Twitter Suspends 70,000 Accounts Sharing QAnon Content
Tens of thousands of accounts spreading QAnon conspiracy content in past few days after US Capitol attack have been suspended, Twitter confirms
Twitter has confirmed it has suspended 70,000 accounts since Friday that have been sharing QAnon content.
QAnon is a far-right conspiracy that allege there is a “deep state” campaign against US President Donald Trump and his supporters. Essentially QAnon touts there is a worldwide cabal of Satan-worshipping paedophiles who rule the world, and who control politicians, the media, and Hollywood.
Twitter in July 2020 announced that content and accounts associated with QAnon were being permanently suspended, as part of its fight to halt the spread of misinformation on its platform,
QAnon content
It was followed by Facebook in October 2020, when banned any pages, groups, and Instagram accounts representing QAnon from its platforms.
Soon after that YouTube also banned any content representing QAnon from its platform.
But now Twitter has it has clamped down even further after ‘violent events in Washington’ when a pro-Trump mob stormed the US Capitol building.
Five people died when Trump encouraged his supporters to storm the US Capitol building on Wednesday 6 January, where senators had gathered to ratify the election of Joe Biden.
“Given the violent events in Washington, DC, and increased risk of harm, we began permanently suspending thousands of accounts that were primarily dedicated to sharing QAnon content on Friday afternoon,” Twitter announced in a blog posting.
“Many of the individuals impacted by this updated enforcement action held multiple accounts, driving up the total number of accounts impacted,” it added. “Since Friday, more than 70,000 accounts have been suspended as a result of our efforts, with many instances of a single individual operating numerous accounts. These accounts were engaged in sharing harmful QAnon-associated content at scale and were primarily dedicated to the propagation of this conspiracy theory across the service.”
Twitter said the move could result in some accounts losing thousands of followers.
Twitter ban
Twitter late Friday also permanently took down Donald Trump’s Twitter account, citing the possibility that it would be used in the final 12 days of Trump’s presidency to incite violence.
Media reports stated the president went “ballistic,” according to a senior administration official, and he was “scrambling to figure out what his options are.”
Amazon has also announced it is working to remove some QAnon products from its online marketplace.
Amazon Web Services has also dropped the far right wing Parler app off its hosting platform, after Apple and Google also dropped the Parler app from their respective app stores.
