A man wearing a 'Defund the Media' QAnon shirt is seen at a "Stop the Steal" rally against the results of the U.S. Presidential election outside the Georgia State Capitol on November 18, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)
Unraveling viral disinformation and explaining where it came from, the harm it's causing, and what we should do about it.
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Moments later, Sabal shared a direct link to allow his followers to watch the film on the alternative video-sharing site Rumble.While this film has been shared by some of QAnon’s more fringe and extremist figures, the fact Sabal feels emboldened to share it so publicly is a testament to how antisemitic thinking has become normalized within the movement.This was reflected in the comments under the posts from Sabal’s followers who offered no pushback against his support of such antisemitic content.
When one follower did attempt to criticize Sabal for posting the link, other members of the channel quickly attacked that user, claiming they were some sort of undercover agent of the “deep state.”Others credulously claimed the user criticizing Sabal had misunderstood the film: “I'm sorry that's what you took away from our neo-Nazi film. It's really about how killing the Jews is necessary and good because they're not real Jews,” one of Sabal’s followers wrote.
After Sabal’s comments were highlighted by extremist researchers on Twitter, the posts mysteriously disappeared from his channel.The video series is very well-known in extremist circles, yet apparently Sabal shared it completely innocently with his tens of thousands of followers.
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Despite calling himself “QAnon John,” and even though many of the movement’s biggest influencers will be sharing speaking time with members of the Republican Party, Sabal has in the past claimed this is not a QAnon conference. Among them will be Ron Watkins, who facilitated the rise of QAnon and who last week announced his plan to run for Congress.