Facebook removes accounts affiliated with QAnon conspiracy theory

by Chris Mills Rodrigo - 05/05/20 2:40 PM ET

Facebook announced Tuesday that it has taken down several groups, pages and accounts affiliated with the QAnon conspiracy theory.

The social media platform made the announcement as part of its monthly report on coordinated inauthentic behavior on its platform.

The five pages, 20 Facebook accounts and six groups that all originated in the U.S. were discovered as part of the platform’s investigation into disinformation ahead of the 2020 election.

The QAnon conspiracy theory is based around the belief that President Trump is actively fighting against enemies in the “deep state” and Democratic establishment running a global child sex trafficking ring.

Many of the theory’s followers have in recent months latched onto a baseless theory that the novel coronavirus was developed by Bill and Melinda Gates as a cover for a depopulation campaign led by mass vaccinations.

The pages and accounts were removed for violating rules against fake personas and inauthentic behavior.

In addition to the QAnon affiliated pages and accounts, Facebook also removed several domestic pages linked to VDARE, an anti-immigration website with ties to prominent white nationalists.

The platform also announced in the report that it took down accounts in Russia, Iran, Mauritania, Myanmar and the country of Georgia.

“We are making progress rooting out this abuse, but as we’ve said before, it’s an ongoing effort,” the company said in its April report. “That means building better technology, hiring more people and working more closely with law enforcement, security experts and other companies.”

Tags 2020 election Disinformation Donald Trump Donald Trump Facebook QAnon Right-wing politics