Facebook deleted 790 QAnon groups for violent behavior

Facebook on Wednesday said it had deleted 790 QAnon groups, while also taking action against thousands of other pages connected to the right-wing conspiracy theory.

“We have seen growing movements that, while not directly organizing violence, have celebrated violent acts, shown that they have weapons and suggest they will use them or have individual followers with patterns of violent behavior,” Facebook said in a statement.

Another 1,950 groups and 440 pages on Facebook, along with 10,000 Instagram accounts, had new restrictions placed on their accounts on Wednesday; the restrictions will “limit the spread of content” from these accounts, according to Facebook.

“QAnon was once a fringe phenomenon — the kind most people could safely ignore. But in recent months, it’s gone mainstream. Twitter, Facebook and other social networks have been flooded with QAnon-related false information about Covid-19, the Black Lives Matter protests and the 2020 election. QAnon supporters have also been trying to attach themselves to other activist causes, such as the anti-vaccine and anti-child-trafficking movements, in an effort to expand their ranks.”

Previously, QAnon has said there was a deep state conspiracy to take down President Trump, led by a group running a covert child sex-trafficking ring.

Earlier on Wednesday, Pew released new research showing nearly 75% of Americans believe social media companies like Facebook and Twitter are censoring posts based on political views.