The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Desi Lydic Interviews an Ex-QAnon Follower

Episode Date: July 28, 2021

Desi Lydic talks to Lenka Perron, a former online conspiracy theorist, who describes how she inadvertently got sucked into the QAnon community, thanks in part to the power of social media. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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You're listening to Comedy Central. Online conspiracies. They're the second most search thing on the internet after Joseph Gordon Leavitt dancing. Talk about a triple threat. Mamma Mia! But recently, more insidious theories like Pizza Gate, 5Gate, 5G-G-G-I'm. I'm th. I'm the I'm the I'm the I'm the I'm the I'm the I'm the I'm the I'm the I'm the I'm the I'm the I'm the I'm the I'm the I'm the I'm the I'm the I'm the I'm the I'm th. I'm th. I'm. I'm the the I'm the th. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I I'm. I'm. I I'm. I I'm. I I I I. I I I'm. I I. I I. I I. I I. I I. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm th th th th th th th th th th th th th th thi th th th thi th thi. I'm th. I'm triple threat. Mamma Mia! But recently, more insidious theories like Pizza Gate, 5G COVID towers, and Q&O-N, have climbed out of the dark corners of the internet to cause real-world violence, influence elections, and splinter democracy.

Mamma Mia! But how do people get sucked into these extreme online cults? I infiltrated the dark web via something called Gmail to find someone who had escaped these pernicious groups. But if she was going to trust me, I have to start off nice and easy. Give me your name. How did you find Q-and-on? Who is Q? Is Q-U-U? My name is Linkaparin? I'm not Q. I don't know who Q is, but I'm a mom of three and I'm a risk manager for an insurance company. Okay, mom risk manager, that seems relatively normal. How did you get involved in these conspiracy communities? I didn't join them. They kind of found me, which is sort of how this works. Right, right, right. You're a Trump super fan,

constantly posting about rigged elections, JFK Jr. still being alive, always looking for trus for the impending storm. Not at all. I was a Bernie Sanders delegate and supporter, and I found myself getting pulled into conspiracies in late 2016. I'm sorry, according to every news outlet, you're supposed to be a Trump fanatic. You said you're a Bernie supporter? Absolutely.

Still am. I even voted for Joe Biden. Okay, I'm gonna need a minute. I guess conspiracy theories are one of the few things that are bipartisan and Facebook conspiracy groups have millions of members. So how did a working-class Bernie Mom get swept up in all this? It started with the conspiracies following the Wikileak DMC emails. So when we opened up the WikiLeak emails, what we essentially were reading was pushing Hillary Clinton across the finish line and undermining Bernie Sanders, and we were devastated.

And so we started, you know, we were in the question of if they can do that to us, what else are they capable of? And in comes the conspiracy generators who are saying, well, let us show you what else they're capable of. And in comes the conspiracy generators who are saying, well, let us show you what else they're capable of. I want you to walk me through some of these conspiracy theories. Okay, so the conspiracies were around the indictments of Democratic politicians. They see the Democratic Party as baby killers. You add conspiracies about the COVID vaccine, actually have microchips in them. You've got the Wayfair furniture conspiracy that they were sex trafficking children by taping them up and hiding them in big cabinets and so forth. So they were saying that Wayfair was hiding children in their furniture?

Yes they are, and yes they were. Thank God that theory is not true. I cannot afford another kid. With all these sensational narratives, people just got hooked. So how is Linka able to escape? It started to feel more, more cult-like. And if you dared to quash the narrative like I did it very quickly became like a very kind of buliish kind of playground to be in where

critical thinking and questioning wasn't welcome. It's like showing up to an orgy and being like let's talk about the weather and everyone else is like no we're gonna fuck. It's very similar to having a loved one who has some kind of addiction or gets roped into some kind of extremist cult. All they wanted to talk about was the conspiracies. So that's when you decided to leave? Yes.

That's when I exited, and I've been watching everything really grow and devolve since then. Linka was lucky enough to get out, but how are are th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th thi thi thia their their their their their their their their their their thia' the' the' the' the' the' the' thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. toe. toe. toea. toean. toean. toean. toean. toean. toean. toean. toean. toean. toea. toea. toea. Linka was lucky enough to get out, but how are these groups able to spread so quickly to begin with? Are you finding that things are a little more click bait, like some of these theories are a bit clickbatey? Oh, there is absolutely a method. Facebook is suggesting that you join this group or that group because you might have something in common with them.

And before you know it, you it it it it, you it, you th th th th th th th th th th th th th, you th, you th, you th, you th, you th, you th, th, th, th, th, th, th, the, the, the, tho, thi, thi, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, in common with them. And before you know it, you haven't fed your kids, and you're calling somebody to say, can you believe it's happening? At three in the morning, you're excited about what they're saying is going to happen tomorrow. So you're telling me you'd spend all day scrolling through Pizza Gate stories, and it's because of social media algorithms. Exactly. And our news feeds create our realities. The algorithms are set up to send you, you know, dozens of YouTube and graphics and Facebook selections. And it's a multi-billion dollar industry now.

Turns out big tech companies don't love microchips and mind control. They just love money. Why are social media fed conspiracies attracting people from both sides of the political spectrum? It's not like disenfranchised Americans are finding themselves powerless to a corporate ruling class, right? Exactly. People feel economically insecure.

And conspiracies have become a great outlet that makes people feel empowered. So to decrease the online conspiracy world, all we have to do is give power back to the people and break up big tech monopoliesies... the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the. It's the. It's the. It's their, it's. It's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, the, the, the, the, th. thi. thi. It's thi. It's thi. thi, thi. thi. It's not, thea, thi. It's not, their, their, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's, their, feel empowered. So to decrease the online conspiracy world, all we have to do is give power back to the people and break up big tech monopolies that control our news feeds. Oh, mama mea. The Daily Show with Trevor Noah Ears Edition. Subscribe to the Daily Show on YouTube for exclusive content and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount Plus. This has been a Comedy Central podcast.