Mind Blown

“The point of modern propaganda isn’t only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth.” ― Garry Kasparov

2020 was a year of turmoil. The coronavirus pandemic had disrupted the lives of many in one way or another. And then there was the much-awaited presidential election in the United States.

I’m not a very political person but, like many, was drawn to watching events of the election unfold. Four years earlier I had stood staring at the television, with a gin and tonic in my hand, watching in horror as Donald Trump won the election.

We were living in unprecedented times and people were afraid. For many there was a desperate need for a simple explanation.

Conspiracy beliefs that had once existed on the fringes of the internet became mainstream and seemed to flood social media — Twitter, Facebook and YouTube in particular. Algorithms pushed content to those who were curious and for others (like me), some friends relentlessly pushed the ‘message’ in a desperate need to ‘educate’.

It seemed impossible to escape the barrage of disinformation which included, but was not limited to, a belief that the election was stolen, that a cabal which included top Democrats including Biden, Obama and Clinton were Satanists involved in child trafficking, and that Bill Gates was behind the coronavirus in order to profit from a vaccine.

A perfect ‘storm’ was brewing, and the word ‘storm’ is not used lightly. It was referenced by ‘Q’, an anonymous poster who claimed to be a high-ranking member of the government with inside knowledge of Trump’s war against the global paedophile cabal. Trump, it was claimed, had been appointed by military leaders to bring the corrupt elite to justice and this war would culminate in a ‘storm’ — one which has never taken place.

For myself, volunteering in the space of online safety for kids, it was impossible not to become acutely aware of the QAnon highjacking of the hashtag #savethechildren. This left me little choice but to unfollow all accounts linked to this hashtag.

Trump, a morally corrupt individual, played the social media game brilliantly. Despite never openly aligning himself with the movement, he refused to condemn them. Much has been written about Trump’s use of disinformation to gain the upper hand in the election, a tactic which decimates the democratic process. Despite losing, extremists remained convinced that Trump would be inaugurated on 20 January, 2021. Another event which did not take place.

And yet despite these ‘set-backs’, one would be naïve to imagine that this movement will vanish.

And where does that leave those of us who have been directly impacted by a friend, colleague or family member who has disappeared into the abyss of conspiracies?

For me it meant walking away — but this was by no means an easy task. After months of struggling with insomnia coupled with a permanent feeling of paranoia — think Rosemary’s Baby — I decided to set myself free. I broke contact, unfollowed and unfriended. This has left me grieving, but at the same time confused and self-flagellating — how had I not known and why did I not walk sooner? When will all this craziness end?

There are no easy answers to these questions. This is a process, and one in which I know I am not alone.