Here’s how QAnon cultists are using ‘digital astroturfing’ to evade Twitter bans

Efforts by social media giant Twitter to combat the spread of the QAnon conspiracy theory on its platform have been evaded, according to a new study.

Laura Dilley, an associate professor in the Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders at the University of Michigan, conducted the study and shared her results with Business Insider.

"Twitter has sought to prevent the QAnon movement from operating on its platform, purging more than 70,000 accounts in the wake of the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. But, the study showed, large networks of supporters and influencers are continuing to operate there," Insider reported.

READ MORE: QAnon believers left baffled and frustrated by Trump's pivot

Dilley tracked four networks promoting QAnon from August 2020.

"The most prominent network had 1,500 accounts, producing messages clustering around several core themes. They include false claims about the January 6 insurrection, conspiracy theories that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump, and a selection of far-right talking points. Many were closely tied with networks of white nationalist accounts," Insider reported.

Three techniques the networks utilized included replacing banned accounts with near-identical duplicates, using images to spread propaganda to evade text tracking, and making small textual variations to evade banned topics.

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"This is the first research to definitively show evidence of digital astroturfing in the online promotion of QAnon on Twitter. Further, the research establishes that QAnon promotional activity on Twitter was closely linked with and indeed promoted by a wide variety of networks that span white nationalism," Dilley explained.

Read the full report.