A QAnon con: How the viral Wayfair sex trafficking lie hurt real kids

[Nevilledog]

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Daniel Dale
@ddale8
This is superb journalism on the lasting impact of the deranged viral lies about kids with the same names as Wayfair furniture products.

A QAnon con: How the viral Wayfair sex trafficking lie hurt real kids
An Internet mob wanted to rescue a 13-year-old girl. Instead, they terrified her, derailed real trafficking investigations and incited ‘save the children’ violence.
washingtonpost.com
6:55 AM · Dec 16, 2021

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/interactive/2021/wayfair-qanon-sex-trafficking-conspiracy/

No paywall
https://archive.ph/8YJkN


The real Samara Duplessis was sprawled across her comforter, her thumb on Instagram. Summer could drag on in the Detroit suburbs, and the summer of 2020 — her eighth-grade graduation reduced to Zoom, her whole world masked and anxious — was already the most boring of them all.

But it felt even more bleak to 13-year-old Samara, whose parents had been a mess of worry ever since what happened in the spring.

In May, Samara had stuffed a box of Frosted Flakes into her sparkly backpack, slipped out the door and ran away. She had just needed a break from it all, you know?
It was terrifying for her parents, Samara understood that now. The search parties, the police alerts, the missing posters.

They found her after two days, and ever since, everything in Samara’s life was about “rebuilding trust” and “taking responsibility.” All she wanted was for her parents to see that she was fine, and they didn’t need to be so worried.

*snip*

[ck4829]

1. K&R

[Celerity]

2. Fucking insanity. Almost zero chance to avoid violent kinetic civil conflict

down the road.

I guarantee so many of the QAnon right wingers are actual paedos, btw. Moths to the flame. It allows them to openly talk about their proclivities, under the guise of faux condemnation.

[LizBeth]

5. +1

[TheBlackAdder]

3. QAnon's purpose could be to shield the Jeffrey Epsteins of the world!

.

‘It’s Out Of Control’: How QAnon Undermines Legitimate Anti-Trafficking Efforts

Lurking at the helm of these so-called “Save Our Children” rallies is QAnon, the far-right conspiracy theory movement that baselessly claims, with stunning and growing support, that President Donald Trump is secretly battling a “deep state” cabal of Democratic politicians and A-list celebrities who traffic children for sex.

Child sex trafficking is a dire problem: It happens in all 50 states, almost always at the hands of people the victims know and trust. But QAnon — in its virulent campaign to expose a supposed underground pedophilia ring run by the liberal elite — is exacerbating the very crisis it claims to be fighting. As the movement appropriates and sensationalizes the issue to recruit more followers into its conspiratorial web, legitimate anti-trafficking organizations are suffering significant collateral damage.

HuffPost spoke to employees at child welfare groups across the U.S. and beyond about the burdens that QAnon has placed upon them and their work. For many, debunking viral misinformation, mining through unhinged tips and warding off mob harassment has become part of the job — detracting from their ability to actually help kids in need.

“It’s out of control,” said one exasperated senior staffer at a national anti-trafficking organization based in Washington. “It absolutely makes our job more difficult.”

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/how-qanon-impedes-legitimate-anti-trafficking-groups_n_5f4eacb9c5b69eb5c03592d1

Hell, you even had FOX News hosts telling people to call CPS if they see kids wearing masks!

.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

4. Great reporting. Heartbreaking to see so many people hurting in this world.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

6. K&R

[LeftInTX]

7. What on earth? Well, it doesn't surprise me.....

So the girl who died at the Capitol got caught up in these conspiracy theories. I guess she saw it on social media and thought all these kids were being abducted by Wayfair and was clueless....