Up until this year, far-right conspiracy movement QAnon largely existed on the internet’s fringes. Its origins can be traced to 2017 when an unidentified poster named "Q" began pushing coded theories on the dark web.
The core belief is that there is a cabal of Satan-worshipping paedophiles made up of global political, business and Hollywood elites who run the world. Together they operate a child sex-trafficking ring and are fighting President Donald Trump from bringing them down.
Today, against the backdrop of the worldwide pandemic, the spread of far-right thinking and widespread uncertainty, QAnon’s narratives about anti-mask messaging and hashtags such as #SavetheChildren have found their way into mainstream social media.
In this episode, senior journalist Jacqueline Maley is joined by deputy lifestyle editor Sophie Aubrey to discuss how a group with such murky origins has infiltrated Australia's wellness community.
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