The Antisocial Network: From Memes to Mayhem will explore the rise of a controversial online community and one of the most shocking events to occur in recent U.S. history. The Netflix documentary film is sure to catch the attention of anyone with an interest in the political machinations of the US when it debuts on April 5th, with a focus on the events of January 6th that saw the Capitol building attacked by supporters of then-President Donald Trump.
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What will The Antisocial Network: Memes to Mayhem be about?
The official synopsis states: “From the rise of QAnon to the January 6th riots, The Antisocial Network explains how a group of bored teenagers built an online community out of their shared loneliness but accidentally shattered consensus reality in the process.”
The documentary will be looking at QAnon and the origin of that online community and will tie it into the attacks on the Capitol building on January 6th. For those unaware of QAnon and its influence, the film will explain how this movement operates, and its part in the events that unfolded.
Curiously, the IMDb synopsis of the film is much vaguer and also leans into a more sympathetic angle: “A group of lonely teenagers formed an online community and bonded over their isolation, but their collective beliefs warped reality.” The use of words like “lonely”, “community”, “bonded”, and “isolation” create a much rosier image of QAnon than seems accurate.
The Antisocial Network: Memes to Mayhem is Likely to be Divisive
The film is no doubt going to be controversial, especially with Donald Trump running against Joe Biden in a bid to once again become President of the United States, despite a first tenure marked by controversy at best and outright criminality at worst.
Trump was accused of being instrumental in the January 6th attacks on the Capitol, and while he publicly condemned them, the event was explicitly framed by his supporters as the actions of patriots attempting to wrest back control of America’s political apparatus after a rigged election — sentiments about the latter having been pushed explicitly by Trump himself.
The timely release of The Antisocial Network will no doubt stir up trouble as it looks at the background of that particular incident and figures out the part that QAnon played in the events as they unfolded.
The Antisocial Network: Memes to Mayhem Release Date and Where to Watch
The Antisocial Network: Memes to Mayhem is set to release exclusively on Netflix on April 5th, 2024. It has a runtime of just over two hours and will be available to subscribers of the streaming platform globally.
The Antisocial Network: Memes to Mayhem | Image via Netflix
What is QAnon?
QAnon is a conspiracy theory and political movement often associated with the far-right of the U.S. political spectrum. It started building its community on the 4chan message board, which would feature discussions on all kinds of subjects, posting memes and images about pop culture and politics. It would be on this forum that someone known only as Q Clearance Patriot would begin posting, claiming that child traffickers and worshippers of Satan were trying to stop Donald Trump from investigating the hidden elites that run the world.
The person — or persons — who started posting in 2017 would soon begin to gather support online, with people believing in the theories that were presented. The movement would gain traction on social media, but the identity of the person, or people, behind QAnon has never been revealed, despite many investigators trying to uncover the mastermind behind it. Donald Trump would even mention the group, saying that he did not know much about them, but, “I understand they like me very much, which I appreciate”.
After the events of January 6th in Washington, Twitter would suspend over 70,000 accounts with Facebook also taking similar action on over 57,000 groups and pages. The aftermath of the riot was so devastating that Homeland Security issued a statement that warned of “ideologically-motivated violent extremists with objections to the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances fuelled by false narratives, [who] could continue to mobilize to incite or commit violence.”
