Taylor Greene, a freshman representative from Georgia has promoted many far-right conspiracy theories (Image from Getty)

One key difference between QAnon and other conspiracy theories is its demographic. While it started to gain traction primarily among far-right conspiracy theorists, it quickly spread to include many more people than that.

QAnon has seen popularity among the Evangelical Christian community, as it provokes religious imagery and sometimes references Bible passages. 

What happens now?

Since the Jan. 6 insurrection and Joe Biden’s inauguration, QAnon has lost some momentum, but it persists even without Trump in office. 

As mentioned previously, major social sites like Facebook and Twitter have taken more steps to remove content since the Capitol riot, including banning Trump himself, and Parler, an online hub for the alt-right, was taken down by Amazon Web Services. This is confining, but will not spell the end of QAnon, as the community can still communicate on encrypted messaging sites.

Still, it would seem that QAnon couldn’t survive without its central figure, and Inauguration Day should have been the final blow. However, after Biden took his oath of office on Jan. 20, a new theory developed that Trump would be sworn in for a second term on March 4. Of course, this projection was false, and even though the House of Representatives adjourned due to fears of violence, there was no activity on this day.

March 4 was not the first time the QAnon believers had missed a date for an event. They previously awaited the release of the Mueller report, expecting it to contain an exposé of activity within the cabal that is at the heart of the QAnon conspiracy. They also expected Trump to reclaim power on Jan. 20 before Biden could be sworn in, and are now discussing an event similar to the one described for March 4 scheduled for later this month.

It is hard to know how long QAnon will remain in the mainstream, but it will likely have some followers as long as these projected days of reckoning persist.

How do you stay away from conspiracy theories?

Perhaps the best way to avoid conspiracy theories is through fact checking. However, this has become more complicated in recent years, especially with a newfound distrust for news organizations.

Sue Phillips, Catlin Gabel School librarian who teaches digital literacy in the Upper School, remarked on how her fact-checking process has evolved. 

“We used to show people how to look within a webpage to see whether there was credible information there— whether the advertising was appropriate and what the organization said about itself,” said Phillips. “Now we do the fact checker ‘lateral reading approach,’ which is ‘don’t trust anything the page says.’”

“Lateral reading” involves opening multiple tabs to research information about an organization or supposed fact. Phillips noted that a credibility check may uncover that a site is completely phony or has a history of misinformation. Furthermore, she mentioned that we should be cautious of facts that we receive from friends and family. 
This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t listen to people you know. In fact, quite the opposite is needed in order to diversify your beliefs. In an article by the Washington Post outlining steps you can take to avoid conspiracy theories, trauma therapist Jenny TeGrotenhuis said, “Think about your peers and mentors. Are they following this conspiracy theory? Check it out and see if they’re thinking along those lines as well.”