Overview

Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist James Ball takes us into the depths of the internet to trace the origins and rapid ascent of QAnon, the movement that mutated from a niche online conspiracy theory into the world’s first digital pandemic. Imagine a deadly pathogen that, once created, could infect any person in any part of the globe within seconds. No need to wait for travellers, trains, or air traffic to spread it, all you need is an internet connection. In this gripping investigation, Pulitzer Prize winner James Ball decodes the cryptic language of the online right and with a surgeon’s precision tracks the spread of QAnon, the world’s first digital pandemic. QAnon began as an internet community dedicated to supporting President Trump and intent on outing a global cabal of human traffickers. A short, cryptic message posted by an anonymous user to a niche internet forum in 2017 was the spark that ignited a global movement. What started as a macabre game of virtual make-believe quickly spiralled into the spread of virulently hateful, dangerous messaging – which turned into tragic, violent actions. Incoherent, chaotic, free from agendas: QAnon is a one-size-fits all cult conspiracy. From a standoff at the Hoover Dam, to the storming of the U.S. Capitol on 6 January 2021, to protesting COVID-19 lockdowns, this digital pandemic has spread globally and shows no signs of stopping. In The Other Pandemic Ball takes us into the niche pathways through which these digital pathogens spread, mutate and infect people all across the globe – but he also argues that the prognosis doesn’t have to be dire. He shows us that it is possible to treat and cure this virus in order to build up our digital immune systems, and be better prepared to survive the next wave. *A Financial Times Book to Read in 2023*

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9781526642516

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Reviews

In his new book about the QAnon movement, the investigative journalist James Ball teases out the global network of people who have essentially given up on the notion of objective reality, from bored teenage trolls to duplicitous politicians and crazed billionaires … Ball takes to his task with a convert’s zealotry -- Ethan Croft * The Times * An insightful book about the conspiracy movement compares it persuasively to a self-replicating disease … A disturbing study of the origins and resilience of an exceptionally versatile and pernicious network of paranoid digital malcontents -- Rafael Behr * Guardian * This is a worthwhile, pacy and well-written book. It is an important one, too. We need to understand why people are hoodwinked by and have faith in conspiracy theories because it is happening with increasing frequency * New Scientist * Utterly fascinating -- Dom Joly Ball, with this biography of the internet, takes us beyond Zuckerberg, Bezos et al into a murkier world where we discover how everything online works and who benefits from it. Fascinating, engaging and important, too -- praise for The System * Observer * A fascinating exposé of the world behind your screen. Timely, often disturbing, and so important -- praise for The System, Caroline Criado-Perez, author of Invisible Women

Author Information

James Ball is a Fellow at the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media, Demos, and the author of multiple books, including Post-Truth and The System. He has worked for the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, BuzzFeed, the Guardian and the Washington Post and his reporting projects have won the Pulitzer Prize for public service, the Scripps Howard Prize and the British Journalism Award for investigative reporting, among others. He lives in London.

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