Clapper, a relatively new TikTok-like platform, has banned all QAnon-related and vaccine-skeptic content. The social media app had slowly started to become popular with those who were banned from more mainstream platforms.
On Thursday, Clapper CEO, Edison Chen, speaking to The Verge blog, said that QAnon conspiracies and vaccine-skeptic content would no longer be tolerated. The move came after The Verge published a report, alleging misinformation and conspiracy theories spreading on the platform.
Chen added that his platform had already removed more than 20 accounts and 400 videos promoting such content. To help with the purge, the company increased the number of moderators from 12 to 20. The CEO explained that it would take almost 10 days to review the more than 1 million videos posted on the small platform.
“We take this matter seriously,” Chen wrote in an email statement to The Verge. “After investigating, we decided to take action to remove and ban accounts regarding QAnon and mis-info about vaccines, which are against our mission.”
“From today, if additional users were to post QAnon-related content, it will be removed. We have zero tolerance about QAnon,” Chen added.
Like most smaller platforms, Clapper, launched last July, has lax content moderation, despite having moderation policies.
Additionally, it promoted itself as a “Free Speech Short video” app. So, when mainstream social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, conducted a strict ban on QAnon conspiracy theories, especially following the January 6 riots, some QAnoners sought refuge in Clapper.
Clapper seems to be following in the footsteps of Big Tech platforms. Twitter, Youtube, and TikTok have completely banned QAnon in the past few months. Facebook completely banned it, going as far as dubbing it a “militarized social movement.”
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