Twitter announced that it has banned 7,000 accounts associated with QAnon, a far-right movement that spreads conspiracy theories, while also taking other actions that could prevent the spread of the propaganda .
In addition to banning content related to the far-right QAnon movement, Twitter said it will also block the sharing of links related to QAnon, and will no longer suggest accounts associated with the movement. It will also no longer promote these accounts in search or conversations, and will also stop highlighting them as trending topics.
Social media companies are slowly waking up to the dangers posed by QAnon, a movement that promotes wild conspiracy theories — such as the existence of thousands of secret pedophiles — as the 2020 US election approaches. Facebook , in particular, is monitoring and censoring QAnon activity on its platform, following an attempt to remove some groups in May. However, it appears that QAnon continues to grow its activity on the platform .
Twitter banned a single QAnon-linked account in 2019. Even Roku removed a QAnon-related channel from its set-top boxes and TV sticks earlier this month. Additionally, Reddit banned a prominent group from its platform about two years ago.
Why is Twitter now adopting this policy of repression against QAnon?
Twitter said that after close monitoring and discussions with experts, it found that QAnon supporters are growing and developing their activity, and in recent weeks there have been many reports of them harassing Twitter users . The company also added that it has become clear that the content shared by QAnon supporters is causing real “harm” to those who use the service . Researchers also recently discovered that conspiracy theories spread by accounts associated with “QAnon” were being promoted by US President Donald Trump and key supporters. The first 7,000 accounts were banned for violating existing Twitter policies
