The most telling part of HBO’s “Q: Into the Storm” comes in its second episode, when Ron Watkins, a conspiracy theorist and former 8chan administrator, explains why he agreed to be interviewed for the documentary: “It’s very important to get the word out that as the years go by, more and more people are attacking free speech online and we need to do all we can to defend it now.”It’s a common right-wing talking point regarding social media platforms’ restrictions on bigotry, violent content, and conspiracy theories, and it’s a lie that “Q: Into the Storm” does distressingly little to push back against.
The documentary, which is directed by Cullen Hoback and executive produced by Adam McKay (“Succession”), is billed as an investigation into the identity of the person(s) behind QAnon and its impact on American culture and politics but boasts a needlessly conspiratorial
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