Twitter declares war on QAnon conspiracy theorists! Thousands of Pro-Trump accounts have been purged as Twitter targets conspiracy theorists on the right while ignoring radicals on the left.
“We’ve been clear that we will take strong enforcement action on behavior that has the potential to lead to offline harm,” Twitter declared in a July 21 post. It specified that “this week we are taking further action on so-called ‘QAnon’ activity across the service.” A Twitter spokesperson told NBC News that around “150,000 accounts” will be affected in one form or another. The same article explained that the company has removed 7,000 QAnon accounts in the past few weeks for allegedly breaking Terms of Service rules about targeted harassment.
Twitter wrote that, going forward: “We will permanently suspend accounts Tweeting about these topics.” The company made clear that it will “[n]o longer serve content and accounts associated with QAnon in Trends and recommendations.” It will even “Block URLs associated with QAnon from being shared on Twitter.”
Sources like The New York Times have compared the mere presence of such conversations online to permitting platforms for Islamic radicalization. The presence of far-left extremists like Antifa groups is strangely tolerated online, despite the fact they have harassed political figures like Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Fox News host Tucker Carlson and participated in violent riots. Antifa has famously used social media platforms like Twitter as a means of disseminating the personal information of, or “doxing,” its enemies.
The New York Times tried to explain the QAnon conspiracy theorists’ ideology: “Mr. Trump ran for office to save Americans from a so-called deep state filled with child-abusing, devil-worshiping bureaucrats.”
The Times also reported that Facebook is “preparing to take similar steps to limit the reach of QAnon content on its platform,” according to two anonymous Facebook employees. The same article observed that “The company has been coordinating with Twitter and other social media companies and plans to make and [sic] announcement next month,” though Facebook itself has reportedly declined to comment.
Conservative podcaster Robby Starbuck tweeted,
“Not a Q follower but Antifa, Louis Farrakhan, Hamas, Iranian terrorists & more terror groups are on Twitter yet you do nothing. Why are you targeting only QAnon? Will you go after these terror/hate groups? Will you investigate alleged bot use by Dem coalition?”
