50 Facts About QAnon

1.

QAnon is an American political conspiracy theory and political movement.

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2.

QAnon has direct roots in Pizzagate, an internet conspiracy theory that appeared one year earlier; it incorporates elements of many other theories.

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3.

QAnon supporters have named Democratic politicians, Hollywood actors, high-ranking government officials, business tycoons, and medical experts as members of the cabal.

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4.

QAnon is described as antisemitic or rooted in antisemitic tropes, due to its fixation on Jewish financier George Soros and conspiracy theories about the Rothschild family, a frequent target of antisemites.

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5.

QAnon followers began to appear at Trump reelection campaign rallies in August 2018, and Trump amplified QAnon accounts on Twitter through his retweets.

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6.

The exact number of QAnon adherents is unclear, but the group maintains a large online following.

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7.

QAnon followers have perpetrated acts of violence on numerous occasions.

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8.

The Capitol attack was a watershed moment for QAnon and led to a further, more sustained social media crackdown on the movement and its claims.

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9.

One of the earlier rumors spread by QAnon followers was that such figures as Hillary Clinton, her daughter Chelsea and Senator John McCain had already been arrested and indicted, and were wearing ankle monitoring bracelets during their public appearances.

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10.

QAnon spread to other social media, including Twitter and YouTube.

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11.

Followers of QAnon then moved to Endchan, until 8chan was restored under the name 8kun.

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12.

QAnon first received attention from mainstream press in November 2017; Newsweek called it "Pizzagate on steroids".

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13.

Gossip columnist Liz Crokin, a Pizzagate follower, was one of the first public figures to embrace QAnon and became one of the movement's most prominent influencers.

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14.

QAnon-related merchandise was widely available on Amazon's online marketplace in 2018.

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15.

In 2020, Politico noted that 100 titles associated with QAnon were available on Amazon Marketplace, in many different languages and with generally positive reviews.

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16.

QAnon-related merchandise was available on Etsy and Teespring, and pages relating to the conspiracy theory were on Patreon and GoFundMe.

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17.

Marc-Andre Argentino, a researcher of the movement, noted in August 2020 that QAnon-dedicated Facebook pages existed in 71 countries worldwide.

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18.

In January 2021, researcher Joel Finkelstein told The Washington Post that the German and Japanese QAnon movements were "particularly strong and growing", though according to a later New York Times report, the Japanese version remains a fringe belief even among conspiracy theorists.

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19.

German Reichsburger groups adopted QAnon to promote its belief that modern Germany is not a sovereign republic but rather a corporation created by Allied nations after World War II, and expressed their hope that Trump would lead an army to restore the Reich.

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20.

In October 2021, Remy Daillet-Wiedemann, a French QAnon-associated conspiracy theorist, was charged with terrorism for having planned a coup against the French government.

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21.

In July 2020, an armed gunman and QAnon follower drove a vehicle into the grounds of Rideau Hall, the temporary residence of Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, in order to "arrest" him over COVID-19 restrictions and firearm regulations.

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22.

An RTVE news report found that most Spanish QAnon supporters identified Vox as their preferred political party.

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23.

Pastel QAnon, identified by Concordia University researcher Marc-Andre Argentino, is a collection of techniques aimed predominantly at indoctrinating women into the conspiracy theory, mainly on social media sites like Instagram, Facebook, Telegram and YouTube.

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24.

Mike Rothschild, author of a book on QAnon, said that he doubted Q would ever come back, as the movement had "outgrown the need for new drops" and Trump's election loss had invalidated the core QAnon prophecy.

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25.

Public figures whom QAnon followers believe to be part of the cabal include Democratic Party politicians like Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, businesspeople like George Soros and Bill Gates, religious leaders like Pope Francis and the Dalai Lama, Anthony Fauci, and entertainers like Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres, Lady Gaga and Chrissy Teigen.

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26.

QAnon effectively merged with Pizzagate by incorporating its beliefs, namely that children are being abducted in large numbers to supply a child trafficking ring, which the followers equate with the cabal.

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27.

One version of the QAnon theory posits that the child abusers use adrenochrome as an elixir to remain young.

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28.

Some QAnon adherents have expressed belief in the reptilian conspiracy theory, asserting that the Satanic cabal alleged to be in power consists of shapeshifting reptilian humanoids.

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29.

Some QAnon followers have said that the pandemic isn't real; others have claimed that it was created by the "deep state".

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30.

In March 2022, CNN, France 24, and Foreign Policy reported that QAnon promoters were echoing Russian disinformation that created conspiracy theories about US-funded laboratories in Ukraine.

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31.

The Washington Post and The Forward magazine have called QAnon's targeting of Jewish figures like George Soros and the Rothschilds "striking anti-Semitic elements" and "garden-variety nonsense with racist and anti-Semitic undertones".

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32.

Travis View, a researcher who studies QAnon, says that it is as addictive as a video game, and offers the "player" the possibility of being involved in something of world-historical importance.

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33.

QAnon, says View, competes not in the marketplace of ideas, but in the marketplace of realities.

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34.

QAnon believers try to solve riddles presented in Q's posts by connecting them to Trump speeches and tweets and other sources.

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35.

Around this point, many prominent conservatives, such as Steve Bannon and Bill Still, began to denounce QAnon, calling it a "psyop" created by U S intelligence or the FBI.

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36.

In less than a year of existence, QAnon became significantly recognized by the general population.

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37.

Positive feelings toward QAnon were found to be strongly correlated with susceptibility to conspiracy thinking.

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38.

Multiple surveys have found that conspiracy theories such as QAnon are most popular among white Americans, especially evangelicals.

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39.

In 2020, QAnon followers were actively involved in the presidential election, during which they supported Trump's campaign.

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40.

QAnon personalities moved to dedicated message boards, where they organized to wage information warfare in an attempt to influence the election.

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41.

One specific QAnon-affiliated conspiracy theory, known as Italygate and pushed in the last weeks of Trump's presidency, alleged that the American election had been rigged using technology from the U S Embassy in Rome with the help of an Italian hacker, an Italian general and the Vatican.

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42.

Attack led to a crackdown on QAnon-related content, pages and accounts on social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter.

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43.

Flynn's apparent declaration of allegiance to QAnon made him the most prominent former government official to endorse the conspiracy theory.

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44.

QAnon appeared on various far-right media, pushing QAnon-affiliated conspiracy theories.

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45.

QAnon supporters expressed their commitment in social media posts by using the phrase "Fight like a Flynn" or variations thereof.

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46.

QAnon said it would immediately ban any group representing QAnon.

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47.

That day, QAnon followers speculated that the action was part of a complex Trump administration strategy to begin arresting its enemies, or that Facebook was attempting to silence news of this occurring; neither is true.

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48.

Hashtags and accounts associated with QAnon have since been banned by numerous social networks including Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram.

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49.

In particular, the 2021 United States Capitol attack led to a crackdown on QAnon-related content on social media platforms during the days that followed.

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50.

Mass deletions of QAnon-related accounts on the most popular social media outlets led many members of the movement to migrate to alt-tech platforms.

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