An anti-COVID restrictions protest in Berlin, Germany, August 29th, 2020 (MV/SULUPRESS.DE/picture-alliance/dpa/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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Less than 24 hours after the inauguration, the QAnon boards and message groups are no longer in despair. Now, they’re citing the influencers’ messages as signs of hope and that this is not over yet.“I was very doubtful yesterday but feel a renewed sense of hope this morning,” one follower wrote on a Telegram channel on Thursday morning.
Even QAnon followers who said that Wednesday was the final straw won’t simply disavow everything they’ve come to believe over the last three years.
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And already, disillusioned QAnon followers are being preyed upon by extremist groups keen to pick up new members. “There are quite a few cases of white supremacists circling around and trying to pick up the pieces,” Nick Backovic, a researcher who tracks QAnon and other extremist groups, told VICE News.“Some of the disillusioned Q followers make prime targets for extremist groups looking to exploit people's vulnerability here in order to radicalize them even further.”Gallagher too has seen evidence of extremist groups and movements using Biden’s inauguration as an opportunity to further “redpill” those disillusioned by Wednesday’s events. Years of devouring wild conspiracy theories have made them perfect targets for extremists.“QAnon followers have already turned away from mainstream media, they already believe that evil, dark forces control the world, therefore it isn't seen as too much of a leap to further radicalize people into more extreme beliefs,” Gallagher said.“This is one of the worrying effects of de-platforming. QAnon followers have now been pushed to the darkest corners of the internet and could therefore be exposed to even more extreme content.”