I appreciate the context @BrandyZadrozny and @oneunderscore__ bring to this discussion. Some additional historical context is helpful too, as the same thing --basically point by point-- happened during the Satanic Panics of the 80s and 90s  https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/qanon-looms-behind-nationwide-rallies-viral-hashtags-n1237722

The panics first gathered energy in the 70s within Evangelical circles & through the 80s circulated within far right distribution networks (churches + far right radio were major hubs). The accusations that emerged in the 80s explicitly referred to Satanism/Satanic ritual abuse

But as the accusations spread into more secular networks (Milner and I tether this to network climate change; shifts in media + regulation +rise of far right starting in the 70s = slow then much faster changes in how info spreads), explicit references to Satan began falling away

Sometimes this was the effort of Evangelicals who knew that leading w Satan would alienate nonChristians (or Christians who didn't believe in the devil incarnate) + child welfare advocates (often Evangelical) who wanted to get the word out but, again, knew Satan was a tough sell

But in other cases, Satan gave way to more secular framings like "multivictim, multioffender abuse" or simply "child sex rings" bc the people hearing & reacting to the info didn't know where it originated, or that Satan was ever part of it--a boon for far right culture warriors

This is exactly what's happening here-- clearly there's subterfuge at play for many; an effort to launder QAnon into the mainstream by tethering it to one of the few things almost everyone can agree on: child sex abuse is terrible (what journalist would argue against it??)

But there are lots of people who see calls to protect the children & respond earnestly, inadvertently helping the QAnon cause (which let's not forget is also at the heart of SO much Covid misinfo)-- even if they've never even HEARD of QAnon, or don't know of its worst harms

The narrative parallels of Satanic/Deep State/QAnon theories and the Satanic Panics are striking even just as a historical curio (the more things change...) ---But those parallels reveal much more than that

These theories spread across and between networks, accruing energy, credibility and increasing numbers of sympathizers, through a combo of bad-faith media manipulation, good-faith efforts to help (not realizing what you're even helping WITH) and totally neutral everyday actions

Understanding all the energies powering these kinds of conspiracy theories along --and the accidental role we all might be playing-- is critical to assessing how/if/when to respond to similar kinds of theories today.

For more background on the panics, network climate change, and how pushing back then (as now) only helped spread the theories into new networks, making the theories more powerful, see our chapter  https://you-are-here.pubpub.org/pub/57s06mjw/release/2 "The Devil's In the Deep Frames"