LONDON (AP) – Twitter says it has suspended more than 70,000 accounts associated with the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory after last week’s US Capitol riot.
The social media company said on Tuesday that, due to last week’s events in Washington, DC, where a crowd of pro-Trump supporters tried to violently break into the Capitol building, it was taking action against online behavior “which has the potential to cause offline damage. “
In many cases, a single individual operated multiple accounts, increasing the total number of accounts affected, the company said in a blog.
“These accounts were involved in sharing harmful content not associated with QA on a large scale and were mainly dedicated to spreading this conspiracy theory across the service,” said the company.
The purge of QAnon’s Twitter accounts, which began on Friday, is part of a broader crackdown that also includes the decision to ban President Donald Trump from service due to concerns about further incitement to violence.
The suspensions mean that some Twitter users will lose followers, in some cases by the thousands, the company said.
The QAnon conspiracy theory centers on the unfounded belief that Trump is waging a secret campaign against “deep-state” enemies and a child sex trafficking network run by satanic and cannibalistic pedophiles. Twitter had previously tried to crack down on QAnon, removing more than 7,000 accounts in July.
Twitter said it is also stepping up enforcement measures and, starting on Tuesday, will limit the spread of posts that violate its civic integrity policy, preventing anyone from responding, liking or retweeting. The policy prohibits attempts to manipulate elections and disseminate misleading information about their results, with repeated violations resulting in permanent suspension.