QAnon conspiracies go global in pandemic ‘perfect storm’

Experts say QAnon has grown sharply during the pandemic because it acted as a binding force – mixing its core tenet with long-running conspiracy theories about vaccines and 5G mobile technology, anti-Semitic and white supremacist tropes, as well as far-right and libertarian politics. — AFP

HONG KONG: Powered by fear, anger and big tech’s algorithms, the QAnon conspiracy movement has exploded from the US political fringe into the global mainstream during the pandemic.

Its influence can be seen at anti-lockdown and anti-mask rallies from Los Angeles, to London, Berlin and Melbourne – with protesters warning, without evidence, that the pandemic is a conspiracy by a cabal of satanist paedophiles who control the world.