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QAnon influencers have a large audience on social media
Facebook has banned all accounts linked to the QAnon conspiracy theory movement from its platforms.
“Starting today, we will remove Facebook pages, groups and Instagram accounts,” the company said Tuesday.
The move is a significant escalation from Facebook’s previous decision to remove or restrict groups and accounts that share and promote QAnon material.
QAnon is a conspiracy theory that says that President Trump is waging a war against elite pedophiles who worship Satan.
In a statement released Tuesday, Facebook said its staff had begun removing content and removing groups and pages, but that “this work will take time and will continue for days and weeks to come.”
“Our Hazardous Organization Operations team will continue to enforce this policy and will proactively detect content for removal rather than relying on user reports,” the statement added.
- Facebook takes action against conspiracy groups
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Facebook said it was updating measures implemented in August aimed at “disrupting QAnon’s ability” to organize and operate on its networks.
That policy, introduced to limit public safety risks posed by QAnon, “offline anarchist groups,” and US-based militia organizations, resulted in restrictions on more than 1,950 Facebook groups and more than 10,000 Instagram accounts. .
This is a huge move by Facebook, which has established how it plans to proactively remove all evolving QAnon content from its platforms.
It comes after I asked Facebook’s VP of Global Affairs Nick Clegg why the site still allows QAnon to spread political disinformation among US voters and beyond using hashtags like #SaveOurChildren.
Facebook’s first offensive against this dangerous conspiracy theory focused on violent content blocked by its supporters, removing a number of groups and pages.
But those who support QAnon soon adapted, using new appetizing hashtags to reach parent groups, local forums, and the average Instagram feed. And the movement continued to grow.
This latest move will be welcome, but it will also be very difficult to implement, especially since QAnon has become so big and spread in new forms.
I recently spoke with American voters about how QAnon’s misinformation about candidates and child trafficking networks may have already impacted their friends and neighbors before Election Day.
They explained how people they know now believe totally unfounded claims they have seen on Instagram and Facebook about Democrats running a child trafficking ring or Presidential candidate Joe Biden abusing children.
Could this move, like the last one, also be too late?
Facebook isn’t the only social media giant looking to tackle the QAnon conspiracy movement.
In July, Twitter banned thousands of accounts and said it would stop recommending QAnon-linked content in an attempt to help prevent “offline harm.” It also said that it would block the URLs associated with the group from being shared on the platform.
What is QAnon?
In October 2017, an anonymous user put a series of posts on the 4chan message board. The user signed as “Q” and claimed to have a US security clearance level known as “Q clearance”.
These messages became known as “Q drops” or “breadcrumbs,” often written in cryptic language peppered with pro-Trump slogans, promises and themes.
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The amount of traffic to major social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Reddit and YouTube has skyrocketed since 2017, and there are signs that the numbers have increased during the coronavirus pandemic.
- QAnon: What is it and where does it come from?
Judging from social media, there are hundreds of thousands of people who believe in at least some of the strange theories offered by QAnon.
QAnon followed the “pizzagate” saga in 2016, a false theory about Democratic Party politicians running a pedophile ring at a Washington pizzeria.
