How Asking Questions became a Strategy to Spread Conspiracy Theories.

Accusing people of crimes in public could lead to legal consequences, but agitators found a way to avoid getting sued for libel.

Recently, I had been shocked by the amount of Trump supporters and QAnon believers on my social media feeds. When asking these people why they share alt-right narratives, I always get the same answer: “I am just asking questions.”

Asking questions has always been a tool to shift a conversation without taking any responsibility. In university, there would be that one guy that makes controversial statements dressed up as questions. Nowadays, we encounter political arguments on social media camouflaged as critical thinking.

We see this in discussion around Covid-19 restrictions, Black Lives Matter and Vaccinations. Most people don’t like to expose themselves as conspiracy believers, racists or anti-science agitators, but they love to ask questions implying certain narratives.

After George Floyd got killed by a cop, conservatives started asking about his criminal record. Stating that the murder was acceptable if Floyd was a criminal would not be acceptable in 2020, but asking what he did before his arrest seems to be an expression of critical thinking.

Asking a woman after getting raped what she was wearing that day is something most people would not do out of respect for the victim. Why does it happen when someone gets murdered?

Openly supporting Donald Trump is not very popular among wellness influencers and yoga teachers, but asking questions based on QAnon ideology that suggests all liberals were child-traffickers seems to be ok to them.

Denying the existence of a virus that killed people all around the world would be an argument that could be debunked, but asking about the legitimacy of statistics seems to be an elegant way to claim that the pandemic was just a liberal hoax without actually saying it.

Stating that vaccinations cause autism could be seen as an anti-scientific stance, but asking about anecdotal stories that highlight rare side-effects comes across as critical thinking these days.

People keep saying that their “research” has brought up some interesting questions.

What if George Floyd was a criminal?

What if Covid-19 was just a hoax?

What if vaccinations kill a generation of children?

What if Joe Biden was a pedophile?

What if the earth was flat?

Using these questions gives the speaker the image of seeking the truth without making assumptions. Asking about something instead of saying it helps to avoid taking responsibility for these claims.

Let’s flip these questions into statements and ask ourselves how we would react to people saying things like that:

George Floyd was a criminal.

Covid-19 is a hoax.

Vaccinations kill people and cause autism.

Joe Biden is a pedophile.

Earth is flat.

Indirect speech and questions protect these people from getting sued and losing friends. Asking about circumstances in the Floyd case takes away the accusations of being a racist. Questioning Joe Biden’s interactions with women and children does not need any proof to make people believe that he could be a bad person, but it takes away the risk of getting sued by him.

Of course, people like Alex Jones, Tucker Carlson and Rush Limbaugh don’t need to worry about getting sued. They have an army of lawyers backing up their right to spread misinformation. People in my environment are facing a different situation.

Yoga teachers don’t want to get labeled as conspiracy nut jobs, suburban housewives prefer not getting accused of racism and anti-vaxxers don’t like to be called irresponsible by other parents. These people take no prisoners when talking in private, but on social media, they pretend to be someone that is only asking questions.

There is nothing wrong with bringing up questions as long as someone is willing to accept answers to them. When asking about something becomes an indirect way of making statements there is no common ground for a debate.

When asking questions becomes a trick to not get banned or censored on social media things literally get out of control. In Germany it is illegal to deny the holocaust, therefore far-right extremists use questions to avoid legal consequences for their claims.

It is not illegal to be a racist, but it is definitely frowned upon by the majority of society. Asking about the criminal record of a person that got murdered by the police is an attempt to make a racist statement without looking like one.

Asking what led a seventeen-year-old to shoot others at a BLM protest is not directly supporting the murder, but opening the door to justify these actions in one or the other way.

After asking these controversial questions online-activists often feel the need to remind everyone that this was not political at all. They portray themselves as unpolitical and reject any further discussion.

Every answer explaining the bigger picture behind current events will be disqualified by accusing the other of “being too political”.

In my opinion, every conspiracy theory can be debunked by taking the time to look at facts, but most QAnon cult members are not open to any exchange of arguments. Many of these people do not even realize what kind of narrative they are supporting with their questions, some even pretend to not even know what QAnon is.

Why does a surfer boy worry about churches being closed?

Why are wellness influencers against abortions?

Why does a drug dealer support law & order?

These are my questions, but I always get the same answer:

“I am not supporting any of that, I am just asking questions.”