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The QAnon Conspiracy Theory: A Security Threat in the Making?

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Re: The QAnon Conspiracy Theory: A Security Threat in the Making?

#41

Post by sudosysgen »

aleister_777 wrote: post #12

It seems like the media is talking about this more than anyone else at this point. There have literally been over 2000 articles written to debunk this. The content has been banned from reddit, twitter and other platforms. Why is everyone so vigilant to call it "dangerous"? Why not flat earth and chem trails? Why all the attention for this one thing?

I think you might because of socio-economic context under-estimate the scale and danger of this. There are government officials, members of the military including special forces, and more, that openly signal their belief in the QAnon conspiracy. Besides, the QAnon conspiracy taunts its followers towards dangerous political behaviours.

Re: The QAnon Conspiracy Theory: A Security Threat in the Making?

#43

Post by liability »

Quequau wrote: post #28
spaced-out wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because QAnon is also a religious movement. "Trust the plan" is not something conspiracy theorists from the 80s and 90s said...

Religious, like having a theology or something more consistent with a civic religion where people display certain convictions they actually do not subscribe to in order to show membership in a specific group?

More along the lines of Jim Jones or scientology maybe... not all religions are positive influences.

Re: The QAnon Conspiracy Theory: A Security Threat in the Making?

#44

Post by kodyo »

When people lose faith in the people who are supposed to be telling the truth, they look for other things to fill the gap. The media is unreliable to say the least, government is compromised and corrupt, the academy is both self-serving and "woke." Why wouldn't alternative explanations for things seem appealing at this point?

Re: The QAnon Conspiracy Theory: A Security Threat in the Making?

#45

Post by jkhdigital »

zozbot234 wrote: post #23
dogman144 wrote: post #4

One has to believe there's a deliberate intelligence effort signal boosting this a fair bit, meshed within the various layers of accounts/platforms propagating it. Similar example of practices: https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2020/07/ghostwr... The above relies on a fair bit of identity building as well, so Q's source/breeding in more anon platforms helps all the better. Intense stuff.

I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if 'intelligence' [sic] actors were involved in signal-boosting all sorts of wacky urban legends and conspiracy theories - so why not Pizza gate and Q as well?

Kind of like how intelligence actors fabricated Russiagate from whole cloth?

Re: The QAnon Conspiracy Theory: A Security Threat in the Making?

#46

Post by computerphage »

gibrown wrote: post #31
aleister_777 wrote: post #12

It seems like the media is talking about this more than anyone else at this point. There have literally been over 2000 articles written to debunk this. The content has been banned from reddit, twitter and other platforms. Why is everyone so vigilant to call it "dangerous"? Why not flat earth and chem trails? Why all the attention for this one thing?

Because there is at least one Republican politician who will win a House seat in November and is a firm believer.

Who?

Re: The QAnon Conspiracy Theory: A Security Threat in the Making?

#47

Post by xhkkffbf »

krapp wrote: post #5
xhkkffbf wrote: post #3

Okay, but why is this theory so different? There are lots and lots of conspiracy theories from every corner of the political sphere. Why is this one a real security threat?

From the abstract of the article, literally the first paragraph: Abstract: The QAnon conspiracy theory, which emerged in 2017, has quickly risen to prominence in the United States. A survey of cases of individuals who have allegedly or apparently been radicalized to criminal acts with a nexus to violence by QAnon, including one case that saw a guilty plea on a terrorism charge, makes clear that QAnon represents a pub…

Yes, but that doesn't explain why it's different from other conspiracy theories. Some people have told me with a straight face that they believe the CIA is hiding something funny in vaccines and so they won't take a COVID-19 shot. Others prattle on and on about the Jews. Some use events long ago (slavery, war, etc) as a justification for vandalism, theft and violence today.

I understand how QAnon is driving some people nuts, but there are lots of theories that are driving people nuts. Many crimes are justified by different theories.

Re: The QAnon Conspiracy Theory: A Security Threat in the Making?

#48

Post by zozbot234 »

sunseb wrote: post #26
aleister_777 wrote: post #12

It seems like the media is talking about this more than anyone else at this point. There have literally been over 2000 articles written to debunk this. The content has been banned from reddit, twitter and other platforms. Why is everyone so vigilant to call it "dangerous"? Why not flat earth and chem trails? Why all the attention for this one thing?

Media are endlessly debunking QAnon and PizzaGate, yet no media is investigating things like Epstein network (Mr Clinton traveled like 30 times in the famous island - he must really liked the beach).

Interesting point. What if Jeffrey Epstein was the original "Q"?

Re: The QAnon Conspiracy Theory: A Security Threat in the Making?

#49

Post by tjpnz »

bearjaws wrote: post #2

As someone with a family member who is falling into this non-sense, I will tell you it is extremely dangerous. We essentially have some teenager on 4chan trolling an entire audience of probably hundreds of thousands of individuals. They now believe Trump is our savior and the deep state wants to take him down. There are violent undertones to the entire conspiracy and I do worry they are going to turn into terrorists.

>We essentially have some teenager on 4chan trolling an entire audience of probably hundreds of thousands of individuals.

That's the most plausible explanation and I've explained it that way to several people already. Doesn't work though - you'll either be dismissed or discover later on that they've found a way of reconciling it with their already crackpot worldview.

Re: The QAnon Conspiracy Theory: A Security Threat in the Making?

#50

Post by alexilliamson »

sunseb wrote: post #15

Black Live Matters and QAnon = two sides of the same coin brainwashing people. Blue (democrats) or Red (republicans): pick your poison.

You might not agree that Black lives matter, but it's not a conspiracy theory. With BLM, people are opting in to a social movement rooted in observed police violence. QAnon is not tethered to reality in the slightest.
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