>17746556

Why do people believe QAnon?

The QAnon conspiracy theory is as far-fetched as it is bizarre, but it appeals to people because it gives them a sense of control.

"The bad news is that a group of Satanic plotters have incredible power in this country; the good news is that QAnon followers and their hero, the president, have figured out the plot and are going to expose it," said Kathryn Olmsted, a history professor and conspiracy theory expert at the University of California, Davis.

There’s also an appealing element of participation. Q’s posts are like clues at a murder mystery party, but the party is on 8kun and the baseless clues are about pedophilia, cannibalism and Satan worship.

Because Trump is the hero in this narrative, people might assume that only conservatives are likely to support something like QAnon. But that’s not necessarily the case.

According to the book "American Conspiracy Theories," gender and political party do not determine whether someone believes in conspiracy theories. More telling factors include less education and income. People who are less likely to participate in politics or are more likely to accept violence are also more inclined to believe.

"Our predispositions to conspiracy theorizing interact with our political views," said Joseph Parent, the book’s co-author and an associate political science professor at the University of Notre Dame. "So conspiracy theorists on the left are focused on threats from the right and vice versa. People believe what they want to believe; they fear what they want to fear."

Is QAnon dangerous or illegal?

The conspiracy theory has been linked to several crimes, some of them violent, and the FBI has said it’s a potential domestic terrorism threat. Some of QAnon’s claims could be potentially defamatory.

In a May 2019 intelligence bulletin obtained by Yahoo! News, FBI officials described "conspiracy theory-driven domestic extremists" as a growing threat. The memo mentions QAnon specifically.

"The FBI assesses these conspiracy theories very likely will emerge, spread, and evolve in the modern information marketplace, occasionally driving both groups and individual extremists to carry out criminal or violent acts," the document says.

In a July report, West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center, an academic institute within the United States Military Academy, cited a number of examples of violence linked to QAnon.

"QAnon has contributed to the radicalization of several people to notable criminal acts or acts of violence," the report said.

7/