NATIONWIDE — Twitter late on Tuesday reported it is in the process of removing thousands of accounts associated with the QAnon conspiracy theory and will stop recommending content linked to QAnon.
“We’ve been clear that we will take strong enforcement action on behavior that has the potential to lead to offline harm,” the company said in a tweet late Tuesday.
Twitter says roughly 7,000 accounts have been removed and it expects more than 150,000 accounts globally will have reduced visibility.
We’ve been clear that we will take strong enforcement action on behavior that has the potential to lead to offline harm. In line with this approach, this week we are taking further action on so-called ‘QAnon’ activity across the service.
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) July 22, 2020
QAnon is a far-right conspiracy theory popular among some supporters of President Donald Trump that posits there is a secret “deep-state” plot against the president and his supporters.
Specifically, the conspiracy theory is said to involve a cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles who rule the world and control politicians and the media. For the past two years, followers have poured over clues left by someone thought to be a high-ranking government official known only as “Q.”
Accounts that are “engaged in violations of our multi-account policy, coordinating abuse around individual victims, or are attempting to evade a previous suspension” will be suspended permanently, Twitter wrote.
President Trump has retweeted several QAnon-promoting accounts.
Twitter’s move follows a similar one by Facebook, which in May removed several groups, accounts and pages associated with QAnon.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.