The story of 8chan is a cautionary tale of what happens when free speech turns into hate speech, that can cause danger in American lives. The HBO max documentary “Q Into the Storm” explores how a message board designed to promote free speech can quickly turn into a dangerous militia. Started by founder Fredrick Brennan, 8 chan was intended to just be a place where people go and vent their frustrations with daily life. This was an uncensored, and unmoderated platform, and drew to people like Fredrick, who felt that they did not fit into society. What made it so popular is that everything was so open, and free, as people who felt disenfranchised by society had a place to go that welcomed them. 8 chan was similar to reddit in a way, as it is built as an online forum, with a “Were all in this together” type of attitude. The issue with 8chan, was that it was too open, and too free, as over time people started to use the platform to push their own dangerous/crazy agenda. 8chan eventually became a place for people who honestly want to see the world burn vent their anger and frustrations. The Watkins family is particularly to blame for this, as they squeezed Fredrick out of 8chan, and the forum became the uncensored home of Q’anon. The forum almost turned into a sick game, as Ron Watkins who in all likelihood is the founder of Q’anon, is literally toying with people’s heads in order to push an agenda. Q’anon is literally like a game of clue, as the user named “Q” (Ron Watkins) will drop hints for his followers to solve, and to piece the puzzle together. The people who are on this site are literally used as pawns, and this causes real world danger. Take Pizzagate for example, as this was a conspiracy theory that Hilary Clinton was running a child sex trafficing ring at a pizza place. Well what happened next? A man stormed the pizza place with a gun. Next was the insurrection at the capitol, as “Q” was pushing conspiracy theories that Donald Trump had won the election. This was an online agenda being pushed by people who are insecure about their own lives, and want to watch the world burn. This documentary is a cautionary tale of what happens when you have unfiltered speech, and shows that we need a moderation system of checks and balances on the internet to keep something like Q”anon from never forming again.
Jake's Takes 