A protester at the Nevada state legislative building holds a placard on February 2, 2021, the first day of the 81st Session of the Nevada Legislature. (Photo by Ty O'Neil / SOPA Images/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)
Unraveling viral disinformation and explaining where it came from, the harm it's causing, and what we should do about it.
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Or simply scroll through the heartbreaking testimonies posted on the Reddit thread called QAnonCasualties, where people detail how their seemingly normal and well-educated family members and friends are being radicalized by QAnon. The rise of QAnon within the Republican party — first through former President Donald Trump and now with Greene — is clearly a concern for many inside the party, but experts say that just as the GOP shouldn’t embrace QAnon, Democrats should not use it as a political cudgel.“I get there is some political tactic here, but leveraging an extremist movement should not be used as a political tool by the Dems,” Marc-André Argentino, a PhD candidate at Concordia University who studies QAnon, tweeted.“If it is unacceptable for the GOP to do so then it should be unacceptable for any party.”
QAnon began life on the fringes of the internet, on obscure message boards like 4chan and 8chan. But in the last 12 months, QAnon has moved from the fringes of the internet to the center, radicalizing millions of people on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.
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By ignoring that reality, the Democrats risk increasing the threat from QAnon.“Can we stop saying these are uneducated people, that they are crazy and wear tinfoil hats? Argentino said. “We need to respect the threat posed by QAnon and recognize that this is not limited to the fringes of society, but it is embedded into the mainstream of our communities.”The DCCC did not respond to a request for comment about criticisms of its campaign.