Paris, Oct 9 (AFP/APP):A surge in child trafficking misinformation pushed by QAnon conspiracy theorists is stirring public panic, generating violence and interfering with official efforts to protect minors, experts warn. From the US to South Africa, AFP Fact Check has debunked claims about girls found locked in shipping containers or lured in the street with roses fitted with a location-tracking chip. A Facebook post shared one million times last month claimed 39 missing children had been found in a trailer in the US state of Georgia. In reality, they were discovered in separate locations in August as part of a police operation and a majority were not trafficking victims. Another hoax falsely accused US furniture retailer Wayfair of trafficking children inside storage cabinets. These stories have stoked the flames of QAnon, a far-right movement claiming that US President Donald Trump is waging a secret war against a global liberal cult of Satan-worshipping paedophiles. QAnon crept up three years ago on the fringes of social media but has since spilt into the mainstream thanks to widely-shared posts on platforms like Facebook and Instagram. “A lot of conspiracy theories are about pure people being exploited by a corrupt and decadent elite”, said … Continue reading QAnon sows panic with child trafficking misinformation