Twitter announced Monday that it has banned more than 70,000 accounts that share content surrounding the QAnon conspiracy theory, following the riot that erupted at the Capitol last week.
The social media giant confirmed in a blog post that it removed the bills as part of an attempt after the riots last week ‘to protect the conversation on our service from attempts to incite violence, organize attacks and deliberately share misleading information about the outcome of the election. ‘
“We were clear that we would take strong enforcement actions with respect to conduct that could lead to offline harm. “Given the violent events in Washington, DC and the increased risk of harm, we have started to permanently suspend thousands of accounts that were mainly dedicated to sharing QAnon content on Friday afternoon,” reads the blog post.
Twitter said that “many” of the individuals affected by the ban “kept multiple accounts” that shared content around the QAnon conspiracy theory, which unjustifiably claims that President Trump
Donald Trump The outgoing Chief of Police in the Capitol accuses Senate security officials of trying to call in the national guard: WaPo PGA announces plans to move 2022 Trump property championship Former Democratic senator: Biden Justice department can investigate January 6 speakers for incitement MORE is exposing elites in Democratic politics and institutions.
The now banned accounts ‘were sharing harmful QAnon-related content on a large scale and were primarily dedicated to spreading this conspiracy theory.’
Twitter last week permanently suspended accounts for former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, pro-Trump attorney Sidney Powell and former 8kun administrator Ron Watkins as part of efforts to curb the content of the QAnon theory.
Flynn, who served as Trump’s first national security adviser, was one of the most visible supporters of the QAnon conspiracy theory.
Twitter also permanently suspended Trump’s account on Friday, claiming that his tweets “carry the risk of further incitement to violence”.
“After careful review of recent tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context surrounding them – specifically how they are received and interpreted on and off Twitter – we have permanently suspended the account,” the company wrote in a blog post last week.
Twitter is not alone in Silicon Valley in stepping up efforts to reinforce misinformation after the riots among pro-Trump protesters in the Capitol last week. Facebook announced on Monday that it was removing content containing the phrase “stop the theft”.
“With continued efforts to organize events against the outcome of the US presidential election that could lead to violence, and the use of the term by those involved in the violence on Wednesday in DC, we are taking this extra step in the run-up to the inauguration, ”the company said in a blog post.
The riot at the Capitol building, which took place during the Congressional certification of the Electoral College’s results in the 2020 election, resulted in at least five deaths, including a Capitol police officer.