The Boom Before the Ban: QAnon and Facebook

The report finds that QAnon activity on Facebook grew month-on-month from April to September 2020, with engagement nearly doubling between April and August. This growth was driven by 'superspreaders'—personal profiles that mass-proliferate disinformation—and the co-opting of mainstream movements like 'Save the Children' and COVID-19 concerns. The analysis reveals a heavy reliance on 'Red-rated' unreliable news sites, though mainstream sources are often distorted to fit the narrative. Despite Facebook's October 2020 ban on QAnon pages and groups, the report argues the action came too late and was insufficient because personal profiles continued to promote the conspiracy. The research also documents the internationalization of QAnon, with significant activity in Germany, France, Italy, and Brazil, often localized to target regional elites.

• QAnon activity on Facebook experienced a significant surge in 2020, with the average number of daily related posts increasing every month from April to September. The volume rose from 992 posts per day in April to 1,772 in August, a 178% increase.
• Personal Facebook profiles, termed 'superspreaders', played a critical role in the conspiracy's expansion by sharing introductory 'redpilling' materials and videos. Some individual videos posted by these profiles received over one million views.
• QAnon communities strategically co-opted the 'Save the Children' movement and other anti-human trafficking campaigns to legitimize their narratives and attract new followers who may not be familiar with the conspiracy.
• The conspiracy merged with COVID-19 misinformation, promoting claims that the pandemic was a planned event for population control or a plot to remove Donald Trump from office.
• QAnon followers heavily relied on unreliable news sources. Of the news sites appearing in 10 or more posts, those rated 'Red' (unreliable) by NewsGuard were linked in 6,669 posts with 185,784 shares, compared to 3,553 posts and 56,203 shares for 'Green-rated' (reliable) sites.
• The conspiracy has expanded internationally, with news websites in at least 15 different languages appearing in the data. Significant activity was noted in German-language Facebook groups, and the movement has reached countries including France, Italy, Brazil, and Japan.
• Facebook's October 6, 2020, ban on QAnon content was deemed too late and incomplete, as it primarily targeted pages and groups while leaving many influential personal profiles active.
• The report identifies several core narratives used to indoctrinate followers, including 'Pizzagate', 'Obamagate' (or 'Spygate'), and the false claim that elites harvest a chemical compound called 'adrenochrome' from children.

APA

O’Connor, C., Gatewood, C., McDonald, K., & Brandt, S. (2020). The Boom Before the Ban: QAnon and Facebook. Institute for Strategic Dialogue. https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/20201218-ISDG-NewsGuard-QAnon-and-Facebook.pdf

Chicago

O’Connor, Ciaran, Cooper Gatewood, Kendrick McDonald, and Sarah Brandt. The Boom Before the Ban: QAnon and Facebook. Institute for Strategic Dialogue, 2020. https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/20201218-ISDG-NewsGuard-QAnon-and-Facebook.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=O’Connor |first1=Ciaran |last2=Gatewood |first2=Cooper |last3=McDonald |first3=Kendrick |last4=Brandt |first4=Sarah |title=The Boom Before the Ban: QAnon and Facebook |publisher=Institute for Strategic Dialogue |date=2020 |url=https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/20201218-ISDG-NewsGuard-QAnon-and-Facebook.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{oconnor2020boom, author = {O’Connor, Ciaran and Gatewood, Cooper and McDonald, Kendrick and Brandt, Sarah}, title = {{The Boom Before the Ban: QAnon and Facebook}}, institution = {Institute for Strategic Dialogue}, year = {2020}, url = {https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/20201218-ISDG-NewsGuard-QAnon-and-Facebook.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }