{"id":12926,"date":"2023-02-17T15:43:43","date_gmt":"2023-02-17T04:43:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/?p=12926"},"modified":"2023-02-17T15:43:43","modified_gmt":"2023-02-17T04:43:43","slug":"the-spread-of-qanon-beyond-the-united-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/17\/the-spread-of-qanon-beyond-the-united-states\/","title":{"rendered":"The spread of QAnon beyond the United States"},"content":{"rendered":"

The name crops up all over the place, but many people have no real understanding of what QAnon is, or why an estimated\u00a022 per cent of Americans<\/a> accept one of its core beliefs: that some kind of political ‘storm’ is coming and that violence could be necessary to achieve it.<\/p>\n

In the United States, Georgia politician Marjorie Taylor Greene<\/a>, previously a fan of QAnon, has just been appointed to the influential House of Representatives’ homeland security committee<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Yet although the far-right conspiracy theory movement started gaining supporters in the US in 2017, it has now spread internationally with increasing\u00a0uptake in Russia<\/a>\u00a0and Germany. The\u00a0German QAnon<\/a>\u00a0is firmly pro-Putin and anti-Kyiv in its support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Conversely, Russian QAnon followers are\u00a0less supportive of Putin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This cult-like movement, most famous for its part in the storming of\u00a0the US Capitol<\/a>\u00a0in January 2021, originated on an online message board called\u00a08kun<\/a>\u00a0before being popularised on\u00a04Chan<\/a>. The first QAnon content was posted by an anonymous self-proclaimed senior intelligence officer with access to supposedly classified material, calling themselves ‘Q’ and later ‘QAnon’ (their identity<\/a>\u00a0is still not known).<\/p>\n

This material focused on baseless\u00a0predictions<\/a>\u00a0around the fortunes of the Trump administration, and conspiracy theories about individuals and groups seeking to undermine Trump. These included the presence of a powerful paedophile ring operating at the top of global politics, celebrity, finance and royalty.<\/p>\n

Other self-styled insiders and experts joined in posting \u201cinsider information\u201d alongside and in support of QAnon, with sympathisers enthusiastically posting this content across mainstream social media platforms.<\/p>\n

The movement started to come to prominence offline in 2018 when its followers appeared at Trump rallies and other political events wearing identifying items or carrying placards with ‘Q’ on them. At the same time more QAnon-related content started appearing on social media platforms.<\/p>\n

As of now, QAnon has spread to multiple online platforms, and its followers are present in various countries. But QAnon does not have a formalised leadership structure.<\/p>\n

This has meant QAnon has expanded the number of subjects it talks about, including\u00a0COVID-19<\/a>\u00a0and its subsequent vaccines, most of which have been thoroughly refuted by fact checkers and experts. The decentralised nature of the movement means that QAnon followers largely communicate via the internet and messaging services such as\u00a0Telegram<\/a>,\u00a0Signal<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Parler<\/a>.<\/p>\n

QAnon’s core theories centre on its belief that there is a global cabal of Satan-worshipping, child-sex-trafficking elites who control governments, financial institutions, and the media. QAnon believes that the aim of the elite cabal was to undermine Donald Trump when he was president, steal the 2020 election from him, and erode his Make America Great Again (MAGA) agenda. QAnon followers also claim that Donald Trump and his close circle are working to expose this paedophile cabal and bring its members to justice.<\/p>\n

As of now, QAnon has spread to multiple online platforms, and its followers are present in various countries.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To those \u2013 the majority \u2013 who are sceptical or opposed to QAnon theories, the claims made by QAnon followers seem evidence free and\u00a0ridiculous<\/a>. Most mainstream media organisations describe QAnon theories as having been based upon mis- or disinformation, a reinterpretation of history, a misunderstanding of contemporary events and fringe conspiracy theory. Followers of QAnon invest large amounts of time hunting down shards of evidence that help \u2013 in their eyes \u2013 to prove the claims.<\/p>\n

In Russia, QAnon followers have embraced vaccine\u00a0conspiracy theories<\/a>, and rejected mask mandates. QAnon forums predicted there would be no conflict and then were surprised and divided in support for the\u00a0Ukraine\u00a0war<\/a>. Some suggested the invasion was to clean up COVID bio-labs, while others saw it as a betrayal of\u00a0Russo-Ukrainian\u00a0kinship<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Some followers of QAnon have been linked to and convicted of acts of political\u00a0violence<\/a>. Intelligence and law enforcement agencies have provided consistent\u00a0warnings<\/a>\u00a0that QAnon and its messaging have the potential to incite some to violence. On that basis there is surveillance of QAnon by government agencies in the US, Germany and the UK.<\/p>\n

Germany is a particularly interesting case, due to alleged connections between QAnon followers and the\u00a0Reichsb\u00fcrger\u00a0coup attempt<\/a> in December 2022. This attempted to reinstall a monarchy in Germany, and was closely\u00a0associated\u00a0with elements of the German far right<\/a>.<\/p>\n

QAnon has been\u00a0active in Germany<\/a>\u00a0since 2018, and has seen its popularity grow. Academics have recorded instances of\u00a0QAnon-related content appearing<\/a>\u00a0on German social media and internet platforms (breaching legal restrictions on conspiracy and hate speech). QAnon followers in Germany have\u00a0organised events in major cities<\/a>, leading some to consider them a potential threat to public order.<\/p>\n