How QAnon Derails Efforts to Rescue Trafficking Victims
(Disclaimer: La Tonique Media LLC does not represent any political ideology. While we do not espouse any political beliefs, we do seek to provide a balance perspective by incorporating voices from both sides of the political spectrum.)
The conservative conspiracy group QAnon has enjoyed a meteoric rise to mainstream popularity over the past few years. Today, its massive group of online followers, once considered an extremist fringe, has representation in Congress. Part of the group’s widespread appeal is the fact that it incorporates a wide range of conspiracies, from the belief that 9/11 was a hoax to the denial that masks are effective against COVID-19. Its central ideology, however, is that a Democrat-run cabal of satan worshippers and pedophiles, also called the deep state, are involved in a child trafficking ring. As bizarre as that idea sounds to some, a 2020 NPR poll found that 17 percent of Americans believe it is true, while 39 percent believe more broadly that the so-called deep state was involved in subverting Donald Trump during his presidency.
Protesters attend a Save the Children march. (Stephanie Keith | Reuters)
QAnon is able to recruit followers by appealing to people’s innate protectiveness over children. The group’s preoccupation with sex trafficking and pedophilia appears well-intentioned, and the idea of rescuing kids from predators is one that many people understandably feel passionate about. The reality, however, is that QAnon derails efforts by real anti-trafficking organizations to rescue victims. The QAnon narrative diverts attention away from how sex trafficking happens, spreading misconceptions and flat out false information that is ultimately very damaging to rescue efforts by groups like Polaris. For example, conspiracy theorists spread the idea that children are being kidnapped and trafficked by strangers and that all children are at equal risk of being trafficked. In reality, most victims of trafficking are groomed by a trusted adult, and children of low-income families and marginalized groups are at much higher risk.
The spread of these kinds of falsehoods regarding sex trafficking obscure the real warning signs, leaving victims and at-risk individuals with less access to reliable information. According to Megan Cutter, director of the U.S. National Trafficking Hotline, online conspiracy theories spread by QAnon have resulted in an influx of calls to trafficking hotlines, most from misinformed people who make inaccurate reports based on theories they read on social media. Hotlines are often so backlogged by conspiracy theorists, she says, those real victims of trafficking are frequently cut off from access to help. What’s more, the overwhelming amount of false information these organizations receive directs time and resources towards bad leads at the expense of victims.
By politicizing the issue of trafficking, QAnon conspiracies like Pizzagate, hiding behind seemingly harmless hashtags like #SaveTheChildren, overshadow inquiries into real cases of child abuse. The actions of QAnon theorists achieve the opposite of their apparent goal to save at-risk kids from being trafficked. Now more than ever, the spread of reliable information from trustworthy sources is crucial to combat harmful conspiracy theories.
To learn more about human trafficking and how it happens, visit Polaris’ website.
