New from me: DLive has allowed multiple QAnon channels on its platform, which have used the platform to monetize. One of those QAnon channels is both verified & its hosts were present at the Capitol insurrection. mediamatters.org/qanon-conspira…
That verified DLive QAnon channel, RedPill78, uploaded a video on the platform the day before the Capitol insurrection in which they suggested violence if QAnon's predictions did not come to pass.
This is despite QAnon playing a major role causing & being involved with the insurrection, DLive cracking down on multiple far-right figures who were allegedly involved with the insurrection, & despite DLive's terms of service seeming to prohibit QAnon content.
Today is Inauguration Day. It will be a milestone day for QAnon supporters. We may see splintering as Biden takes office between those realizing QAnon isn't real & those doubling down & moving the goalposts. Here's a poll from a QAnon Telegram channel today suggesting a divide.
Here's a QAnon influencer already preparing to move the goalposts on QAnon about Biden taking office.
Some in the QAnon community are now suggesting that the number of American flags behind Trump at Joint Base Andrews, where Trump is going as he leaves office and Washington, D.C., somehow proves the conspiracy theory. ("Q" is the 17th letter of the alphabet.)
In the past 48 hours:
-Twitter banned QAnon accounts
-Twitter banned Trump
-Reddit banned r/donaldtrump
-Reddit banned the head moderator of r/conspiracy
-YouTube banned Steve Bannon's show
-Discord banned TheDonald dot win's channel
-Google banned Parler from its app store
Can now add Twitter banning TheDonald dot win's Twitter account to this list.
Major QAnon accounts that have been banned since this was announced already include:
-QAnon76
-Praying Medic
-intheMatrixxx
-WeTheInevitable (who has ban evaded more than 20 times)
X22 Report, which may have rivaled QAnon76 for the most followers of remaining QAnon accounts on Twitter (more than a half million), has also been banned.
QAnon started on an anonymous message board. Over the course of 3 years, it built a social media infrastructure & following, using it to spread multiple false conspiracy theories, including false voter fraud claims, helping them spread. In part, that has led to today.
(And QAnon supporters are among those storming the Capitol right now.)
In 2020, a false message board conspiracy theory harmed the pandemic response, significantly impacted our political process, & destroyed lives & families.
This year in review of QAnon's impact is divided into multiple sections:
1. How QAnon began on 4chan in 2017 & slowly built a social media infrastructure, endorsements in the far-right, & offline support, leading to early 2020.
2. How the pandemic caused consumption of QAnon content to soar, & how QAnon-connected conspiracy theories & false claims -- some of which reached Trump -- undermined the pandemic & made QAnon a public health threat.