A q and a question mark.
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Two new reports this week have offered seemingly contrasting data about the resiliency of the QAnon conspiracy theory, which helped inspire the Jan. 6 insurrection.

The Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab on Wednesday reported that after last spiking in the days before the Capitol attack, catchphrases associated with QAnon have now slowed to a tiny "murmur" on the mainstream internet — a decrease attributed, in part, to a crackdown on conspiracy content by the major social media sites. But on Friday, the Public Religion Research Institute released a survey conducted in March showing that 15 percent of Americans believe QAnon's central notion that the government and media "are controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who run a global child sex trafficking operation." The findings were very similar to a Morning Consult poll from January.

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Joel Mathis, The Week US

Joel Mathis is a writer with 30 years of newspaper and online journalism experience. His work also regularly appears in National Geographic and The Kansas City Star. His awards include best online commentary at the Online News Association and (twice) at the City and Regional Magazine Association.