A man holds a sign that reads ‘Q-Nited We Stand’ during a gun-rights rally held in Seattle in 2018. The QAnon community has moved from the fringes of the internet to mainstream politics in less than three years.
(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Believers of QAnon fringe conspiracy theories have moved into the mainstream political arena, including several who will be running as Republican candidates in the U.S. elections this fall.
Fireworks light up the sky over New York City in 2019.
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As the US faces historic challenges to its democracy, Trump is mirroring tactics used by the former FBI director to smear his critics and consolidate power.
The technology isn’t the problem.
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Conspiracy theories about mobile phone technology have been circulating since the 1990s and the imagined potential of radio waves to remote control a population.
Obamagate is strongly linked to the QAnon conspiracy theory – on Twitter these hashtags are frequently used alongside each other.
Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates has been one of the targets of misinformation during the pandemic and was falsely accused of helping spread the COVID-19 virus to sell a vaccine.
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The World Health Organization says the abundance of misinformation swirling around COVID-19 is as dangerous as the virus itself. There are ways to fight this, however.
Shannon Rose, left, joined other demonstrators calling for Gov. Gavin Newsom to end the stay-at-home orders during a protest at the state capitol in Sacramento, Calif., on May 9, 2020.
(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
From political ideologies, conspiracy theories or “reopen” protests, when faced with uncertainty, we seek reassurance in the face of mortality through efforts at containment.
Do recent lockdown protests indicate that Australia is on the path to Trump’s America? While we can currently rest easy, the problem requires careful consideration.
QAnon, which fans the flames of wild and dangerous conspiracy theories, is being incorporated into some fringe religious movements.
Photo Illustration/The Conversation
The QAnon movement that’s based on conspiracy theories is now being used by some charismatic Christians as a way to interpret the Bible. It’s a dangerous mix of religion and false information.
No matter the details of the plot, conspiracy theories follow common patterns of thought.
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Conspiracy theories about COVID-19, such as those advanced in the video ‘Plandemic,’ tend to pull from the same playbook. Recognizing that can help keep you from falling for this kind of thinking.
A sign outside Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver, B.C., explains visitor restrictions to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus COVID-19.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Hospitals have requested that people avoid non-emergency visits, and conspiracy theorists are posting images of empty parking lots online as false proof that COVID-19 is an elaborate hoax.
No, this person is not creating a deadly virus.
CDC / Unsplash
The conspiracy theory that Covid-19 was created in a laboratory has been widely reported, yet there is no evidence to support it. Why such theories thrive can easily be explained, however.
PODCAST: We explore the strange interpretations of where the coronavirus came from and why people are drawn to them in the final episode of The Anthill’s Expert guide to conspiracy theories.
Conspiracy theories increase the likelihood that people won’t follow expert advice.
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