Condemning Qanon and Rejecting the Conspiracy Theories It Promotes

Floor Speech

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Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 1154 and call on all of my colleagues to denounce the dangerous QAnon conspiracy theories.

Mr. Speaker, QAnon is a new front in an old war and relies on anti- Semitic tropes in order to spread the message. QAnon followers actually believe that the world is controlled by a secret cabal of child abusers, who will drink the blood of their victims. The FBI has linked the group to domestic terror and considers it a continuing terrorist threat.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Tom Malinowski for leading this. The kind of messages that he is getting--very, very frightening. And I also thank Denver Riggleman and all of the bipartisan sponsors of this legislation.

Just last week, my subcommittee held a hearing on how social media mainstreams extremism. When we heard from our witnesses, it was really terrifying.

QAnon and other extremist groups have thrived for years on the internet, recruiting members, promoting racism, dividing our communities, and plotting actions of violence.

As people have suffered, Big Tech has prospered and profited. Algorithms that amplify profits for platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter also amplify extremism.

This week, Facebook announced a ban on ads that support QAnon. Good, but it is far too little and far too late. Facebook users who are in QAnon-associated groups will still be able to see extremist content, just further down in their news feeds.

Moreover, Facebook groups promoting anti-Semitism have grown by 27 percent in the past week.

Congress needs to denounce right now this kind of hate rhetoric, and Big Tech must be held accountable for profiting on this hate.

Before I close, I would like to also state my support for H. Res. 1153 and thank Pramila Jayapal for leading the effort and Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Hoyer for their help on this resolution as well.

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