TIN FOIL HATS AND CORONAVIRUS
A Conspiracy Theory That 5G Is Causing The Coronavirus Is Spreading Alongside The Pandemic
Even actor Woody Harrelson has succumbed to the baseless hoax that cellphone infrastructure is spreading the coronavirus.
5G = HUAWEI= CHINA= WUHAN=CORONAVIRUS
Ryan BroderickBuzzFeed News Reporter Posted on April 3, 2020,
A screenshot from the second most-shared anti-5G video on YouTube.
New Agers, right-wingers, and QAnon conspiracy theorists think global elites are using 5G to spread the coronavirus pandemic.
The paranoia about 5G — the industry term for the fifth generation of wireless communications infrastructure — has risen for the last few years, but as the world battles the pandemic, a baseless hoax has spread that the technology that runs cellphones could secretly be causing the outbreak.
On Wednesday, actor Woody Harrelson posted about the conspiracy theory on his Instagram, writing, “a lot of my friends have been talking about the negative effects of 5G.” On Thursday, a 5G tower in Birmingham, England, went up in flames after a local Facebook group was flooded with anti-5G comments. (Local authorities said that it could have possibly been an electrical issue, but are awaiting further information before investigating.)
SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU QUIT SMOKING POT YOU GET PARANOID LIKE WOODY
5G has so far rolled out in about 40 countries worldwide, most notably South Korea and China, but also in dozens of US cities, including Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio.
Before the coronavirus, fears about 5G tended to focus on cancer, the risk of which people feared could be increased from cellphone radiation. The evidence to support such a fear is weak to nonexistent, although meteorologists have worried that the technology could disrupt weather satellite forecasts.
Misinformation falsely claiming the coronavirus is a bioweapon has circulated since English-language reports of the outbreak began circulating in January. Depending on which internet rabbit hole you fall down, the coronavirus was created by the Chinese government, is part of a human depopulation scheme by former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates, or stemmed from a tainted batch of children’s blood that the world’s celebrities drink to stay young.
So perhaps it was somewhat inevitable that these two separate conspiracy theories — that 5G had some evil purpose and that the coronavirus was a bioweapon — would graft themselves onto each other
The ever-changing nature of the global pandemic has meant that groups like New Agers, right-wingers, and conspiracy theorists, along with other misinformation communities, are both seeing huge internet traffic and need to reinvent their belief systems to fit the outbreak. These parallel news cycles give their followers a twisted, but orderly, sense of control in a genuinely chaotic moment.
The five most-shared links on Facebook about 5G from the last year, according to BuzzSumo.
According to five years’ worth of Facebook sharing data via social metrics site BuzzSumo, the majority of the most-shared links on the platform about the “dangers" of 5G are YouTube videos that were all published in the last year, starting around the same time that the British telecom company EE announced 5G service in six cities across the United Kingdom.
The UK’s early push into 5G cellular coverage has led to an especially active British anti-5G movement. In 2018, the Democrats and Veterans Party, an offshoot of the British far-right political party UKIP, hosted at their party conference British YouTuber and conspiracy theorist Mark Steele, whose speech on the dangers of 5G is featured regularly in conspiracy theory videos. The dangers of 5G were also a major talking point in the 2019 election for UKIP and its supporters.
One of the largest Facebook groups for the movement is the Stop 5G U.K. group, which has over 50,000 members, where rumors that the tower had been set on fire on purpose spread as soon as Friday.
“People setting fire to 5G towers in Birmingham,” one commenter wrote.
“Get me a saw, I'll cut the fuckers down, the elite have had this planned for years, people are starting to wonder now, we all need to stand up and be counted,” another commenter replied.
And a video by a supposed former manager at British telecom company Vodafone, based in the UK, went viral, claiming COVID-19 wasn't a disease caused by a virus but rather the human immune system reacting to 5G radiation.
The most-shared video on Facebook about 5G was published in June 2019 by the YouTube channel Yebo, and it has 3.8 million views on YouTube and 270,000 shares on Facebook. It purports to be a video leaked from a whistleblower who works on 5G cellular towers — who wears a Make America Great Again hat in the video — warning people about the technology’s dangers.
The second most-shared video is from a verified channel with 6.45 million subscribers called Be Inspired. The video, which has over 153,000 shares on Facebook, is from May 2019 and collects quotes from British conspiracy theorist David Icke and claims 5G will cause a disaster “bigger than Chernobyl.” Be Inspired recently added a new quote to the video: “5G is worse than coronavirus.” Its two biggest referrals are from March 2020, from the Facebook groups Galactic Federation of Light and the Mindvalley Community.
A screenshot from the most-shared anti-5G video on YouTube.
The uptick in engagement that Be Inspired’s video received reflects a larger explosion in interest around the conspiracy theory in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
The most-watched anti-5G video on YouTube currently, according to BuzzSumo, is a Russian-language video titled “Here's Why 5G Is Dangerous.” Published in January, it has been viewed 1.2 million times.
A YouTube video titled “5G Bill Signed Into Law While Everyone Is Distracted By Coronavirus,” by the channel The Last American Vagabond, has been watched over 800,000 times since it was published last week and has been shared over 120,000 times on Facebook — its biggest referral being a chemtrails Facebook group. The video claimed that the coronavirus quarantines are being used to secretly install 5G technology in schools in California.
“They have just set off phase 2 of their depopulation AGENDA,” one commenter wrote beneath the video. “This is a MILITARY WEAPON PERIOD!”
There are countless more of these kinds of videos being shared on Facebook right now, with commenters connecting the supposed dangers of 5G to the real dangers of the coronavirus. Eight out of the ten most-engaged-with Facebook posts in the last six months about 5G were either a video or article warning people that 5G was dangerous and relating it to the pandemic.
Earlier this week, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones connected 5G to a popular QAnon theory that April 1, 2020, would be the start of "10 days of darkness" — or an electricity, internet, and social media outage signaling the end of the world.
Almost nothing QAnon supporters believe is original. Their sprawling conspiracy theory that the president is waging a secret war against the deep state is full of repurposed and contradictory beliefs lifted from other communities. Q followers have recently latched on to 5G in the same way. One QAnon influencer tweeted a thread last week sharing a screenshot from an article about the health effects of electromagnetic radiation, claiming they are similar to the symptoms of COVID-19 (they are not), and arguing that Italy’s high infection rate is because the country has the most 5G-enabled cities in Western Europe.
“The media will tell you it is a conspiracy theory,” they wrote. “That should indicate you are on the right path. Live in a higher mind and research!”
British hotelier John Mappin, who, in January, raised a QAnon flag over his castle, has tweeted about his desire to see the world health community investigate the 5G–coronavirus connection (which does not exist).
On Thursday, Mappin shared the same video as Woody Harrelson. Both Mappin and Harrelson claimed it was footage of Chinese citizens destroying 5G towers. It wasn't. It was footage from last year’s pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.
That didn’t stop Mappin from tagging President Trump and a slew of other right-wing influencers in his tweet. “The Chinese are destroying their 5G towers,” he wrote. “They know.”
Lifestyle Influencers Are Now Sharing Some Bogus Far-Right Conspiracy Theories About The Coronavirus On Instagram
If 2020 wasn't weird enough, let's throw radicalized influencers into the mix.
Stephanie McNealBuzzFeed News Reporter
Ryan BroderickBuzzFeed News Reporter
Posted on April 4, 2020
As if things aren't bad enough right now, some lifestyle and parenting bloggers are now spreading completely baseless conspiracy theories about the coronavirus pandemic to their tens of thousands of followers on Instagram.
The influencers are seamlessly weaving in evidence-free far-right conspiracy theories that are usually found in the significantly less Instagrammable parts of the internet, such as 4chan and 8chan, in between their usual idyllic family snaps.
It's unclear if these influencers believe some of the theories spouted by QAnon supporters — or where exactly they are getting their information. But they are sharing some of the unfounded conspiracies, or some people who are posting about them, on their feeds.
None of the people mentioned in this article responded when asked if they believe QAnon conspiracy theories.
It is jarring, to say the least. Take @roseuncharted, or Rose Henges, a Christian mom blogger and YouTuber who advocates for "holistic living" to her 73,000 followers. She's also an anti-vaxxer, but is mainstream enough to be followed by many prominent Christian influencers like Audrey Roloff and Korie Robertson from Duck Dynasty.
Over the past week, Henges has been posting bogus QAnon conspiracy theories amid her normal filtered grams of her family, her holistic medicine business, and nature
Instagram: @roseuncharted
First. Supporters of the completely unfounded QAnon conspiracy theory believe that President Donald Trump and the American military are waging a secret war against the deep state, which they believe is a global cabal of pedophiles. They get their updates from off-shoots of the anonymous message board 8chan and a website called QAlerts, which they comb through for barely coherent secret messages from a person they believe has Q-level security clearance within the US government.
If you are still confused about QAnon, my colleagues made this super-informative video last year breaking down how fake it all is:
The QAnon movement has seen increased activity on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter since the outbreak of COVID-19. Some Q followers baselessly claim the virus is a human-made bioweapon, which they believe was created by either the Chinese government or Bill Gates, depending on which Twitter account you read. And some followers believe that the virus is a deep state plot and doesn’t exist at all, even though it has killed thousands upon thousands around the world.
In the last two weeks, as the American death toll has continued to rise and the ramifications of how bad things are getting have begun to sink in, many Q followers, realizing their earlier beliefs don't comport with the truth, have suddenly decided that COVID-19 is real, but that much of the emergency response we’re seeing is actually cover for Trump’s military operations against the deep state (which is not what is happening).
Posted on April 4, 2020
As if things aren't bad enough right now, some lifestyle and parenting bloggers are now spreading completely baseless conspiracy theories about the coronavirus pandemic to their tens of thousands of followers on Instagram.
The influencers are seamlessly weaving in evidence-free far-right conspiracy theories that are usually found in the significantly less Instagrammable parts of the internet, such as 4chan and 8chan, in between their usual idyllic family snaps.
It's unclear if these influencers believe some of the theories spouted by QAnon supporters — or where exactly they are getting their information. But they are sharing some of the unfounded conspiracies, or some people who are posting about them, on their feeds.
None of the people mentioned in this article responded when asked if they believe QAnon conspiracy theories.
It is jarring, to say the least. Take @roseuncharted, or Rose Henges, a Christian mom blogger and YouTuber who advocates for "holistic living" to her 73,000 followers. She's also an anti-vaxxer, but is mainstream enough to be followed by many prominent Christian influencers like Audrey Roloff and Korie Robertson from Duck Dynasty.
Over the past week, Henges has been posting bogus QAnon conspiracy theories amid her normal filtered grams of her family, her holistic medicine business, and nature
Instagram: @roseuncharted
First. Supporters of the completely unfounded QAnon conspiracy theory believe that President Donald Trump and the American military are waging a secret war against the deep state, which they believe is a global cabal of pedophiles. They get their updates from off-shoots of the anonymous message board 8chan and a website called QAlerts, which they comb through for barely coherent secret messages from a person they believe has Q-level security clearance within the US government.
If you are still confused about QAnon, my colleagues made this super-informative video last year breaking down how fake it all is:
The QAnon movement has seen increased activity on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter since the outbreak of COVID-19. Some Q followers baselessly claim the virus is a human-made bioweapon, which they believe was created by either the Chinese government or Bill Gates, depending on which Twitter account you read. And some followers believe that the virus is a deep state plot and doesn’t exist at all, even though it has killed thousands upon thousands around the world.
In the last two weeks, as the American death toll has continued to rise and the ramifications of how bad things are getting have begun to sink in, many Q followers, realizing their earlier beliefs don't comport with the truth, have suddenly decided that COVID-19 is real, but that much of the emergency response we’re seeing is actually cover for Trump’s military operations against the deep state (which is not what is happening).
Recently, QAnon supporters have been fixated on the US Navy Hospital Ship Comfort since it docked in New York City. Influencers in the movement found messages on QAlerts they believe allude to the ship. Conspiracy theories also abound about the makeshift hospital being built in Central Park.
Part of the evidence-free QAnon conspiracy theory is the baseless claim that thousands of children are secretly being held captive by the rich and powerful, trafficked in tunnels under major cities. According to those in the movement, the Mercy hospital ship is being used to covertly rescue those children from sexual slavery, and they are being treated at the Central Park hospital.
Now, some of these unfounded theories are being shared by lifestyle and parenting bloggers on Instagram.
While these theories obviously originated on the internet and have been circulating there for years, seeing them pop up in the feeds of previously mostly innocuous parenting and lifestyle bloggers is a strange new development.
Ivy Carnegie, who describes herself on her page as: "Jesus • wife’n•mom’nš to my high school sweet heart," has about 87,000 followers and mostly posts lifestyle, wellness, and parenting content.
On Thursday, Carnegie posted unfounded claims on her Instagram story from a conspiracy theorist John Mappin about the coronavirus. Mappin, a British hotelier, has been promoting the hoax that Mercy could be connected to QAnon. In January, Mappin raised a QAnon flag over his castle.
In an Instagram story amid all this on Thursday, Carnegie claimed, in a video she filtered with "retro cam" as her toddler played in the background, that in the past year she has started to understand human trafficking is a problem.
Carnegie told BuzzFeed News she decided to speak out publicly because "human trafficking is an issue close to my heart and has been for a long time."
"Coronavirus set aside, there’s a lot of things happening with human trafficking right now. It’s an exciting time for those that have been praying for things to change," she said.
Carnegie added that her followers have been incredibly supportive of her posts.
"Many mamas already knew about it, some didn’t. But it’s been nothing but positive," she said. "Protecting children is something everyone can get behind, and it's important."
Carnegie said she knew about QAnon but didn't elaborate. She said she has been getting information about human trafficking "all over," in both mainstream media and online.
Ivy Carnegie
Jalynn Schroeder, a beauty and fashion influencer, told her followers in an Instagram video that she had an awakening and used a hashtag popular with QAnon followers.
View this photo on Instagram
Instagram: @jalynnschroeder
Schroeder now has five different conspiracy theory Instagram story "highlights" on her profile, along with highlights like "my food" and "meditation."
Schroeder didn't return a request for comment.
Instagram: @jalynnschroeder
The highlights feature several references that resemble QAnon material
Instagram: @jalynnschroeder
It's unclear what impact, if any, this will have on their brands. On Schroeder's posts, comments varied from supportive to complimenting her on her makeup
instagram.com
On Henges' page, some criticized her views, and some just seemed confused. Henges didn't return a request for comment.
instagram.com
However, many commenters on a recent photo she posted of the USS Mercy seemed to believe in the same things she did.
"Infinite blessings to all involved in saving and aiding the children," one person wrote. "Tears stream down my face at the images and the energy of this moment. Must be true because I feel it so deeply."
The fringe debates whether the coronavirus is the real deep state plot — or the federal government's response to it.
Ryan BroderickBuzzFeed News Reporter
March 25, 2020
Right-wing influencers and QAnon supporters are waging an information war against Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and top-ranking member of the White House's Coronavirus Task Force. They are falsely claiming that Fauci is working with Hillary Clinton and the deep state to cause an economic collapse and discredit President Donald Trump.
Followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory, a labyrinthine belief system that posits that President Trump is waging a secret war against a global criminal organization, have spent much of the COVID-19 outbreak struggling to fit the disease into their narratives. At first, they theorized the virus was a bioweapon created by former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates. Then, following remarks last month from radio host Rush Limbaugh, a sizable contingent suggested that the virus was actually a deep state hoax meant to damage Trump politically.
In recent days, their baseless speculations have settled on Fauci. QAnon-supporting radio host Bill Mitchell has been the biggest promoter of the latest theory. For weeks, Mitchell has been spinning a conspiracy theory that Fauci is a “Democrat plant" and nicknamed him “Dr. #FearPorn.” Mitchell’s first tweets about Fauci date back to March 3, when Fauci first suggested the closure of schools and businesses.
“Sorry President Trump, but replace this crackpot,” Mitchell tweeted. Several minutes later, Mitchell tweeted about Fauci again, “Have you ever seen the market drop 1000 points AFTER a 50 basis point Fed cut? That's #FearPorn. Thanks Dr. Anthony Fauci.”
Mitchell’s ire against Fauci has seemed to grow over time, as he insists the doctor is spreading fear about the outbreak to hurt the US economy. On March 8, Mitchell tweeted a link to a Fox News article about Fauci, writing, “AM I WRONG THINKING THIS FAUCI GUY IS A BIG DEMOCRAT SPREADING FEAR PORN?
A week later, Mitchell shared a 2009 NIH interview with Fauci providing an update about the then-outbreak of H1N1 influenza. Mitchell insisted Fauci’s apparently calmer demeanor in the video — which was conducted during the Obama administration — was proof that the doctor was now sowing fear about the coronavirus to discredit Trump.
“You'll notice none of the over-the-top hyperbole - none of the panic inducing rhetoric. Watch for yourselves,” Mitchell tweeted.
On the evening of March 20, Mitchell tweeted about Fauci 36 times in 30 minutes. Mitchell was enraged at Fauci going on CNN and publicly disagreeing with Trump’s suggestion that the CDC should allow the use of the anti-malaria drug chloroquine. Subsequently, a man died and his wife needed critical care after they both took a drug containing chloroquine phosphate meant for aquariums after hearing the president speak about the drug.
Mitchell’s tweetstorm against Fauci was intense. He repeatedly accused Fauci of being a Democrat plant, reshared the 2009 H1N1 interview, ran Twitter polls asking his followers if they thought Fauci was a Democrat, accused him of destroying the economy, and demanded Trump fire him.
Mitchell finished his tweetstorm by digging through WikiLeaks’ collection of leaked emails and found an email Fauci sent to Clinton in 2013. “Is Fauci a Hillary plant? Think about this. Trump makes a hopeful statement on #hydrochloroquine and Fauci immediately runs to #CNN, Trump's most hated #FakeNews outlet to contradict him? That is EXACTLY what a Hillary plant would do,” he tweeted.
It created a swarm. Mitchell’s discovery was written up by pro-Trump blog the Gateway Pundit, which linked to his tweet and another containing a screenshot of a different Fauci email to Clinton.
The next day, conservative online magazine American Thinker published a piece titled “Anthony Fauci, the NIH's face of the coronavirus, is a Deep-State Hillary Clinton–loving stooge.” American Thinker also picked up the 2009 H1N1 interview. “It seems some viral infection pandemics are more equal than others. At least when it comes to burning a vibrant Trump economy to the ground,” the article read. (The piece was shared Sunday by Fox News host Laura Ingraham.)
The same press conference during which Fauci sparred with Trump over chloroquine ended with a viral moment where the doctor put his hand over his face, seemingly in embarrassment, as the president joked that the State Department was "the deep state Department." (Fauci later claimed he had a lozenge stuck in his throat.)
The Fauci facepalm was seized on by Shiva Ayyadurai, a GOP Senate candidate in Massachusetts who questionably claimed to have invented email and was briefly romantically connected to actor Fran Drescher. On March 20, Ayyadurai tweeted, “Time to expose ‘Deep State’ Emperor Fauci & his ‘illustrious’ career of #FakeScience imposing ‘one-size-fits-all’ Medieval Mandated Medicine to profit his BIG PHARMA minions, [at] the expense of crashing our economy.”
Ayyadurai also shared Fauci’s email to Clinton and has made several Periscope videos accusing Fauci of being a member of the deep state. Ayyadurai’s video, titled "How To Kill Coronavirus," was removed from YouTube for violating community standards. It told people to breathe in hot air from hair dryers.
On Tuesday, QAnon influencer Greg Rubini accused Fauci of making the novel coronavirus in 2015, receiving over 3,000 retweets.
The conspiracy theory has also been spreading on 4chan. On the site’s /pol/ message board, anonymous users have posted dozens of huge threads about Fauci, implying he’s part of a global pedophile ring after surfacing a photo of him and singer Elton John, claiming Trump has secretly fired him, and accusing him of being part of a global Jewish cabal.
Gateway Pundit
The campaign against Fauci is quickly becoming more mainstream — especially as Trump looks to put economic growth ahead of mitigating the damage caused by the virus. Fauci could become a target for conservative outlets like Fox News. Right now, the channel is still backing him, but that narrative could already be shifting. On Sunday, Fox News host Steve Hilton sniped at Fauci for saying that he would be fine overreacting to a public health crisis.
“Well that's easy for him to say. He'll still have a job at the end of this, whatever happens,” Hilton said. “Our ruling class and their TV mouthpieces — whipping up fear over this virus. They can afford an indefinite shutdown, working Americans can't, they'll be crushed by it.”
Ingraham may have already telegraphed Fox News’ newest narrative for Fauci in a tweet the Fox anchor posted Tuesday. “The left-wing media’s methods are so transparent,” she wrote. “1. Pressure Fauci to criticize @realDonaldTrump in interviews. 2. Hope this leads to a blowup. 3. Slam Trump for not listening to doctors. 4. Blame him for everything.”
Here's the Bonkers Conspiracy Theory Blaming 5G for the ...
https://www.gq.com › story › coronavirus-5g-conspiracy-theory-explaine
2 days ago - In one popular YouTube video, a QAnon-associated conspiracy theorist, who is also an anti-vaxxer with ... with 5G coverage have been most affected by COVID-19 outbreaks. ... it very interesting," is a screenshot of a theory posited by Martin Pall, PhD, a professor emeritus at Washington State University.
How false claims about 5G health risks spread into the ...
https://www.theguardian.com › technology › apr › how-false-claims-about...
2 days ago - A popular claim that Wuhan was the first city in the world to receive 5G ... Users on one of the biggest anti-5G Facebook groups in the UK mix ...
Missing: screenshot second
A Conspiracy Theory That 5G Is Causing The Coronavirus Is ...
https://watchtechmarket.com › Tech
4 days ago - YouTube. A screenshot from the second most-shared anti-5G video on YouTube. The journalists at BuzzFeed News are proud to carry you
YouTube says it will remove content spreading ... - Techmeme
https://www.techmeme.com › ...
4 days ago - ... YouTube, Twitter to stop the spread of a conspiracy theory linking 5G to ... Jeffery Katzenberg and Meg Whitman's Quibi short-video streaming service ... NetMarketShare: Microsoft Edge becomes the second most popular ... To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.
Social media conspiracies blame coronavirus on 5G internet
https://thenextweb.com › Coronavirus
Feb 26, 2020 - One prominent anti-5G Facebook group has shared a number of erroneous posts, ... The video Kuhles is referring to resides on the YouTube page of a ... The second talking point is that 5G damages the immune system, leaving ... There are some kinks that need to be ironed out, but for the most part, the ...
Stephanie McNeal is a social news editor for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York.
Ryan Broderick is a senior reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York City.
Part of the evidence-free QAnon conspiracy theory is the baseless claim that thousands of children are secretly being held captive by the rich and powerful, trafficked in tunnels under major cities. According to those in the movement, the Mercy hospital ship is being used to covertly rescue those children from sexual slavery, and they are being treated at the Central Park hospital.
Now, some of these unfounded theories are being shared by lifestyle and parenting bloggers on Instagram.
While these theories obviously originated on the internet and have been circulating there for years, seeing them pop up in the feeds of previously mostly innocuous parenting and lifestyle bloggers is a strange new development.
Ivy Carnegie, who describes herself on her page as: "Jesus • wife’n•mom’nš to my high school sweet heart," has about 87,000 followers and mostly posts lifestyle, wellness, and parenting content.
On Thursday, Carnegie posted unfounded claims on her Instagram story from a conspiracy theorist John Mappin about the coronavirus. Mappin, a British hotelier, has been promoting the hoax that Mercy could be connected to QAnon. In January, Mappin raised a QAnon flag over his castle.
In an Instagram story amid all this on Thursday, Carnegie claimed, in a video she filtered with "retro cam" as her toddler played in the background, that in the past year she has started to understand human trafficking is a problem.
Carnegie told BuzzFeed News she decided to speak out publicly because "human trafficking is an issue close to my heart and has been for a long time."
"Coronavirus set aside, there’s a lot of things happening with human trafficking right now. It’s an exciting time for those that have been praying for things to change," she said.
Carnegie added that her followers have been incredibly supportive of her posts.
"Many mamas already knew about it, some didn’t. But it’s been nothing but positive," she said. "Protecting children is something everyone can get behind, and it's important."
Carnegie said she knew about QAnon but didn't elaborate. She said she has been getting information about human trafficking "all over," in both mainstream media and online.
Ivy Carnegie
Jalynn Schroeder, a beauty and fashion influencer, told her followers in an Instagram video that she had an awakening and used a hashtag popular with QAnon followers.
View this photo on Instagram
Instagram: @jalynnschroeder
Schroeder now has five different conspiracy theory Instagram story "highlights" on her profile, along with highlights like "my food" and "meditation."
Schroeder didn't return a request for comment.
Instagram: @jalynnschroeder
The highlights feature several references that resemble QAnon material
Instagram: @jalynnschroeder
It's unclear what impact, if any, this will have on their brands. On Schroeder's posts, comments varied from supportive to complimenting her on her makeup
instagram.com
On Henges' page, some criticized her views, and some just seemed confused. Henges didn't return a request for comment.
instagram.com
However, many commenters on a recent photo she posted of the USS Mercy seemed to believe in the same things she did.
"Infinite blessings to all involved in saving and aiding the children," one person wrote. "Tears stream down my face at the images and the energy of this moment. Must be true because I feel it so deeply."
Right-Wing Influencers Are Convinced Dr. Anthony Fauci Is Working With Hillary Clinton To Undermine Donald Trump
The fringe debates whether the coronavirus is the real deep state plot — or the federal government's response to it.
Ryan BroderickBuzzFeed News Reporter
March 25, 2020
Right-wing influencers and QAnon supporters are waging an information war against Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and top-ranking member of the White House's Coronavirus Task Force. They are falsely claiming that Fauci is working with Hillary Clinton and the deep state to cause an economic collapse and discredit President Donald Trump.
Followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory, a labyrinthine belief system that posits that President Trump is waging a secret war against a global criminal organization, have spent much of the COVID-19 outbreak struggling to fit the disease into their narratives. At first, they theorized the virus was a bioweapon created by former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates. Then, following remarks last month from radio host Rush Limbaugh, a sizable contingent suggested that the virus was actually a deep state hoax meant to damage Trump politically.
In recent days, their baseless speculations have settled on Fauci. QAnon-supporting radio host Bill Mitchell has been the biggest promoter of the latest theory. For weeks, Mitchell has been spinning a conspiracy theory that Fauci is a “Democrat plant" and nicknamed him “Dr. #FearPorn.” Mitchell’s first tweets about Fauci date back to March 3, when Fauci first suggested the closure of schools and businesses.
“Sorry President Trump, but replace this crackpot,” Mitchell tweeted. Several minutes later, Mitchell tweeted about Fauci again, “Have you ever seen the market drop 1000 points AFTER a 50 basis point Fed cut? That's #FearPorn. Thanks Dr. Anthony Fauci.”
Mitchell’s ire against Fauci has seemed to grow over time, as he insists the doctor is spreading fear about the outbreak to hurt the US economy. On March 8, Mitchell tweeted a link to a Fox News article about Fauci, writing, “AM I WRONG THINKING THIS FAUCI GUY IS A BIG DEMOCRAT SPREADING FEAR PORN?
A week later, Mitchell shared a 2009 NIH interview with Fauci providing an update about the then-outbreak of H1N1 influenza. Mitchell insisted Fauci’s apparently calmer demeanor in the video — which was conducted during the Obama administration — was proof that the doctor was now sowing fear about the coronavirus to discredit Trump.
“You'll notice none of the over-the-top hyperbole - none of the panic inducing rhetoric. Watch for yourselves,” Mitchell tweeted.
On the evening of March 20, Mitchell tweeted about Fauci 36 times in 30 minutes. Mitchell was enraged at Fauci going on CNN and publicly disagreeing with Trump’s suggestion that the CDC should allow the use of the anti-malaria drug chloroquine. Subsequently, a man died and his wife needed critical care after they both took a drug containing chloroquine phosphate meant for aquariums after hearing the president speak about the drug.
Mitchell’s tweetstorm against Fauci was intense. He repeatedly accused Fauci of being a Democrat plant, reshared the 2009 H1N1 interview, ran Twitter polls asking his followers if they thought Fauci was a Democrat, accused him of destroying the economy, and demanded Trump fire him.
Mitchell finished his tweetstorm by digging through WikiLeaks’ collection of leaked emails and found an email Fauci sent to Clinton in 2013. “Is Fauci a Hillary plant? Think about this. Trump makes a hopeful statement on #hydrochloroquine and Fauci immediately runs to #CNN, Trump's most hated #FakeNews outlet to contradict him? That is EXACTLY what a Hillary plant would do,” he tweeted.
It created a swarm. Mitchell’s discovery was written up by pro-Trump blog the Gateway Pundit, which linked to his tweet and another containing a screenshot of a different Fauci email to Clinton.
The next day, conservative online magazine American Thinker published a piece titled “Anthony Fauci, the NIH's face of the coronavirus, is a Deep-State Hillary Clinton–loving stooge.” American Thinker also picked up the 2009 H1N1 interview. “It seems some viral infection pandemics are more equal than others. At least when it comes to burning a vibrant Trump economy to the ground,” the article read. (The piece was shared Sunday by Fox News host Laura Ingraham.)
The same press conference during which Fauci sparred with Trump over chloroquine ended with a viral moment where the doctor put his hand over his face, seemingly in embarrassment, as the president joked that the State Department was "the deep state Department." (Fauci later claimed he had a lozenge stuck in his throat.)
The Fauci facepalm was seized on by Shiva Ayyadurai, a GOP Senate candidate in Massachusetts who questionably claimed to have invented email and was briefly romantically connected to actor Fran Drescher. On March 20, Ayyadurai tweeted, “Time to expose ‘Deep State’ Emperor Fauci & his ‘illustrious’ career of #FakeScience imposing ‘one-size-fits-all’ Medieval Mandated Medicine to profit his BIG PHARMA minions, [at] the expense of crashing our economy.”
Ayyadurai also shared Fauci’s email to Clinton and has made several Periscope videos accusing Fauci of being a member of the deep state. Ayyadurai’s video, titled "How To Kill Coronavirus," was removed from YouTube for violating community standards. It told people to breathe in hot air from hair dryers.
On Tuesday, QAnon influencer Greg Rubini accused Fauci of making the novel coronavirus in 2015, receiving over 3,000 retweets.
The conspiracy theory has also been spreading on 4chan. On the site’s /pol/ message board, anonymous users have posted dozens of huge threads about Fauci, implying he’s part of a global pedophile ring after surfacing a photo of him and singer Elton John, claiming Trump has secretly fired him, and accusing him of being part of a global Jewish cabal.
Gateway Pundit
The campaign against Fauci is quickly becoming more mainstream — especially as Trump looks to put economic growth ahead of mitigating the damage caused by the virus. Fauci could become a target for conservative outlets like Fox News. Right now, the channel is still backing him, but that narrative could already be shifting. On Sunday, Fox News host Steve Hilton sniped at Fauci for saying that he would be fine overreacting to a public health crisis.
“Well that's easy for him to say. He'll still have a job at the end of this, whatever happens,” Hilton said. “Our ruling class and their TV mouthpieces — whipping up fear over this virus. They can afford an indefinite shutdown, working Americans can't, they'll be crushed by it.”
Ingraham may have already telegraphed Fox News’ newest narrative for Fauci in a tweet the Fox anchor posted Tuesday. “The left-wing media’s methods are so transparent,” she wrote. “1. Pressure Fauci to criticize @realDonaldTrump in interviews. 2. Hope this leads to a blowup. 3. Slam Trump for not listening to doctors. 4. Blame him for everything.”
Here's the Bonkers Conspiracy Theory Blaming 5G for the ...
https://www.gq.com › story › coronavirus-5g-conspiracy-theory-explaine
2 days ago - In one popular YouTube video, a QAnon-associated conspiracy theorist, who is also an anti-vaxxer with ... with 5G coverage have been most affected by COVID-19 outbreaks. ... it very interesting," is a screenshot of a theory posited by Martin Pall, PhD, a professor emeritus at Washington State University.
How false claims about 5G health risks spread into the ...
https://www.theguardian.com › technology › apr › how-false-claims-about...
2 days ago - A popular claim that Wuhan was the first city in the world to receive 5G ... Users on one of the biggest anti-5G Facebook groups in the UK mix ...
Missing: screenshot second
A Conspiracy Theory That 5G Is Causing The Coronavirus Is ...
https://watchtechmarket.com › Tech
4 days ago - YouTube. A screenshot from the second most-shared anti-5G video on YouTube. The journalists at BuzzFeed News are proud to carry you
YouTube says it will remove content spreading ... - Techmeme
https://www.techmeme.com › ...
4 days ago - ... YouTube, Twitter to stop the spread of a conspiracy theory linking 5G to ... Jeffery Katzenberg and Meg Whitman's Quibi short-video streaming service ... NetMarketShare: Microsoft Edge becomes the second most popular ... To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.
Social media conspiracies blame coronavirus on 5G internet
https://thenextweb.com › Coronavirus
Feb 26, 2020 - One prominent anti-5G Facebook group has shared a number of erroneous posts, ... The video Kuhles is referring to resides on the YouTube page of a ... The second talking point is that 5G damages the immune system, leaving ... There are some kinks that need to be ironed out, but for the most part, the ...
Stephanie McNeal is a social news editor for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York.
Ryan Broderick is a senior reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York City.
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SEE https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/qanon-conspiracy-theories-about.html
SEE https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/qanon-conspiracy-theories-about.html
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