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Reuters
Facebook has removed or restricted thousands of groups and accounts sharing and promoting the QAnon conspiracy theory.
This is part of a new policy that aims to limit the risks to public safety posed by QAnon, “offline anarchist groups” and US-based militia organizations.
The company said it removed “over 790 groups, 100 pages and 1,500 QAnon-related ads.”
It also imposed restrictions on more than 1,950 groups and 440 pages.
More than 10,000 Instagram accounts associated with the movement have also been restricted.
QAnon is a conspiracy theory that believes US President Donald Trump is waging a covert war against a ring of “deep state” pedophiles who are powerful figures in government, business and the media.
Asked about his opinion on QAnon at a press conference, President Trump said he did not know much, saying: “I understand that they like me very much, which I appreciate,” words that have been interpreted by some as tacit approval of the plot.
What actions has Facebook taken?
In addition to targeting the QAnon conspiracy, Facebook said it also removed content from other “militia organizations and those who promote riots,” including some anti-fascist groups.
He said he was increasingly concerned about groups that “have celebrated acts of violence, shown they have weapons and suggest they will use them or have individual followers with violent behavior.”
“Where we’re going, one we’re all going”, often abbreviated as “WWG1WGA!” is one of QAnon’s most popular slogans
Under the new policy, Instagram groups, pages and accounts associated with these movements will be removed if they discuss potential violence, “including when they use veiled language and symbols” associated with the movement.
Facebook will still allow people to post content in support of these groups and movements, although this will “restrict their ability to organize.”
This means that those pages and accounts will not be recommended to users, their content ranking in news feeds will be reduced, and related headlines and hashtags will be limited in search results.
Additionally, Facebook will ban groups from placing ads or selling products, and will ban fundraising for their support.
What is QAnon?
By Shayan Sardarizadeh and Jack Goodman, BBC Anti-Disinformation Team
QAnon started in October 2017 on the anonymous 4chan bulletin board. One user claimed to have high-level security clearance in the US government and anonymously signed their messages as “Q” – hence the name QAnon. Q communicates in cryptic posts and claims to be directly involved in a secret Trump investigation into a global child molesting ring.
QAnon followed on from the “pizzagate” saga in 2016 – a false theory about Democratic Party politicians running a pedophile ring at a Washington pizza place.
QAnon influencers have a large following on social media. They urge subscribers to “do their own research” – in other words, watch YouTube videos and talk to other supporters – to solve the puzzles of Q. In nearly three years of existence, the plot has attracted huge traffic to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Reddit, attracting hundreds of thousands of dedicated followers. This includes celebrities and dozens of candidates running for Congress this year.
During the coronavirus pandemic, Q influencers have been spreading unfounded theories about the coronavirus, calling it a “deep state” hoax, and promoting misinformation about face masks and vaccines.
Last month, Twitter and TikTok also cracked down on QAnon content.
Twitter has banned thousands of accounts and said it will block QAnon URLs, while TikTok is removing hashtags that flag QAnon videos.
Last year, the FBI issued a warning regarding “domestic extremists motivated by conspiracy theory” and identified QAnon as a potential domestic extremist threat.
Did Trump approve of QAnon?
President Trump was asked about QAnon at a press conference on Wednesday.
When asked to comment on QAnon’s wacky theory that he is secretly saving the world from a satanic cult of pedophiles and cannibals, he replied, “I didn’t hear that, but is it? supposed to be a bad thing or a good thing? ”
He went on to say that “we are saving the world from the philosophy of the radical left which will destroy this country”.
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Mr. Trump has in the past retweeted content from known QAnon sympathizers, as well as tweets containing hashtags used by believers in the plot.
Some QAnon supporters are running for office, including the Republican congressional candidate for Georgia.
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