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Alex Kaplan Profile picture
Alex Kaplan
@AlKapDC
Senior Researcher @mmfa, focusing on social media misinfo/disinfo & online extremism. Statements are mine, not employer's. Send tips to akaplan@mediamatters.org
10 subscribers
Oct 10 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
New from me:

A @mmfa review has found that videos containing misinformation & conspiracy theories about Hurricane Helene have earned millions of views on YouTube.

Several of the videos have been monetized.
mediamatters.org/google/officia… These videos include falsely claiming that FEMA disaster aid went to undocumented immigrants, baselessly alleging there was some secret plot to “grab” land to obtain resources, & suggesting that the hurricane was evidence of some kind of weather manipulation.
Jun 7 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
SCOOP:

A group of far-right media figures has announced the formation of a militia group & is using social media to recruit, including on Instagram.

Some of those figures have previously called for political opponents to be killed.
mediamatters.org/january-6-insu… The leader of this militia group & who announced its formation is Jake Lang, a podcaster & alleged January 6 participant who is currently in jail awaiting trial for his actions that day. Image
Nov 10, 2023 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
NEW from me:

4chan users for weeks have been using Microsoft Bing’s AI tool to generate images with Nazi imagery and other “propaganda,” potentially creating thousands of AI images.
mediamatters.org/4chan/4chan-us… Numerous threads promoting Bing’s AI tool have appeared on 4chan’s far-right “politically incorrect” message board (known as “/pol/“) since the tool launched in late September, urging fellow users to create “propaganda” with the tool.
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Mar 30, 2023 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
NEW from me:

A troll account & its deceptive tweet based on a racist 4chan meme that aimed to spread anti-trans sentiment following the Nashville mass shooting was shared on social media & by right-wing figures & outlets, including Fox’s Tucker Carlson. mediamatters.org/4chan/4chan-an… Following the shooting, a troll account posted this deceptive tweet & used an image of a trans MMA fighter, which is actually from a 2020 article (which she called the account out for doing.) ImageImageImage
Mar 28, 2023 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
New from me:

A QAnon influencer who was reinstated on Twitter under Elon Musk caused a baseless conspiracy theory linking Huggies diapers & pedophilia to gain traction online, forcing the diaper company to publicly rebut it. mediamatters.org/twitter/elon-m… The QAnon influencer had been banned as part of Twitter's QAnon crackdown after January 6. Under Musk, the account was reinstated in January & is now verified under Twitter Blue.
Dec 31, 2022 • 14 tweets • 6 min read
As 2022 comes to an end, there was some reporting I did this year that I was particularly proud of: I wrote a multi-part series, "Beyond Q," on QAnon's evolution since 2020 & Trump leaving office. I think it's already held up well, & its broader points on how QAnon has gone on despite "Q" posting less has seemingly become more common in media coverage.
mediamatters.org/qanon-conspira…
Sep 15, 2022 • 14 tweets • 5 min read
NEW from me:

How True the Vote's Catherine Engelbrecht & Gregg Phillips formed relationships with QAnon influencers to target an election software company & be a liaison between QAnon influencers & law enforcement after they claimed the FBI spurned them. mediamatters.org/voter-fraud-an… Engelbrecht & Phillips in recent months have actively collaborated with QAnon influencers to an extraordinary extent, taking the QAnon community’s connection with the election denial movement taken to a new level.
Sep 2, 2022 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
SCOOP: Ivan Raiklin, an election denial activist who tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election with his “Pence Card” plan, told a QAnon-supporting show he contacted multiple members of Congress to push his plan, naming some of whom he contacted. mediamatters.org/january-6-insu… Raiklin, whose "Pence Card" theory Trump amplified on Twitter in December 2020, said he contacted Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Mo Brooks (R-AL), Ben Cline (R-VA), Mike Waltz (R-FL), Jim Jordan (R-OH), & Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) to push the plan leading up to January 6. Image
Aug 10, 2022 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
SCOOP: An official video posted to Trump’s Truth Social account appeared to use a QAnon song. The song's apparently called "Wwg1wga," which is the QAnon slogan. The QAnon community's celebrating the use of the song as confirmation of the conspiracy theory. mediamatters.org/qanon-conspira… According to a @mmfa review using both Google’s voice assistant and Apple’s Shazam app, the music in Trump’s video is a song titled "Wwg1wga," produced in 2020 by an artist using the name “Richard Feelgood” on Spotify. That artist has uploaded other QAnon songs. ImageImage
Aug 1, 2022 • 10 tweets • 4 min read
NEW from me:

How Devin Nunes and Kash Patel appealed to QAnon supporters to build Truth Social’s user base. That has included Patel suggesting that the platform was trying to “incorporate” QAnon “into our overall messaging scheme to capture audiences.” mediamatters.org/truth-social/h… For months, Truth Social has featured an account called "@ Q." That account has been promoted by Patel, who has served on Truth Social's board, & by Nunes, Truth Social's CEO. The QAnon community due to that has focused intensely on the account.
Jun 7, 2022 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
SCOOP: A QAnon influencer, Austin Steinbart, claimed in a new video he sent to supporters that he was managing the campaign of Jerone Davison, a Republican running for Congress in Arizona, saying that the campaign was a way to push QAnon & gain influence. mediamatters.org/qanon-conspira… In a video sent to supporters over Discord, Steinbart said that Davison "made me his campaign manager last week, like officially." He also said he created a campaign site for Davison, which he said pushed "Q stuff" "in a mainstream way."
May 18, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
SCOOP: A GOP secretary of state candidate in South Carolina is collaborating with a QAnon influencer, according to an interview that the candidate conducted with the influencer. mediamatters.org/qanon-conspira… The QAnon influencer, Juan O. Savin, is involved in a "coalition" led by Nevada secretary of state candidate Jim Marchant to elect & recruit secretary of state candidates around the country. Both Marchant & Savin have previously admitted they're working on the coalition together.
May 17, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
New from me:

The 4chan message board linked to the Buffalo shooter has referenced terms related to the racist and false "great replacement" conspiracy theory at least 90,000 times, according to @mmfa internal research. mediamatters.org/4chan/message-… A writing from the Buffalo shooter, who invoked the "great replacement" conspiracy theory as his motive for the shooting, said that he was radicalized to an extent from 4chan's "/pol/" message board.
May 16, 2022 • 129 tweets • 75 min read
Trump, after amplifying QAnon-promoting accounts on Twitter more than 300 times before he was suspended from the platform, has returned to doing so on a different platform, Truth Social. mediamatters.org/twitter/fbi-ca…
Trump in the past day also "re-truthed" (reposted) 2 posts from an account featuring the QAnon slogan right in its profile.

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Mar 28, 2022 • 8 tweets • 4 min read
NEW from me:

How a conspiracy theory about Hunter Biden and Ukrainian biolabs went from QAnon supporters and far-right message boards to the Kremlin and Tucker Carlson.

mediamatters.org/russias-invasi… Last October, a QAnon-supporting tweeted a Twitter thread accusing Hunter Biden of being connected to an effort to manufacture "bio agents under diplomatic cover at ‘secret’ labs" & sell "pandemic insurance and trackers to help countries get ahead of what they are putting out."
Mar 3, 2022 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
QAnon influencers Tore and Zak Paine (the host of QAnon show RedPill78) have been banned from Twitch following the platform's new misinformation policy, which includes QAnon. Image Among the QAnon figures/shows/channels now banned from Twitch:

-RedPill78
-Tore
-Patriots' Soapbox
-Kate Awakening
-M3thods
-Woke Societies
-Spaceshot76
Feb 8, 2022 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
NEW from me:

Since the start of 2021, an increasingly fractured QAnon community started focusing on local politics, saw the rise of new & dangerous influencers, & adopted new extremist beliefs. mediamatters.org/qanon-conspira… This is the third -- and final -- installment of "Beyond 'Q,'" a series examining QAnon's evolution in 2021 after Q stopped posting & the conspiracy theory grew into a lasting movement. (Parts 1 & 2 are here: mediamatters.org/qanon-conspira… mediamatters.org/qanon-conspira…)
Feb 4, 2022 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
December 18, 2020 should now be considered a landmark day in the history of QAnon. Figures explicitly tied to QAnon & who relied it on for their efforts -- Sidney Powell, Patrick Byrne, Michael Flynn -- met with & nearly caused Trump post-election to carry out certain actions. Here's Byrne, in his own words, last May, saying he relied on QAnon supporters for their efforts:
Jan 26, 2022 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
NEW from me:

QAnon influencers have been urging their followers to get involved locally and with school boards. And it's showing signs of impact.

mediamatters.org/qanon-conspira… The far-right turn to local politics has been noted in recent months. Within the QAnon community, QAnon influencers and show hosts have specifically spurred on followers to get involved with school boards & local offices.
Jan 12, 2022 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
NEW from me:

In 2021, the bond between QAnon & anti-vaxxers grew even stronger, with QAnon & anti-vax figures working together & collaborating closer than ever before.
mediamatters.org/qanon-conspira… This is the second installment of "Beyond 'Q,'" a series examining QAnon's evolution in 2021 after Q stopped posting & the conspiracy theory grew into a lasting movement. (Here is Part 1.)
Jan 3, 2022 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
One particular thought from writing this piece: it's really time for heightened scrutiny on Patrick Byrne & his ties to QAnon. He should be identified in media coverage as explicitly connected to QAnon (so not just as the "former Overstock CEO"). Byrne, the chief funder of the AZ "audit" & a major "Stop the Steal" figure, is friendly with a QAnon show, going on it multiple times, where he's said he's worn a QAnon slogan bracelet & that he relies on QAnon's "digital soldiers" mediamatters.org/media/3983028