QAnon
is a far-right conspiracy theory and loosely organized network centered
around the belief that the U.S. is controlled by a cabal of child sex
trafficking, Democratic elites hell-bent on bringing down President
Trump.
Q
and others in the collective make it clear they believe the news media
is false. Kaplan says they often use the phrase “we are the news now”
and claim “they're identifying what's really going on as opposed to the
media lying to you,” he says.
Similar
to many evangelicals, QAnon supports seem to believe the world is on the
cusp of a great awakening. Adrian Hon, a game designer, says QAnon
reminds him of an immersive multiplayer game and he's worried people
could recreate the playbook.
Kaplan
says people have compared QAnon to larping — a real-life role-playing
game — because the group “puts what's going on, in some ways, in your
hands.”
“You can do the
research, you can feel involved, you feel like you can explain and
figure out what's really going on behind the scenes and can make sense
of ... what seems like chaos going around the world,” he says.
