Twitter announced Monday that it has banned more than 70,000 accounts sharing content around the QAnon conspiracy theory following the riot that erupted at the Capitol last week.
The social media giant confirmed in a blog post which has removed the accounts as part of an effort after last week’s riot “to protect our service’s conversation from attempts to incite violence, organize attacks and share deliberately misleading information about the outcome of the election” .
“We have made it clear that we will take strong enforcement action on behavior that can cause offline harm. Given the violent events in Washington, DC and the increased risk of harm, we began to permanently suspend thousands of accounts primarily dedicated to share QAnon content on Friday afternoon, “the blog post states.
Twitter said “many” of the people affected by the ban “had multiple accounts” that shared content around the QAnon conspiracy theory, which they unfoundedly claim President Trump
Donald Trump Capitol police chief who has just denounced accuses House and Senate security officials of thwarting efforts to convene the National Guard: WaPo PGA announces plans to move 2022 championship to Trump property . works to expose the elites of democratic politics and the institutions that clandestinely manage child trafficking.
The now-banned accounts “were devoted to sharing harmful content associated with QAnon on a scale and were primarily devoted to the spread of this conspiracy theory.”
Twitter last week permanently suspended accounts for former national security adviser Michael Flynn, pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell and former 8kun administrator Ron Watkins as part of efforts to crack down on content related to QAnon theory.
Flynn, who was Trump’s first national security adviser, has been one of the most visible supporters of QAnon’s conspiracy theory.
Twitter also permanently suspended Trump’s account on Friday and claimed his tweets posed “the risk of a new incitement to violence.”
“After closely reviewing the recent tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context surrounding them, specifically how they are received and interpreted on and off Twitter, we have suspended the account permanently,” the company wrote last week. passed in a blog post.
Twitter isn’t the only one in Silicon Valley to drive efforts to reduce misinformation following riots among pro-Trump protesters last week at the Capitol. On Monday, Facebook announced it was removing content containing the phrase “stop the theft.”
“With continued attempts to organize events against the outcome of the U.S. presidential election that could lead to violence and the use of the term by those involved in Wednesday’s violence in DC, we are taking this extra step ahead of the inauguration. , ”The company said in a blog post.
The riot in the Capitol building, which occurred during the congressional certification of the results of the Electoral College in the 2020 elections, resulted in at least five deaths, including one Capitol police officer.