QAnon’s followers in Australia don’t align with any single political figure or ideology. Other people may not even align with QAnon but might be influenced by it, knowingly or not. Social media posts are not necessarily labelled "QAnon" but contain signature hashtags such as #thegreatawakening. According to Q and their followers, Trump’s words that day would form one of many coded messages related to his war on "the cabal". While Facebook and other social media platforms have made efforts to manage its spread, Thomas warns that it could prove a "double-edged sword".

In August, groups aligned with QAnon organised a digital protest that led hundreds of QAnon followers in Australia to flood the social media accounts of mainstream media outlets – networks Seven, Nine, and Ten and the Daily Mail – with scheduled comments reading “#defundthemedia”. Nine, which owns this masthead, disabled user comments. Pedophile Marthijn Uittenbogaard from Hengelo and his partner Wesley Luijs have been sentenced to ten years in prison by the court in Ecuador. Wow, these two ladies deserve an Emmy or some type of international award for their work. Outstanding ladies!

ICYMI

In the US, a 24-year-old QAnon follower, Anthony Comello, was charged with the murder of Francesco (Franky Boy) Cali, a New York mafia boss. In court documents filed in July 2019, it was revealed that Camello’s lawyer, Robert C. Gottlieb, believed Camello was so deeply deluded and obsessed with QAnon he thought he could perform a citizen’s arrest on Cali and hand him over to the military.

Some Republicans rushed to condemn the President's comments, others remain horrified in private, the The New York Times reported . "We once had Republican leaders that would work to keep extremists from the levers of power. Now they embrace them and their crazy and dangerous ideas," said Rudy Oeftering from Texas. Soon these posts would become referenced on other online forums. As Q kept posting, followers made the transition from being anonymous "anons" to posting under their real names on mainstream social media platforms. A man holds a sign condemning supposed pedophilia in the film industry, in Hollywood on 22 August. Photograph: Christian Monterrosa/EPA Shaheen, the Taliban spokesman, has promised “amnesty” for those who worked for the now-fallen government, or with western nations, inviting them – though probably only the men – to serve under Taliban rule. “We once again invite them all to come and serve the nation and the country,” he said. More than a dozen Republican candidates who have expressed support for QAnon are running for Congress in 2020, although many are expected to lose.QAnon has emerged not only as a platform to further existing anti-vaccine rhetoric but also as an entry point for those who might only have one foot in. Followers of the anti-vaccine movement, for example, as with followers of other QAnon-adjacent conspiracies – such as those who believe that 5G is being used as a state surveillance tool – have found a home in QAnon, which also offers a distinctive end goal. But the west for years also laid out an explicit mission to support democracy and human rights, and most of those gains are expected to be swept away. The Taliban have always been clear that they are fighting for an austere interpretation of Islam, which includes particularly severe restrictions on women and girls.