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Why QAnon content evaporated online
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SalonMay 27, 2021
New social media policies meant to limit the spread of QAnon conspiracies online appear to be working, new research shows.
The study, conducted by the Atlantic Council s Digital Forensics Lab, found that QAnon conspiracy-related phrases evaporated from both mainstream and alternative social media sites, like Parler and Gab, following high-profile moderation efforts from companies like Facebook, Google and Twitter.
In the place of a widespread Q following that grew to incredible size during the Trump presidency a number of the Jan. 6 rioters who breached the U.S. Capitol were QAnon believers the movement is now a cluster of loosely connected conspiracy theory-driven movements that advocate many of the same false claims without the hallmark linguistic stylings that defined QAnon communities during their years of growth, according to the researchers, Jared Holt and Max Rizzuto.
Specific language about the QAnon conspiracy theory has all but disappeared from mainstream public social media platforms, new research concludes.Driving the news: Researchers from the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensics Lab found that the volume of QAnon content available online plummeted following major moderation and policy moves from Google, Facebook and Twitter.Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Details: Researchers analyzed more than 45 million mentions of QAnon catchphrases and related terms from April 1, 2020 to April 1, 2021 on both mainstream platforms and alternative ones such Gab and Parler.Terms included popular QAnon phrases including "the storm," "the great awakening," "save the children" and "WWG1WGA (Where we go one we go all)."Those terms started being used more frequently online in March 2020, peaked in June 2020 around racial justice protests, and spiked again before the January 6