Abstract
This chapter discusses the circulation of conspiracy theories evolving from concoctions of Internet subcultures to global topics of public conversation and political mobilization. The examples provided are those of the Pizzagate and QAnon conspiracy theories, which embody the anti-establishment ethos, the paranoid disposition and the ironic attitude of far-right on-line communities. The chapter analyzes the spreading of a set of myths, symbols and codes created by the 4chan and 8chan users within a global network of White ethnonationalists. The far-right anti-immigration conspiracy theory ‘The Great Replacement’ is discussed to explore the interlocking themes of White identity politics, trolling and the ‘weaponization’ of Internet entertainment.
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Notes
- 1.
Allcott, H., & Gentzkow, M. (2017). “Social media and fake news in the 2016 election”. Journal of Economic Perspectives 31:2, 211–236. See also Singer and Booking (2018).
- 2.
In his work A culture of conspiracy, Barkun defines a conspiracy theory as being based on “the belief that an organization made up of individuals or groups was or is acting covertly to achieve some malevolent end” (Barkun 2013, 3).
- 3.
On a Sunday in early December 2016, less than a month after the election of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States, a man named Edgar Welch entered Comet Ping Pong brandishing an AR-15 assault rifle. He then asked all the clients to evacuate the place and started searching the premises looking for a basement connected to secret underground tunnels. The police arrived shortly after Welch had fired a few shots on the floor, with no injuries or casualties. By his own admission, he wanted to ‘self-investigate’ Comet Ping Pong, to see if the on-line rumors about the so-called Pizzagate conspiracy theory were true. He had read a lot about Pizzagate, including accounts from notorious conspiracy-theorist Alex Jones, and had come to Washington with the intention of freeing the children who he thought were kept enslaved in the basement of the pizzeria.
- 4.
Kang, C. (2016). “Fake news onslaught targets pizzeria as nest of child-trafficking”. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/21/technology/fact-check-this-pizzeria-is-not-a-child-trafficking-site.html.
- 5.
Lacapria, K. (2016). “Is Comet Ping Pong Pizzeria home to a child abuse ring led by Hillary Clinton?”. Snopes. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/pizzagate-conspiracy/.
- 6.
BBC. (2016). “The Saga of ‘Pizzagate’: The fake story that shows how conspiracy theories spread”. BBC News. http://www.bbc.com/news/blogstrending-38156985.
- 7.
Silverman, C. (2016). “How the bizarre conspiracy theory behind ‘Pizzagate’ was spread”. Buzzfeed News. https://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/fever-swamp-election.
- 8.
Reddit is an on-line aggregator of news, reviews and discussions, popular especially among hackers and software developers.
- 9.
Alt-right personalities such as Mike Cernovich were actively involved in promoting Pizzagate.
- 10.
It should be noted that conspiracy theories on the alleged links between the Clintons and pedophiliac rings have also been popular among right-wing circles for years, especially since revelations were made public in the mid-2000s on the friendship between Bill Clinton and Jeffrey Epstein, a wealthy hedge-fund manager and convicted sex offender.
- 11.
“One was allegedly associated with the GRU, Russian military intelligence, the other was possibly associated with the FSB (successor to the KGB)” (Benkler et al. 2018, 239).
- 12.
James Alefantis, the owner of Comet Ping Pong, was involved in the conspiracy theory because his name had appeared in the email exchanges with Podesta, when the two were discussing the possibility of organizing a fundraising at the pizzeria.
- 13.
Russian hackers, according to preliminary investigation by US authorities, were operating under the direct supervision of Vladimir Putin, even though the Kremlin denied any allegations, admitting only the possibility that some Russian hackers had been overly ‘patriotic’. See McIntire, M. (2016). “How a Putin fan overseas pushed pro-Trump propaganda to Americans”. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/17/world/europe/russia-propaganda-elections.html.
- 14.
Calabresi, M., & Rebala, P. (2016). “Here’s the evidence Russia hacked the democratic national committee”. Time Magazine. http://time.com/4600177/election-hack-russia-hillary-clinton-donald-trump.
- 15.
Confessore, N., & Wakabayashi, D. (2017). “How Russia harvested American rage to reshape U.S. politics”. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/09/technology/russia-election-facebook-ads-rage.html.
- 16.
Subramanian, S. (2017). “The Macedonian Teens who mastered fake news”. Wired. https://www.wired.com/2017/02/veles-macedonia-fake-news.
- 17.
The Turkish pro-government media became interested in Pizzagate as a form of retaliation against domestic critics and opponents of the president, who were accused of not giving the alleged scandal enough attention after they had promoted a very critical campaign against a foundation linked to Erdogan that had been involved in a documented case of pedophilia. See Sozeri, E. (2016). “How the alt-right’s PizzaGate conspiracy hid real scandal in Turkey”. The Daily Dot. https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/pizzagate-alt-right-turkey-trolls-child-abuse/.
- 18.
Fahri, P. (2017). “Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones backs off ‘Pizzagate’ claims”. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/conspiracy-theorist-alex-jones-backs-off-pizzagate-claims/2017/03/24/6f0246fe-10cd-11e7-ab07-07d9f521f6b5_story.html.
- 19.
Bryan, N. (2015). “Flight logs put Clinton, Dershowitz on Pedophile Billionaire’s sex jet”. Gawker. https://gawker.com/flight-logs-put-clinton-dershowitz-on-pedophile-billio-1681039971.
- 20.
Ward, V. (2019). “Jeffrey Epstein’s sick story played out for years in plain sight”. The Daily Beast. https://www.thedailybeast.com/jeffrey-epsteins-sick-story-played-out-for-years-in-plain-sight?ref=scroll.
- 21.
Epstein served only 13 months in a county jail with extensive work release and privileged treatment, when he could have faced up to 45 years in a federal prison. See Brown, J., & Albright, A. (2018). “Perversion of justice”. Miami Herald. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article221897990.html.
- 22.
Epstein’s cellmate was removed without replacement, the security guards fell asleep while on watch and the camera in front of his cells was malfunctioning. See Benner, K., & Ivory, D. (2019). “Jeffrey Epstein death: 2 guards slept through checks and falsified records”. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/13/nyregion/jeffrey-epstein-jail-officers.html.
- 23.
Beggin, R. (2019). “Trump again boosts a baseless conspiracy theory, this one about Jeffrey Epstein”. Vox. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/8/11/20800787/jeffrey-epstein-donald-trump-conspiracy-theory-clinton-body-count-retweet-killed-death-by-suicide.
- 24.
North, A. (2019). “Why the Jeffrey Epstein case inspires so many conspiracy theories”. Vox. https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/8/14/20803950/jeffrey-epstein-conspiracy-theories-clinton-trump-acosta.
- 25.
Ibid.
- 26.
Ibid.
- 27.
60 Minutes Australia. “Exposing Jeffrey Epstein’s international sex trafficking ring”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQOOxOl9l80.
- 28.
The ‘deep state’ is a conspiracy theory suggesting the clandestine existence of a shadow or hidden power system of governmental and non-governmental entities, relying on cronyism and collusion, within the legitimately elected government.
- 29.
Because of its delirious and convoluted narrative, some have even speculated that QAnon is in fact the product of an elaborate hoax against Trump supporters, inspired by the work of Italian activist collective Luther Blissett. According to this interpretation, QAnon was meant at poking fun at right-wing conspiracy theories and their supporters, but it was taken seriously by imageboards members and it eventually spiraled out of control. See Davis, B. (2018). “Is the QAnon conspiracy the work of artist-activist pranksters? The evidence for (and against) a dangerous hypothesis”. Artnet. https://news.artnet.com/opinion/q-anon-hoax-1329983.
- 30.
Rosenberg, A. (2019). “I understand the temptation to dismiss QAnon. Here’s why we can’t”. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/08/07/qanon-isnt-just-conspiracy-theory-its-highly-effective-game/.
- 31.
Budryk, Z. (2019). “FBI memo warns QAnon poses potential terror threat: Report”. The Hill. https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/fbi/455770-fbi-memo-warns-qanon-poses-a-potential-terror-threat-report.
- 32.
Rosenberg (2019).
- 33.
Novislav Dajić, the song’s accordion player, himself convicted for multiple murders during the war, has become a widespread 4chan meme as “Dat Face Soldier”. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remove_Kebab.
- 34.
“A YouTube video for the song (…) shows emaciated Muslim prisoners in Serb-run detention camps during the war. ‘Beware Ustashas and Turks’ says the song, using wartime, derogatory terms for Bosnian Croats and Bosnian Muslims used by Serb nationalists.” See Gec, J. (2019). “Suspected New Zealand gunman fascinated with Ottoman wars, named rifles after legendary Serbs”. The Morning Call. https://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-nws-new-zealand-shooter-balkans-20190316-story.html.
- 35.
Wilson, A. (2019). “Fear-filled apocalypses: The far-right’s use of conspiracy theories”. Oxford Research Group. https://www.oxfordresearchgroup.org.uk/blog/fear-filled-apocalypses-the-far-rights-use-of-conspiracy-theory.
- 36.
Tarrant, B. (2019). The great replacement (p. 2). http://tarrantmanifesto.com/.
- 37.
Schwartzburg, R. (2019). “No, there isn’t a White Genocide”. Jacobin Magazine. https://www.jacobinmag.com/2019/09/white-genocide-great-replacement-theory.
- 38.
Another version of the same conspiracy theory, popular in Europe, goes by the name of Kalergi Plan: Ward, J. (2018). “Day of the trope: White nationalist memes thrive on Reddit’s r/The_Donald”. Southern Poverty Law Center. https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/04/19/day-trope-white-nationalist-memes-thrive-reddits-rthedonald.
- 39.
While originated in France, the Great Replacement ideological trope has now become global and influences American far-right movements as well. During the 2017 Charlottesville rally Unite the Right, which was marked by widespread violence, including the killing of a young woman protesting the rally, people could be heard singing ‘You will not replace us’ and ‘Jews will not replace us’, which refer to both Camus’ and Lane’s ideas. See Chatterton Williams, T. (2017). “The French origins of ‘you will not replace us’”. The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/12/04/the-french-origins-of-you-will-not-replace-us.
- 40.
Evans, R. (2019). “Shitposting, inspirational terrorism, and the Christchurch Mosque Massacre”. Bellingcat. https://www.bellingcat.com/news/rest-of-world/2019/03/15/shitposting-inspirational-terrorism-and-the-christchurch-mosque-massacre/.
- 41.
Ibid.
- 42.
“Navy Seal Copypasta (…) is a facetious message containing a series of ridiculous claims and grandiose threats that portray the poster as an Internet tough guy stereotype”. See https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/navy-seal-copypasta.
- 43.
The word is an abbreviation of the word anonymous, since the vast majority of the posts are by anonymous users.
- 44.
Evans (2019).
- 45.
Tarrant, B. (2019). The great replacement (p. 57). http://tarrantmanifesto.com/.
- 46.
One of the rifles also bore the inscription ‘Kebab removed’. See Al Jazeera. (2019). “Mosque shooter brandished material glorifying Serb nationalism”. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/zealand-mosque-gunman-inspired-serb-nationalism-190315141305756.html.
- 47.
“Breivik had shown to be inspired by massacres of Muslims in the Balkans in his 1500-page manifesto published prior to his mass shooting. In his manifesto, Breivik called Karadzic an ‘honourable crusader’”. Ibid.
- 48.
Schwartzburg, R. (2019). “The ‘white replacement theory’ motivates alt-right killers the world over”. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/aug/05/great-replacement-theory-alt-right-killers-el-paso.
- 49.
Evans (2019).
- 50.
Berger, J. M. (2018). “Trump is the glue that binds the far right”. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/10/trump-alt-right-twitter/574219/.
- 51.
Hawk, B. (2019). “Why far-right nationalists like Steve Bannon have embraced a Russian ideologue”. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/04/16/why-far-right-nationalists-like-steve-bannon-have-embraced-russian-ideologue/.
- 52.
Full automation of the production processes and the merging of human and technological dimensions are also advocated as necessary and inevitable for progress. Accelerationism, particularly the strand espoused by Mark Fisher, one of Land’s students, has been embraced by some fringes of the European left as a political approach that could address the flaws of capitalism by reducing working hours through automation and addressing social conflict through the use of technology.
- 53.
Tarrant (2019, 77).
- 54.
Beckett, A. (2017). “Accelerationism: How a fringe philosophy predicted the future we live in”. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/11/accelerationism-how-a-fringe-philosophy-predicted-the-future-we-live-in.
- 55.
Tarrant (2019, 9).
- 56.
Ibid., 57.
- 57.
Wilson, A. (2019). “Fear-filled apocalypses: The far-right’s use of conspiracy theories”. Oxford Research Group. https://www.oxfordresearchgroup.org.uk/blog/fear-filled-apocalypses-the-far-rights-use-of-conspiracy-theory.
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Cosentino, G. (2020). From Pizzagate to the Great Replacement: The Globalization of Conspiracy Theories. In: Social Media and the Post-Truth World Order. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43005-4_3
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