For the most part, the nonsensical conspiracy theory's adherents were largely confined to fever-swamp corners of the internet. That is changing, and things are getting dangerous.
What Is QAnon? The Craziest Theory of the Trump Era, Explained
From celebrities to the grassroots, the right is obsessed with the idea there is a secret conspiracy where Hillary is headed for Gitmo. Here’s everything you need to know.
How QAnon Conspiracy Theories Spread in My Colorado Hometown
During the pandemic, some of the people I grew up with in Parker, Colorado, got sucked into QAnon and the Q-adjacent "Save the Children" movement.
QAnon groups have millions of members on Facebook, documents show
The preliminary results of an investigation by Facebook shed new light on the scope of activity and content from the QAnon community on the platform.
The Women Making Conspiracy Theories Beautiful
How the domestic aesthetics of Instagram repackage QAnon for the masses
Facebook Removes 790 QAnon Groups to Fight Conspiracy Theory (Published 2020)
The social network also said it was restricting another 1,950 groups, 440 pages on Facebook and more than 10,000 accounts on Instagram related to the conspiracy group.
The Conspiracy Theory About Wayfair Is Spreading Quickly Among Lifestyle Influencers On Instagram
The theory plays into the bigger QAnon conspiracy theory, which baselessly claims that the world is controlled by a secret cabal of pedophiles that President Trump is actively fighting against.
Reddit’s QAnon ban points to how it’s tracking toxic communities
Contain a virus, and it doesn’t spread
"VC qanon" and the radicalization of the tech tycoons - Anil Dash
A blog about making culture. Since 1999.
Conspiracy Brokers: Understanding the Monetization of YouTube Conspiracy Theories
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3485447.3512142 WWW '22: Proceedings of the ACM Web Conference 2022, Virtual Event, Lyon, France, April 2022
+KAOS: Ten Years of Hacking and Media Activism
At the end of the 20th century, hacking was bleeding edge. When the ideas, practices and pranks of this experimental niche of technophiles attracted the attention of a handful of activists in Italy, they understood that information and communication were what would give shape and voice to social, political, and cultural processes in the near future. +KAOS is a cut and paste of interviews, like a documentary film transposed on paper. It describes the peculiar relationship between hacktivism and activism, in Italy and beyond, highlighting the importance of maintaining digital infrastructures. While this may not sound as glamorous as sneaking into a server and leaking data, it is a fundamental topic: not even the most emblematic group of hacktivists can operate without the services of radical server collectives. Autistici/Inventati (https://www.autistici.org - https://www.inventati.org)
Trust — Utopian conspiracy
A network of utopian conspirators, a sandbox for their creative, technical and critical projects, and a site of experimentation for new ways of learning together.
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Rationalist Cults
Articles on rationalist-adjacent cults: the Zizians, Leverage Research, and the darker outgrowths of the rationalist / LessWrong-derived / Aella polycule scene that is behind "AI Safety" in Silicon Valley. Working thesis: MIRI and CFAR read as high-control groups (cults) who believe in P(DOOM) and use sex (and power) maliciously — yet they are unfortunately the ones who have captured the framing of "AI Safety," which has little to do with actual safety.
The Effective Altruism Kids Aren’t Alright
My Experience with Leverage Research
What Policymakers and the Public Need to Know About the Cult of AI
banteg (@banteg)
The Techno-Religion at the Center of the A.I. Debate
SE Gyges (@segyges.bsky.social)