Condemning QAnon and rejecting the conspiracy theories it promotes.

Whereas, throughout history, conspiracy theories that falsely blame secret cabals or marginalized groups for society’s ills have fueled prejudice, genocide, and acts of terrorism;

Whereas QAnon is a movement promoting a collection of unfounded conspiracy theories that have spread widely on the internet since 2017;

Whereas QAnon initially alleged that prominent Americans are engaged in a secret plot to control the world, while using their power to exploit children, and has expanded to embrace virtually every popular conspiracy theory of the last several decades, from questioning the truth about the September 11th terrorist attacks, to believing in alien landings, to denying the safety of vaccines;

Whereas many QAnon followers express anti-Semitic views, and the Anti-Defamation League has said that the movement’s central conspiracy theory includes anti-Semitic elements;

Whereas conspiracy theories have been a central driver of anti-Semitism for centuries, and QAnon conspiracy theories are fanning the flames as anti-Semitism is on the rise in the United States and around the world;

Whereas the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has assessed with high confidence that fringe political conspiracy theories, including QAnon, very likely motivate some domestic extremists, wholly or in part, to engage in criminal or violent activity, and that these conspiracy theories very likely encourage the targeting of specific people, places and organizations, thereby increasing the likelihood of violence against these targets;

Whereas the FBI bases this assessment on events in which individuals committed crimes, plotted attacks, or successfully carried out deadly violence, and who—either before or after their arrests—attributed their actions to their conspiratorial beliefs;

Whereas QAnon adherents have been implicated in crimes that they claim their QAnon beliefs inspired, including—

Whereas the FBI further assesses that these conspiracy theories very likely will emerge, spread and evolve in the modern information marketplace * * * fostering anti-government sentiment, racial and religious prejudice, [and] increasing political tensions;

Whereas, according to the Combating Terrorism Center at the United States Military Academy at West Point, QAnon is arguably no longer simply a fringe conspiracy theory but an ideology that has demonstrated its capacity to radicalize to violence individuals at an alarming speed;

Whereas Facebook, Twitter, and Google have removed or blocked QAnon groups and content from their platforms for violating their policies against misinformation, bullying, hate speech, and harassment;

Whereas QAnon adherents have been harming legitimate efforts to combat child exploitation and sex trafficking, including by overwhelming antitrafficking hotlines with false reports;

Whereas the conspiracy theories promoted by QAnon undermine trust in America’s democratic institutions, encourage rejection of objective reality, and deepen our Nation’s political polarization; and

Whereas our Nation’s polarization is further accentuated by others, from the far left to the far right, promoting extreme ideologies and antigovernment conspiracy theories, hijacking legitimate peaceful protests, and encouraging followers to damage, deface, or vandalize local, State, and Federal Government properties and to attack law enforcement: Now, therefore, be it