Countering QAnon: Understanding the Role of Human Trafficking in the Disinformation-Extremist Nexus

By Anjana Rajan, Polaris, Catherine Chen, Polaris, Caren Benjamin, Polaris, Mollie Saltskog, The Soufan Group, Jason Blazakis, The Soufan Group, Zach Schwitzky, Limbik, and Leela McClintock, Limbik

• Disinformation about human trafficking serves as a gateway narrative that radicalizes susceptible audiences to condone, and even perform, acts of violence and terrorism. This ultimately poses a threat to the national security of the United States.

• The fallout from disinformation about human trafficking has a profoundly harmful impact on victims and survivors of human trafficking; the amount of time Polaris spent responding to false reports about the Wayfair conspiracy theory could have been used to respond to an additional 42 trafficking cases.

• A significant portion of the U.S. population is susceptible to being radicalized; 21 percent of U.S. adults self-identify as QAnon believers, and 41 percent of U.S. adults believe that elites, politicians, and/or celebrities are involved in a global pedophilia ring.

• In spite of de-platforming efforts by social media companies, white supremacist and other violent far-right extremist groups on encrypted chat platforms are using human trafficking disinformation as a way to recruit disillusioned QAnon followers to join their movements.

• A coordinated, multi-stakeholder effort is needed to develop and implement strategies to impart the truth about human trafficking in a way that is compelling to both susceptible audiences and to audiences already convinced of the false narrative.