After the QAnon community came under increased scrutiny in 2020 and the conspiracy theory’s central figure told followers to “camouflage,” they have repeatedly claimed that QAnon does not exist. Some reporters haven’t been able to recognize this strategy of denial, even though the conspiracy theory and its supporters have repeatedly featured in major news stories since it began in 2017.

During the height of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, consumption of QAnon content on social media soared as people flocked to conspiracy theory content that supposedly addressed their fears and anxieties. News outlets also started giving QAnon more attention, with reporters documenting the rise of QAnon congressional candidates like now-Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and even asking then-President Donald Trump about the conspiracy theory. By the second half of the year, multiple social media companies had cracked down on QAnon-related content on their platforms.

Amid all the increased scrutiny, some in the QAnon community decided to essentially go undercover, attempting to reframe the conspiracy theory as a movement to oppose child trafficking. In August 2020, QAnon supporters launched a series of “Save the Children” rallies, and the hashtag #SaveTheChildren spread on a number of social media platforms. 

By September 2020, QAnon’s central figure “Q” embraced the strategy, urging followers to “camouflage” and drop references to QAnon and to Q. And that October, Q went further, telling supporters three things: “There is ‘Q'"; “There are ‘Anons’”; and, "There is no ‘Qanon.’”

That line became widely embraced among QAnon supporters. A Vice News article in 2021 found that family members of QAnon supporters reported “that their loved ones are now telling them that QAnon doesn’t exist as a way to rebuff any arguments made against QAnon.”

Prominent figures on the right also invoked the claim that QAnon doesn’t exist, including former journalist Lara Logan, actor Jim Caviezel, former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne, one of Trump’s attorneys, and multiple political candidates. Jim Watkins, the owner of the site where Q has posted, even pushed the claim before the House January 6 committee.

Despite QAnon followers admitting to the camouflage strategy — and extremists previously using the same tactic to mask far-right and bigoted ideas — some reporters have repeatedly featured QAnon supporters’ denials without noting that they are repeating a QAnon talking point. 

Reporters should treat QAnon as the dangerous movement that it is. Its supporters have been tied to multiple acts of violence, including an armed man holding up the Hoover Dam and rioters storming the U.S. Capitol during the January 6 insurrection, multiple government agencies have issued internal warnings about QAnon threats, and the conspiracy theory has become a significant feature of Republican politics in recent years — with GOP consultants openly acknowledging its political power.

It is more important than ever that media coverage expose this undercover strategy for what it is. That means being willing to describe public figures as QAnon supporters even when they are playing dumb.