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Facebook bans QAnon conspiracy theory movement

by on07 October 2020


Dangerous and stupid
terrorists

Facebook has classified the QAnon conspiracy theory movement as dangerous and began removing Facebook groups and pages as well as Instagram accounts that hold themselves out as representatives.

The social notworking site has already banned a third of QAnon groups for promoting violence but allowed most to stay.

However, now Facebook staff now will treat QAnon like other terrorist bodies, seeking out and deleting groups and pages, the company said in a blog post.

QAnon groups have added members, often using coded language to evade detection, for example referring to “cue” instead of Q. Meanwhile, adherents have worked to integrate themselves in other groups, such as those concerned with child safety and those critical of restrictions on gatherings due to the coronavirus, according to researchers at Facebook and elsewhere.

“While we’ve removed QAnon content that celebrates and supports violence, we’ve seen other QAnon content tied to different forms of real world harm, including recent claims that the west coast wildfires were started by certain groups”, Facebook wrote.

Classed as a potential source of domestic terrorism by the FBI, QAnon is driven by an anonymous internet poster nicknamed Q who claims to be a Trump administration insider. The core, nonsensical claim is that Trump is secretly leading a crackdown against an enormous pedophile ring that includes prominent Democrats and the Hollywood elite.

Recent QAnon posts have spread false information about voting and about COVID-19, researchers said, even claiming that President Donald Trump faked his diagnosis of COVID-19 in order to orchestrate secret arrests against the crime ring.  This did not happen of course.

Trump has praised the group as patriotic, and more than a dozen Republican congressional candidates have promoted it.

Last modified on 07 October 2020
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