The end of their world is nigh for QAnon followers.
The “deep state” conspiracy theorists’ expectations were shattered by Joe Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday, with “the storm” against it that had been promised failing to materialise. There were supposed to be power blackouts across the US, military tribunals led by Donald Trump and the mass execution of Democrats in the streets, report Hannah Murphy and Sid Venkataramakrishnan.
“QAnon believers invested all their remaining hopes in false beliefs that Trump would take action validating their theories before or during inauguration,” said Jared Holt, who researches online extremism at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab. “For some followers, watching Biden and (Vice-president Kamala) Harris sworn into office was a breaking point in their beliefs.”
While mainstream social media has clamped down on QAnon groups, the reaction in online forums left to them was one of disillusionment: “We all got scammed,” posted one member of a QAnon discussion group. “Q”, the pseudonymous poster or posters behind the nearly 5,000 arcane messages that form the central scripture of the conspiracy theory, did not offer any explanation.
Like disappointed Doomsday believers, there are those that are inevitably just moving the date. Travis View, a QAnon researcher, told The Washington Post: “Others are coming to believe that the storm they were expecting is still going to happen but some time during the Biden administration.”
What the experts expect to happen is a splintering of QAnon, with neo-Nazi, anti-vaccine and anti-5G groups preying on the former adherents.
Axios quotes a warning from Colin Clarke of the Soufan Group, a security consulting firm: “If #QAnon begins to splinter soon . . . those who feel duped could grow exceedingly desperate & seek to lash out,” he tweeted. “Humiliation fuels rage.”
The Internet of (Five) Things
1. The future of newspapers
Late-night comedians and the news media are probably going to miss Donald Trump as much as his supporters, given the jokes and boost in viewers/readers he provided. Falling advertising revenues are a constant concern for the news industry, with DMGT, publisher of the Daily Mail and Metro, reporting on Thursday that print advertising fell 38 per cent in the fourth quarter. FT Magazine has an in-depth look at the fate of local newspapers in the US as advertising dollars move online.
2. Tech should not sing Brexit blues
First the UK fishing industry and now musicians are complaining their rights have been sold for a song in the Brexit deal with the EU (speaking of selling songs, Hipgnosis has just added rights to Metallica and Michael Bublé’s work to its catalogue). John Thornhill argues the UK’s tech start-ups may be better placed than most other sectors to ride out the disruptions of Brexit — so long as the government does not mess up anything else.
3. CMA to probe Virgin mega-deal
The UK competition watchdog is to investigate last May’s deal to combine the country’s second-largest broadband network and largest mobile operator. The Competition and Markets Authority will look at whether Virgin Media’s proposed £31bn tie-up with telecoms operator O2 could lead to higher prices for mobile and broadband customers or poorer 5G connectivity for rival operators.
4. Chinese start-ups still chilled by funding winter
China’s tech sector has been chilled by a “capital winter” that began in late 2018 and the number of early-stage financing deals fell 45 per cent in 2020, halving the new tech start-up count from the previous year to 3,131. Semiconductor, online education and healthcare start-ups are finding the most VC favour. We’ve also been looking at the boardroom drama involving the co-chief executives at SMIC, China’s biggest chipmaker.
5. Not top of the world Ma
Jack Ma may be back, but hours after the founder’s reappearance, the People’s Bank of China proposed new anti-monopoly rules that will primarily hurt Alibaba’s payments affiliate, Ant Group. On Thursday, Alibaba’s Hong Kong-traded shares fell nearly 3 per cent.
Tech tools — Six smartwatches
Jonathan Margolis has been comparing the attributes of six different smartwatches: Fibit’’s Versa 2, Withings’ ScanWatch, Apple Watch Series 6, Tag Heuer’s Connected, the Montblanc Summit 2+ (pictured) and the Whoop . . . the last-named has no display, GPS or vibrating alarms, won’t answer your phone and requires a monthly membership, but it is favoured by elite sportspeople.
"danger" - Google News
January 22, 2021 at 01:53AM
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The dangers of a quondam QAnon - Financial Times
"danger" - Google News
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