The assistant professor of strategic communications was featured in a recent report by Newsy examining how the QAnon conspiracy community could change following the conclusion of Donald Trump’s presidency.
The QAnon community – a disproven and discredited far-right conspiracy theory group – is likely to evolve and persist despite the end of Donald Trump’s presidency predicts a Newsy report, which included remarks from Assistant Professor of Strategic Communications Kathleen Stansberry.
In the Jan. 28 report, “Experts Say QAnon Likely To Keep Evolving Even Without Trump In Office,” reporter Tyler Adkisson compiled predictions on the future of QAnon, examining the community’s stability and social media activity. According to Stansberry, the group is likely to continue on despite Trump’s exit from the Oval Office.
“QAnon’s not just a conspiracy theory, and it’s not just that people believe in it. It’s a community,” Stansberry told Newsy. “The community has well-developed lines of communication. There’s identified leaders. There are people that can be looked to to provide some guidance.”
In recent weeks, social media companies have expanded efforts to purge QAnon from their platforms, with Twitter and Facebook removing thousands of accounts. In response, some QAnon followers have moved to fringe platforms like Telegram and Gab to keep communication alive. Despite this decreased visibility, Stansberry predicted that the movement will persist – but possibly to a lesser extent.
“Taking QAnon off a platform does not put out the QAnon fire off a mainstream platform like Facebook or Twitter, but it does reduce access to fuel. So maybe a fire won’t turn into a massive blaze,” Stansberry said.