Ruben A. Verastigui, a former Republican staffer recently arrested on child pornography charges, is a danger to the community who must be detained until his trial ends, a federal prosecutor handling his case said Tuesday.
The groundwork for the attack on the U.S. Capitol had been laid for weeks, say experts on extremism and social media but it was a surprise when this time, the rhetoric turned into real violence.
Unwelcome On Facebook And Twitter, QAnon Followers Flock To Fringe Sites
at 3:00 am NPR
January brought a one-two punch that should have knocked out the fantastical, false QAnon conspiracy theory.
After the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, the social media platforms that had long allowed the falsehoods to spread like wildfire â namely Twitter, Facebook and YouTube â got more aggressive in cracking down on accounts promoting QAnon.
Just two weeks later, Joe Biden was inaugurated president. That stunned those adherents who believed, among other things, that Donald Trump would stay in office for another term and that he would arrest and execute his political enemies.
As Twitter and Facebook crack down on those spreading baseless QAnon conspiracies, adherents are finding other apps to communicate on, including platforms where they may be further radicalized.
January brought a one-two punch that should have knocked out the fantastical, false QAnon conspiracy theory.
After the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, the social media platforms that had long allowed the falsehoods to spread like wildfire namely Twitter, Facebook and YouTube got more aggressive in cracking down on accounts promoting QAnon.
Just two weeks later, Joe Biden was inaugurated president. That stunned those adherents who believed, among other things, that Donald Trump would stay in office for another term and that he would arrest and execute his political enemies. There s no one cohesive narrative that s really emerged yet. And I pin that on [QAnon] not really having a leader right now, said Mike Rothschild, a conspiracy-theory researcher who is writing a book about QAnon.