17 pct Americans believe in right-wing QAnon conspiracy: study

BEIJING - Seventeen percent of Americans were deemed as believers of the right-wing QAnon conspiracy in October 2021, up from 14 percent in March 2021, a recent survey has shown.

Among the 19,399 respondents surveyed by the Public Religion Research Institute, 16 percent agreed that "the government, media and financial worlds in the United States are controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who run a global child sex-trafficking operation," which is one of the core beliefs of the QAnon conspiracy.

Eighteen percent agreed that "true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country," and 22 percent believed that "there is a storm coming soon that will sweep away the elites in power and restore the rightful leaders," said the study.

The QAnon conspiracy movement emerged on the internet in late 2017 and according to the study, the "most visible role" it has played was in the Jan 6 Capitol riot.