QAnon

QAnon Conspiracy Theories

By Ayesha Taj

An anti-semitic, islamophobic, and entirely baseless conspiracy theory known as QAnon has recently been reaching alarming levels of popularity. Supporters of the theory argue that a cabal of Satanic, cannibalistic pedophiles is plotting against President Donald Trump. They also believe that Trump is the main opposition against the cabal and that the president is planning a day of reckoning referred to as “Storm,” when thousands of members of the cabal will be arrested. Many liberal celebrities and Democratic politicians, especially Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, have been accused of being at the forefront of the cabal.

The QAnon theory began in 2017 with a post to a social media site called 4chan by a user named "Q", who was likely an American individual. It is now assumed that Q has become a group of people acting under the same name. Q claimed to be a high-level government official with access to classified information involving the Trump administration and its opponents. NBC News reported that three people took the original Q post and spread it across multiple media platforms to build an internet following

The theories proposed by QAnon clearly have no facts whatsoever backing them up, so why have they gained so much popularity? Psychology professor Jan-Willem van Prooijen observes that conspiracy theories reinforce the idea that nothing in the world happens coincidentally. “This refusal to recognize the role of chance leads people to develop a worldview in which hostile and secret conspiracies permeate all layers of society,” he explained. Additionally, if people are fearful and uncertain, they could turn to conspiracy theories to make sense of stressful or confusing events.

While it is easy to dismiss QAnon as a group of frantic right-wing extremists looking to undermine Democrats, recent events have proved that conspiracy theorists can cause real consequences. The 2016 Pizzagate theory, which claims that Hillary Clinton and her campaign manager ran a child sex ring in the basement of a pizza shop (which does not have a basement), was the motivation of a gunman who showed up at a pizzeria in Washington, D.C. No one was injured or killed, but the incident exposed the true danger of conspiracy theories when they are taken too seriously.

The most worrisome part of this conspiracy might be the fact that its supporters are being elected to important political positions. Georgia citizen Marjorie Taylor Greene, an outspoken islamophobe, racist, and QAnon member was recently elected to Congress. President Trump himself has promoted articles and videos made by QAnon supporters. QAnon t-shirts, hats, and signs can easily be spotted at Trump rallies. In response to Joe Biden’s recent victory over Trump in the presidential election, QAnon has only begun spouting more senseless theories.