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>https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/qanons-growth-mirrors-sharp-spike-extremist-violence-us/story?id=73079916
Brian Friedberg, a senior researcher at Harvard University's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Affairs, who studies the impact of political disinformation from alternative media and anonymous groups, agreed that QAnon is unique among far-right extremists.
"I jokingly call this authoritarian libertarianism – where there's a libertarian streak of personal freedom and individuality that runs through these communities… exemplified by anonymous postings [and] the whole freedom of speech without consequences," he said. "But they're pining for this authoritarian figure who can do no wrong."
"A lot of these people before [QAnon] used to be just racist libertarians," Friedberg added.