ISD Glossary
ISD’s Glossary provides clear definitions of key terms related to extremism, hate, information operations and tech accountability. This page is continually reviewed to ensure accuracy.
QAnon conspiracy theory
The conspiratorial movement known as QAnon began in late 2017 after anonymous posts began appearing on 4chan and 8chan, anonymous imageboard websites known for being a haven for conspiracy theories, trolling campaigns and extremist rhetoric. The user claimed to be a high-level government insider in the US Department of Energy and called themselves “Q”. Over the space of 3 years, Q posted almost 5,000 “drops” containing nonsensical codes and “clues” that they claimed exposed hidden secrets about the US government and wider geopolitics. QAnon followers decoded these drops and QAnon grew to become the conspiracy theory of everything as it ingested conspiratorial narratives both old and new into its lore. The overarching belief among followers of QAnon is that Donald Trump’s presidency was part of a secret decades-long plot to rid the world of a cabal of elites pulling the strings behind the scenes. This cabal, claimed Q, were all secretly involved in child trafficking and/or pedophilia and Trump was planning to bring them to justice, arrest them and execute them in a day of vengeance known as “The Storm”.
Querdenker
The term “Querdenker” (literally “lateral thinker”) refers to followers of the “Querdenken” movement, which originated in the area around Stuttgart and organises protests against pandemic restrictions. The movement now has regional branches around the country, some of which are under observation by constitutional protection authorities as a result of their proximity to the right-wing extremist scene
