America's Satanic Panic Returns — This Time Through QAnon
In the 1980s, false accusations of satanic ritual abuse spread across the U.S. Now, QAnon has revived those fears, borrowing from the playbook of the Satanic Panic from decades prior.
The first time sociologist Mary de Young heard about QAnon, she thought: "Here we go again."
De Young spent her career studying moral panics — specifically, what became known as the "Satanic Panic" of the 1980s, when false accusations of the abuse of children in satanic rituals spread across the United States.
Decades later, echoes of that same fear had emerged in QAnon. The seemingly novel has grown in far-right political circles since November 2017. Adherents of QAnon believe that a shadowy cabal kidnaps children, tortures them and uses their blood in satanic rituals. The alleged perpetrators in
