Far-right online figures are spreading a conspiracy theory claiming the e-commerce platform Etsy is hosting a child trafficking market — reminiscent of the baseless claim that targeted the online furniture and home goods retailer Wayfair in 2020. Some far-right figures are even calling Etsy “the new Wayfair,” as the conspiracy theory spread across X (formerly Twitter), far-right message boards and right-wing platforms, and more mainstream platforms such as Reddit, TikTok, and Meta’s platforms, apparently earning millions of views.
The conspiracy theory about Etsy — which is similar to a 2020 conspiracy theory about Wayfair — claims that certain products on the platform, like those with images showing pizza and children, have anomalously high prices because the actual product for sale is a trafficked child, child sexual abuse material, or something related. The claim that “pizza” is a code word for pedophilia was a key component of the false Pizzagate conspiracy theory, which was a precursor to the QAnon and Wayfair conspiracy theories.
The Wayfair conspiracy theory, spurred by a QAnon influencer, forced the company to rebut the claims and caused the Department of Homeland Security to investigate the claim. The investigators found no evidence to support any of the allegations.
On December 10, a QAnon-promoting account on X, @NiQole1776, posted that it had discovered pizza-related products selling on Etsy for thousands of dollars, and the account suggested that these products were suspicious, writing, “Don’t let them gaslight you anymore.”
The post, which is the earliest post that Media Matters found of the conspiracy theory, earned at least 2.5 million views, according to X’s metrics.
Other accounts on X reiterated the conspiracy theory later that evening, claiming Etsy was offering “child exploitation material.” By the following day, right-wing figures with larger followings on X started amplifying the claim on the platform, including podcast host Kyle Seraphin and QAnon influencer Ben Moore (known online as “Sun Tzu”), who congratulated the QAnon-promoting @NiQole1776 account that posted the baseless claim on October 10 for “exposing this.”
That evening, QAnon and Pizzagate conspiracy theorist Liz Crokin questioned on X if “CHILD TRAFFICKING” is “TAKING PLACE ON ETSY” because “there are a lot of suspicious listings on Etsy” involving pizza “that have people wondering if child porn or children are for sale for sex on the e-commerce site." Crokin also demanded that the company give “an explanation for these suspicious posts” and thanked the QAnon-promoting @NiQole1776 account for “doing fantastic work exposing a lot of the suspicious activity on these e-commerce sites.”
Crokin’s post received thousands of reposts and millions of views, according to X’s metrics. Among those who amplified Crokin’s post included former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who also tagged @NiQole1776 and earned thousands of reposts. Other QAnon influencers and sympathizers and white nationalist figures — as well as right-wing figures with large followings — have continued to spread the conspiracy theory on X, with some demanding a response from Etsy.
The conspiracy theory has also spread across far-right message boards and right-wing platforms, such as 4chan, Gab, TheDonald, a major QAnon forum, and on Truth Social, along with far-right figures on Telegram, with some users on these platforms calling it “the new Wayfair.” One QAnon influencer on Telegram cited @NiQole1776 directly and demanded “an investigation into this immediately.”
