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Ben Collins Profile picture
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12 Jan, 6 tweets, 3 min read
NEW from me:

After social media ban, QAnon warnings of a 'blackout' move to viral text messages

nbcnews.com/tech/internet/…
You might've received a text message from a loved one saying not to update your iPhone because it'll disable your Emergency Broadcasting System.

This is not remotely true. It's a QAnon conspiracy theory, and it's everywhere since the Parler shutdown.
nbcnews.com/tech/internet/…
The viral text rumor is that you need to stock up on supplies because there's a "blackout" coming.

What your friend who texted you may not tell you is that this is a QAnon rumor, pushed by people who think Trump is about to take over the country.

nbcnews.com/tech/internet/… Image
If you get one of these "blackout" QAnon texts, this might be a good time to plant a flag with your friend or family member.

If there's no blackout in the next week, maybe the place they get their news from is bad?

Not a bad time to open up a dialogue.
nbcnews.com/tech/internet/…
Since the deplatforming, QAnon viral texts have taken off, including a cheapfake that features a series of mashed-up speeches by Trump, realigned to lead the viewer to falsely believe the president is calling for an uprising on Jan. 20.
nbcnews.com/tech/internet/…
The weird thing about this story is the variation. I've seen so many concerned parents, siblings, friends, all taking the text message and adding their own spin to this QAnon conspiracy theory.

They're sincerely worried about a blackout because of one vague text message.

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More from @oneunderscore__

Ben Collins Profile picture
11 Jan
QAnon is the idea that a secret government insider is revealing Trump's secret war with child eaters in posts on 8kun.

You know it's him because he has a "tripcode," a de facto password, that allows only Q to post.

Most people get Q posts from aggregators and don't go to 8kun.
Q, himself, has not posted in over a month, since 12/8. Q's only posted three vague posts since the election.

QAnon is now effectively a decentralized movement, where believers rely on old Q posts, cite them like Bible verses, and rely on influencers to "decode" old ones.
It's unlikely that Q is one man or that Q is the same person as the one who posted the first time. Q has changed sites several times:

- from 4chan to 8chan after the password (matlock) leaked
- from 8chan to 8kun after 8chan was shut down for hosting white nationalist manifestos
Read 4 tweets
Ben Collins Profile picture
8 Jan
BREAKING: The president has been suspended from Twitter, per Twitter.
Twitter will have a statement momentarily, source tells me.
Twitter has banned President Trump "due to the risk of further incitement of violence."

Read 8 tweets
Ben Collins Profile picture
8 Jan
BREAKING: Twitter is taking dramatic action on remaining QAnon accounts for breaking their "Coordinated Harmful Activity" rules, some of whom heavily promoted Wednesday's storming of the Capitol.

Mike Flynn, Sidney Powell, 8kun's Ron Watkins banned.

Twitter's statement below:
Mike Flynn had taken an "oath" QAnon last year. He and Sidney Powell advised the president on attempts to override the election in the last month. Powell is now being sued by Dominion Voting Systems for $1.3 billion.

Major players in the Q universe, both now banned from Twitter.
Ron Watkins, who runs the site where Q from QAnon posts and whom many believe may be Q himself, is now also banned from Twitter.

He spent the last month targeting private citizens with claims of election fraud. He lives in Japan and runs 8kun, a site born in the Philippines.
Read 6 tweets
Ben Collins Profile picture
6 Jan
New from @BrandyZadrozny + me:

Violent threats ripple through far-right internet forums ahead of protest

nbcnews.com/tech/internet/…
A lot of people have seen tons of civil war talk on pro-Trump forums over the last few days.

You're probably wondering: Who do these people think they're going to fight?

Let me break it down.

A ton of this stems from a QAnon theory that's falling apart.
nbcnews.com/tech/internet/…
For weeks, many people on the pro-Trump and QAnon parts of the web believed Mike Pence would somehow overturn the election tomorrow.

They call this the "Pence Card," and believe it would precipitate instant protests, requiring pro-Trump reinforcements.

nbcnews.com/tech/internet/… Image
Read 7 tweets
Ben Collins Profile picture
5 Jan
MyPillow guy just linking directly to 8kun at 3:40 in the morning.
Almost all of these election conspiracy theories are from TheDonaldDotWin, 4chan or 8kun.

They’re screenshotted or plagiarized on Twitter and Facebook, but the internet’s worst people are inventing this stuff anonymously, then Q influencers are catapulting it to the president.
QAnon influencers have systematically subsumed the pro-Trump information economy in the last seven weeks.

People like Lin Wood and the MyPillow guy who aggregate fan fiction from 8kun get picked up by The Gateway Pundit. Hours later it’s a “people are saying” segment on OANN.
Read 4 tweets
Ben Collins Profile picture
4 Jan
New from me + @BrandyZadrozny + @janestreet:

Trump pushed QAnon and 4chan-created conspiracy theories in Georgia call

nbcnews.com/tech/internet/…
Let's decode all of the conspiracy theories in Trump's now-infamous Georgia phone call, and show how they traveled from the QAnon network faction on Twitter and 4chan all the way to the president's mouth.

nbcnews.com/tech/internet/…
Trump's first conspiracy? A "known scammer" in Atlanta personally rigged the election.

This rumor started on 4chan, then trended on Twitter due to QAnon accounts.

In reality, the poll worker runs a mall kiosk that sells purses. The president is lying.
nbcnews.com/tech/internet/… Image
Read 5 tweets

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