By David Pendered
QAnon supporters reported Sunday that Pope Francis was arrested Saturday on charges including human trafficking and incest. NBC News reported Sunday the Pope gave his usual Sunday remarks at the Vatican.
These two reports speak to the divergent reality that’s prompted push-back on QAnon statements on human trafficking by the Atlanta-based International Human Trafficking Institute, an initiative of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights.
The situation with QAnon’s reports on human trafficking has reached a point where the center’s leadership felt action was required. The center issued a call for concerned individuals to sign a statement that calls out QAnon’s reports on human trafficking. Multiple issues had come to a head as children spent increased hours on computers for at-home schooling.
Deborah Richardson, the center’s executive director, offered this observation Sunday evening:
- “QAnon’s propaganda leads parents to believe that their children are safe because they are virtual learning, therefore not at risk of becoming one of the purported 800,000 children kidnapped. Now, more than ever, it’s essential that parents learn how to protect their children online. We urge any adult who has a child in their life to get educated. IHTI offers free virtual training and programs.”
The reports of the Pope’s arrest are one example of misinformation spread by QAnon. The reports are here and here and here; the NBC report is here. These stories are part of an effort by QAnon supporters to support President Trump, contending that he is leading a secret battle against satanic forces led by Democrats who are involved in human trafficking and other crimes against humanity.
In a related story from last summer, NBC news reporter Bert Collins is credited with tracking to their source QAnon reports about a furniture store selling human children, according to a report by insider.com.
The QAnon influencer – 99freemind, aka Amazing Polly – whom Collins linked to the initial reports is back in the news, following Twitter’s decision to flag her account. On Sunday, her Twitter account was blank and a statement indicated it had violated Twitter’s rules. All the previously posted material was not readily available, though it was visible last week. The notice stated:
- “The link you are trying to access has been identified by Twitter or our partners as being potentially spammy or unsafe, in accordance with Twitter’s URL Policy. This link could fall into any of the below categories.” And the post continues to cite four categories.
In October 2020, Amazing Polly posted a video on her page on bitchute.com that addressed YouTube’s decision to eliminate access to her YouTube account and all her past videos. In this and another video, Amazing Polly says her site and others are viewed by those who find “comfort or meaning or inspiration,” as well as news on “how the fake news media uses trickery and slight of hand and insults and obfuscation, in order to cover up for child sex trafficking.”
Richardson offered this additional thought on why the institute has launched a statement to address the QAnon situation in regards to human trafficking:
- During Covid-19 there has been a 106% increase in reports to the CyberTipline of children being approached online by predators. With this constant flow of misinformation on social media by QAnon operatives, parents are misled how sexual exploitation actually occurs. The demand of predators who exploit children is taking place online. Predators are approaching and grooming children to send nude photos of themselves, that are uploaded and shared over the internet.”
