Citigroup employee who operated QAnon website on paid leave
QMap.pub received more than 10 million visitors in July according to web analytics company SimilarWeb.
The site served as an aggregator of “Q drops,” which are anonymous posts on the website 8kun by someone claiming to have a high-level government security clearance providing inside information.
A supporter of President Donald Trump holds up a sign referencing QAnon. NYT
The QAnon theory posits that President Donald Trump is battling a “deep state” ring of child-sex traffickers. Some adherents of QAnon are running for public office, but some others have committed violent acts or threatened them, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Because 8kun is difficult to navigate and rife with other disturbing content, many people interested in QAnon instead use aggregators that collect and present the Q drops.
QMap.pub became the most popular by offering user-friendly features like tags on posts to allow people to search more easily for themes, said Travis View, a researcher who co-hosts the podcast QAnon Anonymous.
“It was very effective because it allowed people to go down their own rabbit holes,” he said.
Reached outside his home last week, Gelinas declined to comment on the site, and said that QAnon is “a patriotic movement to save the country.”
Bloomberg
*** This article has been archived for your research. The original version from afr.com can be found here ***
