Thread by @mariannaspring

🚨 NEW from me 🚨

Will conspiracy theories influence the US Election?

Facebook has banned QAnon - but I’ve interviewed US voters + experts who fear political disinformation under new guises has already impacted voting - and could undermine democracy!

bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-tre…

📻 Listen on @bbcworldservice @BBCtrending - presented by @mwendling + produced by Ant Adeane!

I speak to voters from different backgrounds who fear the impact of QAnon-related disinfo - and experts who worry QAnon’s world view could undermine democracy. bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3…

There’s also a podcast on @BBCSounds 👉 bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3…

This is an in-depth follow up to this report on @BBCNews at Ten - looking at possible effects of conspiracy theories on voters!

We follow the characters + the influence of political disinfo beyond polling day.

https://twitter.com/mariannaspring/status/1308169059469611008

The US election campaign is full of talk about the pandemic, the Supreme Court and police reform.

But millions of Americans are tuning into an entirely different conversation full of conspiracy theories and rumours!

Could this shadow world influence the vote? THREAD👇

💤 Generation Z, Generation Q?

“Saying it out loud, it just sounds crazy," says 24-year-old Jade Flury, reading out a text convo with a friends.

Jade's friend has been taken in by Instagram videos about QAnon - and believes baseless claims the Dems run a child-trafficking ring.

And she's worries this impacts how friends will vote..

“Some of them now think the Democrats are evil. Others think Trump is the saviour.

"And some people truly believe that their vote just doesn't count at all because the 'elites' control it," she says.

(The receipts)👇

Almost 1,000 miles from Houston where Jade lives, 68-year-old Tom Long uses social media quite differently.

For one thing, he doesn't have an Instagram account. But his Facebook feed - and the group he runs which focuses on local politics - have also been overrun by conspiracy!

He worries this is affecting his neighbours’ political opinions.

“When you start scrolling, you see all these crazy things that are posted and reposted that derive from QAnon," says Tom.

They include memes linking Biden and the Democrats to unfounded allegations of child abuse.

Going mainstream 💻📱

Opponents of the president are also susceptible to baseless conspiracy theories, spreading fact-free rumours that Trump's coronavirus diagnosis was faked.

But QAnon has been by far the most popular conspiracy theory circulating online.

Research from @Shayan86 found QAnon has generated more than 100 million comments, shares and likes on social media this year.

The biggest QAnon Facebook groups generated 44 million interactions - about two-thirds of reactions generated by v popular Black Lives Matter groups!

Initial crackdowns by social media sites appeared to slow the spread - but QAnon supporters soon used new hashtags to evade measures and reach the average Facebook or Instagram feed!

And that means people coming across this political disinfo not realising its QAnon.

Though a relatively small percentage of Americans believe in an "elite satanic child abuse ring", other popular ideas spread by QAnon - like a deep state trying to undermine Trump - are rapidly taking hold @wphillips49 tells me.

Whitney Phillips argues that the danger of QAnon is actually much larger than its influence on the votes - or non-votes!

QAnon prepares the ground for a wholesale rejection of democracy itself, noting that Trump has refused to confirm a peaceful transfer of power if he loses.

This week Facebook banned QAnon content - Twitter did similar previously. No new action from YouTube.

But shape-shifting QAnon supporters using more palatable hashtags like SaveOurChildren have already reached new people with political disinfo and their world view.

I recently asked Facebook boss Nick Clegg about this - and he denied Facebook has acted too late on QAnon.

But the new, more strict ban all QAnon accounts came into place soon after. Facebook also said they will specifically tackle content using hashtags like #SaveOurChildren.

Whether action by the social media companies will have any effect on QAnon's popularity will be an open question for some time.

But for Tom Long in Florida, the damage has already been done. Conspiracies are yet another thing tearing America apart for him.

Get in touch if you know someone impacted by political disinformation promoted by QAnon! Whether in the US or here in the UK - DM me and [e-mail] 📧

Lots in the US have got in touch about friend’s neighbours who now believes the Dems running a child-trafficking ring.

And in the UK too - who have seen posters with SaveOurChildren and other QAnon hashtags.

Undoing this worldview when many don’t realise it’s QAnon is hard!

When talking about the impact of conspiracy theories and political disinformation - the ability to suppress voters rather than galvanise the already decided is important.

Allegations of vile crimes could do that!

And obvious attempts like this are happening lots👇

https://twitter.com/oneunderscore__/status/1315085476584452102

And as political disinformation - from campaigns or spreading organically - ramps up in the coming weeks, do get in touch if there’s anything you want me and the team to investigate! DM or [e-mail] 📧