QAnon disinformation cult is behind #SaveTheChildren and #SaveOurchildren rallies
The cult-like conspiracy movement QAnon is behind nationwide rallies this weekend and viral #SavetheChildren hashtags all over social media right now, reports NBC News.
HAPPENING NOW: A rally to end child trafficking is starting at the Red Wagon in downtown Spokane. Organizer Mia Gray says this event is to raise awareness and start a conversation. They just started marching down Spokane Falls Blvd chanting "save the children." @KHQLocalNews pic.twitter.com/BikxrD0upr
- KHQ Noelle Lashley (@noellelashley) August 9, 2020
"While many of the Save the Children events do not openly espouse QAnon beliefs, the group's connection is never far," report Brandy Zadrozny and Ben Collins:
In early August, the hashtag #SaveTheChildren seemed to be everywhere. As it spiked, Facebook briefly disabled the hashtag, with a warning that it went against community standards. That action poured gasoline on the QAnon community, which rallied to circumvent what they claimed in groups was "censorship."
The hashtag was reinstated and continued to take off but lost steam when QAnon believers moved to #SaveOurchildren after realizing Save the Children, the humanitarian organization founded in 1919, was funded in part by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Bill Gates has been a constant target of unfounded conspiracy theories spread by QAnon groups since the coronavirus pandemic began.
The nonprofit organization Save the Children did not respond to a request for comment.
While 3.5 million users across thousands of groups were "talking about" #SaveTheChildren and #SaveOurchildren by Friday, according to Facebook data, the most engaging conversations were happening in Facebook groups and on Instagram accounts related to QAnon, according to an analysis by First Draft, a nonprofit that tracks misinformation online and provides research and training for journalists.
Read more: QAnon looms behind nationwide rallies and viral #SavetheChildren hashtags.
More from the reporters, on Twitter.
QAnon followers were able to plant these #SaveTheChildren rallies in local news broadcasts without the QAnon context.
- Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) August 21, 2020
Once you get to some of these rallies, though, signs that say things like "Hillary Clinton Is Satan" make it clear they're QAnon rallies.https://t.co/QO1gLR2bkl
3.5 million people across thousands of groups were talking about #SaveTheChildren on Facebook and Instagram by Friday, according to @firstdraftnews.
- Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) August 21, 2020
70 percent of interactions came from QAnon accounts.
200 rallies are planned for tomorrow nationwide.https://t.co/QO1gLR2bkl