Twitter Cracks Down On QAnon Conspiracy Theorists, 7,000 Accounts Reportedly Suspended

Twitter Inc. TWTR announced Tuesday it was acting against QAnon, a right-wing conspiracy theory predicated on the belief that President Donald Trump is fighting a deep state comprised of Satan-worshipping elites.

What Happened

"We’ve been clear that we will take strong enforcement action on behavior that has the potential to lead to offline harm," the social media company said. "In line with this approach, this week we are taking further action on so-called ‘QAnon’ activity across the service."

We will permanently suspend accounts Tweeting about these topics that we know are engaged in violations of our multi-account policy, coordinating abuse around individual victims, or are attempting to evade a previous suspension — something we’ve seen more of in recent weeks.

— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) July 22, 2020

Twitter added that any content or accounts associated with QAnon won't feature in Trends or recommendations on the platform. The company will "work to ensure we’re not highlighting this activity in search and conversations," and also block any URLs associated with the conspiracy theory.

The San Francisco-based has suspended 7,000 QAnon accounts in the last few weeks and its actions will affect a further 150,000 accounts, according to NBC News.

Why It Matters

Twitter and Trump have been at loggerheads ever since the platform labeled a tweet from the president regarding mail-in ballots as spreading misinformation.

Trump then signed an executive order limiting social media companies’ immunity from lawsuits due to the third-party content on their platforms.

The order denounced Twitter’s political bias. 

Facebook Inc. FB, on the other hand, faces criticism and a growing ad boycott for alleged inaction against the president's controversial posts.

Price Action

Twitter shares closed 0.1% lower at $37.01 on Tuesday and fell another 0.3% in the after-hours session.