“YouTube cracks down on QAnon conspiracy theory videos, citing real-world violence”

Whitney Phillips, assistant professor of communication and rhetorical studies in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, was interviewed by CBS News for the story “YouTube cracks down on QAnon conspiracy theory videos, citing real-world violence.” Phillips, an expert on disinformation and digital ethics, studies how QAnon was started and grew over the course of Donald Trump’s presidency. She says that QAnon is a “bundle of different beliefs, but the one that often gets focused on the most is the idea that Donald Trump is fighting, and winning, a war against, Satanic, cannibalistic, child-molesting top Democrats.”