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Tech Tuesday: Untangling Online Conspiracy Theories

Supporters of President Donald Trump gather outside the U.S. Capitol, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington.
Shafkat Anowar
/
AP
Supporters of President Donald Trump gather outside the U.S. Capitol, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington.

The throng of thousands that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 included devotees of QAnon, a conspiracy theory that got its start in the shadowy corners of the Internet.

Since 2017, QAnon’s baseless beliefs have spread in an online environment with little to no guardrails to contain it. Since the riot, Twitter, for one, has purged 70,000 accounts. But users are flocking to new sites, such as Gab and Telegraph, which have amassed thousands of new users since the insurrection.

Today on Tech Tuesday, untangling the web of conspiracy theories online, plus the explosion in online dating sites gives rise to privacy concerns.

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