John McAfee's social media team appears to conduct QAnon 'stunt' after reports of his death in prison
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After reports surfaced about antivirus software magnate John McAfee's death in a Spanish prison on Wednesday following the announcement that he was being extradited to the United States where he faced tax evasion charges, his social media team appeared to pull a "stunt" on his Instagram account, posting a "Q", likely in reference to the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory, NBC News' Ben Collins reports.
Per Collins, McAfee frequently alluded to global conspiracies and alleged he was being targeted while publishing attention-grabbing social media posts.
Meanwhile, Marc-André Argentina, a research fellow at the International Center for the Study of Radicalisation, pointed out that Jordan Wildon, who investigates digital disinformation, tracked down the exact time stamp of the post, which indicated "this was a planned post troll."
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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
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