conspiracies | intelNews.org

Female targets of QAnon conspiracy attacked up to 10 times more, study finds

November 21, 2022 by Ian Allen 1 Comment

QAnon - IA FEMALE TARGETS OF CONSPIRACY theories propagated by QAnon adherents face up to 10 times more online harassment and abuse than male targets, a behavioral study of pro-QAnon online users has found. QAnon refers to an American-rooted conspiracy theory that views former United States President Donald Trump as a central figure in a behind-the-scenes battle against a sinister cabal of enemies, known as the “deep state”. According to QAnon adherents, “deep state” elites (politicians, entertainment figures and other celebrities) consist of Satan-worshiping cannibals who traffic children for sex. QAnon adherents also believe that these elites will be routed during “The Storm”, a final reckoning between Trump and the “deep state”, which will result in the arrest and physical extermination of all elites.

But in a new study published last month by the London-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), a team of researchers posits that not all victims of QAnon adherents are targeted with equal intensity by the conspiracy theorists. Concordia University PhD candidates Marc-André Argentino and Adnan Raja, and ISD analyst Aoife Gallagher, used online data collected in 2020 and early 2021. They categorized the data according to six case studies involving celebrity figures, ranging from Tom Hanks and Anderson Cooper to Ellen DeGeneres and Oprah Winfrey, all of whom have been prominent targets of QAnon conspiracy theories.

The researchers found that, in each case, online attacks proliferated quickly once individual targets were “labelled and perception [was] hardened in narratives about their alleged role in pedophilia and/or sex trafficking”. What followed was coordinated hate and harassment campaigns that included “forms of high-volume brigading” —a coordinated attack by groups of users united by belonging to the same antagonistic subreddit. In each case, negative sentiments were amplified through the multiplication of coordinated hateful —and often violent— content.

The study shows that “[g]ender-based, racist and anti-LGBTQ+ hate and rhetoric” was present throughout the dataset. However, of all factors —gender, race or sexual orientation— relating to the identities of targets, gender was by far the most determining. According to the data analysis, female targets of QAnon brigading were subjected to volumes of hate and harassment that were as many as ten times higher than those of their male counterparts. The study also shows that this gender-based variation was true in every platform used, such as Facebook (primarily), Instagram and Twitter.

► Author: Ian Allen | Date: 21 November 2022 | Permalink

Filed under A specialized intelligence website written by experts, since 2008 Tagged with Analysis, conspiracies, gender, QAnon, rightwing extremism, United States

Nashville Christmas Day bombing was not terrorism, FBI concludes

March 17, 2021 by Joseph Fitsanakis 1 Comment

Nashville Tennessee

A MAN WHO LAST December detonated a massive bomb in Nashville, capital of the American state of Tennessee, was not motivated by political ideology, but by paranoid alien conspiracies, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Anthony Quinn Warner kept the bomb inside his recreational vehicle, which he had parked in downtown Nashville. He was inside the vehicle as he detonated the bomb at 6:30 a.m. on Christmas Day, 2020, killing himself and injuring three people. Minutes before the explosion, Warner used an outdoor speaker attached to his vehicle’s sounds system to broadcast a pre-recorded message warning that a bomb was about to detonate.

The incident has perplexed authorities, because Warner did not seem to have a clear motive for his action. Additionally, his background did not fit that of a typical ideologically or racially motivated violent extremist. Now, however, after nearly three months of research, which included over 250 interviews with people who knew Warner, the FBI has concluded its investigation. The law enforcement agency said that Warner acted completely alone, and that he was not motivated by an ideological belief, nor was he aiming to bring about social or political change. This means that his violent action cannot be officially classified as terrorism.

The FBI investigation also rejects the intense speculation that took place following the attack, according to which Warner may have been motivated by fringe conspiracy theories about 5G technology. These rumors emerged due to the location of the attack. The latter caused extensive damage to a facility owned and operated by AT&T, one of the world’s largest telecommunications providers. However, the FBI concluded that Warner was not concerned about AT&T or 5G technologies. Instead, he was apparently motivated by a concoction of conspiracy theories fueled by paranoia. Most of these conspiracy theories revolved around a race of reptiles that Warner believed had secretly infiltrated human societies. He told some of his friends that he saw his personal mission as hunting down these aliens.

In addition to alien conspiracy theories, Warner’s act of violence was triggered by a number of personal relationships that deteriorated in the months prior to his suicide. However, his violent act was not aimed as revenge fueled by grievances against specific individuals or groups of people that lived near the site of the explosion, according to the FBI.

► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 17 March 2021 | Permalink