We have tracked the rise of Q-affiliated political candidates on the track elected to Congress in New November, including Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Green. And we’ve tried to bounce back Quinnon’s most outrageous and dangerous claims – such as the clearly false allegation that Hillary Clinton and other Democrats literally killed and ate children to cut life-saving chemicals out of their blood. In the run-up to the election, the Times has launched a feature called “Daily Disturbances”, aimed at partly debunking misinformation that has gone viral or caused offline flight damage.
Quennon is clearly a political story, and a story about how internet platforms spread dangerous misinformation and conspiracy theories. At the same time, I’m a pre-religion reporter, and I’m fascinated by the culture of Quennon. It’s not just a conspiracy theory – it’s a real-time, interactive media-building collaboration that gives people a community, overcomes their sense of helplessness and unites them into a shared mission. I believe the mission is dangerous and different from reality, but I also try to be empathetic and understand the forces that people can put forward to participate.
There are many other great journalists covering Quennon in both the Times and other publications, and one particular challenge we face is that the movement is constantly evolving, expanding, and narrowing its boundaries to become more mainstream. QN followers hold “Children’s Children” rallies without mentioning their Q-Anon affiliation. QN activists are infiltrating communities of yoga mothers and natural health fans and growing ideas about global cable, while rejecting the more extreme parts of their belief system. And they’re getting better at laundering ideas in more mainstream conversations.
(A good example is the Trump administration’s recent focus on human trafficking, as it encourages Mr. Trump’s belief in the QN movement about breaking the global pedophile cable, eagerly accepted by his supporters.)
Cover is a non – non – whose followers mistakenly believe that the mainstream media, including the Times – is in a global capability – is not always enjoyable. My colleagues and I have been harassed, threatened and tortured for doing this. As I write this, my inbox is full of people calling me pedophiles, as I write about a group of yoga teachers who are trying to overcome Quinn’s influence in the wellness community.
But it’s important to track this stuff, because Quennon isn’t self-sufficient, it’s an inward pointing phenomenon. It is a growing, shape-shifting community that is constantly incorporating new beliefs, connecting itself to new platforms and hijacking new narratives. Many viral misconceptions about the Covid-19 and Black Lives Matter protests, for example, have been pushed by Quennon groups – which is one of the reasons I know Quennon. “Misinformation super spreader”
And it’s a nice reminder that not every fringe movement stays on the fringes. Some of them are, in fact, changing our culture.
