Facebook has taken a large step against QAnon supporters by deleting one of the largest Groups on the platform that had over 200,000 members.
The group was called Official Q/Qanon and the Facebook purge is likely the first of many planned as Facebook is set to follow in the steps of Twitter in cracking down on Q supporters in the run up to the election.
QAnon supporters are primarily supporters of President Donald Trump and, while QAnon support has been growing since 2017, it’s only now in the election year that Twitter and now Facebook have decided that supporting QAnon is content that violates their policies and are starting to delete the groups and suppress conversations of those who support the movement.
Even Beijing-backed TikTok is shadowbanning Q-related hashtags.
The QAnon movement has a lot of support online and is likely to have a dedicated follower count that runs into the millions and includes celebrities and politicians.
In July, Twitter permanently removed thousands of accounts associated with QAnon and also said it would block QAnon sites, as well as suppress conversations surrounding it.
In May, Facebook removed accounts posting QAnon theories, especially those that posted what Facebook said was “misinformation” about coronavirus.
Following this week’s massive Group ban, a Facebook rep told Reuters that the ban came after multiple removals of individual posts and Facebook was accusing the group of hitting every one of the usual charges of “bullying and harassment, hate speech, and false information that could lead to harm.”
Facebook also confirmed that it was closely observing other QAnon groups.
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