> Begin forwarded message: > > From: Mark > QAnon and the Storming of the U.S. Capitol: The Offline Effect of Online > Conspiracy Theories > By Marc-André Argentino > > Published 7 January 2021 > > http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/dr20210107-qanon-and-the-storming-of-the-u-s-capitol-the-offline-effect-of-online-conspiracy-theories > > <http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/dr20210107-qanon-and-the-storming-of-the-u-s-capitol-the-offline-effect-of-online-conspiracy-theories> > > What is the cost of propaganda, misinformation and conspiracy theories? > Democracy and public safety, to name just two things. The United States has > received a stark lesson on how online propaganda and misinformation have an > offline impact. > > What is the cost of propaganda, misinformation and conspiracy theories? > Democracy and public safety, to name just two things. The United States has > received a stark lesson on how online propaganda and misinformation have an > offline impact. > > For months, Donald Trump has falsely claimed the November presidential > election was rigged and that’s why he wasn’t re-elected. The president’s > words have mirrored and fed conspiracy theories spread by followers of the > QAnon movement. > > While conspiracy theorists are often dismissed as “crazy people on social > media,” QAnon adherents were among the individuals at the front line of the > storming of Capitol Hill. > > QAnon is a decentralized, ideologically motivated and violent extemist > movement rooted in an unfounded conspiracy theory that a global “Deep State” > cabal of satanic pedophile elites is responsible for all the evil in the > world. Adherents of QAnon also believe that this same cabal is seeking to > bring down Trump, whom they see as the world’s only hope in defeating it. > > The evolution of QAnon > Though it started as a series of conspiracy theories and false predictions, > over the past three years QAnon has evolved into an extremist > religio-political ideology. > > I’ve been studying the movement for more than two years. QAnon is what I call > a hyper-real religion > <https://religiondispatches.org/in-the-name-of-the-father-son-and-q-why-its-important-to-see-qanon-as-a-hyper-real-religion/>. > QAnon takes popular cultural artifacts and integrates them into an > ideological framework. > > QAnon has been a security threat in the making > <https://ctc.usma.edu/the-qanon-conspiracy-theory-a-security-threat-in-the-making/> > for the past three years. > > The COVID-19 pandemic has played a signficant role in popularizing the QAnon > movement. Facebook data since the start of 2020 shows QAnon membership grew > by 581 per cent — most of which occurred after the United States closed its > borders last March as part of its coronavirus containment strategy. > > As social media researcher Alex Kaplan noted, 2020 was the year “QAnon became > all of our problem” > <https://www.mediamatters.org/qanon-conspiracy-theory/2020-qanon-became-all-our-problem> > as the movement initially gained traction by spreading COVID-related > conspiracy theories and disinformation > <https://theconversation.com/qanon-conspiracy-theories-about-the-coronavirus-pandemic-are-a-public-health-threat-135515> > and was then further mainstreamed by 97 U.S. congressional candidates who > publicly showed support for QAnon > <https://theconversation.com/qanon-conspiracy-theory-followers-step-out-of-the-shadows-and-may-be-headed-to-congress-141581>. > > Crowdsourced Answers > The essence of QAnon lies in its attempts to delineate and explain evil. It’s > about theodicy <https://www3.dbu.edu/mitchell/theodicy_brief_overview.htm>, > not secular evidence. QAnon offers its adherents comfort in an uncertain — > and unprecedented — age as the movement crowdsources answers to the > inexplicable. > > QAnon becomes the master narrative capable of simply explaining various > complex events. The result is a worldview characterized by a sharp > distinction between the realms of good and evil that is non-falsifiable. > > No matter how much evidence journalists, academics and civil society offer as > a counter to the claims promoted by the movement, belief in QAnon as the > source of truth is a matter of faith — specifically in their faith in Trump > and “Q,” the anonymous person who began the movement in 2017 by posting a > series of wild theories about the Deep State. > > Trump Validated Theories > The year 2020 was also Trump finally gave QAnon what it always wanted: > respect. As Travis View, a conspiracy theory researcher and host of the QAnon > Anonymous podcast recently wrote > <https://nymag.com/intelligencer/amp/2020/12/trump-gave-qanon-what-it-always-wanted-respect.html>: > “Over the past few months …Trump has recognized the QAnon community in a way > its followers could have only fantasized about when I began tracking the > movement’s growth over two years ago.” > > Trump, lawyers Sidney Powell > <https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/19/us/politics/trump-sidney-powell-voter-fraud.html> > and Lin Wood > <https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/who-is-lin-wood-trump-tweets_n_5ff335d7c5b6e7974fd514c1?ri18n=true>, > and QAnon “rising star” Ron Watkins > <https://www.insider.com/trump-shares-voter-fraud-conspiracy-theories-of-qanon-star-ron-watkins-2020-12> > have all been actively inflaming QAnon apocalyptic and anti-establishment > desires by promoting voter fraud conspiracy theories. > > Doubts about the validity of the election have been circulating in far-right > as well as QAnon circles. Last October, I wrote that if there were delays or > other complications in the final result > <https://icct.nl/publication/q-pilled-conspiracy-theories-trump-and-election-violence/> > of the presidential contest, it would likely feed into a pre-existing belief > in the invalidity of the election — and foster a chaotic environment that > could lead to violence. > > Hope for Miracles > The storming of U.S. Capitol saw the culmination of what has been building up > for weeks: the “hopeium” in QAnon circles that some miracle via > Vice-President Mike Pence > <https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-pressure-pence-reject-bidens-win-congress-wednesday/story?id=75057551> > and other constitutional witchcraft would overturn the election results. > > Instead, QAnon followers are now faced with the end of a Trump presidency — > where they had free rein — and the fear of what a Biden presidency will bring. > > We have now long passed the point of simply asking: how can people believe in > QAnon when so many of its claims fly in the face of facts? The attack on the > Capitol showed the real dangers of QAnon adherents. > > Their militant and anti-establishment ideology — rooted in a > quasi-apocalyptic desire to destroy the existing, corrupt world and usher in > a promised golden age — was on full display for the whole world to see. Who > could miss the shirtless man wearing a fur hat, known as the QAnon Shaman > <https://www.wric.com/news/u-s-world/horned-shirtless-man-at-the-capitol-demonstration-identified/>, > leading the charge into the Capitol rotunda? > > What will happen now? QAnon, along with other far-right actors, will likely > continue to come together to achieve their insurrection goals. This could > lead to a continuation of QAnon-inspired violence as the movement’s ideology > continues to grow in American culture. > > Marc-André Argentino is Ph.D. candidate Individualized Program, 2020-2021 > Public Scholar, Concordia University > <https://theconversation.com/institutions/concordia-university-1183>. This > article > <https://theconversation.com/qanon-and-the-storm-of-the-u-s-capitol-the-offline-effect-of-online-conspiracy-theories-152815> > is published courtesy of The Conversation <https://theconversation.com/us>. > >
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