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Trump’s QAnon followers are a dangerous cult. How to save someone who’s been brainwashed.

Nineteen years ago Friday, attacks by the Islamist terrorist cult Al Qaeda took place on American soil, followed by conspiracy theories that the CIA bombed the World Trade Towers and the Pentagon. These have been thoroughly debunked, but they have still flourished, as Al Qaeda did itself until the U.S. took the threat seriously. Before you dismiss QAnon as another kooky ideology, consider the fact that it’s gaining popularity — and quickly. Now we face another dangerous cult that has inspired political conspiracy theories and could once again do the U.S. homeland damage: QAnon. The shadowy internet-based organization’s followers believe that the world is run by a global cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles and child sex traffickers who are plotting against President Donald Trump and his supporters and that only Trump can save us. There is great concern that QAnon might turn violent, particularly if Trump loses the election. According to QAnon, those involved in the plotting include “deep state” government bureaucrats, Democrats and celebrities. QAnon also appears to be spouting Nazi anti-Semitic tropes, and it uses biblical references, as some are convinced that Jewish bankers want to enslave people and incite world wars, evoking an out-and-out Nazi cult. They have recruited anti-vaxxers who are espousing distrust of virus experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci, believe Bill Gates wishes to put chips into people and think 5G cell towers are dangerous. Before you dismiss QAnon as another kooky ideology, consider that it’s gaining popularity — and quickly. There are millions of QAnon (pronounced “KEW-a-non”) adherents in the United States, with entities established in more than 71 countries. And their conspiracy theories have seeped into the political landscape in significant ways. (…) While not all followers are “brainwashed” by all of its beliefs, QAnon is a destructive cult that operates the same way all cults do. That is, QAnon recruiters and proselytizers use deceptive and manipulative tactics to attract people and feed them messages that trigger certain emotions to hook them and indoctrinate them into a new sense of reality. QAnon leaders spread their messages through social media platforms, such as Twitter, Reddit and YouTube. These platforms are able to algorithmically radicalize people who are curious about QAnon using clickbait titles, images, videos and even purported documentaries. According to alternate reality game expert Jim Stewartson, QAnon uses online gaming techniques to entice people down an online rabbit hole, offering them a series of fantasy challenges with hidden code messages called “Q drops” that soon become addictive. By getting involved with QAnon, followers feel they are part of an elite community, which gives them a sense of belonging. That’s a powerful force — but you can work against it if you take the right steps.

via nbcnews: Trump’s QAnon followers are a dangerous cult. How to save someone who’s been brainwashed.

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Facebook to take down false reports of antifa arson in Oregon

Facebook said Saturday it would take down erroneous posts claiming anti-fascist activists have been maliciously sparking wildfires in Oregon and other Western states. The announcement came after multiple organizations, including the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office in Oregon, issued warnings on social media about the false rumors, and another sheriff’s department placed a deputy on leave after he was seen on video suggesting fires were being started by antifa adherents. There is no evidence Oregon’s fires were caused by arson from far-left activists. “We are removing false claims that the wildfires in Oregon were started by certain groups,” Facebook spokesman Andy Stone tweeted. “This is based on confirmation from law enforcement that these rumors are forcing local fire and police agencies to divert resources from fighting the fires and protecting the public.” (…) “Rumors spread just like wildfire and now our 9-1-1 dispatchers and professional staff are being overrun with requests for information and inquiries on an UNTRUE rumor that 6 Antifa members have been arrested for setting fires in DOUGLAS COUNTY, OREGON,” the office said on Facebook Saturday. “THIS IS NOT TRUE!,” it continued. “Unfortunately, people are spreading this rumor and it is causing problems.” A firefighters union in Washington said on Facebook recently that the platform was “an absolute cesspool of misinformation right now.” Facebook’s Stone said the effort to remove such content could save lives.

via nbcnews: Facebook to take down false reports of antifa arson in Oregon

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Nazi Hippies: When the New Age and Far Right Overlap

Both the New Age and the far right are drawn to conspiracy theories. Last week’s rallies in London, Berlin, and Los Angeles against lockdown measures attracted both New Agers and far-right groups. We’ve seen before this overlap between the spiritual movement and the fast-spreading conspiracy theory, QAnon, which insists that an evil cabal of Hollywood celebs and liberal politicians (led by Tom Hanks and Hillary Clinton) are child-eating Satanists who control the world. Luckily, the theory holds, a secret government source called Q (who leaves cryptic comments on the website 8chan) is gathering together a patriot army to fight back and support President Donald Trump, who is a genius sent by God to defeat the evil cabal and usher in a new Age of Love. This conspiracy theory, which would be a terrible movie plot, is surprisingly popular around the world and is beginning to influence American politics, to the extent that Congress is now debating a bipartisan bill to condemn it. And the QAnon cult has proved popular with both the far right and New Age influencers. Some people are astounded that New Age hippies could have any overlap with extremist conspiracy politics. But it happens. (…) It’s not clear who is behind the Q posts. A good theory is it’s Jim Watkins, the owner of 8chan, where Q posts. (If you were a deep state mole, would you post on a chat board mainly used for Japanese porn?) Whoever is it, Trump allies like disgraced general Michael Flynn have openly supported it, and Trump — when asked about it last week — said QAnoners were patriots. This is a movement condemned by the FBI for fostering domestic terrorism. It is a fascist delusional fantasy, eagerly spread by Russian state trolls, that threatens Western democracy. Any sane Republicans should condemn it, and if a friend posts Q stuff on social media, let them know where the path leads. They might not go all the way down that path but they might unwittingly help others to do so. However, we shouldn’t kid ourselves that this sort of toxic magical thinking only happens on the far right. You can also find aspects of it on the far left, in totalizing us versus them narratives like the idea all white people are racist, or all men hate women, or conspiracy theories that a secret cabal of Big Money (that is, Jews) is destroying the planet. Black Lives Matter has at its heart an eminently fair and reasonable demand — the American police should be less trigger-happy in its policing, particularly of Black communities. But it also occasionally turns into cultish thinking and witch hunts, particularly among white liberals, where unless you adopt the right terminology, read the right books, make the right ritualistic confession of your latent racism, you are evil.

via medium. Nazi Hippies: When the New Age and Far Right Overlap

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U.S. Company Faces Backlash After Belarus Uses Its Tech to Block Internet

Sandvine Inc., the U.S. company whose technology helped Belarus block much of the internet during a disputed presidential election last month, promotes its wares with a stark selling point: it can be used to “blacklist” as many as 150 million websites. The private-equity-backed technology firm demonstrated its equipment to a government security team in Belarus in May, two people with knowledge of the matter said, and its marketing materials boast of the blacklisting capabilities, according to documents reviewed by Bloomberg. The Sandvine equipment is also used to manage and secure networks, and its website blocking feature can prohibit users from accessing content deemed illicit, such as terrorist propaganda or child pornography, according to the documents. For several days in August, however, Sandvine’s “deep packet inspection” equipment played a central role in censoring social media, news and messaging platforms used by protesters rallying against President Alexander Lukashenko’s re-election, Bloomberg reported last month. On Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany called the Aug. 9 election “fraudulent.” The documents and product demonstration, as recounted by the people familiar with the company’s affairs, lend added insight into Sandvine’s work in Belarus, showing that company representatives met directly with officials in Belarus and later shipped the equipment, via a contractor, to be installed at data centers in Minsk. U.S. Senator Dick Durbin called on the Treasury Department to investigate Sandvine for potential violations of U.S. sanctions on Belarus. For more than a decade, those sanctions have imposed restrictions on U.S. companies from providing funds, goods or services that benefit Lukashenko or others engaged in “actions or policies that undermine democratic processes or institutions,” according to Erich Ferrari, a Washington-based sanctions expert.

via bloomberg: U.S. Company Faces Backlash After Belarus Uses Its Tech to Block Internet

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Wehrbeauftragte Högl: “Auf Facebook und Twitter ist viel Material für den MAD”

Mehrere Rechtsextremismusfälle belasten die Bundeswehr. Die neue Wehrbeauftragte Eva Högl fordert daher mehr Personal für die Sicherheitsdienste. So könnten Verfahren beschleunigt und soziale Netzwerke besser ausgewertet werden. Die neue Wehrbeauftragte Eva Högl (SPD) fordert im Kampf gegen Rechtsextremismus in der Bundeswehr zusätzliches Personal für Sicherheitsdienste und Ermittlungsbehörden. “Die Dienste brauchen nicht unbedingt mehr Kompetenzen, sondern vor allem mehr Personal”, sagte Högl dem RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND). “Schon auf Facebook und Twitter ist viel Material für den MAD. Nötig sind bessere Gehälter, um die besten Leute gewinnen zu können.” Zudem müssten Verdachtsfälle schneller aufgeklärt werden.

via rnd: Wehrbeauftragte Högl: “Auf Facebook und Twitter ist viel Material für den MAD”

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Die 150 schlimmsten Aussagen der AfD: Dieses Video entlarvt die AfD mit ihren eigenen Worten

“Demokratiefeindlich, unsozial und spalterisch”, so beschreibt Rederei FM die AfD. Und plädiert dafür, dass sie auch stets so dargestellt werden soll. Deshalb sammelten sie die 150 schlimmsten Aussagen der AfD in einem Video. Die AfD wird in großen Teilen bereits vom Verfassungsschutz beobachtet und die meisten Deutschen erkennen sie als die rechtsradikale Partei, die sie ist. (…) Alle Ausschnitte sind echt, die insgesamt 150 Clips von 76 PolitikerInnen der AfD zeigen die schlimmsten Aussagen der AfD, wie sie auf den eigenen AfD-Seiten veröffentlicht werden. Wenn der Kontext einer Aussage relevant war, wurde er mit angegeben. Wer die Echtheit dieser schlimmsten Aussagen der AfD leugnen möchte, muss sich fragen, was einfacher ist: Die Wahrheit über die Radikalität dieser Partei zu akzeptieren, oder ob man diesem Hass nicht doch zustimmt. In der ganzen Geschichte der Bundesrepublik gab es noch keine Partei, die in den Bundestag kam, die in nur sieben Jahren so volksverhetzende, aggressive und rechtsradikale Aussagen produzieren konnte. Man sieht hier deutlich die Verachtung anderer Menschen, anderer Parteien und anderer Meinungen. Ein vergleichbares Video kann man mit keiner anderen Partei erstellen. Rederei FM sagte uns: “Wir hoffen, dass auch die letzten, die noch demokratisch auf dem Boden des Grundgesetzes stehen, verstehen, was die Afd wirklich ist. Die afd ist das Spaltungsinstrument schlechthin.” Teilt dieses Video, damit die AfD endgültig mit ihren eigenen Aussagen entlarvt werden kann.

via volksverpetzer: Die 150 schlimmsten Aussagen der AfD: Dieses Video entlarvt die AfD mit ihren eigenen Worten

siehe auch: BEST OF AFD – Hate Edition 2.0.. Trotz der sprachlichen Provokanz der AfD, die sich seit der Gründung 2013 als Merkmal herausstellte, wollten wohl viele Mitmenschen diese Provokanz nicht wahrhaben und zur Darstellung dessen war der erste Teil „Best of AfD -Hate Edition“, den wir 2019 veröffentlicht haben, eigentlich gedacht.
Es geht darum, den Menschen eine Argumentationshilfe/ein Werkzeug gegen die AfD anzubieten. Diese Partei versteht es, wie keine andere, sich durch kalkuliert, grenzwertiges Verhalten und anschließender Zurückruderei in eine Opferrolle zu begeben. Viele Mitmenschen fallen auf diese Strategie rein und merken nicht, dass der Großteil der AfD nichts Gutes mit diesem Land vor hat – Es geht um sprachliche Verrohung, Ausgrenzung, Diffamierung und die Manipulation unserer Mitmenschen. Das sind all die Dinge, die die sogenannte “Alternative” der Presse, den etablierten Parteien und “DER Antifa” vorwirft. Und diese Verrohung der Sprache ist nicht nur unerträglich, sondern brandgefährlich.

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‘Hitler youths’ using Instagram to recruit children

Fascist groups led by teenagers are targeting those as young as 12. Teenage members of a neo-Nazi group that has threatened to carry out an atrocity in the UK to eclipse the Christchurch mosque shootings have been using Instagram to recruit and to spread propaganda. The leader of the group, the British Hand, who is believed to be 15, says he is planning an attack on Muslims and refugees arriving at Dover after crossing the Channel. Other members have pledged to infiltrate the army and get weapons training. The group’s activities across social media are laid bare in a new report by anti-fascism campaigners Hope Not Hate. Entitled Hitler Youths: The Rise of Teenage Far-Right Terrorists, the report reveals that children as young as 12 are being groomed online for the white supremacist cause.

via thetimes: ‘Hitler youths’ using Instagram to recruit children

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